Netflix’s Slasher
Season 3, Episode 2: “9 am to 12 pm”
Directed by Adam MacDonald
Written by Lucie Pagé

* For a recap & review of the Season 3 premiere, “6 am to 9 am” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “12 pm to 3 pm” – click here
The remainder of Cassidy’s scarred corpse is stuffed in the vents above the girls’ washroom at school. Tucked away, until it starts to stink. Jump back 20 years ago, in that same school. Young Angel Lopez (Isaac Pilozo) was talking to a jock in the locker room. The guy dropped his towel while they talked and stepped suggestively towards him. When a bunch of other dudes showed up, he moved away, chastising Angel for looking at him. He and the other guys whipped him with towels and then a belt while talking about “fucking faggots.” A disgusting moment of violent homophobia.

In current day, Angel (Salvatore Antonio) continues his low key affair with Joe Dimashke (Ilan Muallem). He secretly films their latest fuck. Is he going to confront Violet (Paula Brancati) with the truth about her husband? It’ll be bad news for somebody. Joe asks Angel about his scars, from the evil “coming out party” the boys at school threw for him in that locker room. Then he leaves, which doesn’t sit quite right with Angel, clearly not content with hiding their relationship while Joe sneaks around.

Saadia Jalalzai (Baraka Rahmani) and Jen Rijkers (Mercedes Morris) are grabbing caffeine between exams— an interesting aspect about Solstice is that the season’s broken down into episodes paced in 3-hour increments, giving the whole thing a decided flow. The girls notice a homeless man (Bill Moseley) standing around. The hipster barista Xander Lemmon (Jim Watson) kicks him out.
Saadia’s feeling uncomfortable with the party on the anniversary of Kit Jennings’s (Robert Cormier) murder. And a man was just decapitated earlier. Detective Roberta Hanson (Lisa Berry) is getting a report from the medical examiner, who tells the cop about the killer’s brutal force. Frank died awfully, as we know. Then they hear a vibration, and there’s a smartphone hiding in the decapitated head. Yikes.
Speaking of phones, a year ago Angel was in a room hooking up with another dude, talking about the struggle of being gay while his friend’s just horny. They set up the phone then got down to business together. Angel said “I love you” but got nothing whatsoever in return. It was all physical. Like today, it wasn’t enough for Angel.
At home, Joe returns to Violet. She’s obsessing over covering Frank’s decapitation. She’s only concerned about “sponsors” and “followers” and getting a ton of free shit. “Content is king,” she tells him. He isn’t so hot on it, trying to order her around. Tall order in general, especially from a guy who’s cheating on his wife.

A year ago, Angel went to see Kit, slipping into his apartment using a spare key above the door. He walked in on Kit and Cassidy Olensky (Genevieve DeGraves), either unaware the guy was bi or angry to see his lover having sex with someone else, a woman at that. So much pain, anger, and disappointment in Angel’s life.
In current day, Angel confronts Joe about their “sexual experiment” that never ended. He doesn’t want to live this way anymore. Likewise, he sees Violet’s being hurt in the process. Joe just isn’t ready to admit to himself, or anybody, he’s gay. One massive, hot mess. We also see that Angel works on the Pride committee. Later, on his way from a meeting, he runs into the homeless guy and gets attacked with a bottle.
Violet is doing her sketchy true crime vlogging outside Frank’s apartment when she runs into Angel. He’s angry about the woman trying to profit off a tragedy. He yells at her for creating more misery with her blog. Frank’s widow soon comes out to scream at them both, threatening the vlogger. Angel heads back to his apartment and finds the place trashed. At home, Violet gets a notification from her blog: the video’s been posted of her husband fucking Angel.

At the coffee shop, Xander sees the homeless guy stole a sandwich with “ethical cheddar” and “bone marrow butter” on it. The guy’s not exactly concerned, happy to chomp down on the free grub. Afterwards while Xander’s making more food, he’s attacked in the kitchen by the Druid. The killer rams a glass coffee bean tube down his throat. Not good enough. The Druid pours a boiling pot of water down the tube.

Joe shows up at Angel’s place raging about the video. Angel claims it must’ve been whoever broke into the apartment. This doesn’t matter to Joe. He’s not so sure if Angel’s telling the truth, thinking his lover’s playing “the victim” like he always seems to do. He’s finished with their affair for good. Might push Angel off the deep end. A year ago, Angel was at the solstice party. He had a bottle with him that he put drugs in— the bottle he’d later give to Kit. He stood by watching as his former man was with yet another woman. Was he waiting to watch some kind of revenge unfold?
Violet’s at home trying to pose perfectly for her latest vlog about Joe’s betrayal. Yes, she’s been cheated on, but it’s sickening to watch her in front of the camera, pulling a “Leave Violet alone” moment that rivals Chris Crocker. All a way for her to go viral and turn herself into a bigger victim. That’s a large part of this season, from Dan and his whiny whiteness online, to his daughter Cassidy at school trying to make it seem like white people are under attack, and, to a degree, Angel, who’s chasing things he knows aren’t good for him— who are the real victims, and who’s only pretending to be victimised?

We do see a bit more of Angel’s secrets. That box he keeps holds a shirt inside. A bloody one from the night Kit died. Angel put his hands in Kit’s blood and wiped it in his shirt, like a macabre reminder of the man he loved. An eerie, somehow touching moment— that Dt. Hanson witnessed.

At the coffee shop, the homeless man sneaks in for a few more nibbles. He stumbles across the violence when he sips on a coffee, getting a mouthful of blood instead.
Slasher does a great job each season of navigating a bunch of different characters and their respective motivations. This one’s no different. A great cast of varied characters, from all walks of life. Also love that there’s a deep, disturbing commentary about social media because horror’s always great for digging into these kinds of issues.
Father Gore’s looking forward to more gruesome terror.

“12 pm to 3 pm” is next.