A scary scarecrow, and a hellish night in an elevator.
Creepshow 1×04: “The Companion/Lydia Layne’s Better Half”

A scary scarecrow, and a hellish night in an elevator.
Things get a lot worse in Grovetown, as Hap and Leonard come up against plenty of racism.
Florida's gone to Grovetown, but Dt. Hanson worries for her safety, so he sends Hap to find her. And you know Hap is taking Leonard, too.
Hap & Leonard work undercover at the carnival to try rooting out the killer. Before unexpectedly terrible things happen.
Hap & Leonard investigate the old church in Meemaw's picture, only to find more disturbing discoveries awaiting them.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 6: “Eskimos”
Directed by Jim Mickle
Written by Jim Mickle
* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “War” – click here
* For a recap & review of the Season 2 premiere, “Mucho Mojo” – click here
The finale has arrived, and after Trudy (Christina Hendricks) abandoned Hap and Leonard (James Purefoy/Michael K. Williams), they were left with the vengeful Soldier (Jimmi Simpson) who still mourns his dead lover, Angel (Pollyanna McIntosh).
In the aftermath, Leonard’s place is covered in police tape, and Hap laments to the dog: “I miss him, too.”
We flash back to their precarious situation at the end of the previous episode. Outside, Jimmi is killing the dogs, taunting Hap and Leonard inside. The episode flashes to after it all again, as Hap starts to take down all the boards over the windows, trying to put everything back in its place. He’s sporting injuries from the shootout. Obviously, Hap is now safe from Soldier. But what exactly’s happened in the meantime?
At a literal and figurative crossroads, Trudy sits in the van. Over at the house Soldier keeps on taunting, especially about Trudy, mocking Hap for having trusted her too many times. The title of the episode, “Eskimos”, comes from a conversation about how Eskimos supposedly share women, so on. A nice anecdote. Then, from nowhere, Angel reappears. Not dead at all. In fact, she proceeds to kick the absolute shit out of Hap and Leonard. At least until the latter snaps her neck. Well now, Soldier’s really upset.
Let’s root hard that SundanceTV does the right thing and gives this a renewal. Lansdale deserves it, as do Hap and Leonard because there’s so much more to explore with them – their relationship, their world and its landscape – and many stories to be told! A great, fun, and at times wild season.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 5: “War”
Directed by Jim Mickle
Teleplay by Nick Damici
* For a review of the previous episode, “Trudy” – click here
* For a review of the Season 1 finale, “Eskimos” – click here
The penultimate Season 1 episode of SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard starts out after the betrayal in the previous chapter, on the part of Angel (Pollyanna McIntosh) and Soldier (Jimmi Simpson) with the greasy Paco (Neil Sandilands).
But we step back in time, to when Hap Collins (James Purefoy) was a little boy, and the racism in Marvel Creek is alive and thriving. A minstrel show is put off, as people crack up laughing and enjoy it, far too much. We see little Hap and his father driving, when they notice a black man on the road with car troubles. Then the worst looks like it’s about to happen.
Cut back to the 1980s again. Angel and Soldier, with Paco alongside, have Hap, Leonard (Michael K. Williams), Trudy (Christina Hendricks) in tow. So what kind of madness will we see this time around? Surely Hap and Leonard aren’t going down without a fight.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 4: “Trudy”
Directed by Nick Gomez
Teleplay by Nick Damici & Jim Mickle
* For a review of the previous episode, “The Dive” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “War” – click here
After the end of last episode, Hap Collins (James Purefoy) and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams) find themselves taken hostage by Howard (Bill Sage) and his gang. Of course, Trudy Fawst (Christina Hendricks) and lets it all happen.
We watch Trudy take it all in. Heavy. She thinks about years ago, life before. The bird in a cage comes from Trudy here, as she tries to let one out into the wild: “It‘s time to be a bird.” Instead this turns into us seeing a bit of a sadistic side to her come out. When the bird won’t fly away, Trudy opts to drown it instead. Yikes. The look in her eyes says so much.
Out in the living room, Hap and Leonard on their knees get an explanation about Howard needing to “appropriate” their share of the money because there wasn’t enough left after the moldy portion. A potent word from Trudy – “sacrifice” – referring to Leonard and Hap giving up their share for Howard, Trudy and the crew. When Hap knows all about sacrifice.
The greasy crew, including Chub (Jeff Pope) and Paco (Neil Sandilands), hold Hap and Leonard at gunpoint. Hap digs a hole for them to bury the money, considering the police presence nearby. Best is when Leonard stands tall against the barrage of weaponry pointed towards him, and refuses to fill the hole in with the money; shows how he does not let anyone walk over him.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 3: “The Dive”
Directed by Nick Gomez
Written by E.L. Katz
* For a review of the previous episode, “The Bottoms” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Trudy” – click here
A new chapter in the stories of Hap Collins (James Purefoy) and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams).
After “The Bottoms”, we now find Hap and Trudy Fawst (Christina Hendricks) still laying next to the water. A flashback shows us when Hap was getting served papers for dodging the draft. Cut to Howard (Bill Sage), Chub (Jeff Pope) and Paco (Neil Sandilands) discovering them laying there together. When Hap finally comes to things aren’t too awkward.
