‘Lisey’s Story’ Recap: ‘Now You Must Be Still’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Lisey’s Story’.
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Thus far, our journey through the AppleTV+ series, Lisey's Story, has provided us with some incredible insight into the power of grief. It shows us how grief can keep hold of us years after we lost the person we love by way of powerful memories, unresolved emotions, and harsh truths that few of us want to face. And although that insight has indeed made for some moving and downright chilling storytelling at times, the consistent push to explore the power and the pain that accompanies grief has left all of us wondering if that's all that this series is going to explore, or if, by chance, it's going to show us the next steps in the grieving process. Specifically, what does it take to pull ourselves out of the darkness surrounding us so that we can once again enjoy the light that life has to offer and find peace to soothe the pain in our souls that we've been carrying for ages?

As it turns out, a complete and comprehensive look at the grieving process from its sour beginnings to its fruitful and fulfilling end is what Stephen King had in mind for us all along. The next episode in this harrowing journey, 'Now You Must Be Still,' takes the time to examine what it is that starts to bring us out of our respective funks and well, that all-important first step is emphasized through a few realizations: We cannot change what has happened in the past, and in order to move forward, we need to have the desire to heal and need to have the desire to do take control of our situations—or in the case of Lisey Landon, take control of a situation that's similar to one that we let slip through our fingers ages ago so we can finally feel as though we can make a difference in times of strife.
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Lisey accomplished this feat by way of her first trip to Boo'ya Moon since her honeymoon with Scott. Returning to this strange and unsettling place helped Lisey to not only heal her physical wounds, but to finally realize that Scott was indeed gone for good, and not even the healing powers of a mystical lake could bring him back. Lisey making peace with that fact in a subtle and beautiful manner is what lets her begin to focus upon a more specific goal. Lisey saw Amanda in Boo'ya Moon and was able to communicate with her in a safe manner, so the Long Boy was clueless to her presence. In doing so, Lisey came to realize that Amanda was the key to healing some of the wounds in her heart. Lisey feels that if she can save her sister from this place, a place that clearly claimed Scott in more ways than she ever acknowledged, she can, in fact, find peace and start to move on.

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This realization helped Lisey to snap out of her funk and spring to action. With Darla's help, they were able to get Amanda alone and ready for the voyage back home. Thanks to a little prompting on Amanda's part, the key to saving her finally made sense to Lisey and she pulled her sister back from the void. This was a move that was about as satisfying as it gets, because it reunited this broken family at last, and most important of all, helped to heal Lisey's ailing soul. Lisey finally feels like she can make a difference and help someone that she loves, which allows her to cope with her past and her pain and gives her a newfound confidence. A confidence that Lisey wasted zero time in harnessing because she also came to realize that now was the time to use the strength of numbers to solve some of her other problems in life— such as the threat that is Jim Dooley.

Because she still had a deadline hanging over her head and making use of the police would cause great harm to more innocent lives, Lisey filled her sisters in on the situation, and they finally agreed that now was the time to work together to end Jim's reign of terror over their family and the Landon estate. This also meant that Lisey was finally ready to move onto the next stage of healing. The stage that involves confronting the past and the skeletons that we carry in order to finally end our painful and toxic relationship with grief. And that revelation combined with the final images in this particular tale—wherein Lisey showed us her resolve and desire to be done with all of this—makes it clear that the final two episodes in this series will undoubtedly provide one hell of a showdown, both mentally and physically.
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So, while we wait for that final battle to come to fruition, we can revel in the wonder of a surprisingly uplifting tale. This episode showed us how the decision to heal can accomplish wonders for our mental health and our confidence. It showed us how much an act of kindness related to our trauma can do wonders for the soul and the healing process as a whole—which really is an unexpected, but welcome, turn for this story. It's rare to see a horror tale find some kind of bright spot in the midst of the dark like Lisey's Story has, but Stephen King found a way to make that happen. It will be quite interesting and quite powerful to see what other positive messages about the healing process await us as we race toward to the end of this powerful and moving journey. Until next time, Dear Reader.

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