S01.E05: Mukbang

[helenamonster]

Original airdate: 10/22/21

[Cranberry]

Okay, fine, show, between Margot's feelings for "Lennon" and her eating disorder, I actually care about her now. Happy? It seems like Alison is genuinely developing feelings for her, so that answers my question about why she'd make the risky move of kissing her, I guess. (If they go any further than that, isn't Margot going to realize something's up? Has Alison even had sex in the year since she left town a virgin?)

I really want Dylan to just die already. I can't stand him. I want to know more about Riley, though. We got a little more this episode, but she's still the most enigmatic of the group. Maybe next week will focus more on her.

Looks like the town has noticed that only men have been murdered so far. I wonder if that's significant. 

So, hm. Was Mom in the cult or just Bruce? Was Mom some kind of sacrifice as opposed to a suicide? What did Lennon know about it all that would make Alison hate Bruce, and how did she know? How does all the cult stuff tie in to the current murders? Is the cult thing actually separate from the revenge thing and are we looking at two different storylines only connected by Lennon being "not the one" for whatever solstice thing Clara mentioned last episode? I feel like the resolution's going to disappoint me, but I hope it doesn't.

[peachmangosteen]

There are a lot of threads here that don’t seem like they can all get tied up in 3 eps but we’ll see lol.

With the townsfolk asking how to protect their boys, I’m thinking only men being killed means something. Although it seems like Riley has been attacked now, but was still breathing so maybe she’ll be saved. Or maybe it isn’t her but considering we didn’t see her after the chase with Clara, I assume it is her.

Is Dylan supposed to seem like he’s high all the time? I can’t tell if that’s on purpose or just the actor’s natural way lol.

So Hot Dad is the mayor then? I wondered when he was talking to the cop woman about the budget in like ep 2 but I wasn’t sure.

This show is actually pretty fun with how ridiculous it is and all the stupid lines.

[Cranberry]

Oh yeah, it's stupid as hell and the pop culture references are going to make it age like a glass of milk, but I'm having fun... expecting to be disappointed at the end, but still having fun. Sometimes you're just in the mood for Trash.

I saw someone elsewhere speculate that at some point before Alison-as-Lennon arrived back in town this summer, real-and-not-actually-dead Lennon killed her and is now Lennon pretending to be Alison pretending to be Lennon. I don't know if that makes any sense, and I don't know if I'd love it or hate it, but now that they've said it I can't stop thinking about it.

(It makes sense in some ways, like the body looking so fresh and Lennon still having feelings for Margot and not seeming into Dylan anymore, but does not make sense in many other ways.)

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Cranberry said:

I saw someone elsewhere speculate that at some point before Alison-as-Lennon arrived back in town this summer, real-and-not-actually-dead Lennon killed her and is now Lennon pretending to be Alison pretending to be Lennon. I don't know if that makes any sense, and I don't know if I'd love it or hate it, but now that they've said it I can't stop thinking about it.

I read this so many times and I'm like 'whaaaa?' lol. But I think I eventually got it!

So Lennon lived after getting hit by the car but then at some point during the year she killed Allison and is now back in town pretending to be Allison pretending to be Lennon? Fucking hell! I kinda like it though.

But it seems like Lennon already knew about whatever Hot Dad did that's horrible while Allison didn't, which wouldn't line up with Allison being surprised by Clara and Hot Dad being married. Unless the Clara/Hot Dad marriage wasn't the thing Hot Dad did that Lennon knew about.

[Cranberry]

Yeah, I don't think it makes sense with Clara saying she had the (unnamed) twin for "about a year" and with her confirming she prepared the girl for her next life. It's probably too bonkers of a twist even for this mess. I have no idea where they're going with all the cult stuff, though -- I don't even have any theories. I suspect there may be some kind of prophecy that neither the twins' mom nor Lennon fulfilled and maybe now they think Alison is "the one," but I don't know why they'd be murdering other people all over town (or harassing the group with the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" stuff).

[Mabinogia]

I was half expecting Daddy Dearest to turn around and run Lennon down in the road to protect whatever secret it is he is protecting. I can't remember if the Drunken Teen Idiots saw her standing in the road or just felt the car hit something. 

I hope Riley is okay. She's the only one of the gang I really like. I do wish someone, anyone would kill Dylan. I just can't with him. 

This show confuses the hell out of me. It thought Dylan's hand was bleeding from picking up the knife the wrong way but he said Hippy Lady was holding the bloody knife and he didn't look like his hand was cut afterwards. 

 

[Cranberry]

15 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I can't remember if the Drunken Teen Idiots saw her standing in the road or just felt the car hit something. 

Just checked, and nobody saw her beforehand; they all just reacted to the thump. That's why they assumed it was a goat. Damnit, she probably was already dead and that's why the dad was so quick to help Alison cover it up.

(She did get thrown to the side of the road, though; that wouldn't happen with a dead body that had been lying on the road, right? Maybe she was already injured and stumbling.)

[peachmangosteen]

22 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I was half expecting Daddy Dearest to turn around and run Lennon down in the road to protect whatever secret it is he is protecting.

