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I had a bad feeling about this episode the second I saw the title. Not that I thought the episode itself would be bad — something I would not have said last season — but that some terrible fate would befall the character named in the title. One episode this season was titled ‘Bruce Wayne McQueen’ and we know how that went for him, now still in the clutches of Charlie Manx. So what fate will befall his grandfather Chris?
The episode opened with a painfully long, uncomfortable eulogy by Chris for his father. And it was clear from his words that the apple did not fall far from the terrible parenting tree. Everything Chris became was basically learned behavior from his father, which goes a long way to proving nuture can have a huge impact on nature.
The bulk of the episode was the race to catch up to Charlie and Wayne. The problem was that no one knew where to find him until Vic, Chris and Lou successfully rebuilt her ‘knife’. And now with Chris and Linda fully on board with Vic’s magical powers, Chris rode along with her across the Shorter Way, and Linda even managed to see the covered bridge with her own two eyes. On the other side, Vic and Chris found the wounded Bing but the Wraith was nowhere to be found. Before Vic could get any information from Bing, Chris lost his cool and nearly finished the job Charlie had started, but Vic managed to calm him down. Without Bing, they can’t find Wayne.
With Tabitha’s help, Bing was patched up at the hospital and immediately arrested and taken to jail in, I assume, Haverhill since Linda and Lou and Maggie and Tabitha were all there as well. Tabitha requested she be allowed to question Bing, assuring her bosses that she could get the necessary information from him about Wayne. She was clever enough to play on Bing’s feelings of betrayal by Charlie, using her own hurt feelings towards her superiors to get him to talk. And she promised he could talk to Vic if he told her what she wanted to know. He did, and he told Vic he was sorry for bringing Mr. Manx back to life, and that he tried to save Wayne. He also misses being her friend and says once he goes to prison he’ll be all alone. He just wants her to forgive him, and then tells Vic that in order for a child to enter Christmasland, there is one last stop on the way where Mr. Manx allows the child to get out of the car and hang a Christmas ornament on a tree. Vic knows immediately he’s referring to the grove at Sleigh House. Vic leaves Bing and asks Maggie to use her tiles.
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Tabitha’s superiors are impressed that she got Bing to give up so much information, and they believe Wayne is dead and buried at the junkyard. They ask Tabitha what she thinks and she agrees with them, but she obviously knows that is not true. But she said what she had to say and got her badge back. Outside, she say Vic and Maggie in the SUV and she knew Maggie was hurting herself so she could use the tiles. After Vic exited, Tabitha promised she’s keep the FBI off her back while she headed to Colorado. In the car, she told Maggie she wants to live in the real world all the time. She can’t handle all this supernatural stuff and wants Maggie to be happy, being who she is. It was a very heart-wrenching break-up, but Tabitha still offered to drive Maggie to the airport so she and Lou could join Vic in Colorado to stop Charlie.
Chris wants to go with Vic to Colorado but she’s not ready for him to lose his temper again and screw up the rescue mission. She relents because they’re bringing more bombs along and she really doesn’t know how to operate the ones on timers. Once on the road leading to Sleigh House, the two have a heart-to-heart with Vic beating herself up and telling her father she didn’t want to be the terrible parent he was. He tells her she has to stop blaming herself for Charlie Manx and Wayne’s abduction. She doesn’t have to forgive him, but if she doesn’t let herself off that hook and forgive herself, she’ll hang on it forever.
Maggie and Lou arrive (and it’s amazing how quickly everyone can move about the country with flights readily available right when they need them), and they and Vic go to the grove. Maggie asks the tiles if they can save the children and the reply is ‘When Souls Fall’. The meaning is unclear, but Vic hears a child’s voice and tries to find the source. She discovers it’s Millie, who tells her that if her father dies all the children at Christmasland will die too. Millie also says she just wants to grow up and asks for Vic’s help to get out. Vic can’t see anything but to prove she’s there, Millie rolls a snowball through the white static on her side. Vic is shocked to the it object come from nowhere but it quickly evaporates. She says she’ll help Millie, but the question is can she?
It’s dark now and Charlie is finally on the road to Sleigh House. He lets Wayne out of the car and tells him to hang his ornament — that cool bat ornament — on a very special branch. While Wayne is looking for the right spot, the Wraith’s horn starts beeping, sounding an alarm, and the lights begin flashing. Charlie hears the sounds of Vic’s motorcycle and drives off in her direction, while in the grove Maggie sees Wayne. But he sees her too and snarls at her and runs off. Then Lou finds him and for a moment Wayne seems to be himself again, but he sinks his new fangs into Lou’s shoulder as they hug and runs off again.
Charlie can see Vic on her bike waiting for him, and after a brief standoff be drives toward her. Unfortunately, Chris goes zero for three with the bombs they planted in the road, and as Charlie gets closer, Vic’s bike shuts down. As Charlie barrels ever faster in her direction, it’s clear she’s going to be hit but Chris intervenes and pushes her out of the way. The bike pins her legs and as Chris falls, Charlie runs him over. With either of them unable to move, Charlie gets out of the car, and grabs Chris by his hair, telling him what a terrible father he’s been. And as Vic watches helplessly, Charlie takes Chris’ head in both hands and quickly snaps his neck. RIP Chris McQuenn. Wayne gets back in the car, ignoring his mother’s voice and the two drive off to Christmasland.
NOS4A2 airs Sundays at 10:00 PM on AMC.
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