S01.E01: Sundown

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2020.08.16

Quote

Atticus Freeman meets up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father.

 

[peridot]

I really liked it.  I loved that the protagonists were into sci-fi and were able to make logical leaps in a crazy situation. Uncle George knows a lot more than he's letting on.It was hard to see all of the true-to-life violence and discrimination, I really can't believe it was normal to call up someone to run black people out of town. 

I was hoping that the sheriff would actually let them go, but I was too optimistic.  I'm interested in seeing what happens next, since Ubbe appeared in a mansion.

[ShellsandCheese]

I loved it. And JM is smoking as Atticus. I certainly appreciated those shirtless scenes. 

[dramachick]

Oh my damn!

It was stressful enough when Atticus, Leti, and Uncle George had to deal with human monsters, but then they had to fight off blob-zombie-vampire monsters!

This is gonna be a rough ride.

I'm all in!

[SeanC]

As a book reader I was rather confused by the opening, which suggested some pretty wild departures from the source material, but then I figured it was a dream shortly before that was revealed.  Also clever to have the Dejah Thoris lookalike appear before revealing that he fell asleep reading A Princess of Mars.

[dramachick]

The Black people who wrote those guide books were real life superheroes.

 

[DollEyes]

My verdict: Loved it! This show hit the ground running like Leti from vampire moles in the woods. Despite the show being set in the segregated America of the 1950s, it manages to be all too relevant.

  As Atticus the show's protagonist, Jonathan Majors is smart, charismatic and looks great shirtless. Courtney B. Vance's Uncle George Uncle George is wise, funny and even sexy in his own right. Jurnee Smolett-Bell's Leti isn't a damsel in distress by a long shot; she can run in heels, drive stick shift and kill monsters in the dead of night. In other words, Leti's a badass.

If this premiere episode is any indication, Lovecraft Country could be the next big thing and HBO should treat it accordingly.

Edited August 18, 2020 by DollEyes

[Chicago Redshirt]

Best pilot episode since probably Game of Thrones, in establishing the characters, the world  the stakes. 

It may be too intense for me to keep up, though.

I will probably want to watch it a couple more times and try to process. 

[larapu2000]

15 minutes ago, DollEyes said:

My verdict: Loved it! This show hit the ground running like Leti from vampire moles in the woods. Despite the show being set in the Jim Crow South of the 1950s, it manages to be all too relevant.

  As Atticus the show's protagonist, Jonathan Majors is smart, charismatic and looks great shirtless. Courtney B. Vance's Uncle George Uncle George is wise, funny and even sexy in his own right. Jurnee Smolett-Bell's Leti isn't a damsel in distress by a long shot; she can run in heels, drive stick shift and kill monsters in the dead of night. In other words, Leti's a badass.

If this premiere episode is any indication, Lovecraft Country could be the next big thing and HBO should treat it accordingly.

I thought they were in Massachusetts looking for the dad, not the south?

[DollEyes]

Just now, larapu2000 said:

I thought they were in Massachusetts looking for the dad, not the south?

They're going to Massachusetts, but the racist sheriff had a Southern accent, for some reason.

[paigow]

8 minutes ago, DollEyes said:

They're going to Massachusetts, but the racist sheriff had a Southern accent, for some reason.

The heroes are definitely in MA. Nobody drives from Chicago to Boston via Virginia.

[paigow]

The monsters are exactly as Atticus guessed...and conveniently ran away instead of just waiting for the flares to burn out. How did they find creepy mansion? Suspiciously lucky....

[Indigo Luna]

Holy shit that was great. I've been looking forward to this show for months and it definitely did not disappoint. I haven't read the book so I went into this pretty fresh about the specific characters.

Creepy blonde dude at the end was definitely creepy. 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, ShellsandCheese said:

And JM is smoking as Atticus. I certainly appreciated those shirtless scenes. 

Seconding every word of this. 

Also agreed on Leti being a badass. I like her :D. I loved the party scene with her and her sister singing and dancing and whatnot, too, that was fun. 

