Spike’s The Mist
Season 1, Episode 9: “The Waking Dream”
Directed by Nick Murphy
Written by Amanda Segel
* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “The Law of Nature” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “The Tenth Meal” – click here
After the last episode, all its horror, what will become of Kevin (Morgan Spector)? Left back at Adrian’s (Russell Posner) all alone – left BY Adrian. Mist pouring into the house. Lucky enough, he runs into Vic (Erik Knudsen) from the video store. He stayed behind, as the others believed Kevin dead. And man, is the poor guy ever in rough shape.
Meanwhile, Adrian is telling his tall tale to Jonah (Okezie Morro) and Mia (Danica Curcic). So, he piles it on, talking about his abusive father and how he killed Kevin. Over at the mall there’s even wilder stuff happening, particularly now that we know Jay (Luke Cosgrove) didn’t actually rape Alex (Gus Birney). He’s stuck in that room, locked away by Eve (Alyssa Sutherland). He keeps telling her he “didn‘t touch” Alex that night. Doesn’t help his own dad believes he raped her.
Down under the streets, in the sewer, Connor (Darren Pettie) leads Nathalie (Frances Conroy) and her new, faithful followers through the dark tunnels safely away from the mist. Although not all of them are overly thrilled.
Things are getting fucked up at the mall. Manager Gus (Isiah Whitlock Jr) killed that woman and now Alex is the scapegoat. This leaves Eve and only a few souls left against the “full panic” on the other side. People want the young girl to hang, believing her evil. They’re pushing Gus to take action.
Kevin and Vic are doing a “house hop” and going several houses up the street at a time, moving in steady stretches towards the mall. When they stop into one, they come across several military men dead on the floor.
The others get to the mall. Adrian heads in to find Alex and Eve, first practising his fake story, shedding fake tears to prepare for the lies he’ll tell them soon. Inside, mom’s collecting her daughter so they can figure a way to get away from there. At the same time Jonah and Mia go shopping for supplies.
In the sewer, one of the followers takes a fall and breaks his leg badly. Nathalie determines his “journey ends here.” Ah, we see how the religious fanatics, no matter what they believe in, are quick to dispel those who aren’t strong enough. Like basic eugenics. The coldness of Nathalie is stunning, added to the ruthless and sociopathic tendencies of Connor, who’ll do anything to aid her in worship of nature. Very chilling scene, as he leaves a wife and husband to die together in the tunnels with the rats.
When Adrian finally gets to Alex and Eve, he breaks the fabricated story. They’re naturally devastated. But as much as they’re hurting under this false shit, whenever Kevin manages to get back to his family there’s a world of hurt coming for this young dude. For now, he acts as if he’s their protector. Hideous. And in their time of need with the rest of the mall ready to execute Alex for yet another lie.
Note: I’ve already said this, probably a few times. The score in this series is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! Particularly the excellent piano piece that recurs throughout the series which we hear during the sweet scene between Mia and Jonah. The notes have this beautiful, light feeling, yet underneath is a dark and sort of dreadful melody that wraps you up the longer it goes on, similar to the mist itself. Great work courtesy of Giona Ostinelli.
Jonah bumps into soldier boy Wes (Greg Hovanessian) while trying to grab a few things. They end up fighting, and Jonah gets put to sleep. Uh oh. This might start a whirlwind of a mess, seeing as how the people there in the mall are already halfway to psychosis.
Nathalie: “Death supports life”
Worse is happening in that house where Kevin and Vic stopped. Someone’s still there, and he’s got a gun. He holds them both up, worried they’re army, too. Eventually the situation calms down. He tells them the army’s up to bad things, as well as the fact he’s having trouble telling reality from hallucination. Thus begins a bit of a gunfight when Kevin’s positive it won’t end well if he doesn’t grab a gun. Then they’re able to take the guy down, long enough to grab a few things off the military corpses.
Only problem is, the guy in the house also has himself a grenade. Kevin scrambles, grabbing a dead body for cover. However, it’s only a bit of cover. He still takes a good beating. After that the cop Kevin encountered back awhile ago, his brother, they return in the mist that crowds the house through the shattered window. Others, as well. “The evil one is coming,” says the orderly from the hospital, dead and shambling at him. He also sees that double again, himself in the mist brandishing a weapon. The double stares and says: “I see you.”
