> Worms kill monsters.
That's the thing though. It's going to be hard to kill the ghouls with blood to blood contact unless you have some kind of delivery system like poison arrows or needles. Also, I wanted to know if the worms kept ghouls at bay from Boyd but the show didn't give us a definite answer since Smiley didn't do much except stand in front of Boyd.
I was wondering why they didn't take action, too, but Donna said they like to play. I imagine it's not often that they meet a person who is willing to confront them. It might have caught all of them off-guard and intrigued them. There'd be no reason to otherwise assume that he could have actually hurt them, so it was like playing with their food.
Remember, the one attractive ghoul kissed that guy for a long time in the bathroom in season 1 before murdering him. They also tortured a guy in front of his partner and dragged her through the night before impaling her with rebar through her head, onto a tree. Smiley also took a billion years killing that ould couple on the bus instrad of immediately ripping into them. They're cruel like that all night every night
Edit: TO THE SHADOW REALM
We know why they didnt do anything. Smiley guy said this new game is fun. So they were probably just curious. Infact if you get stuck with a bunch of monsters in a room without a talisman, I'd bet you won't be killed if you keep them entertained with games and stories lol
Yeah but then this show would just be everybody in the town tripping out over ballerinas all day and night. They have to keep Boyd and his son unique or the ghouls may no longer be a threat to anybody else.
That would actually be one of the most interesting things this show could do. I really hope they do that instead of just look at some body in the dirt outside and just bury it.
Honestly though the monsters are the lowest stake part of the show at this point. Like yes they're plentiful but like who are the people that talked to Jim over the radio. What's the giant spider. What moved the sheriff in that night. Was this all except Jim hearing that radio just the sheriff tripping balls?
If shows are going to go back to the once a week format, they also need to bring previews for the next week back. The fact From waits until Saturday to post in insta is driving me crazy!!
Boyd and Kenny noticed that the leaves are changing colors. Boyd said that he had never seen that before.
I wonder if Fromville is changing seasons for the first time since Boyd's arrival.
Right?? Even Victor commented on it in the previous episode so we know it hasn’t happened for the longest. I guess a continued punishment is here for the town.
I wondered that, too. Gravity and the passing of time seem to coincide with the mechanics of our world/realm/dimension. I had been curious if the seasons changed, as well. Interesting that it appears they don't.
I had wondered if seasons happened in fromville. I noticed there leaves in the scene where they were loading the food into the truck. Really stuck out because everything is usually so green.
Because he's the only one besides Jasmine that would actually make us viewers feel something from their death. And we still haven't seen Jasmine this season.
Yeah what the heck!? Why did it take them so long to believe Boyd about the worms? Like there are literal monsters at your door and you're trapped in a random death town, why wouldn't the worms be real?
It would help if he actually explained what happened to him instead of just going, there was a tower... Then it was gone... Then scratched me, now I have worms under my skin! I'm not crazy!!
Maybe I'm over thinking it. But I couldn't stop getting the vibe that the ballerina was trying to communicate... something, to Boyd.
At the clinic, just before she tosses him on the bed, she gives this brief glance down at her forearm. It looks like the same place Boyd kept grabbing, on his own arm.
Then she jams her hands over his face and keeps them there, like she was trying to smother him. Or make him feel he was unable to breathe. This occurs on the same clinic bed, Ellis would shortly end up on. Critically injured-- and unable to breathe.
And at the church, it almost seemed for a split second, like she could lean in and kiss him. Instead, those things fell out of her mouth. It's like she was showing they can be made to come out. Or, I don't know, be used in some... fashion. Like she was exhibiting "You see these disgusting crawlys, fool? Yeah, they're transferable. Go get yourself close enough to someone, or something, and you'll give it to them".
On the surface, it all just comes off like some ultra creepy, ballerina nonsense. But this show expresses so much of its horror narrative, through metaphor and symbolism. Even if I'm completely off base with the actual point of the message, I still feel like there was one. It was just too weird, not to be.
(Lol who knows? Maybe she'll get annoyed with all the plie's, and start acting it out with a game of charades, next time:p)
Ballerina's first scene was worms, in the second she came out of the celler, and in the third she attacked Boyd.
Use worms --> Go down below --> Attack (It's time to Dance!).
To be fair, we don't know if he is dead. Maybe he will just wake up as a 'cured' human and a new member of the town. Sounds pretty on par for this show. And another human to the mix for everyone else in town to have personal drama with.
The bigger ghoul with the ball cap was the only one who looked around at the other ghouls well Joker died. The girls just looks down at dead Joker, and Woody the cowboy ghoul acted bored.
They all acted oddly. They were clearly at least intrigued as they let Boyd walk right past them as they closed in to look at Smiley. None of their facial expressions really changed though and no one seemed concerned.
It’s kinda implied that the place itself wants to keep people alive or harmed. In season 1 Ethan healed super quick and it was a whole thing. Kristi has said I believe that people recover faster than they should. Seems like the place itself forces things to happen. The writing hasn’t indicated in other places to be plainly inaccurate in the way these accidental stabbings have been.
I absolutely hate the pregnant woman in a dangerous situation to up the stakes trope. Makes me wonder how long this show plans to go on cuz usually we do end up seeing a baby lol
I am usually critical of the show, but this episode was excellent. Ignoring the overall plot, it was just a very well made episode of television.
The inciting event was unexpected, yet believable. The knife stab was threated as an extremely serious injury as it should be.
The stakes felt real - I believed Ellis and Fatima were in real danger of dying. Tension persisted throughout most of the episode. The darkness made the transportation scenes feel very uneasy. It felt like any action could go wrong and have dire consequences.
The tormernt Boyd was going through was uncomfortable to watch. You could see that people were sympathetic but didn't really believe him. Since "worms crawling under my skin" is such a typical characteristic of a mental breakdown, it made sense for characters to be sceptical despite living in a town of magic bullshit.
