I definitely share some of the quibbles of the other commenters in terms of the procedural dynamics of the various murders/attempted murders. There’s three separate new characters whose actions have to be legible in order to generate the requisite carnage, and I don’t know that the episode (even with a longer run time) gets there? I liked Hsu here, but Morty felt like a wild card who just got very dumb as soon as the plot needed her to get out of the way. And while I’m with you, Josh, on the shock of when they have him just straight up stab Charlie, I do wonder why Trey wouldn’t have…double checked? This time? It just ends up feeling a bit contrived, in ways that muddle the ending.
That said, the contrivance may have been front of mind for me after SO MUCH GREEN SCREEN. I respect that the show has lots of challenges in terms of budget and sets with an episodic structure, but the virtual nature of so many of these sets was a consistent distraction, and they didn’t have the budget to hide it well enough.
Me can buy that Charlie stumbles onto murder over and over, because that premise of show. Me can buy that Charlie basically indestructible, because we need her to stay alive for show to continue. But this otherwise expertly-constructed episode ended up with two very sour chocolate chips in cookie.
While David Castañeda is giving speech at end of episode, how he not notice JGL pulling out gun and pointing it at his head? It would have been easiest thing in world to have him look back at Charlie, or at deer head, or be distracted somehow.
And while it unlikely Charlie would survive stab wound, especially after everything else she went through this episode... how on Earth would JGL leave her for dead *twice*? When he could have just slit her throat after stabbing her, just to be on safe side? After certain point, me can only suspend so much disbelief.
Which is shame, because it was otherwise expertly written-and-directed episode. And while JGL and Hsu are heavy hitters, Castañeta was real standout, which was another nice twist, given he not given much acting heavy lifting to do on Umbrella Academy.
Yes yes yes to the LOST reference! Also, the deer in the woods gave me major Hannibal vibes; I assumed NBC was just getting some more miles of the existing CGI they had on hand (and in its own way was another excellent mystery show with characters who seemingly had superpowers). The comments already covered the problematic 24 hours Charlie went through from being hit by what was established as a car going very very fast and ending with getting stabbed in the chest, but I guess we have to just go with it at this point since she's the protagonist. I'm glad she finally addressed all the death that follows her around, albeit briefly. The one twist I loved the most was establishing Morty's habit of stealing her wallet as the reveal she was able to fake her own death. To have Billy Bratt waiting for her in the parking lot rug pulled a lot of that joy almost immediately.
I was confused at the end. When Bratt talked about putting her in a hole, did he think she was dead in the morgue or Jane Doe? As for the episode, I agree this week’s episode and last week’s were fantastic. This show sneaks up on you. It’s really found its groove.
Like others, I was surprised that Charlie was able to survive the final stabbing. I was actually expecting a reveal that her wallet cushioned the below somehow; that would've paid off Mortimer stealing it all those times. As to Trey not checking to make sure she was dead, perhaps he just wanted to hustle back to his house before 7am, and thus assumed he'd done a good enough job? He did only barely make it as is.
Can't really explain why Benjamin Bratt knew she was in the hospital, unless he somehow heard Charlie Cale was dead, went to the morgue and say that it was instead Mortimer, then figured out a Jane Doe was taken to Denver Hospital...but that's a whole lot of steps. Guess it also depends on how much time has passed between 7am when the anklet goes off and when Charlie wakes up in the hospital.
Quibbles aside, this episode was quite excellent, for all the reasons Josh went into in his review.
There was a lot to like about this episode but I am definitely having trouble suspending enough disbelief to go along with Charlie surviving being hit by a speeding car, buried and left for dead, then stabbed and buried again, all because a Harvard educated murdering psychopath didn’t make sure he finished the job. It’s TV, I guess by this was a bit much for me.
Otherwise I generally liked the misdirection. While watching the intro I was even thinking about what kind of twist they were going to throw in. Then I was genuinely surprised when it was Charlie who was hit (though I guess mainly because I didn’t see how someone could survive that, or at least come out in any condition to carry on with the plot).
The opening montage was masterful. Gilligan and Gould would be proud.
