S02.E09: Storytelling

[Avabelle]

Have the showrunners commented on whether or not it was Juliette Lewis decision to leave the show? has she commented on the exit?

I could have seen Nat dying at the end of the series but not two series into an apparent five season show. 

[Thalia]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Jason Ritter was announced as being in this season, there was even a bts photo of him, and yet he never showed up.

I just added a link to a story about this on the media page.   Kevin Alves hints that he might have filmed a scene that was cut.  

[peachmangosteen]

Now I’m wondering if they filmed stuff they decided to cut so they could put it in next season. They very obviously had trouble filling this season so maybe they decided to save some stuff so they’d have it for next season in case they were struggling for filler again.

Honestly, my fave parts of this ep (and of the entire season really) were every scene Jeff was in. Fantastic character, great lines, and the actor just kills every time. I also loved everything with Walter.

My other fave thing might have been Ben trying to kill them all. I laughed lol.

Another thing this season did for me is make me really care about Lottie. She was pushed into this shit by these girls and then they have the audacity to act like she’s insane and want to have her committed again. 

Also, to be honest I never paid much attention to Van but this season has me wondering if she’s the true psycho of the show lol. Her talk with Travis was chilling.

What did you guys make of Callie smiling (at Lottie in the ambulance?) and Shauna’s reaction to it? I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting from that.

 

[jsm1125]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Now I’m wondering if they filmed stuff they decided to cut so they could put it in next season. They very obviously had trouble filling this season so maybe they decided to save some stuff so they’d have it for next season in case they were struggling for filler again.

Honestly, my fave parts of this ep (and of the entire season really) were every scene Jeff was in. Fantastic character, great lines, and the actor just kills every time. I also loved everything with Walter.

My other fave thing might have been Ben trying to kill them all. I laughed lol.

Another thing this season did for me is make me really care about Lottie. She was pushed into this shit by these girls and then they have the audacity to act like she’s insane and want to have her committed again. 

Also, to be honest I never paid much attention to Van but this season has me wondering if she’s the true psycho of the show lol. Her talk with Travis was chilling.

What did you guys make of Callie smiling (at Lottie in the ambulance?) and Shauna’s reaction to it? I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting from that.

 

This might be overly simplistic, but I’m wondering if we’re supposed to gleam that Callie has her mother’s same sense of adrenaline-seeking?

[WaltersHair]

I screenshot this for my own amusement to make sure Natalie was seeing herself as the antler queen during her near-death episode. Glad I hung onto it.

 

[jsm1125]

Even though they no longer had any contact with each other, there’s something a bit poetic about Kevyn and Natalie dying on the same day on the same grounds, without either of them knowing that the other was there.

[TakomaSnark]

3 hours ago, SeanC said:

The next sentence in her journal, that she always previously thought it was Jackie who made her feel invisible, seemed like the beginning of self-reflection.

But in Shauna's defense, it wasn't really a leadership election, the group's prophet came down and bestowed leadership on one particular person.

I would say Van's cancer is going to be a major question mark going forward as far as the supernatural element goes.

Senator-elect, I believe. I would guess that most people don't know she's missing; her campaign manager presumably didn't raise the issue, who else would?

 

Those who know her estranged wife is incapacitated in the hospital as the result of a car accident in which Tai was driving. Their son?

Let's not think about the new dog (is anyone taking care of that poor thing?).

[Chaos Theory]

Well that was kind of an unexpected ending for season 2

I really enjoy watching how all the rituals start in the 90s timeline and how natural it feels.   Everyone watch just assumed the Antler Queen would be Lottie but it makes alot of sense that its Nat and the way Lottie explained WHY Nat should be the leader makes alot of sense in a senseless kind of way "We tried to kill you and it wouldn't let us."   "You were always its favprite."  Which makes her death in the current timeline so tragic especially since she died by the hands of Misty who ironically came to Lottie's cult to rescue her and Nat actually managed to save the girl she befriended.   

Walter and Jeff's stuff was kinda hilarious.    I also really liked Callie's stuff.  I am kinda disappointed she didn't shoot Mustache Cop. 