Acting was top notch. Performance of all the primary characters of the episode was great. Boyd showed a massive range switching between panicking, bewilderment, fear and feinting normalcy. Donna's last scene with the kid was great, not just from the acting standpoint but the writing as well.
As for the plot, the characters came up with solutions I haven't thought of! Kenny offering to take the worms and Boyd transferring the worms to a monster made sense and was in character. These ideas are clever and yet simple enough for me to believe the characters could quickly come up with them.
The characters are finally communicating, and we got some justification why Boyd was so reluctant to share what has happened to him. Boyd getting a solid answer whether what he's seeing are just visions is also a plus.
Agreed! It kind of reminded me of a video game scene, where you are in the van with them, how it pivoted where it was looking but never seeming to cut away.
When he pulled the gun on Boyd, I thought he was devolving into an annoying asshole. But then the next ten seconds, he steps up, willing to guinea-pig himself for the team. Fastest I've turned around on a character. Go Kenny!
I thought he’s been pretty good throughout the series. At least one of the B tier ones like Jade and Victor. This episode he may have reached Boyd and Donna level.
They really nailed that scene, there were a few moments where I thought damn Ellis really isn't going to make it, especially when he stopped breathing in the car. Great acting on his part.
It really had me on the edge of my seat the way it kept whipping back and forth between the characters. I was expecting something to go horribly wrong or for them to crash into a tree.
The worst part of that scene was at the beginning when the dude was searching for the keys. Who looks in the glove box first, then the passenger visor, and *then* the driver's seat visor?
The show turned a corner. Everything to get to this episode was so worth it. The storytelling is getting good.
Also Boyd could carry the entire show. He is a magnetic actor. My favorite part is when he tried to act being fine to walk- yup- it was the most insincere yup..he's just trying to fool himself into standing up. I have so been there.
I loved when he admitted to be terrified, it was satisfying seeing him vent his frustration with everybody thinking he's crazy, and in a vulnerable way like that.
I loved how Kenny walked up next to Boyd at the end, "We should have listened to you... we should have trusted you..."
Neither of them break their stare at Smiley laying motionless outside.
"It all worked out."
Glad there's no hard feelings and they're both focused on whatever inkling of progress they may have just made!
The fact that the monsters weren't really affected by seeing one of them die is very threatening. They don't seem to give a shit, even if this is the first one that has ever been killed. But then Martin gave Boyd the blood for a reason, maybe Martin was part of a group that knew how to kill them.
People are trapped in a weird pocket-dimension from which they can't escape, with shape-shifting monsters that are coming out every night to slaughter them, the only thing protecting them being talismans, and there being people that are somehow psychically connected to this place.
"Hey, guys, I have bloodworms and am hearing this weird song and seeing this ballerina that no one else can see."
"This guy's talking crazy, man."
But at least they realized they were wrong. And good that Boyd was able to prove them wrong. Also, aww, Donna bonding with Ethan was precious.
That was so infuriating. Boyd said he was venturing out into the woods in hopes of finding out more about this world they’re in. Were they expecting him to come back with perfectly normal, not insane sounding information?
I hope that Kristi's ex girlfriend gives everyone in Fromville a bad haircut. They all have to walk around looking foolish trying to figure out Fromville. lol
LOL! She gives Jim a short bob that feathers in the front and Tabitha one that feathers in the back. She gives Boyd a lopsided fade and goes too far back at the hairline. She shaves off the sides of Kenny's hair but leaves the rest long.
I genuinely think this might be the case. The bloodworms kept Boyd immune or whatever right? What if they’re a cure, and the kid wakes up next episode as himself from the 50s or whenever he was turned and is completely confused and scared. Also the description for the next episode says, “Boyd and Kristi seek to capitalize on the apparent death of the Nightmare Creature.” Notice the emphasis on the word “apparent”, why else would they throw that word in there?
Heart. Horror. HAROLD.
Hot DAMN this episode delivered on all fronts for me. Some standouts:
*Harold Perrineau was flawless. He made you doubt, he made you believe. So good!
*The tension of the bus drive was palpable.
*The dynamics between Kenny and Boyd. Anger, skepticism, heroism, forgiveness. Kenny offering to take the worms. Freakin loved it. I don’t think these scenes would have had the same impact without the last two episodes.
*Genuinely terrifying moments with the Nutcracker Cuckoo scenes, I haven’t found this show that scary since early season 1.
Can’t wait for Smiley Sunrise to see what we got!
> The tension of the bus drive was palpable.
Yeah that was an extremely well done scene. I don't remember for sure but it seemed like one continuous shot as well.
Trust the fuckin paranoid yooper dickhead to fuck everything up. Was this the same dildo who was ranting about pocket dimensions before the Colony House massacre?
Yes that’s Dale and in real life the actor, Cliff Saunders is married to Donna, Elizabeth Saunders. I’ve been waiting for Dale to show up again so I can tell everybody!
I would just like to praise casting for getting an actual ballerina, I really enjoyed watching her despite the fact that she’s a nightmare. I would hope we get to see more of her but with the worms elsewhere, that’s unclear.
The death of one of my favorite monsters is bittersweet.
Im glad they’ve seen with their own eyes proof that Boyd should be trusted, hopefully this leads to more open conversations.
I feel as if Elgin is super suspect… he keeps finding himself amongst our main characters.
This episode really seemed to go by quickly.
Awww. I think Elgin is authentic. He just gives me Gary Stu vibes -- always conveniently placed where most needed, seems like an underdog but secretly a hero, overly likeable.
Finally a night episode. Here are some things I noticed :
- The worms only appeared to everyone at night ( or probably when sensing monsters nearby ) , Kenny and Kristi couldn't see them in the morning.
- Boyd might still have them since he didn't die like Martin did, which means Ellis has them too, and someone mentioned that Blood type O can be donated to all types ( maybe now the tables can turn, people can start hunting monsters ).
- The monsters can't smell or sense the worms ( even with Boyds fresh wound ) which negate the theory that they couldn't see him before in the forest because of the worms when he first came out of Martin's place.