The sundown warning sign was horrifying, and the group's attempt to escape as the sun went down was tense as hell. Also, when everyone was hiding out from the monsters, that whole scene had a very Night of the Living Dead feel to it. 

Very interesting, creepy start!

[MrWhyt]

that was fantastic

[thuganomics85]

Haven't read the book, but the talent both in front and behind the camera had me very intrigued.  The premiere didn't certainly didn't disappoint.  I love the mixture of the horror/fantasy with the harsh look at the Jim Crow era of the 50s (which sadly has become even more relevant lately), and I'm already enjoying Atticus, Leti, and George, and love how Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, and Courtney B. Vance play off one another.  The rest of the cast is pretty good too so far.

The opening dream act was a trip with all the mixtures of characters and icons that Atticus is familiar with.  I'm guessing the woman dressed as Dejah Thoris from John Carter in his dream (played by Jamie Chung) is going to be the same woman from South Korea he was talking with on the phone.

What's the deal with the mysterious woman that helped them out?  Certainly looks like her car was parked at the mansion at the end.  Oh, and creepy butler guy is totally Jordan Patrick Smith from Vikings, so it was weird as hell seeing a blonde and clean-shaven Ubbe!

I'm guessing Atticus' aunt/George's wife will still factor in, since Aunjanue Ellis is listed as a regular.

Hope we meet Atticus' dad soon: especially since he's being played by the always excellent Michael Kenneth Williams!

Looking forward to seeing where this all goes!

[AnimeMania]

Everybody has such unique names, anybody want to take a stab about what they might mean in relation to the story.  Atticus, Letitia, Montrose, Hippolyta, Diana and Uncle George (well maybe not so much Uncle George, he must be the reasonable one, the person we can relate to and see the world through his eyes). All the main characters seem very literate, it surprised me when Atticus read his dad's letter aloud so poorly (maybe the writing was bad?).

This is a show to make us fine tune our definition of what a monster is.

At first I thought that the Shoggoths (the monsters) were reverse racists and only liked white meat.

So much for Uncle George's car. RIP. He thought it would outlive them all.

[paigow]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

So much for Uncle George's car. RIP. He thought it would outlive them all.

Maybe the creepy family has an extra Rolls Royce that George can keep...

[TexasGal]

10 hours ago, larapu2000 said:

I thought they were in Massachusetts looking for the dad, not the south?

I was confused by this too.  How does a road trip from Chicago to Massachusetts take you into Jim Crow/southern accented sheriffs/dudes in big trucks with shotguns chasing you land?  At first I thought maybe they dropped down south first to do Uncle's work for the guide book and that's where it was all happening, but the next morning they find the mansion in the city they were looking for.  

I mean, I guess in a story with Lovecraft  monsters I should just go ahead and accept alternate universe etc.  Monsters, ok.  Sundown laws in Massachusetts, huh? 😆

[DearEvette]

I really enjoyed this!

First of all the look was wonderful.  I love the color saturation.  I love all the bold color touches they put on Leti, those pink cigarette pants, that red bold lipstick.  Those cat eye sunglasses were to die for.  I loved that shot of Atticus sitting there just reading his book with all that green field behind him. 

For this episode, I have to say Leti was the stand out.  Can I say how much I felt her?  Jurnee gave her such swagger.  Also, she acts like people should act in a horror movie (both the reality based horror and the supernatural).  When she overheard that guy on the phone, she went tearing out of there and told them to get the fuck out!  She did not stop to check and see if Atticus and Uncle George  were following her, she just ran out the door, hollering for them to run too.  Same deal when they were in the woods.  I LOVED the scene of her running from the monsters in the woods.  If this had been a trope, she would have tripped and fallen etc.  Nope.  Not Leti!  Girlfriend ran, knees up, arms pumping, no looking back, no falling, flat out running like she was the anchor on a 4x 400 relay getting that gold medal.  I felt that!

I wasn't quite expecting where this is going but I am in.  The previews look bokers!

Finally I am gratified that this show managed to show the terror of racism and the sundown towns within the overall horror of the supernatural. 