So when does season 3 start? 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Chaos Theory

[sistermagpie]

21 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

I'm confused--I know that Lottie was sincere when she started chasing Shauna, but were the others suddenly on board once they put on the masks or were they just doing a really good job of faking it? While I was watching I was like Shauna, girl, you are not running fast enough!

I think they were not really sure themselves. When Callie showed up they were mostly standing there.

 

13 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The Adam storyline this season was a mess, but hopefully the writers have wrapped that up now and can move on. There was a lot of sloppiness involved in wrapping it up, but maybe they realized it just wasn't working. I'd rather have a sloppy but quick wrap-up then spend a lot of screentime on a more logical conclusion. I really liked everything else.

Agreed. Very glad the Adam storyline is done--hopefully.

13 hours ago, Black Knight said:

LOL at Shauna's journal where she was whining about feeling invisible. I wonder if she'll ever realize that if she feels invisible, it's her own doing - not Jackie's or Natalie's or Lottie's or whoever. She didn't have to live in Jackie's shadow. She could've made a case for herself to be leader.

Nah, I think it fits with her character because she's right. She can't just make herself into somebody who's a leader. Jackie didn't really do anything to be the alpha, she really was born with whatever combination of things made it easier for her. Sometimes part of growing up is realizing it's useless being jealous that you're not that person and embrace the value of what you are. But teenagers often struggle with it.

13 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I feel somewhat suspicious of Van. I know she's bought into the "wilderness chooses" mumbo jumbo (at least in the past), but there was something sociopathic about the way she was talking to Travis about Javi when she knows (and he doesn't) that she stood there and watched Javi die. And then in the present, her ruining the original plan the YJs had for dealing with Lottie has me side-eying her. Did she want someone to die? Did she think that might cure her cancer, perhaps? It's too bad Tai has probably completely burned her bridges with Simone, because I'd advise Tai to stay with her wife otherwise.

 

11 hours ago, Thalia said:

The results of Van's passionate defense of Lottie?  She is still committed and Natalie is dead.  

Yup, I think Van is totally hoping her cancer will go into remission because of the sacrifice. She's not ashamed of wanting to live.

11 hours ago, Thalia said:

I guess we'll never know if Natalie's seeming acceptance of the cult was real or an act.  Probably real, since we now understand why Natalie might be particularly susceptible to Lottie -- Lottie chose her and she has to believe that Lottie has some mystical power to justify everything that happened post-coronation. 

I feel like the idea was she first was trying to get information, then was trying to buy into the idea she could actually be a good person, but in the end she couldn't.

11 hours ago, Thalia said:

Apparently none of the girls read the book ALIVE before the crash, because I was surprised by the way they just chowed down on Javi. Jackie was a bit more understandable because she was an impulse.  But the soccer boys knew that the bodies of their fallen were a finite resource and carefully rationed their portions.  The girls should know this too since they were doing the same with the bear at the start of the winter.   And counting the survivors watching the fire -- minus the six we know survive -- there aren't that many of them. 

They didn't eat that much of Javi.

 

10 hours ago, JenE4 said:

I get why Ben tried to kill them all. He was terrified seeing what has become of them. He saw that their irrationality has gotten worse. He wasn’t going to stand by and continue seeing them hunt, kill, and eat each other—all while getting wrapped up in this cult hysteria. He would forever be on guard waiting for them to come after him. It was like euthanasia—take them out of this hell they created. As the adult there, this was probably the only way he could protect them in a way and keep them from making these choices that would forever haunt them.

I don't believe that. Before they even left for nationals he was callng the girls vicious and he's never cared about any of them much except for Natalie, and not just Misty the one who was endangering him. At best he was deciding he'd failed to do anything to make this better (which is just true) and is telling himself this is for the best, but I think he just genuinely hates and fears them. 

10 hours ago, JenE4 said:

I had a feeling that things were afoot when Tai canceled the call for help. They were letting the ritual go for too long, too. Then Tai was holding the knife. But all that appeared to be Good Tai. If it were Bad Tai it would have made more sense.

There was a point where it seemed like the Other Tai had definitely replaced her. I think maybe when they went around picking cards the second time. 

