S01.E06: Goldbug

[Guest]

Quote

Pym digs up disturbing information on Verna. With her marriage on the decline, Tamerlane hosts a turbulent product launch that shatters expectations.

Dropping on October 12, 2023

[Lebanna]

I always thought having a mirror over the bed was a bad idea. But not for that reason.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Jump scare #6 - glass shatters behind Roderick and Tammy’s corpse in green dress walking towards him. This is the biggest scare so far. 😳🫣

Pym Reaper - a world traveler who witnessed the hollow earth? 

Pym is on a quest to find Verna’s true identity. He finds out that the bar where the twins first met Verna has been vacant since 1975. The face recognition apps have led to the discovery of photographic evidence that Verna has been shadowing/stalking the powerful, wealthy and prominent individuals dated back decades, all the way back to 1901. Roderick doesn’t want to believe all these findings. Is Verna one of those beings that lives between the realm of time and space?

Roderick tells Dupin that he’s not only seeing the dead, but he’s been communicating with them too as they insist on their stories to be told accurately. Huh, really?

Not so subtle product placement by Netflix and a nod to Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game) during the scene where Lenore is watching TV with her mom.

Frederick’s inability to deal with his wife’s lies and alleged cheating has made him lost his mind. He’s been feeding her drugs to paralyze her, preventing her from getting better. Lenore needs to catch him in the act.

During the Goldbug launch party, Tammy sees Candy/Verna in the crowd. She grabs a mic stand and throws it at her, hitting Juno on the head. Ohh poor Juno, she’s just there to support her stepdaughter. The whole sequence is actually quite funny. 😆

Tammy has a fetish of watching her husband having sex with women who dressed like her. She enjoys watching someone else takes over her life. And Verna uses this to taunt her. Haunted by reflections and died by shattered mirrors - how ironic.

Well Frederick, the stage is now yours.

*️⃣ Five down, one more to go.

[Anela]

They had a mirrored headboard, too.  
poor Juno.  “Watch, mine will be full of poo.” Tamerlane finally connected with her a little, now dealing with her father’s abandonment, too. I wonder how he went from the caring husband, to what he is now.  
I wonder if frederick’s daughter will kill him, after finding out what her dad has been doing.  She could inherit it all, and do wonderful things, or be another madeleine.  

Edited October 14, 2023 by Anela

[Bastet]

This one dragged a little for me, but, damn, it got good at the product launch.  I loved the backstory about Madeline's first husband, and Tammy's "Right?!  Why are they always on about kids?" bonding.  And then, of course, Tammy completely unraveling when Verna keeps showing up.

Poor Juno was so sweet to try and salvage things when Tammy started losing the thread.  Madeline's reactions were fantastic, and then OMG when she saw Verna as she'd been in the bar.  I hope the reveal of what Verna is is not a big letdown after all this build-up.

I'm glad Dupin finally asked how Roderick was able to tell him things that happened when the kids were alone.

On 10/13/2023 at 11:36 PM, Anela said:

She could inherit it all

Madeline seems to adore her in a way she never did with the nieces and nephews, so I wonder if she has named Lenore as her beneficiary, which would indeed give that kid (who I really like) the whole empire.  Whatever's left of it after all this, anyway.

[Brn2bwild]

There is much more to Arthur Pym than meets the eye.  For all we know, he might be supernatural, too.

Also, I have a hunch if there is really an informant, it's Madeline.  It's been her MO all along: make the "power" trust her, then betray them.  Now the "power" is her own family.

As for Tamerlane, I could never quite get a hold of her issue.  She was so afraid of feeling feelings and living a life that someone else took over her life? 

 

[Ohiopirate02]

8 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

As for Tamerlane, I could never quite get a hold of her issue.  She was so afraid of feeling feelings and living a life that someone else took over her life? 

 

I got the impression that Tamerlane's fantasy was that of a happy, healthy marriage.  Something she did not experience growing up with her parents splitting up sometime in the early 1980s.  So she pays a sex worker to play-act with her husband as she watches.  Which is definitely strange and the show doesn't really explain why her husband had to be the one in this fantasy.  

[Schweedie]

Oh, this was definitely my favourite episode so far, which surprised me. I didn't think I'd be much invested in a Tamerlane episode, since she hasn't really been given a lot of character development outside of being plain awful even with five previous episodes, but I ended up actually feeling -- quite bad for her? I guess it helps that Samantha Sloyan is a terrific actress. I loved the scene with her and Juno - you could see her face softening while Juno talked about wanting to be part of a family.

