‘Horror Noire’ Recap: ‘Daddy’ & ‘Sundown’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘Daddy’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘Horror Noire’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Tradition is something that is supremely important to modern mankind and understandably so. After all, it is in many ways… a living history lesson. One that informs us of what once mattered most to our ancestors and in that same line of thinking, it is also a strange form of immorality in a way. Since the people that invented these proud traditions are kept alive every time, we celebrate them. But while tradition is wonderful and has its merits, it also has a dark side to it as well. For there are a great deal of unspoken traditions that we celebrate that are dark and disturbing in nature, and they keep bad concepts and behaviors alive, and those ugly aspects of tradition are top of mind today, because they were the focus of the brilliant season finale of Horror Noire on AMC.
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Which is the proper word to use to describe this finale, largely due to the fact that it was keen to offer us two kinds of examinations regarding sour traditions. One of which was quite intimate in nature. For ‘Daddy’ introduces us to a man named Red that is eager to do something his father could not and be a solid patriarch of his budding family and well, when we first spend time with him, here, he’s quite successful at his endeavors. Since he does so much for son, James. But eventually, the pressures of being a dad, combined with his fears and doubts that he will remain in such good standing, motivate a failure of a father to bubble to the surface of his personality, in a mystical manner of course, and this is… quite the powerful tale.

For it really does strike a chord with the audience. In part because some of the viewers of this vignette undoubtedly harbor the same fears and there are others… who grew up in environments where mom or dad was a clone of the bad behaviors their parents exhibited, and that’s really the commentary present here. In that, bad parenting and abusive parenting is something of a cycle/tradition in our modern world and since so many don’t address the pain it caused them growing up… they quickly adopt those behaviors when the time comes for their turn to be mom or dad. Keeping the cycle rolling and creating a new and disturbing tradition for certain. One that can be broken if the noise is kept out and self-work becomes a priority for those eager to shed it.

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‘Sundown’

As for the second vignette in this finale… well it was far more direct in showcasing a more disturbing tradition. Specifically, that of systemic racism in America, and it accomplished that feat, in a unique manner. For ‘Sundown’ introduces to us a pair of campaign workers named Shanita and Marcus who find themselves and their team in what appears to be a Sundown Town. One that the strange mayor of this berg claims otherwise and to prove his point, he invites everyone to a special dinner. One that helps everyone to discover that nothing is quite what it seems in this town, in fact, it is actually a safe haven for vampires, and it will take every ounce of effort and cunning that Shanita and Marcus have to escape becoming the vampires’ next meal.
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Which at first glance, doesn’t seem to be a story that is really mired in commentary on the disgusting tradition of racism we harbor here in America, but it is there. Found by way of the vampires themselves. For they serve as the reflection of the modern racist in America. That do their best to blend in and claim that they are as inclusive as anyone else. When in fact, they are waiting for an opportunity to strike, and they exist and are enabled because of tolerance. For the little jabs at other races and cultures we let slide, enables them to thrive and know their boundaries and play the victim when they are exposed. But what matters most, is that this vignette points out that by leaving it to its own devices, like this town, and keeping it out of sight and out of mind, has empowered it and allows for it extend to generations of Americans that see it as a norm and that at this point, hard honesty and vocal intolerance is the only way to crack its strong exterior and start the process of its removal.

If anything, this really was the perfect way to bring season one of this anthology to a close. Because it truly offered up some powerful and uncomfortable commentary on the human condition. The kind that asks us to look inward and be vigilant and of course… to speak up about the matters presented here. Because we tend to ignore these traditions and see them as issues that will somehow resolve themselves, when in fact, they won’t. Because it takes collective effort to stop those kinds of problems, and that’s a bold point for a horror series to make and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this journey… one can only hope that AMC Networks has plans to do more with this series. Because it really did allow for Black voices to be heard and it genuinely offered up intelligent and terrifying tales of terror and well… those are two elements the horror industry needs more of and a sequel movie/series, would be the perfect way to help with that.

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