 

7 hours ago, Anela said:

I know! "He killed my partner, hid him in the trunk, came up behind me, and shot him quickly, then tried to bribe me." Simple. 

I think the thing that's supposed to make the difference is him being a hero for bringing Kevyn down.

7 hours ago, Cranberry said:

 

I'm "Team Rational" myself, but we don't know that. The writers have deliberately straddled that line. Right now there's no definitive word either way on whether there was an "It" or just them. I had assumed there never would be (as the debate is excellent for fan engagement, heh), but now this cancer element makes me wonder. They have to address it one way or the other now, right?

They don't, really. I know people think that because it's a TV show they're not doing their job if they don't have some explicit explanation, but nobody ever feels it's necessary to do that when it's a religion they recognize. There are plenty of people in the real world whose cancer goes into a miraculous remission (I literally read two people talking about it happening to them today) because of prayer. ETA: I meant they believe it was because of prayer, not that it was a fact that prayer did it!

Van was just running out the clock when Tai showed up, not paying her bills and waiting to die. Then Tai shows up out of nowhere and brings her to Lottie--who may still be The Shaman as she was identified in the opening script--that's a different role than the leader. Lottie notes just looking at her that she is no longer full of life and then tells Van "she'll see" that the wilderness is pleased with their sacrifice. She's got good reason to believe and she's always taken to it naturally.

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Now I’m wondering if they filmed stuff they decided to cut so they could put it in next season. They very obviously had trouble filling this season so maybe they decided to save some stuff so they’d have it for next season in case they were struggling for filler again.

I think they've said that yes, they filmed stuff that wasn't used etc.

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

 

What did you guys make of Callie smiling (at Lottie in the ambulance?) and Shauna’s reaction to it? I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting from that.

 

I saw Van desperately hoping this meant she would be healed and Shauna just looking sad at stuff that happened, not noticing the look passing between Van and Lottie.

Edited May 27, 2023 by sistermagpie

[WaltersHair]

Just realized the irony of Shauna saving her journals from a cabin fire, only to burn them in a suburban Weber grill 25 years later.

[Anela]

I've known too many people who died from cancer, and some of them were religious. They prayed, and they died. So, I'm not big on miracle healings being pushed, especially since this was through murder (or manslaughter, since it was an accident with Natalie). I hope the writers don't decide to go full evil, and have Van miraculously cured. 

[AstridM]

6 hours ago, Anela said:

Right. I think the first two seasons happened over the course of a few weeks, in the current timeline, so I don't know how they'll cover that in season three, unless they do a time jump. 

I didn't want to see Natalie go, so I do hope that Van's cancer takes her, and she has to deal with the fact that she was all-in on murder, for nothing. 

Hopefully it takes her in a particularly painful way. 

[sistermagpie]

20 minutes ago, Anela said:

I've known too many people who died from cancer, and some of them were religious. They prayed, and they died. So, I'm not big on miracle healings being pushed, especially since this was through murder (or manslaughter, since it was an accident with Natalie). I hope the writers don't decide to go full evil, and have Van miraculously cured. 

Absolutely--but that's sort of what I mean. Some people when their cancer goes into remission consider it proof that God cured them by a miracle--they don't care that plenty of other religious people weren't cured. The reality is really just that sometimes cancer goes into remission--even dramatically--and sometimes it doesn't. People also very often live longer than doctors predicted since they tend to want to err on that side when predicting. Anything that happens could be read as "it" doing something, if somebody believes it.

[Angeleyes]

By my estimation, they’ve been out there for about 9 months in the past and IIRC they were stranded 18 months total. That being said, I’m not sure HBO/MAX SHOWTIME is going to give them more than one more season and they may even cut the number of episodes of season 3. Streaming service have been cutting content recently and with the budget cuts that will surely come down the pike after the writers’ (and possibly actors’) strike they will likely make more cuts. If the show is not bringing the network attention or awards it’s dead weight to them. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Angeleyes
I’m tired and mixed up HBO and Showtime

[AstridM]

3 minutes ago, Angeleyes said:

By my estimation, they’ve been out there for about 9 months in the past and IIRC they were stranded 18 months total. That being said, I’m not sure HBO/MAX is going to give them more than one more season and they may even cut the number of episodes of season 3. HBO has been cutting content left and right before the MAX launch and with the budget cuts that will surely come down the pike after the writers’ (and possibly actors’) strike they will likely make more cuts. If the show is not bringing the network attention or awards it’s dead weight to them. 

