Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Alongside learning what the Queen of Hearts card means, we discover why another person didn’t make it home from the wilderness.
| Release Date (Showtime) | May 19, 2023 |
| Director(s) | Daisy von Scherler Mayer |
| Writer(s) | Sarah L. Thompson, Liz Phang |
| Previously Noted Characters and Cast | |
| Teen Shauna | Sophie Nélisse |
| Teen Lottie | Courtney Eaton |
| Teen Van | Liv Hewson |
| Javi | Luciano Leroux |
| Travis | Kevin Alves |
| Teen Natalie | Sophie Thatcher |
| Akilah | Nia Sondaya |
| Ben | Steven Krueger |
| Kevyn | Alex Wyndham |
| Matt | John Reynolds |
| Callie | Sarah Desjardins |
| Walter | Elijah Wood |
| Jeff | Warren Kole |
| Adult Lottie | Simone Kessell |
| Adult Misty | Samantha Hanratty |
| Adult Natalie | Juliette Lewis |
| Teen Misty | Christina Ricci |
| Adult Taissa | Tawny Cypress |
| Adult Van | Lauren Ambrose |
| Adult Shauna | Melanie Lynskey |
Plot Recap
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She’s Too Valuable To Sacrifice – Shauna, Lottie, Van, Javi, Travis, Natalie, Akilah, Ben, Misty
After Shauna’s beat down, many fear Lottie is going to die. After all, she was already starving. Now she is pissing blood and still isn’t able to move much. She even conveys to Misty, the main person taking care of her, that if she dies, don’t let her body go to waste.
After hearing that, Lottie’s group is ready to act and choose someone to be eaten. So, with a deck of cards, Van crosses out the eyes of the Queen of Hearts, and everyone is tasked with picking out a card. This is nerve-wracking, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Some, like Akilah, are beginning to hallucinate, as shown by her pet mouse being dead for quite a while. But, when Natalie draws the Queen of Hearts, she doesn’t get killed. In fact, Travis makes a way for her to escape and almost gets murdered for doing so.
Ultimately though, Javi ends up being the one paying the price. How and why? Well, he tried to take Natalie somewhere to hide; maybe underground a tree with the symbol that Ben found, but it is hard to say. For with him ending up beneath the ice, drowning, thanks to Misty convincing Natalie to let him die for her own safety, he ends up becoming the sacrifice, and Natalie, as shown, gets to see her 18th birthday.
It’s Not Too Late To Be A Good Person – Kevyn, Matt, Callie, Walter, Jeff
With Adam’s body found and identified thanks to him donating bone marrow, Shauna’s past relationship with him makes her a prime suspect, but one thing which complicates matters is Adam’s dismembered body. Matt thinks because of Shauna’s survival skills, she did it, despite Kevyn noting that there was surgeon-like precision, which no amount of survival tactics could bring. Yet, Kevyn, wanting to close the case, advocates for Jeff to turn Shauna in, and Matt even pushes Callie to do the same.
All of this makes Callie wonder if she is like her mom, and Jeff reminds Callie that Shauna has been through a lot. Whether it was what she did to stay alive or losing what would have been Callie’s older brother, she has trauma, and while Callie understands, this doesn’t necessarily say she isn’t capable of great harm or misfortune.
But, as Callie comes to know her mother better, Walter comes closer to solving his case, and his willingness to work with the police could very well not only be a stake in the case but also in Misty’s poor heart.
It Calls For Blood, And Until Then, Our Lives Will Be Chaos – Lottie, Misty, Natalie, Taissa, Van, Shauna
As Lottie and Van get caught up on Adam’s murder, Taissa’s private investigator Jessica, Jeff being the blackmailer, and more, it is realized everyone is very screwed up. Misty has murdered multiple people and helped cover up the murders. Natalie became a drug addict and tried to kill herself. Taissa killed her dog and nearly killed her wife. Van isn’t outed by Taissa regarding having cancer, but Shauna? As much as she may damn Misty for being crazy, she admits that if she learned someone else’s significant other was the blackmailer, she likely would have killed them. She also admits to telling the cops too much, as well as telling Callie and Jeff.
All of this forces Lottie to recognize and accept that the chaos of their lives is due to not giving over to the wilderness, which likely includes Taissa’s other half returning. So, she offers them the chance to sacrifice one of their own to make things right. No one likes the idea, but it seems there is a possibility they will do it for the sake of a return to a form of normalcy.
Review
Highlights
Learning Javi’s Fate
While Javi has never been a high-value character, regarding questioning “What is his status?” learning that he died and the circumstances around that is still valuable. He can be the jump-off point for why Natalie does drugs, since on top of him risking his life to save her, she not only left him for dead but sacrificed him, which is very different from her killing animals to survive or being one of many to feast on Jackie.
Misty’s Long-Term Protection Of Natalie
It was always strange, Misty’s connection to Natalie. They barely talked in the wilderness, and Natalie seemingly distended Misty’s presence in modern times. But now, it makes sense. Likely, rescuing Natalie from death was how Misty saw a path toward redemption, and thus, she took a lifelong vow to keep Natalie alive and safe.
Now, does this answer the question of where Misty was when Natalie was strung out with Travis and doing who knows what? No. But, at the very least, now things are beginning to connect.
Lottie’s Hold On Everyone
There is no denying Lottie is the leader, even with there being decades of separation paired with her mental illness being well known. She still has some sort of hold over everyone, and her influence is undeniable. It may have taken years, but she broke Natalie and got her to follow her teachings. Lottie is convincing grown, traumatized people, some with a lot to lose, like Shauna and Taissa, to essentially play Russian Roulette for an indiscriminate entity that appears only to Lottie.
That is power.
On The Fence
The Adam Murder Investigation
The Adam Murder investigation remains complicated in the worst ways. Continuously, it boosts Callie as a character as she gets to know a bit of her mom’s dark side, and it pushes the idea that this will lead to more and more secrets getting out. However, Matt and Kevyn as antagonist remains unfortunate. You have these complex, dangerous women, and the people tasked with taking them down are the most basic, certified tropes.
Now, granted, no man on this show has thus far been written or performances in a way that has parity with the women, but it was poetic justice for them to be relegated to husbands and boyfriends, thus matching the shoestring development many women have suffered. But, for an antagonist, I can’t be alone in saying more must be done.
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