S01.E07: I Am.

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2020.09.27

Quote

Hippolyta's relentless search for answers takes her on a multidimensional journey of self-discovery and Atticus heads to St. Louis to consult an old family friend.

 

[peridot]

Hippolyta's journey was interesting, though I'm not sure who the alien lady was.  Dancing with Josephine Baker must have been a blast!  She had a lot of scarring on her chest, was that real or part of the character's injuries?

It was nice to see that she got some closure with George, even though he wasn't her version.

I'm really worried about Diana now.

It looks like Leti's pregnant!  I would really hate for Ruby to completely join Christina's side and spy on her family and friends for her agenda.
How safe is it to constantly drink the blood of dead people?  It's pretty gruesome they are just propped up in the basement.

 

[LoveLeigh]

This is such a creative, well written, and well made show. Each episode is like a little movie. The art direction is phenomenal. i admire how different this episode is from the one last week. And each piece is so excellent I hope it wins many awards. 

[DollEyes]

Give Anjanue Ellis all the things ASAP.

[thuganomics85]

It was Hippolyta's time to take front and center, I see.  Aunjanue Ellis was great (and apparently is also boarding the "Sure, I'll get naked!  Everyone else has already!" train), and it was interesting diving into her mindset and seeing what makes her tick.  Of course, it was all thanks to her getting zapped into some kind of portal and linking up to aliens (?), but, again, that's just Lovecraft Country being Lovecraft Country!

I can definitely see why she finally felt free and enjoyed getting to do things like dance with Josephine Baker or take out a bunch of Confederate soldiers as some kind of badass tribal warrior, but I have to imagine that Dee will be why she will eventually return back to Earth/the real world.  After everything that has happened, I can't see her abandoning her daughter, even if it would mean giving up a life she feels truly happy about.

Great seeing Courtney B. Vance again as a version of George.  The dive into the relationship between Hippolyta and him was interesting.  I think their love was real and he truly wanted what was best for her, but I can see how he might have inadvertently held her back on some levels, in order to conform to what society expected of her.  Then again, it certainly looked like something might have happened with George and Atticus' mom according to the show's second episode, so I suspect their history is complicated to put it mildly.

The show really is unflinching with showing Tic's less than noble side.  First there was his war criminal acts last episode and now he finds out about Montrose's sexuality, and reacts in a pretty homophobic way (including using the f slur.)  It sure wasn't pretty, but I have to imagine a lot of men would have acted that way during that time (hell, probably still to this day, sadly.)  Of course, Montrose also continues to struggle with his own identity, by finding dumb ways to push Sammy/his lover away, whenever he feels like they are getting too comfortable.  He really seems to be a self-hating man.

Leti is totally pregnant I suspect, and that dream sequence seems to be hinting that something will go down because of it.

I'm glad that Leti and Ruby seem to be in a better place, but I'm just a wee bit concern that Ruby seems to still be hanging with Christina.  Even after the whole body-swapping thing.  And the fact that she's currently got two bodies in her basement... 

[Mr. R0b0t]

To put it succinctly, I thought this entire episode was a misfire. 

[DearEvette]

Oh, another good, distinctive episode.  This one felt like a 60s sci-fi movie.  And Aujanue Ellis was wonderful. 

I especially enjoyed the writing in this one.  The dialogue, Hippolyta's ruminations all just resonated to my soul.  And yeah, just beautifully written.

Also, I couldn't help but contrast Hippolyta's journey of self realization with Ruby's.  They both started at the same place -- that feeling of being 'not seen' and small and the societal limitations artificially placed on black women.  But Hippoltya's journey was characterized by logic, intellect and discovery.  Whereas Ruby's was based on deceit, bitterness and raw emotion.  I believe when we see Hippolyta again, she will have gotten more from her journey than Ruby got from hers. 

Speaking of Ruby, how boss did she look in her shorts outfit and her super cool shades?  I loved her and Leti's conversations... again the writing in the episode as stellar.

And finally the threads are starting to knit together.  It was frustrating that everyone was working in silos and not telling anyone anything.  But the lines are starting to converge.

Finally with this episode, I am realizing that although pre-release the show seems to suggest that Tic was most important character. And in some ways he is, because a lot of stuff does revolve around him, but it is the women -- Leti, Ruby, Hippolyta, Ji-Ah -- and next week, possible Dee --- who are becoming really central to each episode and really bringing their A-game.