It’s on Showtime, not HBO.

[Angeleyes]

Sorry about that. Tired brain this evening. Still, my argument stands because streaming services have been cutting content rapidly recently to be competitive. If this show is not bringing in new subscribers or getting award nominations they will not keep it around when budget cuts are necessary. 

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

 

I really enjoy watching how all the rituals start in the 90s timeline and how natural it feels.   Everyone watch just assumed the Antler Queen would be Lottie but it makes alot of sense that its Nat and the way Lottie explained WHY Nat should be the leader makes alot of sense in a senseless kind of way "We tried to kill you and it wouldn't let us."   "You were always its favprite."

Part of me wonders if Lottie really believes that or if that was her way of getting the group to accept a new leader. She was pretty shaken by the girls twisting her words to stage a hunt and Javi dying as a result. She thought loyalty to the Tree Gods would bring hope and protection and it made everyone more violent and psychotic instead. Maybe she chose Nat hoping there'd be a shift back to pragmatism. The ritual killings obviously continue though, so it'll be interesting to see how/why that happens under Nat's authority.

Also, going back to something Adult Lottie said, does anyone have any theories on who refused the card draw? My money is on Akilah. 

[Anela]

The woman who told Natalie that Lottie was the one to take Travis' money, sounded scared and thought she was being followed. We didn't get anything more about that. 

[CoachMartinez]

When Lottie put Nat in charge she said she could no longer hear It. 

After Adult Nat dies she said It was pleased and hinted at Van's recovery.

Which is it you gorgeous nutjob??

 

 

1 minute ago, Anela said:

The woman who told Natalie that Lottie was the one to take Travis' money, sounded scared and thought she was being followed. We didn't get anything more about that. 

Exactly!!!

Why is this arc of the story just dropped? I've been waiting weeks for an answer. Now that Juliette Lewis is gone it will probably die with her.

And the whole Bad Tai thing is left unanswered too! 

 

 

[Armchair Critic]

22 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

Goodbye sweet Nat. It should have been Lottie.

IMO it should have been Misty. Her character is entertaining but she has done more instigating than anyone, starting with destroying the plane's black box.

[AstridM]

58 minutes ago, Armchair Critic said:

IMO it should have been Misty. Her character is entertaining but she has done more instigating than anyone, starting with destroying the plane's black box.

I can’t decide between them, lol. I’m also willing to throw Van in there at this point!

[Fake Jan Brady]

Wouldn't it have made more sense for Travis [teenage and/or adult version] to have been on the midnight flight to the afterlife along with Javi, rather than Lottie who isn't dead?

[marceline]

14 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Imagine being Tai's poor campaign manager right now. She thought spinning a positive test for Adderall was the worst of her problems. I'm trying to picture her reaction when she gets the call that her boss was found on a cult compound where a cop murder and "drug overdose" happened the same night! 

Don't forget that she got picked up hitchhiking and got dropped off in Ohio by a truck driver then she and Van went to the cult compound.

I just can't stop wonder who is taking care of Sammy the demon spawn and Steve the dog. Also, I guess Tai is lucky the hospital didn't need to consult with her about any aspect of her comatose wife's care. I'm sure her condition hasn't changed at all.

[Avabelle]

6 hours ago, Angeleyes said:

By my estimation, they’ve been out there for about 9 months in the past and IIRC they were stranded 18 months total. That being said, I’m not sure HBO/MAX SHOWTIME is going to give them more than one more season and they may even cut the number of episodes of season 3. Streaming service have been cutting content recently and with the budget cuts that will surely come down the pike after the writers’ (and possibly actors’) strike they will likely make more cuts. If the show is not bringing the network attention or awards it’s dead weight to them. 