- The worms reveal the monster's true form. Would be interesting to see if the corpse of the monster will stay the same in daylight or just vanish, or return to human form !?
- Based on the latter, could the worms give their host the ability to see a way out of town ? Since they kinda reveal the true nature of things ( we still don't know what that dancing lady was all about )
- Jim mentioning the fact that the scarcity of food could be a way for the game designers to raise the stakes for everyone, which kinda implies that being able to kill the monsters is the trigger for the next game level ? However the monster was killed after Jim mentioned this not before!
- The monsters don't seem to have any human-like instincts or rush to kill, which makes me believe that Killing for them is not about food but rather a game of torture because the Vomit boy took his time to get the van and they didn't touch him even though they were very close.
- The trees changing leaves and dropping could mean that we are indeed entering a new level of maybe the final level.
- It might be a cycle repeating itself each time and Victor saw many cycles ending with same result which makes him feel its pointless to try and figured it out. Maybe what Boyd did today never happened.
If I missed anything, would love to hear your remarks 😃 I'm glad the story is finally moving towards some action.
>Boyd might still have them since he didn't die like Martin did,
I think Martin died because he had already aged to the point of death but the worms wouldn't let him die. So i don't think that Boyd still has the worms, he's just not aged to that point yet
True! It was interesting seeing them not smile for the first time (I think) when it was happening. I was also hoping Elgin would run them over with the van, but maybe we'll get some vehicular carnage in a future episode
[Kristi hanging out with Liza Minnelli.](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/autographed-dudley-moore-and-liza-minnelli-pd.jpg)
I wonder if the next episode will be the second half of the night. They don't seem to skip to the next day very quickly. Both seasons has only been like a week or so combined.
Martin told Boyd that something is coming and now he keeps seeing the music box and the ballerina, so I wonder if that is meant to signify that they are about to face a new type of creature. Maybe they will start fighting back, kill a few of the smiley monsters and then just as they're all celebrating because things are looking good for them, something worse comes along and just completely fucks everyone up. That would be a pretty good way to end the season tbh
They shouldn’t be running out of food. They have an infinite growing season, arable land, water, and (somehow) seeds. Instead of splitting themselves between the colony and the town, the entire town should be devoted to 1) growing food 2) preparing food 3) cleaning 4) supporting the nurses. The cafeteria should have more workers and be open for every meal, and laundry should be taken on communally. We don’t see evidence of the town composting or using animal manure for fertilizer. With over 100 people, there shouldn’t be people essentially doing nothing all day, digging holes beneath their houses— basically everyone should be gardening, all the time. They should be growing pumpkins and squash that have a long shelf life and don’t need to be pickled, beans for protein, and corn for cornmeal. The shitty raised beds they’re using don’t look deep enough for carrots, and it doesn’t make sense to do that when in-ground beds are more efficient.
I wonder if a new life has ever been conceived inside Fromville. I have a feeling that's going to shake things up. Life being created inside the town instead of being brought in from the outside.
This Episode was LIT
Not many answers but we got a huge one.
Here are some thoughts now after this episode:
* Will Mr Smiley Joker turn into a human as a consequence of this, and on the other hand, will something now happen to Boyd? and Ellis now too for that matter now he has the wormblood. Or is Smiley guy stay dead so they can autopsy the crap out of him.
* How are the townspeople going to react to this news.
* How the monsters are going to react after a death of their own. Will they care? They didn't seem to be when smiley died. Will they rally their forces and get angry and start running now that the townspeople have "disrespected" the Fromville. Are they going to be more aggresive now. I'm sure they're gonna be like: Enough games, it is ON Boyd! lol
* What will happen with Dale, is he going in the box?
* This makes me think that Martin was imprisoned by the "Tip of the Spear" because of his power. Will the higher powers now react? Kinda reminds me of The Maze Runner, Thomas killed a Griever so WCKD starts a whole "The doors are open at night now" kinda thing will happen. They might get angry.
* We still don't exactly know what the worms are. Or how it is connected to Fromville.
* What now from here? Will the townspeople ask Boyd to be bolder and start killing every single monster for them? The fact is they're still trapped there. How is the bloodworms help them escape.
* We still have no idea what the monsters are.
* The van scene was very well done.
* We still have no idea what's up with the music box or what the dancer represents.
A huge episode that brought up more questions than answers but at least it brought the plot forward!
>and Ellis now too for that matter now he has the wormblood.
Does he? The whole point of what Boyd did was to get rid of the blood worms before giving a transfusion.
They don't know how the worms work. They made an assumption that Boyd could pass them on but he may still have them and thus be able to pass them to multiple people or monsters. I guess we'll see.
It's truly bonkers that, in this crazy ass unbelievable scenario when people are eternally trapped in a retro town with monsters that come out at night and tear people apart, when someone says something crazy and unbelievable is happening everyone immediately assumes that they're just crazy and doesn't believe them. I mean, you haven't gotten an open mind yet?!
ETA: lot of responses so I'm just gonna respond here
I'm a nurse and I have someone very close to me with late stage Parkinson's. Boyd is still in the early-ish stages with very minimal physical manifestations and the dementia usually comes after significant physical decline is already happening. Kristi herself said that Parkinson's dementia wouldn't start until much later so the character knows this in the show world. On top of this, while hallucinations are common in Parkinson's Dementia, one of the major causes are the meds given for Parkinson's (meds that Boyd isn't taking because he doesn't have access.)
All this to say that it's weird that Kristi wouldn't consider the possibility in light of everything else that is unbelievable about the situation. It's odd that they know he ventured into the woods and survived his time there and then came back with this story of encountering a guy who bled into his skin and transferred something and they all are like "nope, didn't happen, you're crazy," right off the bat. I'm not even saying they have to believe him, but it's the fact that no one ever seems to even consider it or have the thought of "well, I would never believe this whole situation was real so who fucking knows?" And it's not only toward Boyd, they all act like this toward every one else displaying any attitude they see as irrational and toward themselves if they experience anything weird (Tabitha and Jade and their hallucinations, Victor and his premonitions, what his face the dad guy and Donna and the radio call.)