And yes, there were sundown towns all over the country and as far up as New England including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts etc.  They were not only in the south and there were lots of places all over the country blacks could not travel easily, even if they were not specifically sundown towns. 

 

 

 

 

[Empress1]

There are sundown towns in the Midwest. I don’t know why these racists had southern accents, but there are definitely sundown towns in the Midwest. Hell - I grew up in Philly and there is a huge chunk of PA I would be scared to be in after dark right now, today. PA has a lot of white nationalist groups. The notion that the really bad racism is (note the present tense) only in the south is very, very false.

I am not really a sci fi person so I’m coming at this cold - I’m here for the cast.   Courtney B. Vance is one of those people I’ll see in anything (as is his real-life wife). But I enjoyed this - well, that might be the wrong word, given the topic. I agree with @DearEvette - it’s visually beautiful.

Love that Jurnee Smollett-Bell was playing no games - she was running like the devil was after her, which it was. When she said she ran track in high school I knew it was on. (I want to know what kind of lipstick she was wearing - it stayed put!)

I recommend The Last Black Man in San Francisco for more Jonathan Majors. Very different character- he’s really talented and I’m glad he has a starring role.

[sempervivum]

No idea why this show isn't in the 'Genre' category, but I really liked it, and am looking forward to epi 2.

[Penman61]

I absolutely loved this premiere, seconding everything good everyone's already noted, and I can't wait for more.

BUT it was just a wee bit ludicrous when Tic & Co were being chased in the Sundown County and kept ticking down to actual sundown BY SECONDS like it was a time bomb because we all know how super-racist white cops will gladly adhere to the very letter of their own super-racist made-up shit rules governing when they can abuse and violate black folks...

And then Racist Sheriff* & Co were there waiting anyway--outside the county, after sundown--to abuse and violate them. So I think the show was having one on the viewer as well with all the previous fake suspense?

*Chicago Redshirt correctly points out this is a different white racist sheriff from the white racist sheriff that initially stopped them inside the county. 

ETA: Now other posters are saying it was the same Racist Sheriff. I hope someone gets to the bottom of this before the election.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Penman61

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Penman61 said:

I absolutely loved this premiere, seconding everything good everyone's already noted, and I can't wait for more.

BUT it was just a wee bit ludicrous when Tic & Co were being chased in the Sundown County and kept ticking down to actual sundown BY SECONDS like it was a time bomb because we all know how super-racist white cops will gladly adhere to the very letter of their own super-racist made-up shit rules governing when they can abuse and violate black folks...

And then Racist Sheriff & Co were there waiting anyway--outside the county, after sundown--to abuse and violate them. So I think the show was having one on the viewer as well with all the previous fake suspense?

I think it was actually a second Racist Sheriff (& Co.)  who were waiting in the second county. Note that the beef that he had wasn't the mere presence of Our Heroes, but that he accused them of a series of burglaries. I am not sure how much his accusations were supposed to be semi-legit (i.e. that there actually had been these burglaries and that Our Heroes "fit the description" or could possibly have committed them)  vs. how much they were just straight-up "we don't want your kind here.").

[edhopper]

1 hour ago, Penman61 said:

I absolutely loved this premiere, seconding everything good everyone's already noted, and I can't wait for more.

BUT it was just a wee bit ludicrous when Tic & Co were being chased in the Sundown County and kept ticking down to actual sundown BY SECONDS like it was a time bomb because we all know how super-racist white cops will gladly adhere to the very letter of their own super-racist made-up shit rules governing when they can abuse and violate black folks...

And then Racist Sheriff & Co were there waiting anyway--outside the county, after sundown--to abuse and violate them. So I think the show was having one on the viewer as well with all the previous fake suspense?

It wasn't fake suspense. It was the main characters POV. We were with them thinking they would be safe if they got over the track. The waiting cops surprised us as they did the Freemans and Leti.

Those last 10 minutes or so...WOW!