Really good point. Depending on how Emmy season goes I could see them cutting the seasons down as well as five seasons of this just seems exhausting. It was such a hit last season with so many thought threads and questions but now the audience knows half the questions don’t ever get answered and other major stories fade off I don’t see it carrying the same traction.
 

I think Juliette Lewis is a big loss as well. Killing any of the present day stars is a risk because you automatically lose a bit of interest in the past character knowing they don’t win out in the end. 
 

Unless season three really turns things around I just see this limping to a shorter finish line of 3 seasons.
 

 

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

So when does season 3 start? 

Season 2 premiered 14 months after season 1 ended and now we have the writers strike. It's gonna be a long time before we get season 3.

13 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

This might be overly simplistic, but I’m wondering if we’re supposed to gleam that Callie has her mother’s same sense of adrenaline-seeking?

I thought maybe Callie was smiling at Lottie and Shauna was worried Callie would start believing in Lottie. The funny/sad thing is Lottie never meant for them to become psychos but they used her to justify it.

[sistermagpie]

6 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Wouldn't it have made more sense for Travis [teenage and/or adult version] to have been on the midnight flight to the afterlife along with Javi, rather than Lottie who isn't dead?

No, because Javi is the person that Natalie was guilty about, imo. By saving Lisa, she was replaying that scene differently.

5 hours ago, marceline said:

I just can't stop wonder who is taking care of Sammy the demon spawn and Steve the dog. Also, I guess Tai is lucky the hospital didn't need to consult with her about any aspect of her comatose wife's care. I'm sure her condition hasn't changed at all.

They said this. They're with Simone's parents. Or at least Sammy is, and I assume he'd have asked for Steve since Taissa got him for Sammy.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

 

I thought maybe Callie was smiling at Lottie and Shauna was worried Callie would start believing in Lottie. The funny/sad thing is Lottie never meant for them to become psychos but they used her to justify it.

I read a similar theory on a different forum, that S3 Callie develops a relationship with Lottie behind Shauna's back and starts believing in the woo-woo. I definitely think she's going to have a bigger role, as evidenced by the lingering shot of her at the end of the episode. 

[sistermagpie]

29 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I read a similar theory on a different forum, that S3 Callie develops a relationship with Lottie behind Shauna's back and starts believing in the woo-woo. I definitely think she's going to have a bigger role, as evidenced by the lingering shot of her at the end of the episode. 

That last shot definitely set up something like that. Though I didn't think she was smiling, more just looking at her intensely, with Shauna noticing that. And Lottie already did the same to Callie. Kind of a parallel to Lottie fixating on Shauna's baby in the past as well. 

Shauna was writing about being invisible, and when Callie showed up Lottie immediately started looking past her at Callie as being "so strong" so Shauna could definitely be dealing with something like that again. Callie said something similar early in the season, saying how her parents didn't know she existed. (Though ironically what Lottie saw as being so strong was Callie doing something that Shauna had done earlier in an even more badass way.)

[Brn2bwild]

I don't think it's a bad thing there could be a delay for Season 3, as it gives the creators more time to think the trajectory of the season and series through.

Surprised that Lottie didn't offer leadership to Tai, since Other Tai is more connected to the wilderness.  Though it makes sense if Lottie was hoping Natalie would be a moderating influence.  Tai would send them full-on into savagery.  

I'm also surprised it was Shauna who felt jealous rather than Tai.  Tai is used to being in charge, whereas when has Shauna been a leader?  Shauna seems to have gotten a swelled head from being the center of attention due to her pregnancy.

Maybe Season 3 is setting up a Lord of the Flies-type dynamic, with Natalie representing Ralph and Shauna representing Jack. 

[sistermagpie]

1 minute ago, Brn2bwild said:

I'm also surprised it was Shauna who felt jealous rather than Tai.  Tai is used to being in charge, whereas when has Shauna been a leader?  Shauna seems to have gotten a swelled head from being the center of attention due to her pregnancy.

 

It makes sense to me, because Tai genuinely wants to be a leader and often just acts as one--she's a state senator now. Shauna's issue isn't really that she wants to be a leader. She never really tries to lead. Her thing is that she's invisible, so in a moment where Lottie was just acknowledging somebody as important, she perked up. She's mixing the two things up in her mind in that moment (being a leader vs. being seen) but they're two different things.