And finally, next week's 'genre'  looks like a Stephen King thriller.  Can't wait. 

[Scarlett45]

38 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

The show really is unflinching with showing Tic's less than noble side.  First there was his war criminal acts last episode and now he finds out about Montrose's sexuality, and reacts in a pretty homophobic way (including using the f slur.)  It sure wasn't pretty, but I have to imagine a lot of men would have acted that way during that time (hell, probably still to this day, sadly.)  Of course, Montrose also continues to struggle with his own identity, by finding dumb ways to push Sammy/his lover away, whenever he feels like they are getting too comfortable.  He really seems to be a self-hating man.

I am glad that Montrose put him in his place though and reminded him he was speaking to his father. That felt very true to life- no way could Tic get away with speaking that way to his father, no matter how pissed and surprised he was. 
 

Montrose has a lot of self hatred (hence how he treats Sammy), but I do think he does want to keep Tic safe. Likely his years with Tic’s Mom were probably some of his happiest, but having to hide a part of his sexuality, the fight with his son, the complicated relationship with his brother- I get why the man has emotional issues. 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, DollEyes said:

Give Anjanue Ellis all the things ASAP.

Yes. 

This show is seriously trippy as hell :p. You really feel like you're being tossed into these strange worlds with the characters. 

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

Finally with this episode, I am realizing that although pre-release the show seems to suggest that Tic was most important character. And in some ways he is, because a lot of stuff does revolve around him, but it is the women -- Leti, Ruby, Hippolyta, Ji-Ah -- and next week, possible Dee --- who are becoming really central to each episode and really bringing their A-game.

And finally, next week's 'genre'  looks like a Stephen King thriller.  Can't wait. 

I'm noticing that, too. And I'm okay with that, 'cause the women on this show kick all kinds of ass. 

And yeah, next week looks very creepy indeed. Bring it. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Miscellaneous early thoughts:

"I am" is one way that God in the Old Testament refers to himself. "I am who am." I don't know if we are meant to think that the space lady is supposed to be a god or the God or what.

In the Sons of Adam mythology, Adam was a person of immense power because he got to name everything. Hippolyta here gets to name herself, sort of a flipside of that version of the myth.

I love that Hippolyta has had the adventures she had and the brilliance and mad math skillz to figure out even a piece of how all these things work. It moved me, the notion of self-hatred for letting herself be made small. Definitely empathize, and that is one of the most insidious things about racism in my book. I feel bad, though, that she harbored these negative feelings toward George. It seemed to me like the George we saw loved her and with the exception of doing the guide trips, wanted her to be as big as she could be. And he even had come around on the guide trips. The notion that you can redefine yourself however you want seems nice but is kind of naive in the real world. No matter how well Hippolyta learned the steps, real Hippolyta wasn't going to get to dance with Josephine Baker. Real Hippolyta doesn't get to be a warrior against colonizers and win. Real Hippolyta doesn't get to go on interstellar adventures with George.

Tic's relative's friend is super-lying about the Book of Names. I am wondering if they are supposed to have been friends with benefits. It seems like a pretty big coincidence that Lancaster would send cops in uniform all the way to Kansas if I'm following this correctly AND those cops would show up just after Hippolyta got the whatsits activated, AND that Tic would get there in the nick of time when he had no car. Any cool points for the rescue are probably not going to touch the deficit from him being a cold-blooded killer in Korea. I know it's the 1950s, but I wish there was a more enlightened way for him to come to grips with learning his dad is gay. What are we to make of him ending up with a copy of Lovecraft Country?

I'm sad that Montrose seemed to take a step backwards. It seemed like he had an epiphany about who he was at the drag event. And now he's back to the self-hatred. I thought it was interesting that Montrose's boyfriend didn't know of any black people who shopped at Field's. 

I started to get some of what I had hoped for from Ruby in this episode -- confronting Christina with the desire to know more, and talking with Leti. But still not enough. We got cheated out of finding out much of what Christina told Ruby, and Ruby is playing her cards too close to the chest with Leti. She presumably knows now at least some of what Leti and Tic have been up to, and about the orrery that Christina is into. But she's not spilling, nor about her encounters with Chrilliam. I am pretty sure that she is warming up to the notion of hooking up with Christina in her true form.

