S01.E01: Port Fourchon, Louisiana

[AnimeMania]

A down-and-out waitress questions her choices.

[AnimeMania]

Interesting episode, seemed incomplete, needed another episode to feel in the blanks. The monster was almost non-existent. I am disappointed that Toni didn't drive to another state (determined by license plates) to dump Jack, somebody might recognize her and try to return her. Toni didn't have to leave the money since no amount of money is going to encourage someone to take care of Jack. I am surprised that Toni had a car. Possible continuity error, the garage has electricity (outdoor lights were on) when the house didn't, they should have moved into the garage.

[cmahorror]

I'm not sure what I think about this episode. The impression I was given is that Toni's attempt to abort Jack caused Jack's issues but her actions seem more like an autistic child, which has no known cause at this time. The only caregiver, Toni finally cracked and abandoned her daughter after meeting with the monster and seeing she can have a new life as long as she can live with her decision.

So are we to infer that Toni is the real monster? Her decision to abandon Jack in a random car instead of someplace she could get help bothers me a lot because she may have just put her daughter in a life threatening situation and it doesn't seem to bother her. Yes, raising a child with special needs is difficult both physically and emotionally but we are given no real reason why Toni has reached her breaking point. Ultimately, I feel like this needed more time to breathe and put us in her situation. Did Toni at least attempt to get help for Jack? Are we to assume that since Jack's dad was violent and abusive, Jack was the same way?

Usually the filmmakers have to include a lot of filler to meet the hour long runtime but this episode really needed to be longer to help explain Toni's motivations and why she finally decided, after 4 years, to abandon her daughter.

Not a great start to the series and is not making me anxious to see more.

[tennisgurl]

Very strange start to the show. The monster was only a minor part of the episode, really the monster just existed to inspire Toni to, I assume, to leave her life and her troubled daughter behind to start a new life, the way that the monster and the monster that she (?) worked with would constantly go around stealing one life and then move onto the next one, constantly reinventing themselves. I suspected that Jack got some kind of evil spirit in her or that she got possessed after her near death experience, and thats why she was acting out, as it sounded like her violent behavior was more of a recent thing, but I guess she just has development issues. 

Its Halloween season so I am in the market for monsters, but this wasn't a great start, even with a strong performance from the lead actress. 

[cmahorror]

I started reading the book this was based on in hopes that it could give me a stronger feel for why Toni did what she did.

Spoiler:

Spoiler

In the short story, a social worker at the day care attempts to help Toni with Gwen (not sure why they changed the name) but Toni seems to proud to accept the help. Also, she leaves her awake daughter at a rest area and tells her to stay there until she gets back. If anything, she is more of a monster in the short story because her little girl watches her mom abandon her. At least she waits until the little girl is asleep in the show.

I think I will watch each episode and then read the matching story to see how close they are.

[calliope1975]

1 hour ago, cmahorror said:

I think I will watch each episode and then read the matching story to see how close they are.

I'm doing the opposite and reading the stories then watching the episode. I also thought

Spoiler

she was kinder leaving the kid in someone's car then alone at the rest stop.