And while she shouldn't have been chosen as leader, it does kind of make sense that she'd feel something since she often is called on to just do stuff. Even the pregnancy, lets face it, was about the baby and the new life, with Lottie considering it "theirs" instead of Shauna's. It's more like Misty saying she takes care of things "like she always does." There's a lot of really subtle, complicated things going on with the way the group dynamics work, especially on the lower tier just below the obvious alphas.

[crashdown]

23 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Shauna did not bring in nearly enough meat for it to have been the entirety of Javi. I’m sure she stashed the rest out in the meat house, like she did with the bear. I wonder if the meat house burned down too.

In case anyone is interested in this gruesome tidbit (I raise sheep for the meat market), with animals (and I presume with humans) you get about half of the live weight as usable meat. So if Javi weighed 140 pounds (I'm bad at estimating weights), he would have yielded about 70 pounds of meat. There seem to be ten of them left, counting Coach. If they each ate 4 ounces of Javi a day, they'd eat 17.5 pounds of Javi every week. So Javi could feed them minimally for a month before they'd need a new victim.

 

[sistermagpie]

8 minutes ago, crashdown said:

There seem to be ten of them left, counting Coach.

And coach is not partaking!

[BitterApple]

24 minutes ago, crashdown said:

In case anyone is interested in this gruesome tidbit (I raise sheep for the meat market), with animals (and I presume with humans) you get about half of the live weight as usable meat. So if Javi weighed 140 pounds (I'm bad at estimating weights), he would have yielded about 70 pounds of meat. There seem to be ten of them left, counting Coach. If they each ate 4 ounces of Javi a day, they'd eat 17.5 pounds of Javi every week. So Javi could feed them minimally for a month before they'd need a new victim.

 

Thank you for this info, because I was about to ask that, lol! Does half the live weight include organs? 

We're down to the six we know that make it out of the woods plus Travis. That leaves Mari, Akilah, Gen and Melissa, (assuming the writers don't throw more random redshirts in next season). If they consume a body a month during the time when game is scarce, I guess that would tide them over until rescue? I saw Nat grab the gun during the fire, but I'm not sure how much ammo she was able to snag. I wonder how that will affect their hunting prospects if they have to be much more careful with the bullets? Maybe this brings on the evolution of the pits. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by BitterApple

[crashdown]

27 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Thank you for this info, because I was about to ask that, lol! Does half the live weight include organs? 

I'm pretty sure it would just include the liver, which is the only organ traditionally eaten (sometimes people eat kidneys, but that's not really common). I'm sure it doesn't include the heart, brain, etc., which nobody (except Travis) eats and which weigh a lot.

[peachmangosteen]

32 minutes ago, crashdown said:

I'm sure it doesn't include the heart, brain, etc., which nobody (except Travis) eats and which weigh a lot.

I think they did eat the heart. Travis threw it on the pan to be cooked after he (oddly) ate a piece raw. But I guess perhaps he was still the only one who ate it.

Last season I had to lower my expectations of the show as being much more mundane than I initially thought and I’ve realized that I also need to realize it’s not as ‘good’ as I thought either, as in it’s not some brilliantly written, ‘prestige’ show. It’s kind of just a campy, silly little show, which doesn’t necessarily mesh with it being about about cannabilism and trauma but here we are lol. Everything with the Adam investigation in particular was just super badly written camp. And I did enjoy it very much so perhaps I actually wish they’d go more like that with everything.

[AstridM]

3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

No, because Javi is the person that Natalie was guilty about, imo. By saving Lisa, she was replaying that scene differently.

 

Yes, the people Nat saw in the plane as she was dying represented those who led her to her moment of “no return” in life - Javi, young Lottie, and her own young self. She was never able to come back from that day. 

[sistermagpie]

18 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Thank you for this info, because I was about to ask that, lol! Does half the live weight include organs? 