[Penman61]

41 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I think it was actually a second Racist Sheriff (& Co.)  who were waiting in the second county. Note that the beef that he had wasn't the mere presence of Our Heroes, but that he accused them of a series of burglaries. I am not sure how much his accusations were supposed to be semi-legit (i.e. that there actually had been these burglaries and that Our Heroes "fit the description" or could possibly have committed them)  vs. how much they were just straight-up "we don't want your kind here.").

Apologies on melding the two mid-thirties white skinny racist sheriffs with bad complexions. But that makes more sense; I was wondering how First Sheriff had outrun Tic & Co to appear in the new county blockade.

39 minutes ago, edhopper said:

It wasn't fake suspense. It was the main characters POV. We were with them thinking they would be safe if they got over the track. The waiting cops surprised us as they did the Freemans and Leti.

Those last 10 minutes or so...WOW!

You're right, the suspense was genuine for the characters (and for viewers). By "fake" I meant the ludicrous second-by-second sundown countdown, like we'd all breathe a justified sigh of relief once Tic & Co crossed the country line. 

And then the second sheriff blockade showed how silly we (and they) were to be initially relieved.

[Scarlett45]

7 hours ago, sempervivum said:

No idea why this show isn't in the 'Genre' category, but I really liked it, and am looking forward to epi 2.

Because it’s got large parts horror and Sci Fi. 
 

Hi everybody!! I saw the pilot last night with my Mom and we were in love. YAY for having a production where all of the black actors were lit PROPERLY!!! 
 

There were plenty of Sundown Towns outside of the Jim Crow South- I wasn’t surprised to see one in MA. But for some reason I think the silver car is a force of good (or at least ambivalence), I don’t think it’s all bad.  
 

Silly me couldn’t find this forum and requested one yesterday (oops). My mom is familiar with the source material (I am not), it should be a great production. 
 

My cousin still has our great uncle’s Greenbook in storage. 

[ShellsandCheese]

It was the same guy. It was Sheriff Hunt who was in the files they had been looking at. He stopped them and drove them out of one county into the county over and linked up with the other cops. When they were walking through the woods he said are you really from Chicago. They told him they were from Chicago when he initially confronted them and Atticus knew his name from the file they had been looking at the previous evening. 

The whole thing was a setup to drive them right into the arms of his waiting men.......

Edited August 17, 2020 by ShellsandCheese

[Chicago Redshirt]

12 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Because it’s got large parts horror and Sci Fi. 
 

That's what would seem to make it a more natural fit for Genre. But it's in the Drama category. :shrug:

11 minutes ago, ShellsandCheese said:

It was the same guy. It was Sheriff Hunt who was in the files they had been looking at. He stopped them and drove them out of one county into the county over and linked up with the other cops. When they were walking through the woods he said are you really from Chicago. They told him they were from Chicago when he initially confronted them and Atticus knew his name from the file they had been looking at the previous evening. 

The whole thing was a setup to drive them right into the arms of his waiting men.......

It could be that the sheriff who was chasing them was working with the other group of deputies from the other county. But we saw the pursuing car stop near the county line. For him to have gone from behind them to in front of them with a bunch of other deputies is physically impossible. 

Of course, the show gets to have people do the physically impossible because An Elder One Did It! tm. 

But I don't think that is what we are supposed to take away in this case.

One of the many things for me to look at in my upcoming rewatch.

[Scarlett45]

2 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

That's what would seem to make it a more natural fit for Genre. But it's in the Drama category. :shrug:

Oh I misread your post- I was agreeing with you!😁

[paigow]

It is the same Sheriff. Look at the shoulder crest on his shirt. It says Devon County Sheriff. All the deputies have the same crest. They were operating beyond their jurisdiction in Worcester County. 

ETA: The "redneck truck" from the diner chase had New York licence plates

Edited August 18, 2020 by paigow

[Ladybugnine]

OMFG! WTF is this show about!?! I have always trusted HBO with their series, but, WTFH!! I'm so totally in!!!

 

And based on the previews, such an awesome allegory towards what's been happening and still is happening in real life! Bravo HBO and Jordan Peele and everyone else involved with this show!!

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Ladybugnine

[grawlix]

16 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

So much for Uncle George's car. RIP. He thought it would outlive them all.