Speaking of which, poor, sweet Juno! Is she okay? I really want her to come out of everything here in one piece. And she's not connected to the Ushers by blood, so she *shouldn't* be affected by whatever deal they made with Verna back then, right? C'mon, just give Juno a break.

[TexasGal]

I loved Juno's reactions during the presentation, of course she thought Tamerlane was directing it all at her!  Poor thing.

[Schweedie]

1 hour ago, TexasGal said:

I loved Juno's reactions during the presentation, of course she thought Tamerlane was directing it all at her!  Poor thing.

"I'm -- I'm just here to support you." Seriously, I love her.

[MrsR]

Samantha Sloyan is my spirit animal. 

RIP Tammy

[Paloma]

What was in the gift box (with a decorative goldbug on top) that Tammy found in her kitchen? It looked like bugs crawling over a moving hand, but even when we tried to freeze the frame we couldn't quite tell.

[DearEvette]

I am irrationally happy that Bill survived.  Poor guy. And he'll probably get to keep his BILLT empire.

Aww, poor Juno.  She and Tammy had a breakthrough and she went to support her during her launch. But now she'll always think Tammy assaulted her with a mic stand as her last act.

Tammy's downfall was public and her death was brutal.  Yikes.

Now onto Freddy.  At first he just came off as an incompetent boob but generally ok. But he is doing shady shit with Morelle. I don't like it.

[Lady Calypso]

It's very interesting to see how selfish the Usher family really is. Four family deaths and countless innocent deaths as well, and not even in this episode does Frederick even consider sending his daughter away out of protection, or think that he could possibly be next. Not once does Roderick consider that his last two living children could be next and taking extreme measures to protect them. Their concern is solely about their brand, their company, that their own human lives doesn't even register, nor do other human lives matter to them.

Frederick finally voices his true feelings on his other siblings: because they came from different mothers, he doesn't consider them blood. There we go, I knew there was something unspoken with him and I'm sure there were hints throughout that I didn't fully catch. But now they're going all in on him being a horrific monster. Torturing his wife is as bad as Vic's actions, but maybe even worse. He doesn't seem to care about anyone. It's interesting because, as I think about it, even the other Ushers showed some sort of care for other people.  Maybe not Camille, but she was also lost in her work and had to write in sex partners in her assistants' contracts, but still. Frederick has a family, a daughter, and it doesn't seem like he cares about any of them.

It was nice to see Juno get a bit more of a role here. Her speech on belonging and family was well done and Tammy's reaction was interesting; Samantha Sloyan did a great job at portraying almost a crack in Tammy's appearance. Her lips quivered, almost as if she wanted to smile but held back. It was a reaction we hadn't seen from Tammy before. 

Juno's actress was the best part of Midnight Club, and I'm glad she had a role here, even if it was much smaller.

Seriously, I can't praise Bruce Greenwood enough. He's been such a highlight of the series thus far, it's amazing to know that he replaced Frank Langella halfway through filming. He fits in so well and portraying Roderick Usher with such depth. The scene where he's talking about the importance of Arthur Pym, followed by the Tammy jump scare, was just so well done, as was Roderick's deterioration all episode, him disassociating all episode.

The scenes with Tammy at her launch was well done. I enjoyed seeing Tammy's facade crack bit by bit, and Verna didn't need to say a single word; her presence was enough to have Tammy spiral like her siblings. And we're back to Verna giving Tammy a choice before it's too late, telling her outright. 

I knew all those mirrors in Tammy's home would come back to haunt her. I assumed we'd see Verna reflecting in the mirrors. I always thought it would be during a calm moment, but this was just as good. And the visuals, though horrifying, were also beautifully shot. 

[Bastet]

18 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I knew all those mirrors in Tammy's home would come back to haunt her.

I had noticed them earlier, but I still found myself thinking "How many mirrors does she have?!" during the death sequence.

18 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

He doesn't seem to care about anyone. It's interesting because, as I think about it, even the other Ushers showed some sort of care for other people.  Maybe not Camille, but she was also lost in her work and had to write in sex partners in her assistants' contracts, but still. Frederick has a family, a daughter, and it doesn't seem like he cares about any of them.

I said early on one of the things that interested me was the smattering of genuine connections despite how coldly this family interacts in general -- Roderick and Madeline, obviously, but also both of them with Lenore, Leo and Camille, Leo being the one who thinks there's something more to Perry, etc.  Back then, I would have thought Frederick loved Lenore, but he sure lost whatever paternal compassion he had with a quickness once he became obsessed with punishing Morella.

[Avaleigh]

On 10/22/2023 at 2:02 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Seriously, I can't praise Bruce Greenwood enough. He's been such a highlight of the series thus far, it's amazing to know that he replaced Frank Langella halfway through filming. He fits in so well and portraying Roderick Usher with such depth.