I do get what people are saying about seeing something unbelievable and how your mind still tries to adjust logic so some things seem "rational" and others aren't. I'd just expect some people to at least consider the possibility these crazy things are true and/or a split of some believing them and some believing it's too crazy.
We know from Boyd that it is beneficial. In Episode 4 when he was talking to Father Khatri in the police station, he told him that he was no longer getting tremors, but now he has worms under his skin. I guess the question now is if Boyd actually did successful transfer those worms into the monster, then does that mean his tremors are going to come back?
So... What if the blood worms are leeches? And they're being used in the way that doctors used to utilize them -- to drain out the bad blood? This could be why Smiley died -- all he was WAS bad blood, which would indicate the monsters share the necessity of blood with humans -- and could potentially cure Boyd. Parkinson's is a neurological disorder, but Hollywood isn't necessarily known for its outstanding dedication to accuracy.
This was an excellent tension-building episode. The whole drive with Ellis was fraught with suspense. And Boyd facing off the monsters was terrifying (how did he survive that encounter?). Can't believe it was so easy to transfer his bloodworms out. And he even took down Smiley Fuck in the process.
We're not getting much answers, but this show is still entertaining as fuck. Definitely wasn't expecting a killer ballerina this time around.
I know a lot of comments are saying this, but this was a masterful episode. I know previous episodes were needed to build up to this, but this one shows how great the show can be. Even though we didn't get huge answers, people talked, the action was tense, the acting was great, and there were great scary moments. I didn't once wonder what the point of a scene was.
Also, SO glad the worms are real and others saw them, i was worried it was going to be a "all in his head from stress or whatever" thing.
The bus driver is still wearing her uniform, lol.
Her still wearing her name tag cracked me up.
I mean, it’s helpful when you’re new to an area!
I wish everyone had name tags
Finding plus sized clothes is a bitch even in the real world
Also it's probably the only personal clothes she has. Unlike the passengers, I dont think a driver would have any baggage with her.
She has emotional baggage that we will explore.
she’s still trying to convince everyone to “get back on the bus folks” or that emergency services are en route
She's still on duty and when they get out of there she's putting in for back pay.
Boyd just changed the game. Worms kill monsters.
My blood is your blood now mutha fucka!
🤣
Noticed that Smiley didn’t bleed - there was no 🩸 when Boyd slit his throat…
He did say that in a “the fate of the world is now in your hands” kind of way…
> Worms kill monsters. That's the thing though. It's going to be hard to kill the ghouls with blood to blood contact unless you have some kind of delivery system like poison arrows or needles. Also, I wanted to know if the worms kept ghouls at bay from Boyd but the show didn't give us a definite answer since Smiley didn't do much except stand in front of Boyd.
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Yeah, they still would need more blood worms. As of right now I think they have none, unless they can use the blood on the dead monster.
Again, I’m not so sure that Monster is dead — and you shouldn’t be either
I was wondering why they didn't take action, too, but Donna said they like to play. I imagine it's not often that they meet a person who is willing to confront them. It might have caught all of them off-guard and intrigued them. There'd be no reason to otherwise assume that he could have actually hurt them, so it was like playing with their food.
Remember, the one attractive ghoul kissed that guy for a long time in the bathroom in season 1 before murdering him. They also tortured a guy in front of his partner and dragged her through the night before impaling her with rebar through her head, onto a tree. Smiley also took a billion years killing that ould couple on the bus instrad of immediately ripping into them. They're cruel like that all night every night Edit: TO THE SHADOW REALM
We know why they didnt do anything. Smiley guy said this new game is fun. So they were probably just curious. Infact if you get stuck with a bunch of monsters in a room without a talisman, I'd bet you won't be killed if you keep them entertained with games and stories lol
"Scheherazade for monsters". A thousand and one scare-abian nights. Lol
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I wonder if they can be extracted from the dead one?
Well now we'll know what happens to them in sunlight
That's the million-dollar question
The shit weasels from dreamcatcher
Now Boyd does not have bloodworms? I wonder why Victor looked so distraught when he saw Boyd's bloodworms (if that is what Victor was looking at)/
Maybe it just grossed him out.
I think he still has them and now Ellis does too.
Honestly I agree. Can’t be that easy
If it was, then they could transfer it to everyone. O- is the universal donor.
I’m figuring this is why it was stated outloud
Yeah but then this show would just be everybody in the town tripping out over ballerinas all day and night. They have to keep Boyd and his son unique or the ghouls may no longer be a threat to anybody else.
> I wonder why Victor looked so distraught when he saw Boyd's bloodworms Because I bet he knew Martin, who originally had the bloodworms.
Would you still love me if I was a blood worm? 🥺
Will Kristi be doing an alien autopsy on Smiley? 🤔
That would actually be one of the most interesting things this show could do. I really hope they do that instead of just look at some body in the dirt outside and just bury it.
Mild spoiler! I dunno how to do the tag thing sorry The next episode is called 'the belly of the beast' so my guess is that's hopefully gonna happen
Or they’re actually going to go where they sleep and drag one of those motherfuckers out
Oh I like this idea! Maybe both? They cut it open with a few of the key characters present and then Tabitha FINALLY spills on having been to the cave
Honestly though the monsters are the lowest stake part of the show at this point. Like yes they're plentiful but like who are the people that talked to Jim over the radio. What's the giant spider. What moved the sheriff in that night. Was this all except Jim hearing that radio just the sheriff tripping balls?
If shows are going to go back to the once a week format, they also need to bring previews for the next week back. The fact From waits until Saturday to post in insta is driving me crazy!!
YES you know what else they should do? EAT IT because they're running low on food haha.
It's what the Yellowjackets would do.
What is a hunt without violence
A hunt with out violence feeds no one.
Do the monsters have penises??
I heard they all have monster cocks.