 

10 hours ago, paigow said:

Maybe the creepy family has an extra Rolls Royce that George can keep...

 

I have a feeling that George's car isn't quite dead yet.  I think it will be a running gag that the Woody gets destroyed and the restored throughout the season. 😆

[Chicago Redshirt]

There are shows that you're fine having on in the background while you're doing other stuff, like cooking dinner or surfing the web.

There are shows that will keep your attention well enough, but then as soon as you're done, you don't really think about them.

Lovecraft Country, at least based on the first episode, is in a rare class of shows where I not only want to rewatch to look for things I might have missed on first viewing, not only wonder about what might be coming next, but want to actually take notes during one or more rewatches.

I got it bad, y'all...and that ain't good.

[paigow]

The Creepy Blonde Chick must have a warp engine...she went from Devon County, MA across the NY / MA border to save our heroes. How did she know they needed help? Unless she was following them from the beginning. Then why not make sure they made it to Casa Creepy alive instead of letting the Klan Cops and then monsters attempt to kill / eat them?

Edited August 18, 2020 by paigow

[Chicago Redshirt]

Thoughts after second viewing:

About the only thing I wish that was changed was the contemporary hip-hop piece in the middle. 

It will take a lot to decipher the meaning of the dream sequence at the beginning. Maybe it will be something to go back to after the season's done. Who is supposed to be narrating? What is the female figure, and who is she supposed to represent? I don't want to be spoiled, but maybe Atticus's mom? Is Atticus half-Lovecraftian monster? Or is she a more generic succubus figure? Trench warfare is associated with WWI, but that part is set in 1928. Jackie Robinson's prominence comes later like in the 1940s. 

One review I read talked about how Atticus and the other black woman on the bus "chose" to walk rather than ride the truck with the white people. Talk about not getting it.

One of the relatively minor things that appeals to me about the show is that it doesn't just stick with the obvious Atticus and Leititia are hot! hot! hot! but it makes George and Ruby sensual without being crass. And it cast a full-figured woman as Leittia's sister. Forgive me, Lord, for wanting standard HBO-style sexposition with Letitia though. I'm glad that so far Peele and Abrams are above that. I usually can leave the whole will-they-or-won't-they sexual tension dance that most shows do. But I can stand to wait for the inevitable Letitia-Atticus hookup. (What is their shipper name to be? Attitia? Letticus?)

A series about a black nerd from the South Side of Chicago who goes on sci-fi/horror adventures. It's like my personal wish fulfllment fantasy! 🙂

For what it's worth, the show references "Linden" and "McCarthy" (I think) as places where Ruby has lived. As far as I know, the only Linden in Chicago is up on the North Side, so Ruby wouldn't have lived there. And I haven't heard of a street called McCarthy.

I am interested in finding out more about the dynamic between Letitia and her siblings. Presumably they are half-sibs -- Marvin's last name is Baptiste, and of course Letitia is markedly lighter than him and Ruby. It seems on rewatch everyone belonged to the Devon County Sheriff's Office, and that a number of them had set up the roadblock just beyond the line with neighboring Worcester County, as Paigow said. (It seemed the first guy they encountered was not THE sheriff, Sheriff Hunt.) Why the first deputy didn't just detain them where they were at first isn't clear to me. Arguably, he wanted to force them back into the roadblock that the sheriff and other deputies set up. But I don't know if that makes sense either. 

Another of the many things the show deserves kudos for: each of our big three is bringing something to the table. In many horror stories, the woman eists largely for the damsel in distress role. Letitia Fucking Lewis, though, saved the group's ass twice. Atticus has the hero's journey on tap, complete with the trademark J.J. Abrams Daddy issues.

I have to give it to the shPresumably someone is pulling strings to make some of these things happen. The silver sedan was able to send the truck of racists flying with no damage. Its driver had to get a clue on how to be there in the nick of time. The monsters seemingly got lured away from the cabin by a tone. Somebody presumably played it. ow. Intellectually, one has to realize the chances of any of Our Heroes being killed or having anything serious happen to them, particularly in the first outing, is slim. But damn it if the action sequences were still not some of the more tense I've seen in recent memory. 