[shoetingstar]

I AM - yes! along with the biblical reference @Chicago Redshirt mentioned - it's a strong foundation of the Law of Attraction that calls back to it, that you attract or receive that which aligns with who you identify yourself to be. Some great stuff to dissect in this episode. 

I just want to say that as a plus-sized black women who loves sci-fi, horror, all things supernatural: How many times do we get to see a plus-sized, black, nerdy, woman (aka blerd!) ON SCREEN in all her glory and various adventures and time-periods? Not just to support the lead, or prop up another character's storyline, or just exist as only a maternal figure - but experiencing various adventures for herself? And this after Ruby's journey as well. For that alone this episode has significant meaning for me that brought tears. As silly as that may sound. 

 

[paigow]

The portal absorbed 3 people. Hippolyta was probably dropped in Chicago, Tic was conveniently dropped where he started from which does not explain where the cop is.  He should have come back with Tic.

[AnimeMania]

I was hoping in the previous episode that they would have spent a little time showing how black soldiers were being treated in the military.

So Hippolyta joins Leti in having killed someone, I guess it is Diana's turn next week.

Either Leti is seeing a Ghost because she is pregnant with Tic's baby or because she is very sensitive to Ghosts.

I was hoping that Hippolyta would use the way-back machine to visit the burning of Tulsa so they could get "The Book of Names". I wonder if she ever plans to come back.

Now that the have a time machine they can go back and change any of the things already shown. I tend to hate stories that include the ability to time travel.

[TheGourmez]

That was a Sun Ra voiceover toward the end, right?

[Scarlett45]

6 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Either Leti is seeing a Ghost because she is pregnant with Tic's baby or because she is very sensitive to Ghosts.

I think she’s seeing the ancestor because she’s carrying a person of her bloodline. 

[paigow]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Now that the have a time machine they can go back and change any of the things already shown. I tend to hate stories that include the ability to time travel.

That observatory is now a plot dead-end. Nobody will have access from now on. Unless Christina helps with some magic....

[FlowerofCarnage]

Love the Bessie Stringfield cameo.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Stringfield

I couldn't help of think of Garnet from Steven Universe when Afro Alien Sis appeared on screen.

Ruby...Ruby...Ruby! Why are you still entertaining Christina's shenanigans? 

[sempervivum]

Loved that Hippy's little blue hat stayed on while she was sucked through the wormhole. Also admired Leti's ladylike satin bed jacket.

The various scenarios were fun, but I was left wondering why we ignored the massive army just about to obliterate the Amazons.

How long would it take the police to find out where Dee's handmade comic book cover (or whatever it was) came from, pre-internet. Freeman is a very common name.

[cdnalor]

9 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Now that the have a time machine they can go back and change any of the things already shown. I tend to hate stories that include the ability to time travel

I don't think it was time travel so much as travelling to alternate realities.  For that matter, I wonder if it all wasn't in Hippolyta's mind.  I've never heard of Confederate soldiers*  going up against African Amazons.

When the space babe with the giant afro showed up, it almost felt like some cheesy 70's blaxploitation movie but I liked how the rest of it played out.

*Were they Confederate soldiers?  Boers, maybe?

Edited September 28, 2020 by cdnalor
Rethinking a point.

[meep.meep]

The space babe with the giant afro was Anjanue Ellis, right?

I wondered why Tic didn't throw the shot policeman through the portal after the other one.

[Roxie]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

Also admired Leti's ladylike satin bed jacket. (1)

How long would it take the police to find out where Dee's handmade comic book cover (or whatever it was) came from, pre-internet. Freeman is a very common name. (2)

(1) As did I.  I mentioned to my husband that for people who don't appear to have a lot of money, they all dress pretty well!

(2) True - but this IS Lovecraft Country.

[tennisgurl]

I love how every episode turns into a different kind of fantasy/science fiction genre, so this week we get pulp science fiction space operas mixed with Hippolytas journey to find herself and her strength. The many places that the time travel space opera machine took Hippolyta were a blast (Josephine Baker!) and I am glad that she and George got one last moment together, even under extremely strange circumstances. This show is just a real feast, it something you can slowly savor throughout a long and delicious meal as you enjoy every detail. 