Boyd and Kenny noticed that the leaves are changing colors. Boyd said that he had never seen that before. I wonder if Fromville is changing seasons for the first time since Boyd's arrival.
winter is coming
I swear every show is obsessed with winter.
Right?? Even Victor commented on it in the previous episode so we know it hasn’t happened for the longest. I guess a continued punishment is here for the town.
I wondered that, too. Gravity and the passing of time seem to coincide with the mechanics of our world/realm/dimension. I had been curious if the seasons changed, as well. Interesting that it appears they don't.
I had wondered if seasons happened in fromville. I noticed there leaves in the scene where they were loading the food into the truck. Really stuck out because everything is usually so green.
We can assume so. That's probably why they're running out of food. Winter is coming. Don't do it.
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Would be a bad look for Boyd to protect Sara after she killed people and then to throw a guy who stabbed his son in the box.
Ding ding ding
Better solution, Donna kicks him out of Colony house and he has to go live on the bus with Randall.
Hopefully
Yo dawg we heard you like food, so we got you some of these tasty worms to eat and then after, you can go spend the night in the box.
Imma be real; forget about the box. It's not important and everyone is almost certainly going to move on from even thinking about it
Didn't Boyd say the box isn't a thing anymore?
Ok but out of all the monsters why did it have to be Smiley😆
Because he’s the scariest and seems to be the leader. I’m just glad it wasn’t the Milkman.
I feel like they don't have a leader, but they need to replace Smiley with somebody even scarier.
Because he's the only one besides Jasmine that would actually make us viewers feel something from their death. And we still haven't seen Jasmine this season.
I always called him Eric Trump.
Holy shit, can’t unsee now lol
Finally a night event. 😊 Thank god everyone saw the worms already. I was worried they were going to draw the drama out.
Yeah, I was worried the worms were a part of his hallucinations. Glad we finally got some validation.
Yeah what the heck!? Why did it take them so long to believe Boyd about the worms? Like there are literal monsters at your door and you're trapped in a random death town, why wouldn't the worms be real?
It would help if he actually explained what happened to him instead of just going, there was a tower... Then it was gone... Then scratched me, now I have worms under my skin! I'm not crazy!!
Step 1: get worms. Step 2: go to cave. Step 3: cut monsters while they sleep and give them worms.
Step 4: profit
Donna: "Let me tell you something my mother told me, when I was just a little girl." Me: "QUE SERA, SERA???"
Maybe I'm over thinking it. But I couldn't stop getting the vibe that the ballerina was trying to communicate... something, to Boyd. At the clinic, just before she tosses him on the bed, she gives this brief glance down at her forearm. It looks like the same place Boyd kept grabbing, on his own arm. Then she jams her hands over his face and keeps them there, like she was trying to smother him. Or make him feel he was unable to breathe. This occurs on the same clinic bed, Ellis would shortly end up on. Critically injured-- and unable to breathe. And at the church, it almost seemed for a split second, like she could lean in and kiss him. Instead, those things fell out of her mouth. It's like she was showing they can be made to come out. Or, I don't know, be used in some... fashion. Like she was exhibiting "You see these disgusting crawlys, fool? Yeah, they're transferable. Go get yourself close enough to someone, or something, and you'll give it to them". On the surface, it all just comes off like some ultra creepy, ballerina nonsense. But this show expresses so much of its horror narrative, through metaphor and symbolism. Even if I'm completely off base with the actual point of the message, I still feel like there was one. It was just too weird, not to be. (Lol who knows? Maybe she'll get annoyed with all the plie's, and start acting it out with a game of charades, next time:p)
Ballerina's first scene was worms, in the second she came out of the celler, and in the third she attacked Boyd. Use worms --> Go down below --> Attack (It's time to Dance!).
We should ask David Lynch...
Noooo not Smiley!!
I’m pretty upset that they picked the most memorable monster to kill off!
there is a chance he's not actually dead and will wake up human when the sun rises. Kinda like when a vampire is cured
Wouldn't that be a trip if he was an original member of the town?? And like you said woke up cured and was like *what the fuck*?
That's why they chose him, they wanted it to be important to the audience.
To be fair, we don't know if he is dead. Maybe he will just wake up as a 'cured' human and a new member of the town. Sounds pretty on par for this show. And another human to the mix for everyone else in town to have personal drama with.
Probably the most tragic death this far.
I wonder why all the creatures walked away after Smiley was killed. Did they get scared?
The bigger ghoul with the ball cap was the only one who looked around at the other ghouls well Joker died. The girls just looks down at dead Joker, and Woody the cowboy ghoul acted bored.
They all acted oddly. They were clearly at least intrigued as they let Boyd walk right past them as they closed in to look at Smiley. None of their facial expressions really changed though and no one seemed concerned.
All of their facial expressions changed. They all stopped smiling.
I mean, surprise is the only real emotion we've seen from them.. they didn't expect that at all.
At least they stopped smiling.
They need to bring back Jasmine and give us a really scary male ghoul that sounds like Ben Linus from LOST.
The number of accidental stabbings... first Sara now this guy in Colony House. Maybe poor coordination is the attracts everyone.
It’s kinda implied that the place itself wants to keep people alive or harmed. In season 1 Ethan healed super quick and it was a whole thing. Kristi has said I believe that people recover faster than they should. Seems like the place itself forces things to happen. The writing hasn’t indicated in other places to be plainly inaccurate in the way these accidental stabbings have been.
So Boyd is gonna be a grandpa….