Same! I’m starting to suspect he actually did kill her tbh or that he’s behind the other killings. He’s creepy.

I don’t know why I was so sure the breathing at the end was Riley. I thought we saw Dylan after the stuff at Clara’s but we didn’t so it could be him. If it is him there has to be a reason why it’s all men that got killed.

At this point I think that the kills and the ‘I know what you did’ texts might be separate things.

[TeeVee329]

Positives first, I liked the teens coming together to investigate a suspect/red herring (the whole vibe of this with Clara reminded me of Julie and Helen visiting Anne Heche's backwater house in the movie), the abandoned cult barracks made for a creepy set piece, and they actually threw in some cheap but okay jump scares.

And the flashbacks with the dad were interesting because I thought it would just be him feeling guilty because he didn't take Alison home when she asked, not that he basically put Lennon in the path of the car.  I don't think he's the killer, or Clara, but I suspect whoever is on the other side of whatever his slash their secret is could be.  Maybe tied to that Frank Phillips guy from the killer's text Alison hasn't figured out yet?

On the flip side, I don't really get the Margot/Alison-as-Lennon thing.  I'm fine with Alison maybe being bi or fluid or whatever like her sister, but how could she be attracted to Margot given how much disdain Margot throws on Alison's name every chance she gets?

Also, Dylan really sucks.  Him saying nothing when Riley accused him of thinking she's a bad person was even shittier than if he had come out and stated it himself.

Finally, I'm going on record and saying there's something shifty about Margot's mom, I got my eyes on her.

[peachmangosteen]

Someone elsewhere speculated that the person injured and still breathing at the end could be Clara because Riley picked up the machete and went after her to protect Dylan. That would make sense. 

[catherinejane]

Lennon not having been killed and then killing Alison makes sense, as surely there tons of stuff she knows about the gang that alison would not know and it would reveal the truth. she could have just not come from for the summer if she wanted (her dad could have visited her at Uni town)

The twin /cult thing, maybe the twins belong to someone else who birthed them? or 2 embrios planted in 2 different women? So "mum" not actually mum.

I thought hit dad maybe is mayor too? but who knows in this town!

 

[Keywestclubkid]

Another off screen kill. This feels like a slasherless slasher 

[Mabinogia]

6 hours ago, catherinejane said:

she could have just not come from for the summer if she wanted (her dad could have visited her at Uni town)

Now that you mention that, it is odd, now that we know Dad knows she's not really Lennon, that he was so insistent on her coming home. Wouldn't it be easier to maintain the lie if she stayed as far away from Lennon's old friend group as possible? Is it because another solstice or whatever is coming and since the other twin wasn't the right one last year maybe they need her for it this year? 

I totally missed that Dad is the mayor. I thought he ran the diner she was working at, where the cook was killed in the toilet. I suppose, town like this, he could be both. All I know if the longer the show goes the shadier he seems. 

I'm also starting to feel bad for Margot. She's shallow and bitchy but when I see her mother who is even more shallow and seems to use her daughter as a social media cash cow I can see why Margot is that way. Girl just wants to be loved. 

[peachmangosteen]

26 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I totally missed that Dad is the mayor. I thought he ran the diner she was working at, where the cook was killed in the toilet.

I thought the diner was located in some housing complex type area and that Hot Dad owned that whole thing. Then with him talking to cop lady (Lyla?) about the budget in the second ep and seemingly running the town meeting in this ep, I’m assuming he’s also the mayor.

[Cranberry]

The dad is definitely the most suspicious character to me, but I feel like it's almost too obvious for him to be the killer, especially now that Alison has already uncovered his cult connection with three episodes left. Maybe this is one of the rare shows that'll go for what makes sense over what's shocking, though. (*Cough*Screw you, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars*Cough*)

[RachelKM]

One thing I noted was that the dad actually mixed the twins up in this episode. He called Lennon "Allison" and she had to correct him  Granted, they were dressed alike, but it would be weird for that to be a throwaway.  And we were all impressed with him recognizing Allison in her sister's coat even in half darkness. But now we know he saw Lennon put on Allison's hoodie ... and also left her in the middle of the road still wearing it. (At least now we know how the fuck Lennon ended up in the road in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere miles from the party.)

He's getting sketchier by the episode. With only three left, while I don't think he's the killer, his secret(s) better be part of the A plot because otherwise we wasted a whole episode in the back half on dad reveals for a side trip red herring. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by RachelKM

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, RachelKM said:

One thing I noted was that the dad actually mixed the twins up in this episode. He called Lennon Allison and she had to correct him  Granted, they were dressed alike, but it would be weird for that to be a throwaway.  And we were all impressed with him recognizing Alison in her sisters coat even in half darkness. But now we know he saw Lennon put on Alison's hoodie ... and also left her in the middle of the road still wearing it. (At least now we know how the fuck Lennon ended up in the road it what appeared to be the middle of nowhere miles from the party.)

I noted that as well. 

[TeeVee329]

2 hours ago, RachelKM said:

One thing I noted was that the dad actually mixed the twins up in this episode. He called Lennon Allison and she had to correct him  Granted, they were dressed alike, but it would be weird for that to be a throwaway.