There are a lot of ways to interpret the "I am" title, but it made me think right away of the French philosopher René Descartes, and his famous "I think, therefore I am" philosophical statement. Much of the episode was about Hippolyta dealing with her rage and hurt at a society that treats her as a lesser being as a black women, who dont trust in her intellect and her own personhood. In this episode, Hippoluta enters a world that is fully of her own creation where she can find all of the parts of herself that she wants to be set free, and finally, through her own intellect and curiosity, is finally able to find herself beyond the roles that society has given her. Not wife or mother (although those are certainly important) or as a person to be looked down on as a black woman, but as Hippolyta, a person of worth who has a mind that is capable of great things. 

[tljgator]

I thought the notion that we, as women, make ourselves "small" to fit in the boxes we're assigned, just so we can get by a world that we do not control was beautifully sad. Still thinking on that -- the truth of it (especially for women of color) breaks my heart a little. Anyway...

12 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I am wondering if they are supposed to have been friends with benefits.

Confirmed by the writer in this week's podcast (and, charmingly, named for a lovely older lady from her church who always checked on her and had a hard candy for her when she was a child -- as older church ladies always do, lol.)

2 hours ago, cdnalor said:

I don't think it was time travel so much as traveling to alternate realities.

Also confirmed in that discussion -- the writer calls it a "multiverse machine" and is very clear that it is nothing so "simple" as a time machine (her words). And, yes, those are Confederate soldiers she's taking on, having named herself Hippolyta and gone to the realm of her namesake (the Amazons).

A lot to unpack, as always, in this episode.

[Girasoul]

2 hours ago, cdnalor said:

I don't think it was time travel so much as travelling to alternate realities.  For that matter, I wonder if it all wasn't in Hippolyta's mind.  I've never heard of Confederate soldiers*  going up against African Amazons.

...

*Were they Confederate soldiers?  Boers, maybe?

Probably French soldiers - with thanks to the avclub review for the explanation, those were the Mino/Minon warriors of the Dahomey Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey_Amazons and in late 1800s most were wiped out in a battle with French soldiers. Amazing story and apparently Lupita N'yongo has been planning a movie about them, which I really hope happens. I'm so glad this episode included them so that I could learn about them.

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 hours ago, Mr. R0b0t said:

To put it succinctly, I thought this entire episode was a misfire. 

I will be interested to hear if you care to share why you thought this. 

11 hours ago, paigow said:

The portal absorbed 3 people. Hippolyta was probably dropped in Chicago, Tic was conveniently dropped where he started from which does not explain where the cop is.  He should have come back with Tic.

I might be off, but when we lost saw Hippolyta, she was still in whatever void deciding if she wanted to go with FutureWoman or if it was worth becoming small again for D. There's no real rhyme or reason to how the time/space/dimension travel thing works so no real reason to think that the cop would come back at all, let alone to the same time/place as Tic does.

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I was hoping in the previous episode that they would have spent a little time showing how black soldiers were being treated in the military.

So Hippolyta joins Leti in having killed someone, I guess it is Diana's turn next week.

Either Leti is seeing a Ghost because she is pregnant with Tic's baby or because she is very sensitive to Ghosts.

I was hoping that Hippolyta would use the way-back machine to visit the burning of Tulsa so they could get "The Book of Names". I wonder if she ever plans to come back.

Now that the have a time machine they can go back and change any of the things already shown. I tend to hate stories that include the ability to time travel.

Hanna could be a ghost, could be a psychic vision, could be a lot of things. 

I concur with the other poster: the device doesn't seem to be a time machine so much. It either lets you visit alternate or simulated realities.  FutureWoman specifically talks about being able to send Hippolyta back to her own Earth.

3 hours ago, paigow said:

That observatory is now a plot dead-end. Nobody will have access from now on. Unless Christina helps with some magic....

Again, maybe I missed something, but nothing about the observatory suggests it is not fixable/workable. Tic fiddled with some switches and then left. 

3 hours ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

Ruby...Ruby...Ruby! Why are you still entertaining Christina's shenanigans? 

Chose one or more:

1. Because she is intrigued with the power that might be at her disposal through magic.

2. Because Christina is more or less honest with her.

3. Because Chrilliam is bringing all kinds of good stuff in bed.

4. Because Christina has literally put a spell on her.

It went through my head that maybe Christina would kill Ruby and start masquerading around as her. I hope that doesn't turn out to be the case.

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

How long would it take the police to find out where Dee's handmade comic book cover (or whatever it was) came from, pre-internet. Freeman is a very common name.

From the previews, one episode. 