We're down to the six we know that make it out of the woods plus Travis. That leaves Mari, Akilah, Gen and Melissa, (assuming the writers don't throw more random redshirts in next season). If they consume a body a month during the time when game is scarce, I guess that would tide them over until rescue? I saw Nat grab the gun during the fire, but I'm not sure how much ammo she was able to snag. I wonder how that will affect their hunting prospects if they have to be much more careful with the bullets? Maybe this brings on the evolution of the pits. 

They can also hunt during the summer and store meat like they did the bear. They probably aren't intending to just go all-human.

[AstridM]

Just now, sistermagpie said:

They can also hunt during the summer and store meat like they did the bear. They probably aren't intending to just go all-human.

In the pilot episode, we see them covered with lots of animal furs/pelts, so I’m assuming they do hunt successfully during the coming warm months. 

[BitterApple]

I'm not sure if you guys have read any of the media with regards to the finale, but I'm  scratching my head over the writers take on the Misty hallucination from S1. They kept teasing its' importance and how there'd be a big payoff, yet it ends up being that young Nat saw Misty as a premonition, a sort of angel of death. That seems like a bit of a stretch. I really think Juliette abruptly quitting the show screwed up their entire storyline. It seems like they had to cobble a bunch of illogical events together to cause her death and shoehorn the explanations in later. 

1 minute ago, sistermagpie said:

They can also hunt during the summer and store meat like they did the bear. They probably aren't intending to just go all-human.

Right, I agree, it just might be a different game if they have to ration their ammo. They may have to increase their efforts to trap, fish, forage, etc. 

[sistermagpie]

5 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I'm not sure if you guys have read any of the media with regards to the finale, but I'm  scratching my head over the writers take on the Misty hallucination from S1. They kept teasing its' importance and how there'd be a big payoff, yet it ends up being that young Nat saw Misty as a premonition, a sort of angel of death. That seems like a bit of a stretch. I really think Juliette abruptly quitting the show screwed up their entire storyline. It seems like they had to cobble a bunch of illogical events together to cause her death and shoehorn the explanations in later. 

I remembered the mention here about that being "explained" and after this ep I figured that was it. I didn't know there was a big buildup to it in interviews. The explanations seems fine to me. I mean, it doesn't seem like a stretch to me, but it's not mind-blowing or anything. It's the same level of psychic energy that exists in the show. And the level of fate--Misty kills her best friends even when she's trying to save them. Nat was high, it opened a third eye or something, and she had a glimpse of her fate.

Did JL abruptly quit? I assume that's what they always intended Misty to mean there and there wasn't some more complicated thing they scrapped.

I liked that both Misty and Shauna wound up with guys that love them knowing they're psychos. I guess the same is true for Tai with Van--though maybe other Tai understands Van more than regular Tai does.

[peachmangosteen]

17 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Right, I agree, it just might be a different game if they have to ration their ammo. They may have to increase their efforts to trap, fish, forage, etc. 

And thus, the pit. Although, I love the suggestion I saw on Reddit of Ben making the pit to try to kill the girls again lol.

I think I’m just convincing myself Juliette wanted out/TPTB wanted her out because she’s too vocal when she doesn’t like the writing to explain why the lead up to Natalie’s death kinda sucked/why it happened this early.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Jeff is great. Walter is great. Misty is fun to watch.

”It.” The wilderness is tiresome.

This finale was awful. I have never done this before with a premium cable series, but I am out. 

[Cosmocrush]

13 hours ago, JenE4 said:

I had a feeling that things were afoot when Tai canceled the call for help. They were letting the ritual go for too long, too. Then Tai was holding the knife. But all that appeared to be Good Tai. If it were Bad Tai it would have made more sense

I thought it was Bad Tai, at least during the card draw and Natalie's murder.

 

Tai not showing up at the hospital for Simone is one thing, but WHERE IS SAMMY? 

 

[crashdown]

1 hour ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

This finale was awful. I have never done this before with a premium cable series, but I am out. 

I never liked this show the way many people around me seem to like it, which I partially chalked up to a general squeamishness (cannibalism is not my favorite topic) and the fact that I didn't go to high school in the 1990s and so am not susceptible to the nostalgia pangs that a lot of fans seem to have. I think it's a muddled mystery box show that really could have benefited from more episodes per season (a la Lost) to allow us to deepen our understanding of the characters, and it lacks the kind of delving into the complexities of human connection that I always appreciate in shows (like, for example, The Last of Us) that become favorites of mine. But that said, after the finale I can say confidently that I do appreciate the following:

1. The show's humor in all of its forms, dark and campy. This is an unexpectedly funny show, and the comedic aspects of it are reliably delightful.