I have to say I'm confused about a little about the interaction with the sheriff's office.  It seems on rewatch that every cop we see is from the Devon County Sheriff's Office, with the sheriff himself, Sheriff Hunt, manning the roadblock. Why the elaborate stop of Our Heroes and giving them time to get to the county line, when they could have just done whatever they wanted during the initial stop? Cat and mouse games? Plot hole? Someone's invisible hand guiding events?

I'm hoping it's the latter. Presumably someone is pulling strings to make some of these things happen. The silver sedan was able to send the truck of racists flying with no damage. Its driver had to get a clue on how to be there in the nick of time. The monsters seemingly got lured away from the cabin by a tone. Somebody presumably played it. 

The use of the n-word is going to be tough to take. I have to imagine it's going to be a regular feature of the show. 

I hope that there is going to be enough lightness and humor to balance out the two types of monstrosity Our Heroes encounter.

Speaking of: Lovecraft Country: perhaps the first horror series where the black folks are the last to get killed rather than the first!

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It will take a lot to decipher the meaning of the dream sequence at the beginning. Maybe it will be something to go back to after the season's done. Who is supposed to be narrating? What is the female figure, and who is she supposed to represent? I don't want to be spoiled, but maybe Atticus's mom? Is Atticus half-Lovecraftian monster? Or is she a more generic succubus figure? Trench warfare is associated with WWI, but that part is set in 1928. Jackie Robinson's prominence comes later like in the 1940s. 

[SNIP]

Arguably, he wanted to force them back into the roadblock that the sheriff and other deputies set up. But I don't know if that makes sense either. 

Do you mean the female alien that floated out of the space ship? If I had to take a wild guess it would be the woman Atticus called in Korea, possibly a woman he met there during the Korean  War.

Maybe Sheriff Hunt wanted the deaths of the Black folks to not occur in his county. This way he doesn't have any red tape if some day the bodies are found. Also it was a great scene with a great deal of tension.

An interesting point was made in the Lovecraft Country Radio Podcast that said with the Shoggoth monsters there are rules you could follow that might help you avoid their clutches, like turning on lights or them not coming out in the daytime, but with Racism there are no rules you can use to avoid what will happen. The podcast also mentioned that the Police refused to work with the Black people even when they were facing a common enemy.

[Lily H]

What a snorefest. An hour of boring talk, 30 seconds of car chase and 5 minutes of silly monsters. And why did the 'monsters' look so lame and low-budget? Was it supposed to look like a cheesy '60's TV show?

[PotterOtherP]

It was a really good pilot, but I have reached the point in life where everything supernatural is just boring.  None of these writers seem to have any actually interesting thoughts about the supernatural, it is just a way for them to conjure up feelings and pretend to process them. Monsters are arbitrarily strong and fast, have the ability to teleport and multiply, and have random weaknesses and any other qualities required by the plot. When anything can happen, it means nothing. The point of Lovecraft's monsters wasn't that they are creepy blobs that want to eat you, it was that our understanding of the universe might be tiny, limited, and horribly wrong. I don't know anything about how this particular story will go, but if it's on the same level as Stranger Things, etc, it'll be an early exit for me.

[DearEvette]

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The silver sedan was able to send the truck of racists flying with no damage. Its driver had to get a clue on how to be there in the nick of time. The monsters seemingly got lured away from the cabin by a tone. Somebody presumably played it. ow. Intellectually, one has to realize the chances of any of Our Heroes being killed or having anything serious happen to them, particularly in the first outing, is slim. But damn it if the action sequences were still not some of the more tense I've seen in recent memory. 

Not only no damage, but the truck never touched the silver car.  It was like it hit some sort of force field seconds before it got to the silver sedan and went flying.

That scene was also interesting because in the aftermath, the instinct it to think they'd at least acknowledge the woman who came to their rescue. But Atticus looked at her and told them to 'GO'.  Read one way, it could be his sci-fi/monster reading self knew something wasn't right  and they needed to leave.  But read another way it could be he saw a white lady and (rightfully) felt they would be in bigger shit if they were in any way seen with some random white lady.  Either way, she was really bad news.