Somehow, Kevin survives. But he’s got to keep moving. Oh, and Vic hasn’t taken off, either. He found the military vehicle that’ll take them to the mall.
Speaking of the mall, Alex is torn up over her dad. Adrian informs them he’s got a way to get them out of there, with his new friends. So, they’re set. I wonder if, like ships in the night, Kevin and his family will pass one another in their respective journeys. That’s if mom can help her daughter survive long enough. She leads Alex and Adrian through the back corridors. She hides a moment, before jumping out to fire a shot at one of the men. But she’s dropped the gun. They’re being driven further into a corner until Gus has them caught. Everything comes out now, they’ve found Jay in that locked room. Man, it’s getting scary.
Outside, Kevin pulls up. Finally arriving to look for his family. What he’ll find is a tangled knot of hysteria.
And Jonah, he’s tied to a chair. Wes and the military, they’ve been looking for him quite some time. Problem is our guy still can’t remember everything. Strangely, Wes gives him a salute: “I‘m just happy you‘re safe, sir.” WHO THE FUCK IS JONAH?????
Jesus, this series continually throws me for a loop! I never know what’ll happen, only the most broad strokes. Every episode consistently amps the energy, the disturbing elements, and of course the intense themes at play. “The Tenth Meal” is next week.
Kevin (Morgan Spector), Mia (Danica Curcic), Jonah a.k.a Bryan (Okezie Morro), and Adrian (Russell Posner) are out in the streets, in a vehicle, of course. They’re near Adrian’s parents’ place. He wants to “say goodbye.” They’ll also be able to likely gas up a bit.
At the mall, Jay (Luke Cosgrove) is cooped up with Alex (Gus Birney) and Eve (Alyssa Sutherland) and the others. The adults worry about what’s going on between the groups, as well as their own. Strangely, scarily enough, the fierce mother asks to find a room with no windows. Is she planning on doing something nasty to the accused rapist?
Later, Jay winds up going to get some water. Supposedly. One of the women’s sent him into a trap set by Eve. She’s stuck him in that room with no windows, couple rolls of toilet paper, the essentials. And now there’s a level of madness going on in there that’s terrifying.
Shelley admits to starting that fire at the mall, she also says she knows Alex didn’t do anything wrong. Furthermore, she’s found a stash of food in Gus’ office. So they’re in a deadlock. He won’t tell the others about his food, in turn she’s going to tell everyone. This prompts Gus to smash her in the head, killing her. “Go be with your daughter,” he tells her as she slips into death. He passes it off like she was found that way. Except not everyone believes him.
Wow, this is the craziest episode yet. There’s no telling where things go from here, on many ends. I mean, damn! So much happened in the span of one single episode. Things are about to get terrifyingly rocky.
We start in 2009, in Ohio. Extremely early in the morning at a City Jobs Fair. People are lined up outside through a roped walkway. Everyone waits patiently, some introducing themselves to one another. Others aren’t entirely happy to be there, not into the socialising. Regardless, everyone there’s starved for work, from the older folk to a young mother with her baby and every sort in between.
We jump ahead, two years later. Looks as if Dt. Hodges is a bit rough around the edges, lying in his own wreckage now. Mostly consisting of beer cans, cigarettes, and peanuts. Bit of a mess, in more ways than one. He’s got a lot of time to himself these days. Him and his friend Fred, the tortoise in the backyard. Seems they’re sort of at the same pace. He still has dinner with Pete, keeping in touch after his retirement.
Well, there’s still a purpose. Deep down there somewhere.
The fun will-they won’t-they between Ida and Bill continues. She’s not happy she showed him a nude on her phone and he wouldn’t look at it. She insists he looks. He does, if not a bit reluctantly. I hope they continue this relationship, on any level, because Gleeson and Taylor together’s like some kind of sweet magic.
At home he gets the camera installed with help from a neighbour kid who does stuff around the house for him regularly, including with the latest e-mail business. And who else is rolling around the neighbourhood? It’s Brady. One of his other jobs is as a Mr. Friendly’s ice cream truck driver, serving up scoops for the kids, and fucking with Hodges, tossing a tennis ball with a smiley face into the yard for him to find.
