‘Creepshow’ Recap: ‘The Hat’ / ‘Grieving Process’

10/21/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Ryan Bell as Jay in Episode 402 of ‘Creepshow’ – ‘The Hat’. (Photo Courtesy of Michael Courtney/Shudder.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 402 of ‘Creepshow’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Before we set out into the world to conquer it, our parents teach us many valuable lessons. Such as what it means to be a good person, along with teaching us about three key elements that will make sure we are happy and successful in life. One of which, is to find a job that we love and adore and do whatever we must to be the best at it. Which means sacrifice and blood, sweat, and tears if needed. Plus, we also need to find a partner, someone we love and adore and are willing to stick with through thick and thin. Because love is hard and requires attention and truly, the third lesson relates to that. In that, we should never quit when we find those elements. We should stay with them to the very end because that’s only way to really see the fruits of our labor.

Which is advice we all hold to when we get out there, only to learn that there are some real problems with these lessons. Because sometimes, we will work hard and go nowhere, due to a toxic work environment or circumstances and timing. And while we may find someone compatible, sometimes that relationship can turn toxic when true colors are shown. Which puts us at a shocking crossroads since we expected better. One where we must decide… whether to change career paths or jobs to get ahead. And for that matter, we wonder if a lifetime of heartache and toxicity worth fighting for. Of course, the obvious answer to both of those questions is no, and that’s why a fair number of people will forget those lessons and jump ship. But some… some hold to them and do extreme things to make it all work. Which can lead to consequences, as evidenced by the next episode of Creepshow on Shudder.

For ‘The Hat’ and ‘Grieving Process’ explore those consequences in great detail. Courtesy of a pair of plots that put two men at the crossroads in question. For in ‘The Hat’, Jay is desperate to be the next Stephen Bachman, the world’s greatest thriller/horror writer, but suffers from writer’s block and an imagination that requires care over pressure, and he comes to believe that using Bachman’s hat will give him the inspiration he needs… which it does, at quite the price. Whereas in ‘Grieving Process’, a renowned chef named Richard, who is ready to really start a family with his beloved wife April, struggles with that future when his wife is attacked and is never quite the same. Especially when he learns what it is that April truly needs to be healthy and wholesome again, from a food standpoint and well… those are indeed two perfect ways to explore the theme at hand.

Sachin Sahel as Richard in Episode 402 of ‘Creepshow’ – ‘Grieving Process’. (Photo Courtesy of Michael Courtney/Shudder.)

Because ‘The Hat’ really does ponder deeply upon how sometimes, we don’t get where we want to be right away through hard work. But we want that success, and we desperately feel we need it and well… sometimes we go to great lengths to get it. Granted, in this instance, it’s a brain sucking alien that helps Jay achieve his ultimate goals as a writer, but that is clearly a stand in for the dangers that come forth with that kind of want. Since one could say that Jay takes shortcuts to fame, and everyone eventually learns that there are no shortcuts to that, and any success in that vein is fleeting. Plus, the alien could also stand in for drugs and other substances, the kind that could aid a writer but costs them so much. As it does cost Jay here, and if he stuck with slow and steady and worked to grow his own voice, he would have been fine. But alas, the wrongness of the lesson mattered more.

As for ‘Grieving Process’, well that absolutely explores the ugly nature of the toxic relationship and why we cannot let go of them and why we work so hard to make that which is worthless, work. Because while Alice is indeed a succubus of sorts, and does nothing but cause harm, Richard will not leave her side. He sees her as the greatest thing to ever happen to him, and somehow believes that being faithful to her and showing her love will heal her and bring her back. Which is the perfect allegory for the nature of those relationships because that is what we do within them. Hold to the lesson that love prevails, and that we cannot quit our partner, when they have quit on us, and that’s dangerous. Because it hurts us deeply, pushes us to do things we regret and makes us someone we are not. And the danger inherent here is that we will lose ourselves or find great harm that will be hard to heal, when in fact we should cut our losses and do some self-work and healing, so we never latch onto a toxic person ever again.

But alas, Richard too… held to the lesson as so many do, and well… both of those plot threads make this a cautionary tale. One that reminds us of what happens when we don’t listen to what our gut is telling us and stick to outdated and outmoded ideas that we pass from generation to generation. But powerful commentary aside, make no mistake about it… the horror here was top notch as well. After all, the weird little creative brain monster was gross and unsettling and definitely creepy for certain. And Richard’s succubus wife, was the stuff of nightmares, and what he did to keep her fed, definitely turns your stomach. But what matters most is that those horror elements and that powerful commentary, brings forth some incredible tales of terror. Ones that hold a mirror to the human condition and how we falter, so that others might not and well… these stories will stick with us for some time, that is… until next week’s episode gives us something new and powerful to ponder upon. Until next time, kiddies.

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