NOS4A2 :: Someone’s on a naughty list

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It’s interesting how the episode titles of NOS4A2 reference the smallest scene in the episode. Last week’s ‘Scissors for the Drifter’ referred to the brief final few moments, and this week’s ‘Panassus’ is not a reference to a natural structure in New Jersey … it’s some kind of dive bar full of Stephen King Easter eggs. Although it could be a reference to Mount Parnassus from Greek mythology, the home of the Muses. Could Charlie Manx and the others (like the Pennywise knock-off with the red balloon) be considered Muses for this day and age? That’s a chilling thought, more like Anti-Muses.

But that bar is where Charlie Manx spends the bulk of his time on this week’s episode, and everyone there — including the clown’ seem terrified of him, scittering out of the place like roaches when the light comes on as he enters. Only one patron stays, Abe, and he seems to be the only person Charlie can confide in about Vic McQueen and the death of Jolene. Abe reminds Charlie that nothing good has ever come from opening up to a woman, revealing his Inscape — Christmasland — to them, but those words of warning fall on deaf ears. Charlie is convinced there is something special about Vic and he is determined to bring her to Christmasland.

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Unfortunately, he’s got the dolt Bing Partridge working as his henchman and he rarely has a thought of his own — unless it’s a really bad one. He’s constantly haunted by Manx railing at him about allowing Vic to get into his head and do stupid things, so Bing puts on his gas mask and enters Vic’s home while she and her mother are at a celebration party for Vic’s acceptance into RISD (and the only person not celebrating is dear old mom). But Bing finds a box with booze, weed and condoms in Vic’s room, but mom comes home so he slips out unnoticed except for the creaking floorboard in Vic’s room. Linda somehow think’s Vic beat her home from the party and finds the box on the bed when she goes into Vic’s room.

When Vic does return, Linda has taken Vic’s computer and art supplies, saying this box proves she’s not ready to be a grown up and forbids her to attend RISD. Vic storms out and right into Bing’s clutches where he binds her up in his basement and says that he has to kill her, convinced that is what Charlie wants. Vic tries to sway Bing with information from the chat she had at the bus station revealing that Charlie wants to take her to Christmasland. Bing doesn’t believe her because she’s ‘naughty’ (Charlie believes her to be pure). He can’t get in touch with Charlie and seems to reconsider but eventually he determines Vic has to die because that will put him on Charlie’s ‘nice list’. Luckily Vic had enough time to saw through the duct tape with the pin Craig gave her at Bike Week, kicked Bing in his ornaments, and then gassed him so she could get away.

Vic calls Maggie and asks her to ask her Scrabble tiles where her bike is, but Maggie reveals she threw the tiles away. Maggie is also high as a kite at this point, falling back into old habits to deal with her injuries and Sheriff Bly’s disappearance. But, opening the front door she finds the Scrabble bag sitting on the doorstep. (I have to give a shout out to Jahkara J. Smith this week because I’ve been really hard on her but she finally turned in a really nice performance this week.) She asks the tiles where Bly is, and she pulls out four: DEAD. Not dealing with that information very well, Maggie heads out to a local bar and hooks up with a girl she saw popping a pill. Maggie ends up stealing the pills from the girls purse and finds herself parked on an old, dirty mattress beside a dumpster outside of the bar. She asks the tiles where Vic’s bike is and the result was: THE BRAT. It’s been with her the whole time. Linda never sold it.

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Maggie manages to call Vic with the information before she passes out and Vic confronts her mother. But she can see Linda is hurting and she realizes that her jealousy about Vic going to RISD (which is only two hours away) is actually a manifestation of her own fear or being alone. She never left Chris even during the worst times because she didn’t want to be alone. And now with Vic leaving, she’s truly terrified of being left alone. But she admits she never sold the bike and Vic finds it in the basement. Hopping on she is able to manifest her Inscape, the covered bridge, which directs her to Maggie. She manages to get Maggie a bit sobered up with the old fingers down the throat trick …

… and now we’re left wondering how all this will end with next week’s two-hour season finale. Actually it may not end as the show has been renewed for a second season, despite the fact that most of the show’s viewers feel the same way as I do about it — it’s moving at a glacial pace and there’s too much focus on Vic and her parents. Let’s hope the finale moves things along and into a new, more interesting direction.

The NOS4A2 two hour season finale airs Sunday, July 28 at 9:00 PM on AMC.

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