It seems the cops report to Lancaster (although Chicago is a ways away from Kansas) and it makes at least some potential level of sense that he can make the connection. Lancaster knows of Leti from his arrest of her.and by extension knows about how she has moved into a white neighborhood. It's not unreasonable that he would know of the other black boarders there, including Tic Freeman and then be able to trace Diana through Tic.  

2 hours ago, cdnalor said:

I don't think it was time travel so much as travelling to alternate realities.  For that matter, I wonder if it all wasn't in Hippolyta's mind.  I've never heard of Confederate soldiers*  going up against African Amazons.

When the space babe with the giant afro showed up, it almost felt like some cheesy 70's blaxploitation movie but I liked how the rest of it played out.

*Were they Confederate soldiers?  Boers, maybe?

To me, they seemed like European colonizers. Confederate soldiers would wear grey.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Sammy can't cook. Le sigh. I'm with Montrose on those grits; that soupy mess was a sin against humanity.

Interesting how Leti was so affected by the garlic. Is that typical of women in her condition?

Nice nods to, among others, Patti Labelle/Labelle, Grace Jones, Janelle Monae, any Beyoncé. A lot of Afrofuturism going on in this episode and I thought it was glorious.

At first I thought the actress playing Josephine Baker was Maya Rudolph because of the voice similarity but then I looked harder and realized that woman was a lot younger than Maya.

Hippolyta as an African Amazon's rouse-the-troops speech was rather timely, IMO.

And then Lovecraft Country went a little Minions for a sec. 🤗

So is Hippolyta momentarily stuck in the portal since Tic turned the machine off? Guess we'll find out in an episode or three.

Quote

for people who don't appear to have a lot of money, they all dress pretty well!

They do dress well, especially Leti. Relative to today, clothes then were not only much less expensive, they were also better made with higher quality fabric.

[paigow]

3 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Sammy can't cook. Le sigh. I'm with Montrose on those grits; that soupy mess was a sin against humanity.

Were grits popular in Chicago? They always seemed like a My Cousin Vinny thing...

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 minutes ago, paigow said:

Were grits popular in Chicago? They always seemed like a My Cousin Vinny thing...

A lot of blacks were transplants from the South so they brought grits with them as a staple. I don't have Southern roots so I don't remember eating them growing up. My own family had a lot of Cream of Wheat. 

[Epeolatrix]

I grew up in Seattle and we had grits.

[DearEvette]

22 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

A lot of blacks were transplants from the South so they brought grits with them as a staple. I don't have Southern roots so I don't remember eating them growing up. My own family had a lot of Cream of Wheat. 

Yup.  My grandparents came up from Alabama and grits were a staple in my house growing up.  I remember going to college to a college town and when I got my own apartment junior year, the grocery store that was closes to the school did not have grits.  I had to go to a little further afield to find them. 

And yes, the consistency has to be just right.. they can't be that soupy mess that Sammy delivered, but they can't be too thick either. 

[Robert Lynch]

At least they got Josephine Baker's bisexuality on point. She did have a fling with Frida Kohl.

[Broderbits]

2 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Interesting how Leti was so affected by the garlic. Is that typical of women in her condition?

Pregnancy affects every woman differently. I had no food aversions with my son, but with my daughter I couldn't eat chocolate (a food I dearly love) and craved ham sandwiches. And it turned out that when she was a little girl, my daughter hated chocolate and loved ham sandwiches! She expressed her preferences even in the womb!

[grawlix]

2 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Interesting how Leti was so affected by the garlic. Is that typical of women in her condition?

 

13 minutes ago, Broderbits said:

Pregnancy affects every woman differently. I had no food aversions with my son, but with my daughter I couldn't eat chocolate (a food I dearly love) and craved ham sandwiches. And it turned out that when she was a little girl, my daughter hated chocolate and loved ham sandwiches! She expressed her preferences even in the womb!

 

Given all that we've seen in the series, it would not surprise me if Leti turns into a vampire.

[kay1864]

18 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

What are we to make of him ending up with a copy of Lovecraft Country?

 Since Christina said she needed the orrery for the pages, could this actually be the Book of Names?

 And could Christina (or Atticus, for that matter) have even operated the machine? It required some pretty advanced Hippolyta-level math.

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Sammy can't cook. Le sigh. I'm with Montrose on those grits; that soupy mess was a sin against humanity.

I would care more about what was mixed in with the grits, cheese, eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, or all of of the above. I would never eat grits by themselves, even if they were cooked to perfection, yuck!