I loved the ending. I am a sucker for back-door oneupmanship stuff and thought Charlie stealing the ankle bracelet was an absolutely perfect ending to the episode. Chekov’s ankle bracelet and Morty’s kleptomaniac influence coming together seamlessly. Bravo!
I was going to post something a couple of weeks ago about the episode endings in this series being hit or miss for me. In particular I wasn’t too excited about the ending of the theater episode or the race car episode. “Shit Mountain” shows us how it can be done.
I need to rewatch the very last scene but was it made clear that Benjamin Bratt was outside the hospital, or is it possible he was outside the morgue where Charlie supposedly is being held?
I can’t wait for the season finale next week. Though I’m not expecting to get full closure on the initial casino plot. They really haven’t spent much time on it outside of the premiere. My guess is that there will be some intersection of Benjamin Bratt and Charlie’s FBI guy that will create a new level of chaos and set everything up for season 2. And it will probably be enough to have me seriously consider shelling out for a Peacock subscription even after it drops from the Xfinity package.
One thing that I've noticed throughout the season and have been meaning to mention is just how good the cinematography has been. I've read interviews with Steve Yedlin (Rian Johnson's regular cinematographer and the person who shot this episode) where he basically says it's his life goal to find a way to make something shot on digital resemble something shot on film as closely as possible, and this might be the closest he's yet some. There have been some compositions throughout that could have fooled me, but the way the wood on the interior of the inn looked when it was being lighted only by candles and the shot of Trey and Jimmy bathed in the red of a set of brake lights were some standout images in a season that hasn't been short on them.
I liked the episode for the most part, though I am still confused how Charlie survived a knife being driven into her sternum, which is bound to hit something vital. I thought I missed something obvious (like the knife being brass or some prop she had under the sweater), but judging by the comments I did not. In addition, I was also annoyed by the terrible CGI. Fortunately, the acting more than made up for these quibbles. Nice to see a decidedly sleezy JGL being the worst kind of man.
It'll be interesting to see how they pivot to a second season. The series is already acknowledging the dark year she is having by running into murder after murder, which is at some point will get silly.
I definitely share some of the quibbles of the other commenters in terms of the procedural dynamics of the various murders/attempted murders. There’s three separate new characters whose actions have to be legible in order to generate the requisite carnage, and I don’t know that the episode (even with a longer run time) gets there? I liked Hsu here, but Morty felt like a wild card who just got very dumb as soon as the plot needed her to get out of the way. And while I’m with you, Josh, on the shock of when they have him just straight up stab Charlie, I do wonder why Trey wouldn’t have…double checked? This time? It just ends up feeling a bit contrived, in ways that muddle the ending.
That said, the contrivance may have been front of mind for me after SO MUCH GREEN SCREEN. I respect that the show has lots of challenges in terms of budget and sets with an episodic structure, but the virtual nature of so many of these sets was a consistent distraction, and they didn’t have the budget to hide it well enough.
Me can buy that Charlie stumbles onto murder over and over, because that premise of show. Me can buy that Charlie basically indestructible, because we need her to stay alive for show to continue. But this otherwise expertly-constructed episode ended up with two very sour chocolate chips in cookie.
While David Castañeda is giving speech at end of episode, how he not notice JGL pulling out gun and pointing it at his head? It would have been easiest thing in world to have him look back at Charlie, or at deer head, or be distracted somehow.
And while it unlikely Charlie would survive stab wound, especially after everything else she went through this episode... how on Earth would JGL leave her for dead *twice*? When he could have just slit her throat after stabbing her, just to be on safe side? After certain point, me can only suspend so much disbelief.
Which is shame, because it was otherwise expertly written-and-directed episode. And while JGL and Hsu are heavy hitters, Castañeta was real standout, which was another nice twist, given he not given much acting heavy lifting to do on Umbrella Academy.
Yes yes yes to the LOST reference! Also, the deer in the woods gave me major Hannibal vibes; I assumed NBC was just getting some more miles of the existing CGI they had on hand (and in its own way was another excellent mystery show with characters who seemingly had superpowers). The comments already covered the problematic 24 hours Charlie went through from being hit by what was established as a car going very very fast and ending with getting stabbed in the chest, but I guess we have to just go with it at this point since she's the protagonist. I'm glad she finally addressed all the death that follows her around, albeit briefly. The one twist I loved the most was establishing Morty's habit of stealing her wallet as the reveal she was able to fake her own death. To have Billy Bratt waiting for her in the parking lot rug pulled a lot of that joy almost immediately.