I think that tension -- between what we are seeing as literal monsters versus the monstrous actions of regular people is well done and will probably continue to be a hallmark of the show.  As much as I was a little freaked out for them when the monsters showed, I think I was less freaked out than from what had come before, them trying to race out of town before the sun went down only to be herded into the woods to be lynched. 

[sempervivum]

4 hours ago, PotterOtherP said:

The point of Lovecraft's monsters wasn't that they are creepy blobs that want to eat you, it was that our understanding of the universe might be tiny, limited, and horribly wrong

This X 100. I don't know how many people have actually read Lovecraft, but I had a long, serious scifi/horror book thing going as a child in the early 60's (basically didn't read anything else; my mother was concerned!). Reading Lovecraft made me feel so...wrong. Your summary explains it perfectly.

So far, the show looks great and I love the cast; hoping it goes beyond the superficial scares.

[Scarlett45]

You guys may enjoy the accompanying podcast- I haven’t listen yet FYI. 
 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lovecraft-country-radio/id1526066728?i=1000488326713

[tennisgurl]

I have been looking forward to this for a long time, and it did not disappoint! I have always found Lovecraft mythology to be fascinating, and using it to explore both the horrors of racial based violence and cosmic horrors from beyond humanities comprehension sounds like its going to be a seriously wild ride.

As I am pretty familiar with Lovecraft, I am interested in seeing what all they pull from the mythos, and how that ties into the themes of racism and the Jim Crow laws of the 50s. Lovecraft is rather infamous now for his racism, and he in general was deeply afraid of and distrusted anything or anyone that wasn't exactly like him, such as (most) cities, small towns, immigrants, people of color, technology, poor people, etc and that really came across in a lot of the subtext (or sometimes, the actual text) of his work, which was often based around fear of the unknown, fear of interracial relationships and the resulting mixed race children (although they were usually having babies with actual monsters or elder gods or apes), fear of progress, horror of humanities smallness in the grand scheme of things, and probably most notably, fears of madness, probably influenced by his own families history of mental illness, often due to Forbidden Knowledge that Man Should Not Know or something. His stories were also a lot less about scary monsters that jump out and kill you (although there were plenty of those) and were more about subtle creeping existential terror, in a lot of stories you never even see or even understand what was happening, just that its wrong and bad and scary and WRONG. In general, his stories were filled with fears of the unknown, and as he wasn't much for new experiences, a LOT was unknown. Most cities were evil cesspools of diversity, immigrants, anti American sentiment, and dirt, while small rural towns were mostly run down, creepy, corrupt cannibal cults mostly populated by alcoholics, fish people, and alcoholic fish people. He also had a whole thing about ancestral lines and old families falling into decay due to evil magic and/or incest (he also had a real thing about incest) and inherited madness or powers, so I am guessing that the comments about Atticuss family line and his birthright is going to be a major plot point coming up. Hopefully he gets to inherit some cool magic or something, and he isn't a fish person or some crap like what happens to a lot of Lovecraft protagonists...

The cast is great so far, and while I like all of the main characters, I think that Leti is already my favorite. Not only is she rocking the most fabulous 50s wardrobe, she is fun, sweet, and a major badass! Love that her reaction to hearing the server calling the racist brigade was "WE GOTTA GTFO NOW" and then her freaking booking it like a bat out of hell when she was running for the car to escape the monsters. I also love that Atticus and Uncle George are big science fiction/horror fans, and are using fiction rules to fight/escape from the monsters. Also, I would totally watch a movie where Jackie Robinson fights Cthulhu, that sounds amazing. 

See, dont be a racist, or you get eaten by lovecraftian monsters, or turn into one. I never thought that I would be happy to see monsters arrive, the lynch mob are even scarier than the monsters lurking in the woods. Combining these monsters and whatever other dark forces are going on with the real life horrors of racism is going to be really interesting, so I am excited to see where they go from here. There is a lot of metaphor to be brought to the forefront, I can tell this is going to be a "I have to think about this for awhile afterwards" type of show. The creepy silent terrors of Lovecraft tales actually work really well with fears of racism and humanities cruelty to each other, its not always about the monsters that will jump out and eat you, but about a general feeling of unease and feeling unsafe, even in places where you should feel safe. 