[Mr. R0b0t]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I will be interested to hear if you care to share why you thought this. 

Let me preface my response by saying I know that everything on tv, including LC is not meant for me so there will be social cues, historical markers, events, etc that I may not hold complete context of and that's okay.  For me this episode, especially coming off the heels of last week's brilliant one, lacked narrative focus and did not stand well on it's own.  I found the pregnancy anvils in the front half of the episode to be ham fisted.  Hippolyta thus far has been a 5th level side character and I didn't find her exploring a multi-verse of cartoon-ish CGI dimensions to be as riveting as the ones connecting to the main mystery.  I listen to the accompanying podcast each week and it did help frame some of this episode's events that I certainly would have no idea about otherwise (i.e. that biker lady).  (I did love the analogy they used this week about cake and frosting; brilliant!).  

[ShellsandCheese]

7 hours ago, Roxie said:

(1) As did I.  I mentioned to my husband that for people who don't appear to have a lot of money, they all dress pretty well!

(2) True - but this IS Lovecraft Country.

Back in the day, people would make their own clothes or save and spend money on quality pieces that could be worn for years. I know the nightgown is an exception but women also wore appropriate support garments - and either knew how to do some slight alterations/tailoring or they took it the neighborhood tailor. Just about anything can look good when it's made by someone with skill, fits the right way, and you have the right support garments.  It wasn't the cheap fast fashion that we have today. 

[Scarlett45]

7 hours ago, paigow said:

Were grits popular in Chicago? They always seemed like a My Cousin Vinny thing...

Yes black people often ate grits, in my experience they were about equal with oatmeal in black homes in Chicago and I was born in the 1980s (in Chicago). 

[buttercupia]

um, leti isn't pregnant, she's undead. 

i LOVED this ep. i'm a huge fan of scifi and of hippolyta. wonderfully acted, surprises all through the episode including george, josephine, and space jackie brown. love love love.

[Cornhusker12]

On 9/28/2020 at 12:42 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

There's no real rhyme or reason to how the time/space/dimension travel thing works

Haha this example perfectly sums up the thoughts I keep having about this show lately unfortunately 😞 I was all on board for the first few episodes and will definitely stick with it because it's always, at the very least, beautifully acted and designed and makes me think. But more and more I'm left with an empty feeling due to lacking cohesion and ongoing plot. I understand that it's sort of an episode by episode anthology series, but I just can't get used to it being this drastic I guess haha. Each episode has been interesting and enlightening in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to showing Black Americans in ways that have never been explored enough in pop culture, but I still crave a lot more of the "who/what/when/where/why" side of things.

The first two episodes set up what I thought was going to be this incredible trio of main characters who we would follow in and out of genres, see them on crazy adventures we've never seen on TV, and get to know them and their families and deeply care about them and their circumstances, but 5 episodes later I unfortunately feel like we have never been given a chance to get any momentum going on any given plot point or character, and it doesn't seem like much of it will ever get brought back around for any sort of explanation or payoff.

I don't want to seem like I'm too down on the show, like I said I do look forward to watching it and I'm totally intrigued by the general insanity of the genre-bending, but as of right now I just feel like the scales are weighted way too heavily on the side of "keep the audience off balance" instead of "keep the audience invested." In my opinion they didn't build enough foundation yet to have the show change so much week to week, instead of a wild ride it just feels off the rails and somewhat unearned and laden with plot holes. Maybe I'm just not on the right wavelength though haha.

Alright all that being said Aunjanue Ellis gave an amazing performance even when the writing could have come across stilted, and it made me so happy to see Courtney B. Vance come back as George. He was such a warm presence in the first two episodes I keep hoping the next mysterious plot point is that he comes back to life so he can be back in the show for good... maybe??

Edited September 29, 2020 by Cornhusker12

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

um, leti isn't pregnant, she's undead. 

Undead as in vampire? If that's the case, how does she run around during the daytime and why doesn't she have to feed on blood? If she's zombie undead, is garlic (or any strong odor/flavor) a problem for them? I've never heard that one before. I'm not up on all the current zombie variations though, like the Walking Dead.

[AnimeMania]

Probably more undead like Frankenstein's monster.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

Probably more undead like Frankenstein's monster.

Tic is supposed to die soon anyway...the two of them are perfectly matched...

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Tic is supposed to die soon anyway...