Man, oh, man! I did not expect the first episode to be so damn good. Much as I love King, I’m always sceptical going into a film or television adaptation of his work. Which is a bonus when it’s actually fucking great. So much to love here, and not least is the use of punk rock in the soundtrack. Love it!
After the surprising, devastating first episode, The Sinner continues as Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) faces the court after committing a brutal and spontaneous murder on the beach. She pleads “guilty” and prepares on facing the consequences of her actions. Detectives Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) and Dan Leroy (Dohn Norwood) watch on, as does the terrified husband Mason (Christopher Abbott). Now, Cora’s ordered to psychological testing, to see if she’s fit to stand trial.
Dt. Ambrose keeps on trying to suss out the truth. He talks to Frankie’s wife, Leah (Teri Wyble). Apparently the husband once told his friends about a girl with whom he had a relationship, something tragic happened. They had an “intense connection” but the girl was damaged. Later, an accident nearly ruined his whole life. Hmm, all about five years prior. This is interesting, ramps up the mystery to a serious degree. The intrigue’s already high, but now my Spidey senses are TINGLING!
In the interrogation room, Harry gets Cora to start talking. She met Frankie in a bar five years ago on the “Fourth of July,” though he went by a different name, J.D. They took some pills, drank, dance. The song she heard on the beach that day is the one he used to play endlessly. They had sex, of course. A couple weeks later? Pregnant. She panicked, not even having Frankie’s phone number. So then she finds out he gave her a fake name.
Another flashback to young Cora, her mom, sick little Phoebe. “You‘re not doing your part,” the hideous mother says. She makes Cora tell her sister she isn’t better because she’s “a sinner” and took the chocolate bar. This poor little girl grew up having to bear the brunt of all the supposed sins her parents blamed on her. That could really fuck a girl up.
Honestly, the first episode was good! Enough to get me into the whole concept. This episode blew me out of the water. I never expected the twists that came here, nor the final little revelation Harry has about the wounds. Interested for Part 3. So much dark, dangerous stuff to explore.
Mia (Danica Curcic), Kevin (Morgan Spector), Bryan (Okezie Morro), Adrian ( Russell Posner) and Tyler (Christopher Gray) get through the mist to another one of the wards: the psychiatric wing. An orderly named Nash knew Mia’s mom, saying there was “nothing bad in her” and assuring she wasn’t like the other patients. Meanwhile, there’s plenty else to worry about than the mist, with Kevin still drugged up and having been exposed to it by the doctor, as well as Bryan and Mia’s now tenuous relationship.
Bryan Hunt isn’t Bryan Hunt, he’s Jonah Dixon. He beat up the real Bryan, a soldier at Arrowhead military base. So she’s worried he could be “psycho” or it could be amnesia. The two talk about things, he tells her about meeting the real Bryan, that he was attacked. She then tells him about what happened at her mother’s house, the apparition of dear ole mom, the thought of fading into death. What brought her back was Jonah. In order to feel worthy of it, of anything, she’s doing a rapid detox. Harsh, brutal.
When Adrian’s nowhere to be found, Tyler panics. He goes to Kevin, then the orderly tells them not to bother. That the kid’s a bad person, he can “see people” and who they are underneath. Turns out the orderly is not an orderly, he was a patient. An especially violent one. He runs off before the two can get to Adrian, who’s bound, gagged in a room. Not far from where the guy’s got a bunch of dead bodies stashed in a closet, piled atop one another like sides of beef.
Jonah remembers being experimented on, zapped, a woman speaking random words to him through all the pain. He sees all sorts of things coming back to him. He tells Mia about it, how he survived, and coaches her through the pain she’s feeling.
Wow, this episode was one of my favourites! If not the best of The Mist‘s Season 1. Such good stuff, on all ends. Interested to see what happens in many areas, like the gay relationship which is awesome – and so needed in this day and age for representation, very well written, at that – and also the budding trouble at the mall. Many things to come!
Bryan (Okezie Morro) is figuring out he forgot so much since being at the military base. He may not even be himself. The man in the hospital, the one Mia (Danica Curcic) talked to before taking off, he lunges at Bryan, and the two men fight brutally in the hospital room. Bryan keeps pleading, violently: “Tell me who I am!” All before he has to choke the man out.
