Somehow each week, this town gets creepier and creepier.
How Victor has survived for as long as he has is a feat because it’s just a bottomless pit of sorrow and the occasional pop-up scare.
FROM Season 1 Episode 4 gave us some insight into the mysterious Victor and also led us to wonder if there’s a big event just on the horizon.
We knew Victor had been in the town for a long time, but now we know he grew up there. This town raised him. And can you even imagine THAT?
Waking up to a literal nightmare of dead bodies in a foreign environment has to be terrifying, and Victor was seemingly all alone. It’s unclear how long Victor was in the cellar, but we do know that when he emerges, it’s to a massacre. And the boy in white is there with a smile.
There are so many theories floating around about the town’s origins and what’s going on, and at this point, we’re all just shooting in the dark. But knowing that Victor saw the boy in white right before two cars came at once (and just after a mass casualty event) makes you wonder what kind of horrors could be on the way.
I believe Victor when he says he doesn’t want to hurt anyone because that’s not the kind of energy he gives off. He’s not evil, but much like everyone else in the town, he’s been through unspeakable trauma, and he’s had years and years to sit in his trauma with no form of therapy in sight.
It seems like people just write Victor off as a creepy, albeit harmless guy who’s a little nutty after decades of imprisonment. But Victor has a ton of knowledge and a picture for it all.
As we get further into the season, it’ll be interesting to see if anyone takes the time to talk to Victor, especially after his big show of digging all those graves. Brushing off his actions as those of a man who’s lost his way would be foolish because Victor has seen more than anyone.
Jade, look, every new person who comes here just assumes that it’s just the monsters they have to be afraid of. But that’s not the hardest part. It’s what this place does to you. What it makes you think and feel. What it makes you question about every single thing that you think you know.
Kenny
There is an overall sense of contentment in the town, duly noted by Jade, which makes sense given the circumstances. But it also makes you wonder what it will take to light a fire under everyone’s asses to start making some moves to find a way home.
Adapting is as necessary as rules are because failing to come to terms with your new reality will surely send you down a dark path. Denial here sets not only yourself but others up for harm as well.
So while it’s understandable that people aren’t spending every waking moment scouring the woods and the town for anything that could help them, it also seems apparent that there’s something different about the arrivals of two cars and what that can signify.
It doesn’t seem to be something many of them have seen, and coupled with the sudden increase in bodies after a dry spell should be sparking more curiosity than it is.
Jade is much more tolerable now that he’s at least somewhat accepting of his circumstances, though he seems to be running on adrenaline and nervous energy mostly. He’s clearly going to be on a mission to find a way home, and you have to wonder if that’s what many of them were like when they first arrived.
Was Kenny running all over town trying to piece things together until one day he realized he would lose his mind if he didn’t stop and just enjoy the free food and try to stay alive each night?
We’re meeting everyone at this specific point in time where it’s still unclear how long many of them have been there, what they’ve lost, and what they’ve added to the town. But we learn a little more each hour, and that’s part of the fun.
Things are unfolding slowly, and that’s okay with this kind of story. Not every story benefits from a slowburn, think anything action-based, but this is a mystery. And not only is it a mystery, but it’s also a character study. We need to be invested for this story to work, and the methodical pace allows us the time to do so.
Here we get more insight into Boyd, following Frank’s death, as he continues to have this internal battle about right and wrong and everything else that would arise in a man who created a punishment that led to someone’s death.
You can tell Boyd is just barely hanging on by a thread at some points, and he’s undoubtedly doing the best that he can, but he has the most pressure of anyone else. He’s the sheriff. He’s the leader. He’s basically the Neo of this inescapable place.
And with that kind of power and leadership comes responsibility, but Boyd is only human. He’s not a machine, and he’s adapted the same way as everyone else, just with more power thrown his way.
Father Khatri is such an intriguing character because you see a priest, and you have a preconceived notion about who they will be and what they’re going to stand for. But what about a priest in a nightmare? What kind of man is he supposed to be?
Khatri seems to be not exactly the voice of reason but the voice of truth. And sometimes that truth is brutal, and his delivery could use some work, but nothing he tells Boyd is necessarily wrong, even if it’s unwelcome given the circumstances.
Boyd is literally rebuilding his death box, so perhaps the preachy sermon could wait for another time.
But it does get Boyd thinking, and it puts him in a better place by the episode’s end, where he decides to take the Matthew’s to dinner, and they need it after the day they have.
It seemed pretty apparent that Jim and Tabitha’s marriage was a little unsteady. Learning that the vacation that turned into hell was actually the last hooray before they split the family up makes Julie’s anger a bit clearer.
Couple that with learning about Thomas, and her decision to put a little distance between herself and her parents makes sense.
This is a family still grieving a loss, and placing them in this unfathomable situation just introduces another level of chaos into an unstable environment.
Julie: Thomas is dead, okay? And I know that it’s hard. And I know that you lost. But we all lost. You have two other kids. Why aren’t we enough for you?
Tabitha: It’s not that simple. It’s not that simple.
Is Julie acting out? Perhaps a little. And poor Ethan. He’s injured and confused and probably much scared than he’s letting on.
I reiterate again that I believe Victor wouldn’t intentionally hurt anyone, but should he spend his free time sneaking off into the woods with Ethan? No. Especially not after Jim’s outburst at the diner.
The whole foray into the woods only made me lean further into my theory about there being a portal somewhere. That’s not exactly the craziest guess out there, but where is this portal, and how do you access it? That I am unsure of.
Though, I am becoming more and more convinced that Ethan may be the key to many things.
Sara’s monster mind control is escalating quickly, now that they can seemingly do more than just whisper in her head. Carving into her arm seems excessive, but it also seems like they REALLY need Ethan gone. And while the other murders committed by Sarah seemed to be perhaps more about elevating fear, this seems more deliberate.
The two cars coming simultaneously, Ethan seeing the boy in white, and the dream about the lake of tears has to mean something. But what?
Loose Ends
- Those faraway trees were giving Nightmare Before Christmas vibes. Do we think one leads to the North Pole?
- Fatima and Ellis welcoming Julie into their bedroom was a kind gesture, but there is still just entirely too much going on at the Colony House at any given time. And tell Trudy to find her own clothes!
- Every character needs further exploration, but can we spend more time with Ellis? There is a divide between him and Boyd, and could that be due to whatever happened to his mother?
- I hope someone out there keeps a list of everything we learn each week because keeping track of all this information is difficult!
We seem to be on the cusp of something significant if Victor’s proclamations are to be trusted.
What do you think is coming?
What will Sara do?
Drop all your comments and theories down below and watch FROM online so you can join the conversation.
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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