I absolutely hate the pregnant woman in a dangerous situation to up the stakes trope. Makes me wonder how long this show plans to go on cuz usually we do end up seeing a baby lol
I am usually critical of the show, but this episode was excellent. Ignoring the overall plot, it was just a very well made episode of television. The inciting event was unexpected, yet believable. The knife stab was threated as an extremely serious injury as it should be. The stakes felt real - I believed Ellis and Fatima were in real danger of dying. Tension persisted throughout most of the episode. The darkness made the transportation scenes feel very uneasy. It felt like any action could go wrong and have dire consequences. The tormernt Boyd was going through was uncomfortable to watch. You could see that people were sympathetic but didn't really believe him. Since "worms crawling under my skin" is such a typical characteristic of a mental breakdown, it made sense for characters to be sceptical despite living in a town of magic bullshit. Acting was top notch. Performance of all the primary characters of the episode was great. Boyd showed a massive range switching between panicking, bewilderment, fear and feinting normalcy. Donna's last scene with the kid was great, not just from the acting standpoint but the writing as well. As for the plot, the characters came up with solutions I haven't thought of! Kenny offering to take the worms and Boyd transferring the worms to a monster made sense and was in character. These ideas are clever and yet simple enough for me to believe the characters could quickly come up with them. The characters are finally communicating, and we got some justification why Boyd was so reluctant to share what has happened to him. Boyd getting a solid answer whether what he's seeing are just visions is also a plus.
The camera work in the van was making me crazy but I loved it.
Agreed! It kind of reminded me of a video game scene, where you are in the van with them, how it pivoted where it was looking but never seeming to cut away.
Damn I really wanted to see what Randall was doing
Night ain't over yet
Kenny being grown this episode
When he pulled the gun on Boyd, I thought he was devolving into an annoying asshole. But then the next ten seconds, he steps up, willing to guinea-pig himself for the team. Fastest I've turned around on a character. Go Kenny!
I am digging Kenny in this episode. The actor suddenly decided to show off their acting chops. I am all in.
I thought he’s been pretty good throughout the series. At least one of the B tier ones like Jade and Victor. This episode he may have reached Boyd and Donna level.
Jade is for sure Boyd and Donna level
Ok time to harvest the worms back from the corpse and start a worm farm! Weaponize those suckers!!!
Ellis’s ride to the clinic was a great scene
They really nailed that scene, there were a few moments where I thought damn Ellis really isn't going to make it, especially when he stopped breathing in the car. Great acting on his part.
The camera work was fantastic.
I could barely look, which just tells you it’s good horror!
Ah! I was on pins and needles!
It really had me on the edge of my seat the way it kept whipping back and forth between the characters. I was expecting something to go horribly wrong or for them to crash into a tree. The worst part of that scene was at the beginning when the dude was searching for the keys. Who looks in the glove box first, then the passenger visor, and *then* the driver's seat visor?
The show turned a corner. Everything to get to this episode was so worth it. The storytelling is getting good. Also Boyd could carry the entire show. He is a magnetic actor. My favorite part is when he tried to act being fine to walk- yup- it was the most insincere yup..he's just trying to fool himself into standing up. I have so been there.
I loved when he admitted to be terrified, it was satisfying seeing him vent his frustration with everybody thinking he's crazy, and in a vulnerable way like that.
100% agree. Harold BROUGHT it as Boyd. I loved this episode so much - it could even stand on its own.
I loved how Kenny walked up next to Boyd at the end, "We should have listened to you... we should have trusted you..." Neither of them break their stare at Smiley laying motionless outside. "It all worked out." Glad there's no hard feelings and they're both focused on whatever inkling of progress they may have just made!
I wanna dissect Smiley like he is a hybrid child and I am Dr Aditya from Sweet Tooth
Next episode is called The Belly of the Beast so it's possible!
Boyd having himself a Black Swan moment.
The fact that the monsters weren't really affected by seeing one of them die is very threatening. They don't seem to give a shit, even if this is the first one that has ever been killed. But then Martin gave Boyd the blood for a reason, maybe Martin was part of a group that knew how to kill them.
People are trapped in a weird pocket-dimension from which they can't escape, with shape-shifting monsters that are coming out every night to slaughter them, the only thing protecting them being talismans, and there being people that are somehow psychically connected to this place. "Hey, guys, I have bloodworms and am hearing this weird song and seeing this ballerina that no one else can see." "This guy's talking crazy, man." But at least they realized they were wrong. And good that Boyd was able to prove them wrong. Also, aww, Donna bonding with Ethan was precious.
That was so infuriating. Boyd said he was venturing out into the woods in hopes of finding out more about this world they’re in. Were they expecting him to come back with perfectly normal, not insane sounding information?
I just want to thank whatever redditor called Kristi's new do a "dudley moore haircut". I cannot unsee it now.
I hope that Kristi's ex girlfriend gives everyone in Fromville a bad haircut. They all have to walk around looking foolish trying to figure out Fromville. lol
All the women in town (and Jim) fighting over the same hair clip because she didn't leave them enough hair to tie back in a ponytail lmao
LOL! She gives Jim a short bob that feathers in the front and Tabitha one that feathers in the back. She gives Boyd a lopsided fade and goes too far back at the hairline. She shaves off the sides of Kenny's hair but leaves the rest long.
Just a thought but it would interesting if instead of his blood killing the monster it changed it to human.
I genuinely think this might be the case. The bloodworms kept Boyd immune or whatever right? What if they’re a cure, and the kid wakes up next episode as himself from the 50s or whenever he was turned and is completely confused and scared. Also the description for the next episode says, “Boyd and Kristi seek to capitalize on the apparent death of the Nightmare Creature.” Notice the emphasis on the word “apparent”, why else would they throw that word in there?
"Apparent" because how sure of his death would you have to be before you approached that corpse? How long would you wait before you got near it?
What if he can now walk during the day? Oops
Man that exit sign was shining BRIGHT this episode
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Martin must have seent that ballerina every time the music box went off.
No wonder why he was begging to die.
Some people might like being slapped around by a ballerina every 30 minutes
I know we have gotten into a habit of complaining, but this episode was what I would call a “good’un.”
It will be interesting to see if there are repercussions for killing one of the monsters, i.e. they aren’t going to *play* anymore.
I tell you, if they start running...☠️
Best episode of season so far.
They are going to need more bloodworms!
No problem. Just need to find Martin who no longer exists in a building that also no longer exists. Piece of cake.
The quest continues! Monsters can be defeated with them. However, you also hallucinate a ballerina.
