Previous on ‘The Mist‘ – I saw Frances Conroy’s bum. That is literally all you need to know about last week. (Her bum is fabulous by the way.)
What The Fuck?!
I guess I have to just go straight into this! I repeat – WHAT THE FUCK! Everyone decided to go just a little bit crazy this week. This is officially my favorite episode of the season to date. Everything worked. The tension at points of this episode was intense. I’ve been quite hard on some of the characters so far, but after the events this week I take almost all of it back. (Some of my points about Eve I’m totally sticking too.)
I knew it!
There have been hints for weeks that Adrian was the rapist. However this week, not only did the truth come out. So did every single other bit of crazy that Adrian has been holding back. I have to say that Russel Posner was superb in every single scene. He brought some Grade A psychopath to the forefront this week but managed to try and keep some shred of humanity. Then Adrian shot his Dad and tried to kill Kevin. But he did it with some humanity. The revelation that he had raped Alex to poison her against Jay was jaw dropping. Not that he did it, it was finally getting to see the depth of darkness in him.
The whole setting of Adrian’s house and the ensuing interactions with his father brought some needed depth to Adrian. At first, you’re led to feel sorry for him. In the first episode Adrian’s dad was not painted in the best of lights, so when you saw he was covered in blood, the natural assumption is that he’s going to be a villain. The subsequent reveal that all along Adrian has been the villain was brilliant. From his hysterical confession to first his father and then Kevin, he’s cemented himself as a dead man walking next week.
Jonah and Mia finally consummated their relationship. After the weeks of building up to it, I was glad they had a moment together. It’s quite obvious that Mia is keeping more secrets and with this being ‘The Mist’, there’s a huge chance they’ll have to deal with something horrific next week.
Gus Is A Bad Man.
I was only complaining last week that Gus had barely lived up to any hype. “The Law of Nature” gave him the chance to show how far he is willing to go to remain in the mall. Although his food smuggling has seemed small when his safety is threatened he wasted no time in killing his accuser. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he wasted no time in using the mounting paranoia about Alex to his advantage and accuse her.
Eve featured very little this week, but after an episode filled with eye rolling moments aimed towards Alex and Jay, I’m glad. The romance between the two teens is very uncomfortable to watch. I’m quite happy Eve decided to lock Jay in the basement. At the very least it keeps the love birds apart. It’ll be interesting to see if the reason the mist didn’t want Alex comes out in the next episode. It didn’t want Nathalie or Adrian either – for all we know Alex could also be a murderous psychopath.
The Church Of Nathalie
Frances Conroy was beyond good this week. In fact, the entire church setting was fantastic. Not only did Nathalie command the rest of the congregation, but she also had me enthralled. The slow descent into darkness with her character has been so gradual that by this point, there is no memory of the early days. The events of last week have renewed her faith in the purpose of the mist. Crooked Connor also did amazingly this week. He’s been without a cause since Kevin escaped and watched Nathalie convince him to murder his son was mesmerizing. Watching him grasp towards a purpose and the acceptance that came with it showed the depth his character had sunk too. Darren Pettie did a terrific job during his breakdown, however bittersweet it is, now that we know Jay is innocent.
When only four of the church characters decided to leave, I had an ominous feeling about those that had rejected Nathalie. Sure enough, when she set the church ablaze and locked them in it cemented that she had completed her journey to the darkness. Screaming soundtrack included. Her power over her new followers extended to making sure they all played a part in sacrificing the remaining church characters.
Verdict
I cannot wait for the next two weeks! This show is the definition of a slow burner. It’s a shame that a lot of people might have switched off around episode 4 or 5, because if they’d just stuck with we’re starting to get the payoff. I’m guilty of this thinking myself. Watching how the characters have evolved to fit into the new world around them has been engrossing. This week was a fantastic pay off to a lot of loose ends story lines and has started bringing them all together for what I can only assume is going to be a bloody and horrific showdown.