The show also looks really good, the cinematography is gorgeous, and I am excited to see them explore more of Lovecraft country and see what they do with creating a setting. My only real complaints were the random modern hip hop song in the middle that seemed jarring, as we didn't get any other modern music in the episode, and the monsters looked a bit on the fake side, but those are basically nitpicks. This was a great pilot, and the rest of the show looks like a seriously wild ride. Bring on Cthulhu! 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

One review I read talked about how Atticus and the other black woman on the bus "chose" to walk rather than ride the truck with the white people. Talk about not getting it.

Well, there's not getting it and then there's referring to American slaves as "unpaid immigrant workers." Heaven forbid calling a thing what it is. (BOTOH, younger people who've been educated in certain parts of the US may indeed not have the knowledge to get the subtlety of that scene. Some textbooks are now written to avoid most clear references to slaves, or, for example, the Jim Crow era.)

[DollEyes]

Between Watchmen's "It's Summer & We're Running Out Of Ice" showing the 1921 Tulsa massacre and this episode exposing the evils of so-called "sundown towns," it seems like whomever's running HBO should be the next Secretary Of Education. 😉

[Nicmar]

The first episode was great and I didn't want it to end!!! Can't wait for the next episodes.

[Cheezwiz]

Just watched this and whew! It was a bit of a slow start, but holy smokes, that final 10 minutes was intense!

I had been meaning to read this book for ages, but just didn't get around to it. I do remember when I first saw it in the bookstore just after its release, thinking that Jordan Peele would be an ideal person to make a movie version. Lo and behold, he wound up being involved!

I think its great that the main characters are sci-fi/horror novel aficionados. The cinematography, sets and costumes are all beautiful, and it seems to be very well cast - love the three main actors so far. I didn't read too much into the opening scene, as it seemed to me that it was meant to be a jumbled dream sequence, but I'm sure there will be relevant details that can be picked out upon revisiting at the end of the series.

I initially assumed that Tic was a WWII veteran, but it seems that he was in Korea instead? That tracks better with his young age. Leticia is indeed a badass - loved the flight from the diner scene. I wonder if we will get a bit more backstory on her, as her character is a bit vague. Uncle George is already a favourite character of mine so I was relieved he survived this episode - I thought he was a goner for sure.

I thought the monsters were both fun and scary (even if they were a bit CGI cheesy), but it's already clear that the truly terrifying element is the human characters in sundown towns. The show did an excellent job of capturing the undercurrent of menace in entering an unfamiliar small town. How sad that this story is as relevant as ever today.

[yellowjacket]

I know nothing about Lovecraft, but when  I saw this was by Jordan Peele and Courtney Vance was in it I had to watch.  It's FABULOUS!  They had me when I saw "Denmark Vesey's Bar."  Denmark Vesey!  He was a heroic enslaved man who led a rebellion in South Carolina in the 1840s, or thereabout, and very nearly won.  The rebellion made the southern white folk triple down on the cruelty and also found the Citadel, their version of West Point.  

[eelpout]

On 8/18/2020 at 8:17 AM, Scarlett45 said:

You guys may enjoy the accompanying podcast- I haven’t listen yet FYI. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lovecraft-country-radio/id1526066728?i=1000488326713

nothing personal, just not a fan of Apple's "walled garden." so I'll put these here. 🙂

https://www.hbo.com/lovecraft-country/podcast

https://lovecraft-country.libsyn.com/rss

[Scarlett45]

5 minutes ago, eelpout said:

nothing personal, just not a fan of Apple's "walled garden." so I'll put these here. 🙂

https://www.hbo.com/lovecraft-country/podcast

https://lovecraft-country.libsyn.com/rss

Oh yes silly me! I will remember not to put the apple links next time.