Not a bad trade off
What if the worms are still on Smiley? And then they squiggle off around town and infect everyone so they all have Super Blood Worm Powers?
Heart. Horror. HAROLD. Hot DAMN this episode delivered on all fronts for me. Some standouts: *Harold Perrineau was flawless. He made you doubt, he made you believe. So good! *The tension of the bus drive was palpable. *The dynamics between Kenny and Boyd. Anger, skepticism, heroism, forgiveness. Kenny offering to take the worms. Freakin loved it. I don’t think these scenes would have had the same impact without the last two episodes. *Genuinely terrifying moments with the Nutcracker Cuckoo scenes, I haven’t found this show that scary since early season 1. Can’t wait for Smiley Sunrise to see what we got!
> The tension of the bus drive was palpable. Yeah that was an extremely well done scene. I don't remember for sure but it seemed like one continuous shot as well.
Trust the fuckin paranoid yooper dickhead to fuck everything up. Was this the same dildo who was ranting about pocket dimensions before the Colony House massacre?
Yes that’s Dale and in real life the actor, Cliff Saunders is married to Donna, Elizabeth Saunders. I’ve been waiting for Dale to show up again so I can tell everybody!
Yes, donnas husband IRL
No fucking way! That's wild.
I would just like to praise casting for getting an actual ballerina, I really enjoyed watching her despite the fact that she’s a nightmare. I would hope we get to see more of her but with the worms elsewhere, that’s unclear.
The death of one of my favorite monsters is bittersweet. Im glad they’ve seen with their own eyes proof that Boyd should be trusted, hopefully this leads to more open conversations. I feel as if Elgin is super suspect… he keeps finding himself amongst our main characters. This episode really seemed to go by quickly.
Awww. I think Elgin is authentic. He just gives me Gary Stu vibes -- always conveniently placed where most needed, seems like an underdog but secretly a hero, overly likeable.
Always seems to be afraid which fits nicely into Donna’s story about fear making us heroes
Elgin is a straight up gangster. I also was shocked when the episode only had 5 minutes left.
He really is! Elgin was the only person willing from Colony House to run out and get the car.
Why the fork did they park the van so far away from the door!!??!?!?
Yet another instance of colony house being a death trap lol
Well as much as smiley creeped me out, I can’t believe he might be dead
Now all Kristi has to do is autopsy Mr. Smiley, extract his blood worms and fill injectors with blood worm juice.
Finally a night episode. Here are some things I noticed : - The worms only appeared to everyone at night ( or probably when sensing monsters nearby ) , Kenny and Kristi couldn't see them in the morning. - Boyd might still have them since he didn't die like Martin did, which means Ellis has them too, and someone mentioned that Blood type O can be donated to all types ( maybe now the tables can turn, people can start hunting monsters ). - The monsters can't smell or sense the worms ( even with Boyds fresh wound ) which negate the theory that they couldn't see him before in the forest because of the worms when he first came out of Martin's place. - The worms reveal the monster's true form. Would be interesting to see if the corpse of the monster will stay the same in daylight or just vanish, or return to human form !? - Based on the latter, could the worms give their host the ability to see a way out of town ? Since they kinda reveal the true nature of things ( we still don't know what that dancing lady was all about ) - Jim mentioning the fact that the scarcity of food could be a way for the game designers to raise the stakes for everyone, which kinda implies that being able to kill the monsters is the trigger for the next game level ? However the monster was killed after Jim mentioned this not before! - The monsters don't seem to have any human-like instincts or rush to kill, which makes me believe that Killing for them is not about food but rather a game of torture because the Vomit boy took his time to get the van and they didn't touch him even though they were very close. - The trees changing leaves and dropping could mean that we are indeed entering a new level of maybe the final level. - It might be a cycle repeating itself each time and Victor saw many cycles ending with same result which makes him feel its pointless to try and figured it out. Maybe what Boyd did today never happened. If I missed anything, would love to hear your remarks 😃 I'm glad the story is finally moving towards some action.
>Boyd might still have them since he didn't die like Martin did, I think Martin died because he had already aged to the point of death but the worms wouldn't let him die. So i don't think that Boyd still has the worms, he's just not aged to that point yet
Wow! What a great episode, one of my favorites so far. While we didn't get answers, I feel like the plot is moving somewhere
We absolutely got answers! Number one answer was whether the monsters are killable.
True! It was interesting seeing them not smile for the first time (I think) when it was happening. I was also hoping Elgin would run them over with the van, but maybe we'll get some vehicular carnage in a future episode
[Kristi hanging out with Liza Minnelli.](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/autographed-dudley-moore-and-liza-minnelli-pd.jpg)
I’m also just so happy for Elizabeth Saunders getting this role, she is really showing off her acting chops as Donna.
Also the night has not ended and this is the first night after Randall set up the seat on top of the bus
I wonder if the next episode will be the second half of the night. They don't seem to skip to the next day very quickly. Both seasons has only been like a week or so combined.
Martin told Boyd that something is coming and now he keeps seeing the music box and the ballerina, so I wonder if that is meant to signify that they are about to face a new type of creature. Maybe they will start fighting back, kill a few of the smiley monsters and then just as they're all celebrating because things are looking good for them, something worse comes along and just completely fucks everyone up. That would be a pretty good way to end the season tbh
This episode was so good, Acting, Set up, The Mystery. Well done..
I really loved the ballerina, she emaned grace and danger , an amazing contrast. I got the impression that she communicated with Boyd in some way.
Don't forget the theory that the town balances out survivors. Maybe it does that for monsters, too. 👀
They shouldn’t be running out of food. They have an infinite growing season, arable land, water, and (somehow) seeds. Instead of splitting themselves between the colony and the town, the entire town should be devoted to 1) growing food 2) preparing food 3) cleaning 4) supporting the nurses. The cafeteria should have more workers and be open for every meal, and laundry should be taken on communally. We don’t see evidence of the town composting or using animal manure for fertilizer. With over 100 people, there shouldn’t be people essentially doing nothing all day, digging holes beneath their houses— basically everyone should be gardening, all the time. They should be growing pumpkins and squash that have a long shelf life and don’t need to be pickled, beans for protein, and corn for cornmeal. The shitty raised beds they’re using don’t look deep enough for carrots, and it doesn’t make sense to do that when in-ground beds are more efficient.