Meanwhile, Leonard wakes up after a night with his man, who’s busy making breakfast for them both. I fucking love Leonard. He loves hot sauce as much as I do.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 2: “The Bottoms”
Directed by Jim Mickle
Teleplay by Nick Damici & Mickle
* For a review of the Season 1 premiere “Savage Season” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Dive” – click here
After the fantastic premiere, Hap and Leonard continues with the second episode, “The Bottoms” – named after one of the Joe R. Lansdale novels.
A couple little black kids head out into the woods where someone was supposedly hung. One of the boys has a gun with him, but they end up getting creeped out and running off after finding a tree with a rope over it. Even worse, they stumble across the dead cop from the premiere’s finale – the one murdered by Angel (Pollyanna McIntosh) and Soldier (Jimmi Simpson).
Poor Hap Collins (James Purefoy) wakes up, still next to the Marvel Creek sign. He’s clearly hungover, and dying to take a leak. Hilarious, brief scene where he starts pissing on a bit of roadkill, but moves over politely: “Sorry, buddy,” he tells the dead animal.
Back over at the shack where Howard (Bill Sage) and Trudy (Christina Hendricks), and the others, lay their heads. Except everyone else is already up, including Chub (Jeff Pope) and Paco (Neil Sandilands). So instead of getting themselves out of there quickly, Hap and Leonard (Michael K. Williams) are saddled with Chub and Paco at the request of Howard.
Then up shows Prescott Jones (Jay Potter) trying to convert a few lost souls over to the Lord. He “sells the Lord‘s word“, apparently. But Paco comes out and drives the man off in as unfriendly a fashion as possible. I can’t help but wonder where and how Prescott will end up back in the mix. Can’t only be a one-off scene, seems too convenient.
With Paco and Chub along for the ride, off head Hap and Leonard. The four don’t get along perfectly, that’s for sure. I’m interested in Paco, what his backstory might be, especially considering the intro to Soldier at the end of the premiere episode. Paco and Leonard certainly come up against one another, while Hap smirks and goes along to get along. For now.
Later on, we get more on Hap’s character, as well as Paco. Those who know the stories already know Hap went to jail as a younger man for refusing to go to Vietnam, so there’s a whole other aspect to Hap (especially in his relationship to Leonard) we start seeing. Also, Paco was part of a group called The Mechanics; he was “a bombmaker who blew himself up“, so says Hap. And then a great scene where Chub gets stuck in a muddy pit, before the boys haul him out – Chub ends up losing his pants to the muck.
SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard
Season 1, Episode 1: “Savage Season”
Directed by Jim Mickle
Teleplay by Nick Damici & Mickle
* For a review of the following episode, “The Bottoms” – click here
The premiere episode of Hap and Leonard begins with a great bit of action and some good ole CCR (“Up Around the Bend”). In 1968, we watch a car chase heading through Marvel Creek, Texas. Cops are hot on the trail of a couple men who’ve clearly pulled off a big heist. In the backseat, one of them bleeds out, money alongside for the ride. Only the driver does a Dukes of Hazard jump and puts the vehicle into a river. The gutshot man makes it out onto the shore, only to pass out and let fly a bunch of bills.
In Laborde, Texas – jump two decades to 1988 – Hap Collins (James Purefoy) and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams) work side by side on a rose farm. They end up fire at the end of the day because cheap Mexican labourers are a plenty. We get a look from Hap to Leonard, almost alerting us to their personalities immediately; Leonard proceeds to tear a bunch of roses up out of the ground. Hap is a little more calm while Leonard is the hotter head of the pair. But they’re incredibly close friends. They do a master-slave routine that might sound dumb put that way, however, it shows the close relationship between them evidently right off the start. Plus, Purefoy and Williams work so well together, their chemistry is what grabbed me quick in the opening to the episode.
Leonard: “You can take a man‘s job, but you can‘t take his cookies.”
The tension in their relationship starts once Trudy (Christina Hendricks) arrives. It’s obvious Leonard does not like her, he warns Hap – obviously Hap’s got a softer spot for Trudy than him. Leonard reminds Hap of an important thing to remember: “A stiff dick ain‘t got no conscience.” But I love Hap, too. They’re both clever and likeable, albeit in their own ways. Hap is honest and straight up, as is Leonard, but they’ve each got their distinct sense of dialogue. Further than that, we get a quick read on Trudy, as well. She apparently criticized Leonard for enlisting and going to Vietnam: “If no one would fight, there‘d be no wars,” she says revealing her innocently ignorant perspective on life.
And no sooner that they end up in bed together does she admit to Hap: “I need your help.” So does she really have all those feelings she claims? Or is Trudy more trouble than we can imagine? Probably a reason Leonard can’t stand her. So Leonard calls Hap up later, even quipping – “Nice knowin‘ ya, brother.”
Love the racial aspect of the series, in the South. All those lingering feelings of the Civil War and other bits of history still float around; to this day. In fact, that’s why Lansdale is suited to be adapted now because it speaks to some of the issues America specifically is still tackling. Even better, Leonard also brings more to the table as a character than simply being black in the South.
When Trudy offers up a supposed plan to make $200,000, all of a sudden Hap seems intrigued. Good for the pocket, bad for the love life/psyche.