Agreed. I think all of the actors are doing a great job here, but Bruce Greenwood is absolutely my favorite thing about this series. The genuine grief at losing his children, his descent into madness, that lemon speech--just a terrific performance all around. 

[Chaos Theory]

 would think Tamerlane was literally the story of Narcissis.  The dude who fell in love with his own image.   Bill was a pretty thing for her to win.  But Tam only really loved herself.

[Schweedie]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

 would think Tamerlane was literally the story of Narcissis.  The dude who fell in love with his own image.   Bill was a pretty thing for her to win.  But Tam only really loved herself.

I don't know about that, I don't get the impression that Tammy loved herself all that much, either. Especially given what Verna said to her in the end - "No one can take being shot down, scorned, and attacked 24/7 like you do to yourself." 

[JenE4]

On 10/24/2023 at 12:47 PM, Chaos Theory said:

 would think Tamerlane was literally the story of Narcissis.  The dude who fell in love with his own image.   Bill was a pretty thing for her to win.  But Tam only really loved herself.

 

On 10/24/2023 at 3:44 PM, Schweedie said:

I don't know about that, I don't get the impression that Tammy loved herself all that much, either. Especially given what Verna said to her in the end - "No one can take being shot down, scorned, and attacked 24/7 like you do to yourself." 

Tammy’s character was almost like a Black Mirror-esque commentary on social media influencers. She was so obsessed with portraying the perfect image that she could watch over and over and garner the most “likes” that she outsourced the role of herself in her marriage. Every night in her home was a live-action “scrolling” through her own perfect life. Just like regular people at home jealous of this perfect life an influencer seems to have, she ended up getting jealous of her fake self that she forced her husband to play-act with. It was very fitting that the fake Tammy she tried to destroy in the mirrors was really just her destroying the self she saw reflected back and couldn’t stand herself.

[tennisgurl]

Having a mirror over your bed always seemed like a bad idea, but not because I plan on being tormented by an alternate version of myself that will lead to my doom! 

Tammy has been pretty awful throughout the show, even by Usher standards, but I did end up feeling bad for her by the end of this. Her actually bonding a bit with Juno was actually pretty sweet, I liked getting more on Juno, and the ending showed a real desperation to her. Like all of the Usher kids, she has an emptiness to her that she's tried to fill, and her filling of choice is her brand and creating an imagine of perfection that she can never live up to, so of course she's haunted by the "better" version of Tammy that she projects to the world and it led to her doom.  

I'm really glad that Bill wasn't collateral damage, he actually seems like a pretty sweet guy who really does love Tammy, he even kept trying to check in on her as she spiraled even after she was so horrible to him. 

You would think that Roderick would insist that his surviving kids go into full protective custody along with Lenore after all of this, but even as he's falling apart he's still all about his company. Even though I believe that his grief over his lost kids is totally real and is tearing him apart, it still always come back to the company.

Edited October 30, 2023 by tennisgurl

[Stuckathome]

So, at the launch---did the audience actually see the video of the couple with the prostitute? Or was that in Tammy's mind and a normal video was playing? 

[Black Knight]

On 10/31/2023 at 6:52 AM, Stuckathome said:

So, at the launch---did the audience actually see the video of the couple with the prostitute? Or was that in Tammy's mind and a normal video was playing? 

Totally Tammy's mind, because the audience had no reaction to the video. It was just typical product launch stuff that was actually playing.

[Milburn Stone]

On 10/25/2023 at 4:55 PM, JenE4 said:

Tammy’s character was almost like a Black Mirror-esque commentary on social media influencers.

Flanagan is so brilliant. I can imagine him saying when they mapped out the whole season, "you know what will be fun, let's do a Black Mirror but with real mirrors!"

I think I am more afraid of having a shard of glass in the sole of my foot than being doused with flesh-eating acid.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Milburn Stone

[AheadofStraight]

I came here to see if anyone pointed out the flub by Freddy when talking to his wife. "Just shows to go that...." I had to rewind and re-watch to see if my mind was playing tricks on me!

[DearEvette]

I didn't catch it, but I would not be surprised if Henry Thomas flubbed the line and they kept it because it sounds like something Freddy would say.

[Bastet]

"Just shows to go you" as a purposeful misstatement of  "Just goes to show you" is a known thing (we say it in my family), although I have no idea where it originated.  But an internet search tells me Flanagan first heard it in David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner, and has used it in an earlier work (Midnight Mass) as well as this, and hopes to use it again.  It was not an acting flub.

[AheadofStraight]

Interesting, thanks!