At the mall, Eve (Alyssa Sutherland) and Alex (Gus Birney) are surviving. As are the folks at the church, from Father Romanov (Dan Butler) and his staunch faith, to local cop Connor (Darren Pettie) who’s having a crisis of faith and of duty and of manhood. The man of faith and the man of the law, they chat a bit. The priest talks of being “loyal to God” and it’s less like an assurance, more like trying to gain favour against Nathalie Raven (Frances Conroy), her unholy worship. The woman’s still speaking of “the Black Spring,” she’s trying to bring others into her fold. Romanov combats this with a hymn on the organ. Drown it out. Not so easy, though.
While Nathalie’s new faith in nature is a bit disturbing, on the opposite side is the church. And while Romanov isn’t entirely full steam ahead, one of his followers is determined to stop the blaspheming, no matter what it takes. This is where things get scary. All forms of faith can turn mad, from the organised religions to the more pagan-like worship. It’s all corruptible.
I worry most about Kevin. He’s had it rough. He’s being tortured via experiment by Dr. Bailey, wanting to see more of how the mist reacts with people. So he drugs the poor dude up, sealing him in a room and letting the mist in to do its work. Kevin experiences a hallucination of various things: a bending gurney, a white owl, a version of himself. All before Bryan and the kid come to get him out.
Great, tense episode. Really didn’t know what was about to happen with Kevin. Now I wonder, will this affect him? Will he have a neutrality in his blood in some way that’ll protect him from the mist? Could get interesting. It will, I’m sure. Also, the crowd at the hospital are being forced into a smaller space, which is always good for claustrophobic tension and suspense. Maybe some outright madness.
With Bryan (Okezi Morro) wounded from the gunshot, Kevin (Morgan Spector), Adrian (Russell Posner), and Mia (Danica Curcic) rush trying to get him to a hospital, driving through the mist. They get him there, but like everywhere else people are stuck together, stuck inside, there’s no telling what the situation is like amongst the staff, patients, and anyone who’s ended up in that building as a result of the encroaching mist. As well as the fact Mia blames Kevin for Bryan getting shot, treating it the same as if he shot the bullet himself.
Kevin doesn’t stop looking for his family, though nobody’s seen them anywhere around the hospital. One of the worst places to be trapped is the hospital. There’s death around almost every corner. Moreover, Kevin finds his brother Mike (Peter Murnik) in a bed, a brutal wound in his gut. His brother said “they knew me” – whatever’s in the mist – that they knew things about his past. “I don‘t even know what‘s real anymore,” Mike says. The two brothers clearly have NEVER seen eye to eye, yet there’s a comfort in the older of the two with his younger brother there. Perhaps that’s because he’s on the edge of death. Or maybe he just hides his affections.
Another flashback shows a brief moment with Mike and Eve, as they’re all together in the new house. The older brother’s comment puts a momentarily sour look on her face. Afterwards, she and Mike have sex, she asks him for it harder. I worry there are dark secrets, darker things about the town, what happened to Eve all those years that we don’t yet know. I’m not sure exactly if I have any theories yet, I do know there’s something else there yet to be revealed.
Lost souls Adrian and Mia bond over being single children in their respective families, over trouble with her mother, his father. The junkie, and more experienced sleazeball, snags the keys from the kid without his knowing. After that she makes a swift exit, driving away from the hospital in a hurry. And this not long after her discover of a Bryan Hunt in another hospital bed, who says he was attacked by a man at the military base. Ohhhhh, shit.
What a fucking episode! I’ve seen people rating this low, and I have no idea why. Crazy. Such history, character development, as we figure out more of the Copelands’ inner lives, what drives them, what’s brought them to here. There’s so much to unpack. The writers are doing a great jog so far. “The Devil You Know” is next week.
Kevin (Morgan Spector), Mia (Danica Curcic), Bryan (Okezie Morro), and Adrian (Russell Posner) make it to the vehicle outside the church. But when Mia tries hotwiring it, nothing happens. The engine won’t even turn over, whatsoever. At the same time, Adrian’s the only one who witnessed the terrifying butterfly death of the other man recently.