Is that a spoiler? 🙁

[paigow]

58 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Is that a spoiler? 🙁

Prophecy / premonition from Kumiho

[RachelKM]

I watched this episode late (I was tired Sunday) and have let it sit in my brain for two days.  I really liked it and loved Hippolyta's plot. But I there was something I found off.  I realize that it felt a little disjointed.  I think it was because it kept all the plates spinning from the other plots happening, Tic/Leti, Ruby/Christina, Leti/Ruby, which felt choppy.  I understand that the threads are necessary and will likely all come together in the end.  But it made for odd pacing and tonal shifts that were sometimes jarring.

I am - I think the title is multi-level.  There is the biblical reference and the naming of one's self which are both mystical empowerment.  But there is also the simple declaratory statement of being. Hippolyta coming to terms with the way she let society, sexism, racism, and even her marriage limit and diminish her in her actions and her sense of self are all ways of losing  her own identity. Declaring I AM, as in " exist, I am a person with my own presence, talent, and worth is another kind of empowerment.  And I liked all of it.

As for Tic's reaction to Montrose, it initially pissed me off even knowing that for Tic to be totally accepting would be to make him some kind of 50s era unicorn.  I mean, if he was super progressive about homosexuality more than a decade pre-Stonewall, he would be the ultimate Gary Stu. I appreciated, however, that there was a personal element to it too.  After the initial shock and slur, Tic's real pain was his realization that much of Montrose's beatings and claims that he needed to toughen up little nerdy Tic was a projection of his own self loathing and internalized homophobia.  Tic spent years getting beatings at the hands of his father that were as much aimed himself as Tic.

I guess Leti being pregnant was inevitable considering the season arc plot revolves around Tic's bloodline.  But, yeah... nausea over garlic (she also showed some sensitivity to smells earlier in the ep) and the off hand "or you're pregnant" comment reveal was a bit cliche. 

 

On 9/28/2020 at 8:48 AM, meep.meep said:

The space babe with the giant afro was Anjanue Ellis, right?

I thought so too.  But I cannot find any confirmation of it.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, RachelKM said:

On 9/28/2020 at 11:48 AM, meep.meep said:

The space babe with the giant afro was Anjanue Ellis, right?

I thought so too.  But I cannot find any confirmation of it.

'Lovecraft Country': Aunjanue Ellis on the Timeless Struggles and Triumphs of Black Women

I AM

Let's see, there is:

René Descartes: "I think, therefore I am."

Popeye: "I am what I am, and that's all that I am."

 

[Scarlett45]

4 hours ago, RachelKM said:

After the initial shock and slur, Tic's real pain was his realization that much of Montrose's beatings and claims that he needed to toughen up little nerdy Tic was a projection of his own self loathing and internalized homophobia.  Tic spent years getting beatings at the hands of his father that were as much aimed himself as Tic.

I very much agree with this. Also after listening to the podcast analysis of this episode, I recalled that when Tic was beating Montrose for the murder of the Siren, Montrose “took it”, no defensive moves, he accepted his son’s beating. In episode 1 George lamented that Montrose was often beaten by their father, and George being the much older brother should’ve done more to protect him and always felt guilty about that.

But after a few hours of self acceptance with Sammy, Montrose refused to tolerate Tic’s verbal disrespect.

I find that interesting. Montrose is still full of self loathing and has issues with intimacy, but he also knows his treatment of his son was wrong (hence why he took the beating the last episode). 

[grawlix]

4 hours ago, RachelKM said:

On 9/28/2020 at 8:48 AM, meep.meep said:

The space babe with the giant afro was Anjanue Ellis, right?

I thought so too.  But I cannot find any confirmation of it.

The space babe (Seraphina Aka Beyond C’est) is played by Karen LeBlanc according to IMDB.

[Cheezwiz]

I loved this episode and thought it was a total blast from start to finish. I loved the trippy borderline campy sci-fi feel of the whole thing.

I had read about Bessie Stringfield some time ago, so seeing her whiz by Hippolyta on the highway made me smile.

Really super art direction (that orrery is such a gorgeous prop - kudos to the props makers on that one!), and wonderful performance by Aunjanue Ellis.

On 9/28/2020 at 12:42 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

And then Lovecraft Country went a little Minions for a sec. 🤗

That was ridiculously cute and cracked me up! Seriously, everything in this episode delighted me!