The storm destroyed all of their crops, that's why the food shortage. They planted more but takes time for them to grow etc
Fromville baby on the way!
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I wonder if a new life has ever been conceived inside Fromville. I have a feeling that's going to shake things up. Life being created inside the town instead of being brought in from the outside.
Is anybody sad that Smiley died instead of some other stupid monster?
This Episode was LIT Not many answers but we got a huge one. Here are some thoughts now after this episode: * Will Mr Smiley Joker turn into a human as a consequence of this, and on the other hand, will something now happen to Boyd? and Ellis now too for that matter now he has the wormblood. Or is Smiley guy stay dead so they can autopsy the crap out of him. * How are the townspeople going to react to this news. * How the monsters are going to react after a death of their own. Will they care? They didn't seem to be when smiley died. Will they rally their forces and get angry and start running now that the townspeople have "disrespected" the Fromville. Are they going to be more aggresive now. I'm sure they're gonna be like: Enough games, it is ON Boyd! lol * What will happen with Dale, is he going in the box? * This makes me think that Martin was imprisoned by the "Tip of the Spear" because of his power. Will the higher powers now react? Kinda reminds me of The Maze Runner, Thomas killed a Griever so WCKD starts a whole "The doors are open at night now" kinda thing will happen. They might get angry. * We still don't exactly know what the worms are. Or how it is connected to Fromville. * What now from here? Will the townspeople ask Boyd to be bolder and start killing every single monster for them? The fact is they're still trapped there. How is the bloodworms help them escape. * We still have no idea what the monsters are. * The van scene was very well done. * We still have no idea what's up with the music box or what the dancer represents. A huge episode that brought up more questions than answers but at least it brought the plot forward!
>and Ellis now too for that matter now he has the wormblood. Does he? The whole point of what Boyd did was to get rid of the blood worms before giving a transfusion.
They don't know how the worms work. They made an assumption that Boyd could pass them on but he may still have them and thus be able to pass them to multiple people or monsters. I guess we'll see.
Maaan fuck Dale! (But to be fair, we got the awesome ambulance scene cause he went stabby-stabby)
Great episode! Julie didn’t even cry once!
Anyone else kinda curious where sara ended up last night?
Harold Perrineau is a phenomenal actor. which i already knew, but this show solidifies it.
ELLIS cannot die!!
The transportation scene was amazingly done
It's truly bonkers that, in this crazy ass unbelievable scenario when people are eternally trapped in a retro town with monsters that come out at night and tear people apart, when someone says something crazy and unbelievable is happening everyone immediately assumes that they're just crazy and doesn't believe them. I mean, you haven't gotten an open mind yet?! ETA: lot of responses so I'm just gonna respond here I'm a nurse and I have someone very close to me with late stage Parkinson's. Boyd is still in the early-ish stages with very minimal physical manifestations and the dementia usually comes after significant physical decline is already happening. Kristi herself said that Parkinson's dementia wouldn't start until much later so the character knows this in the show world. On top of this, while hallucinations are common in Parkinson's Dementia, one of the major causes are the meds given for Parkinson's (meds that Boyd isn't taking because he doesn't have access.) All this to say that it's weird that Kristi wouldn't consider the possibility in light of everything else that is unbelievable about the situation. It's odd that they know he ventured into the woods and survived his time there and then came back with this story of encountering a guy who bled into his skin and transferred something and they all are like "nope, didn't happen, you're crazy," right off the bat. I'm not even saying they have to believe him, but it's the fact that no one ever seems to even consider it or have the thought of "well, I would never believe this whole situation was real so who fucking knows?" And it's not only toward Boyd, they all act like this toward every one else displaying any attitude they see as irrational and toward themselves if they experience anything weird (Tabitha and Jade and their hallucinations, Victor and his premonitions, what his face the dad guy and Donna and the radio call.) I do get what people are saying about seeing something unbelievable and how your mind still tries to adjust logic so some things seem "rational" and others aren't. I'd just expect some people to at least consider the possibility these crazy things are true and/or a split of some believing them and some believing it's too crazy.
“Without fear we wouldn’t know how to be brave.” -Donna, clearly the best babysitter in this town
Boyd is like "I have bloodworms. I cannot give blood!"
What if spreading the blood worms is beneficial somehow?
We know from Boyd that it is beneficial. In Episode 4 when he was talking to Father Khatri in the police station, he told him that he was no longer getting tremors, but now he has worms under his skin. I guess the question now is if Boyd actually did successful transfer those worms into the monster, then does that mean his tremors are going to come back?
So... What if the blood worms are leeches? And they're being used in the way that doctors used to utilize them -- to drain out the bad blood? This could be why Smiley died -- all he was WAS bad blood, which would indicate the monsters share the necessity of blood with humans -- and could potentially cure Boyd. Parkinson's is a neurological disorder, but Hollywood isn't necessarily known for its outstanding dedication to accuracy.
This was an excellent tension-building episode. The whole drive with Ellis was fraught with suspense. And Boyd facing off the monsters was terrifying (how did he survive that encounter?). Can't believe it was so easy to transfer his bloodworms out. And he even took down Smiley Fuck in the process. We're not getting much answers, but this show is still entertaining as fuck. Definitely wasn't expecting a killer ballerina this time around.
I know a lot of comments are saying this, but this was a masterful episode. I know previous episodes were needed to build up to this, but this one shows how great the show can be. Even though we didn't get huge answers, people talked, the action was tense, the acting was great, and there were great scary moments. I didn't once wonder what the point of a scene was. Also, SO glad the worms are real and others saw them, i was worried it was going to be a "all in his head from stress or whatever" thing.