Episodic Classics: Enlightened, "Higher Power" & "Follow Me"| Season 2, Episodes 3 & 4
An interlude and an escalation explore Amy's influence
Having only eight episodes to work with in Enlightened’s second (and, as it turns out, last) season, should have seen Mike White focusing on Amy Jellicoe and her siege on Abaddon with even more directness. Instead, two of Season 2’s scant episodes are taken completely out of Amy’s hands, and her words, as the usual beginning and ending narration of “Higher Power” and “The Ghost Is Seen” (coming next review) is given to Levi and Tyler, respectively.
Even returning to the Amy-centric narrative for the episode sandwiched between these two (“Follow Me”) sees White subtly shifting Enlightened on its storytelling axis. Levi’s time at Open Air, which makes up the bulk of “Higher Power,” shows how even Amy’s blinkered control of her steamroller quest for all things good and just has influence on those around her. And “Follow Me” expands our understanding of how that quest can be diverted into even more potent and unpredictable directions.