I was confused at the end. When Bratt talked about putting her in a hole, did he think she was dead in the morgue or Jane Doe? As for the episode, I agree this week’s episode and last week’s were fantastic. This show sneaks up on you. It’s really found its groove.
“Who else among this year’s crop of Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominees should show up on Poker Face next season”
Angela Bassett should do the thing
Like others, I was surprised that Charlie was able to survive the final stabbing. I was actually expecting a reveal that her wallet cushioned the below somehow; that would've paid off Mortimer stealing it all those times. As to Trey not checking to make sure she was dead, perhaps he just wanted to hustle back to his house before 7am, and thus assumed he'd done a good enough job? He did only barely make it as is.
Can't really explain why Benjamin Bratt knew she was in the hospital, unless he somehow heard Charlie Cale was dead, went to the morgue and say that it was instead Mortimer, then figured out a Jane Doe was taken to Denver Hospital...but that's a whole lot of steps. Guess it also depends on how much time has passed between 7am when the anklet goes off and when Charlie wakes up in the hospital.
Quibbles aside, this episode was quite excellent, for all the reasons Josh went into in his review.
There was a lot to like about this episode but I am definitely having trouble suspending enough disbelief to go along with Charlie surviving being hit by a speeding car, buried and left for dead, then stabbed and buried again, all because a Harvard educated murdering psychopath didn’t make sure he finished the job. It’s TV, I guess by this was a bit much for me.
Otherwise I generally liked the misdirection. While watching the intro I was even thinking about what kind of twist they were going to throw in. Then I was genuinely surprised when it was Charlie who was hit (though I guess mainly because I didn’t see how someone could survive that, or at least come out in any condition to carry on with the plot).
The opening montage was masterful. Gilligan and Gould would be proud.
I loved the ending. I am a sucker for back-door oneupmanship stuff and thought Charlie stealing the ankle bracelet was an absolutely perfect ending to the episode. Chekov’s ankle bracelet and Morty’s kleptomaniac influence coming together seamlessly. Bravo!
I was going to post something a couple of weeks ago about the episode endings in this series being hit or miss for me. In particular I wasn’t too excited about the ending of the theater episode or the race car episode. “Shit Mountain” shows us how it can be done.
I need to rewatch the very last scene but was it made clear that Benjamin Bratt was outside the hospital, or is it possible he was outside the morgue where Charlie supposedly is being held?
I can’t wait for the season finale next week. Though I’m not expecting to get full closure on the initial casino plot. They really haven’t spent much time on it outside of the premiere. My guess is that there will be some intersection of Benjamin Bratt and Charlie’s FBI guy that will create a new level of chaos and set everything up for season 2. And it will probably be enough to have me seriously consider shelling out for a Peacock subscription even after it drops from the Xfinity package.
One thing that I've noticed throughout the season and have been meaning to mention is just how good the cinematography has been. I've read interviews with Steve Yedlin (Rian Johnson's regular cinematographer and the person who shot this episode) where he basically says it's his life goal to find a way to make something shot on digital resemble something shot on film as closely as possible, and this might be the closest he's yet some. There have been some compositions throughout that could have fooled me, but the way the wood on the interior of the inn looked when it was being lighted only by candles and the shot of Trey and Jimmy bathed in the red of a set of brake lights were some standout images in a season that hasn't been short on them.
I liked the episode for the most part, though I am still confused how Charlie survived a knife being driven into her sternum, which is bound to hit something vital. I thought I missed something obvious (like the knife being brass or some prop she had under the sweater), but judging by the comments I did not. In addition, I was also annoyed by the terrible CGI. Fortunately, the acting more than made up for these quibbles. Nice to see a decidedly sleezy JGL being the worst kind of man.
It'll be interesting to see how they pivot to a second season. The series is already acknowledging the dark year she is having by running into murder after murder, which is at some point will get silly.