I thought that was because, at that point, Lennon was wearing the mom's necklace, which they seemed to establish was something only Alison wore, because Alison had thrown it at Lennon at the end of their fight.

[Cranberry]

And he had been drinking for a bit at that point, was distracted watching the cop, and was already annoyed by Alison's earlier interruption and was expecting her again. That said, I noted his mistake as well! 

[RachelKM]

My thinking was less that, as a father, he didn't recognize his twins.  I was thinking more of the shift in the dad's presentation within the show. 

In the first two episodes he was given a lot of moments that seemed to suggest he was an attentive, loving, supportive father who simply couldn't connect with one of his daughters after his wife's suicide but was very close with his other daughter.  He's shown encouraging Allison to enjoy herself at the party seemingly understandably worried that she didn't socialize. Then he recognizes her walking in the door in her sister's jacket in low light.  His fear of losing both daughters in one night and then that dictated letter.

This episode seemed to turn all of those moments on their heads.  He's frustrated and harsh with Allison, refusing to leave because he wanted to socialize.  He fails to observe which daughter approached him and snapped at her too. And then we learn that he was hiding a secret which was known to the daughter he was allegedly closer with and he left that daughter in the middle of the road on which she died that night.  Finally, that same scene establishes that recognizing Allison was as much because he knew they switched jackets.

I don't think the show is setting him up to be the murderer. But the back half appears to be flipping his character a full 180 from the first episode.  And if not, that was A LOT. And I wonder if there is more to his behavior in that moment. 

[Keywestclubkid]

On 10/24/2021 at 6:33 PM, Cranberry said:

The dad is definitely the most suspicious character to me, but I feel like it's almost too obvious for him to be the killer, especially now that Alison has already uncovered his cult connection with three episodes left. Maybe this is one of the rare shows that'll go for what makes sense over what's shocking, though. (*Cough*Screw you, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars*Cough*)

I'm leaning towards his sheriff lover GF

[Mabinogia]

13 hours ago, RachelKM said:

And then we learn that he was hiding a secret which was known to the daughter he was allegedly closer

I am dying to know what this secret is. Lennon knows what it is and is super close to her dad but they both agree that if Alison finds out she will be furious. I know Lennon is being shown as being narcissistic and bordering on sociopathy but I am super curious what their father did that she has no problem with but is too horrible to tell the other one. Unless whatever it is only has to do with Alison, like trading her soul for favors from the devil or something. That would explain Hippy Chick's comment about having the wrong one last summer. 

[peachmangosteen]

26 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Unless whatever it is only has to do with Alison, like trading her soul for favors from the devil or something. That would explain Hippy Chick's comment about having the wrong one last summer. 

Damn, that actually kinda makes sense lol.

[Josh371982]

On 10/21/2021 at 11:39 PM, Cranberry said:

Okay, fine, show, between Margot's feelings for "Lennon" and her eating disorder, I actually care about her now. Happy? It seems like Alison is genuinely developing feelings for her, so that answers my question about why she'd make the risky move of kissing her, I guess. (If they go any further than that, isn't Margot going to realize something's up? Has Alison even had sex in the year since she left town a virgin?)

I really want Dylan to just die already. I can't stand him. I want to know more about Riley, though. We got a little more this episode, but she's still the most enigmatic of the group. Maybe next week will focus more on her.

Looks like the town has noticed that only men have been murdered so far. I wonder if that's significant. 

So, hm. Was Mom in the cult or just Bruce? Was Mom some kind of sacrifice as opposed to a suicide? What did Lennon know about it all that would make Alison hate Bruce, and how did she know? How does all the cult stuff tie in to the current murders? Is the cult thing actually separate from the revenge thing and are we looking at two different storylines only connected by Lennon being "not the one" for whatever solstice thing Clara mentioned last episode? I feel like the resolution's going to disappoint me, but I hope it doesn't.

Ugh Margot is/was the worst besides Lennon regarding her treatment of Allison. How could Allison get feelings for this bitch?

[Mabinogia]

6 hours ago, Josh371982 said:

How could Allison get feelings for this bitch?

I get the feeling Allison is a very, very damaged person. she may either see herself in Margot or think Margot is the best she can do in life. I will say, despite everything, I still think Margot is a better choice than Dylan. 

[peachmangosteen]

Hell, I think Margot is a better choice than Allison herself lol. Allison sucked almost as much as Dylan did imo.

[AntFTW]

6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I get the feeling Allison is a very, very damaged person.

Everybody is that circle of people was damaged. Allison is damaged. Lennon was damaged. Margot is damaged. Dylan was damaged. The least damaged person in the group was the drug dealer.

6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

she may either see herself in Margot or think Margot is the best she can do in life. I will say, despite everything, I still think Margot is a better choice than Dylan. 

I don't think Allison can see Margot in herself but I do think believing Margot is the best she can do plays a part. Margot provided a feeling that Allison believes she has never gotten from anyone, being wanted, loved, and cared for. That's what Allison is attracted to. Allison has a ridiculously low self esteem. It's like a drug that gives you a high when you believe that no one can or will love you or care about you.