2. Shauna, Jeff, and Callie's weird, dysfunctional, supremely loyal little family. If there's anything about genuine human connection among any of the characters, it's with these three. I just love them.

3. Misty and Walter--I've been a fan of Elijah Wood for many years, and he and Christina Ricci just knock it out of the park in their interactions. They're hilarious, and Walter is very well-written.

4. Lauren Ambrose as the adult Van (teenage Van bores me). I've loved Ambrose ever since Six Feet Under, and she was just born to play this role. She's doing a great job making adult Van both sympathetic and creepy.

And that's really enough to keep me watching next season. I'll never be a rabid fan, but that's actually a good thing. I have more than enough obsessions in my life to add one about cannibalistic teen-age soccer players!

[sistermagpie]

10 minutes ago, Cosmocrush said:

Tai not showing up at the hospital for Simone is one thing, but WHERE IS SAMMY? 

 

With Simone's parents.

7 minutes ago, crashdown said:

I think it's a muddled mystery box show that really could have benefited from more episodes per season (a la Lost) to allow us to deepen our understanding of the characters, and it lacks the kind of delving into the complexities of human connection that I always appreciate in shows (like, for example, The Last of Us) that become favorites of mine.

Muddled I agree, but aren't we literally watching people make their own mystery box--not try to uncover it? They're cobbling together a folk religion out of stuff they have at their disposal and their experience/imagination and mental instability and their understanding of it changes with the circumstances and what they feel at the time. And now they're doing it all over again in middle age.

 

[AstridM]

2 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Jeff is great. Walter is great. Misty is fun to watch.

”It.” The wilderness is tiresome.

This finale was awful. I have never done this before with a premium cable series, but I am out. 

I’m glad this season is over because if I hear/read the word “wilderness” too many more times, I may lose it 🤣.

[MBayGal]

3 hours ago, crashdown said:

I'm pretty sure it would just include the liver, which is the only organ traditionally eaten (sometimes people eat kidneys, but that's not really common). I'm sure it doesn't include the heart, brain, etc., which nobody (except Travis) eats and which weigh a lot.

Many cultures eat brains.  In France I almost accidentally ordered brains a couple of times.  Steak and kidney pie is common in England. Granted, these organs are from animals, but I assume starving people would eat human organs if they are eating human flesh.  

[peachmangosteen]

I think it kinda helps (but also hurts lol) when you remember that the present day story this season took place in 1 week and that it started exactly after the end of last season, which I think maybe also took place in 1 week. 

I can't decide if I want them to go back to the Adam thing since the resolution was so convoluted and unbelievable or I just want them to drop it because it never really made any sense anyway and was just a distraction from the actual important stuff.

8 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

Many cultures eat brains.  In France I almost accidentally ordered brains a couple of times.  Steak and kidney pie is common in England. Granted, these organs are from animals, but I assume starving people would eat human organs if they are eating human flesh.  

Yea, I assume they eat everything but the bones. Which, hey, maybe they should be keeping those to make bone broth lol.

[MBayGal]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I think I’m just convincing myself Juliette wanted out/TPTB wanted her out because she’s too vocal when she doesn’t like the writing to explain why the lead up to Natalie’s death kinda sucked/why it happened this early.

Frankly, I am happy not to have to see her constant bitchface smirk.  I used to like the actress, but her endlessly sour demeanor was irritating.  And she had no resemblance to young Nat, who I do enjoy.

[crashdown]

5 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

Many cultures eat brains.  In France I almost accidentally ordered brains a couple of times.  Steak and kidney pie is common in England. Granted, these organs are from animals, but I assume starving people would eat human organs if they are eating human flesh.  

That's true, and that means that they'll get a bit more than the fifty percent ratio I mentioned. Or maybe they'll turn into zombies, which would be a very interesting and unexpected twist!