At a gas station, Kevin and the others run into a man with a gas mask and a gun. He knows that Kevin is Eve’s (Alyssa Sutherland) husband. His name is Clay, he has a boy in her class. He’s lost now, somewhere else. But the group knows more than they tell him. Probably best, in case it drives him mad. He’s the one with a gun.
The games store boys have a harpoon, they’re latching onto the soldiers corpses in the shopping carts outside. Trying to reel them back inside. When one gets stuck Ted (Jonathan Malen) goes out using it as a lifeline. He doesn’t come back and Vic (Erik Knudsen) gets a shock as the glass breaks, the mist beginning to seep in through the book store. Where Alex and a little girl are reading together. A black mist creature appears, Alex and the girl trapped with it next to them. The thing grabs the girl by the face, sucking the life out of her. It stands in front of Alex, ready to do the same. Only it doesn’t. She walks free, seemingly unharmed. Although I’m curious to know if the mist has possessed her in some form.
Best of all is the religious war brewing, in the church no less. Natalie has called the spider in the jar “God” and she worships it; a false idol. This worries Father Romanov, some of the others. Especially considering they believe it’s Judgement Day. So the priest forcibly takes the spider, crushing it on the carpet. Horrifying Natalie. It’s a double-edged sword for the man of faith – on one hand, it illustrates how deep his faith is that he does feel they must adhere to the word of God or else perish; on the other, shows the weakness of his belief, that he’s threatened by an old lady and a spider in a jar.
Great episode! This series is getting stronger with every chapter, honestly. Started out just decent, now I’m gunning for this one. The Mist continues with “The Waiting Room” next. Surely there’ll be more tension and creeps in the episode to come.
Everyone at the church wakes up, the first morning after the mist came over their town. Adrian (Russell Posner) worries the others are “all dead” but Kevin (Morgan Spector) assures him they’re okay, that they’ve survived just like them. Upstairs, they look through a stained glass window’s scratch to spy a vehicle worth taking. They’ll need Mia (Danica Curcic), though the kid doesn’t trust her. And there’s the fact Connor (Darren Pettie) has her handcuffed. Those two dads are going to have a difficult moment, at some point.
Natalie (Frances Conroy) talks about finding something 1860 in the newspapers. She’s told it’s supposedly a local legend concerning “the Black Spring” – a curse, after the murder of a young woman. Even creepier is they can see her husband Benedict lurking out there in the mist.
Later when Kevin tries helping to free Mia and Bryan, he winds up down there with them after Connor the pig – in two senses of the word at this point – says some heinous shit about his wife and daughter.
The priest believes God’s testing their faith. Of course, what else would be think? He reels off the story of Job to Adrian, telling about the challenge of Satan to God. Et cetera, et cetera. Job prospered in patience, ever faithful. The kid’s reaching out for any kind of love, even if it’s the love of God. So long as it’s genuine. An interesting gay character I want to see more of throughout this season.
I’ve got to say, The Mist is defying my personal expectations. I didn’t think it’d thrill me in the way it is already. First three episodes are fantastic, I look forward to the rest. These characters have drawn me in, their predicaments are compelling. Effects aren’t always perfect but they’re intense and imaginative at times so far, so that’s enough for me.
SO MUCH TENSION in the pilot episode! Now, we’ve got people stuck in tight little places together, all their various beefs and tensions locked in there with them. Juicy, and scary.
We see that habit of Mia kicking up. She’s obviously got dependency issues, looking for a few pills in the evidence locker. Wonder if she’ll cause a problem on the way to the mall, once they’re at the mall. Either way, Bryan finds her out, and he’s willing to help her. If she goes into withdrawals then it’s going to get ugly.
When they get inside Kevin confronts Connor, who ends up putting the cuffs on Mia. This guy’s a real piece of work. The cop blames them for taking too long, for Kevin staging a “prison break.” Truly he’s just a coward, doesn’t want to admit that. He’s meant to serve and protect. I guess that means only if he feels brave enough. We also see how lost Natalie is without her husband, lost in such a brutal, random killing.
Man, I’m impressed. Not everything’s perfect, but it’s a great show so far! I’m eager for more. These first two episodes flow really well and the excitement’s growing. Bits and pieces of horror along the way. Like any good slice of Stephen King, what’s best are the characters, their lives, their stories, and how they react in these mortifying moments.
