‘NOS4A2’ Recap: ‘Cripple Creek’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘NOS4A2’.
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While horror has enjoyed an incredible resurgence in the early 21st Century, it still has a long way to go in telling genuinely terrifying and unsettling tales on television. Because its outright popularity on the small screen has motivated a great many showrunners and production houses to only take the terror so far. For they are of the belief that going too dark and exploring elements that tend to be incredibly taboo will in fact, alienate the audience and offend them to no end. Which is a line of thinking that has merit for certain, since we’ve heard real-world horror stories of coalitions and groups that are happy to attack horror shows and demand they either leave the air or tone it down, and nobody wants to deal with that kind of headache.
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But as the genre continues to thrive with no end in sight, some of the scary shows out there are getting braver and bolder in their storytelling and are pushing the audience and the envelope like never before by offering up stories that outright leave one uncomfortable and unsettled and downright terrified. And one series that excels at this on a consistent basis, is AMC’s NOS4A2. For showrunner Jami O’Brien has inspired her writing staff to be fearless and to tackle tough topics during the show’s two-year run. A decision that has produced stories that feel a little too real at times and leave us needing a hug once a daring episode has come to a close and well, last night’s episode of the show took this exploration of darkness to a whole new level. Because ‘Cripple Creek’ is hands down the darkest story from the series to date, a feat that was accomplished by having the audience spend a great deal of time with evil. 

For if you recall from last week’s tale, Bing made his way to Charlie’s hiding spot and incapacitated the ancient vampire. Why exactly, we didn’t quite know. But this particular tale wasted no time in exploring that particular mystery. And as it turns out, Bing isolated and weakened Charlie because he needed to know the truth about his role in Manx’s mission to ‘save’ children in need. After all, being abandoned with a bullet in his shoulder didn’t exactly engender hope that he would ever see Christmasland and with a little help from his happy gas, Bing was able to get the unfortunate truth. In that, Manx had no plans to take him there. Because Manx made it clear that this was a special place designed only for children and well, in order to survive Bing’s outright fury over being lied to, Charlie had to think fast in order to save his hide.

Which meant he chose to open up to Bing and explain what motivated him to begin this quest to save children, and that’s what brings us to the darkness in question. Because Charlie bared his tragic past and his fears to Bing (and the audience), by way of moments in Christmasland and through vocalization and flashbacks and what we saw was quite unsettling for certain. Because we came to learn, that as a child, he helped a monster thrive. For back in the day, the local shopkeeper used Charlie’s desire to enjoy some semblance of happiness as motivation; to help the shopkeeper lure young boys up to his house for disgusting and nefarious reasons. A fact that chilled Charlie’s veins when the same shopkeeper decided it was Charlie’s turn and well, the resulting bloodbath that came out of this horrific discovery; since Charlie murdered the shopkeeper and his mother, laid the groundwork for his future machinations since he felt guilt and shame over letting such a disgusting act happen of his own volition, making Manx a classic villain for certain. For while his intentions are good, his ego and his pride twist his goals into something far worse. 

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But while it was supremely powerful and outright uncomfortable and devastating to learn that Charlie was a victim of abuse and was manipulated in perpetrating it further, there was mention of an exploration of Charlie’s fears. Something that was handled by way of his daughter in Christmasland. For she once again ventured to the house on the hill, wherein her mother informed her that this place was the personification of Charlie’s fears and it turns out, that he is so badly damaged and marginalized by his life experiences, and his pain, that his greatest fear is losing control of the people that he’s worked so hard to keep under his thumb. Including his darling daughter, and his worst fears might be coming to fruition as well. Because Millie had a taste of what her life was like before she became the creature that she is now and she’s starting to wonder if by chance, there is more to life than playing ‘Scissors for the Drifter’ in Christmasland. 
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However, while all of this was incredible and uncomfortable to watch in its own right, why exactly the show was putting this on display didn’t quite make sense, at least… not until the end of the tale. Because Bing’s realization that he was no better than Charlie served to remind all of us that evil is something that isn’t born into this world. It is something that is slowly created through pain and isolation and marginalization, notions that both of these men are extremely familiar with. And it is those exact elements that motivated them to harness their pain and use it exert power over others to enact some measure of payback and peace. Something that few of us will ever understand, but now have a rudimentary comprehension of, after this tale. But while all of this was morbid and tough to watch for certain, the show also used this grand exploration to point out the fact that sometimes, evil can be redeemed.

Because Bing’s epiphany, awakened something within him. In that, he came to realize that his actions are wrong and horrible and that he could set them right by doing something bold. Which motivated him move the Wraith beneath the car crusher in this junkyard, and free Wayne from the car so that he could crush the old ride with himself and Mister Manx inside. An act that would have redeemed Bing for certain, since he would have atoned for his sins by ridding the world of several elements of great evil. But alas, a confused and rattled Wayne, saved Charlie’s life before it was too late. Which in turn brought Bing within an inch of his life since Manx wanted revenge for everything that happened in this episode and well, that’s where this one ends. With Bing and Wayne’s lives hanging in the balance because redemption and understanding aside, evil is still damn good at sowing chaos. 

In the end however, this really was quite the heavy and powerful tale. One that absolutely left us squirming in our seats with its bleak subject matter. But despite the fact that we all walked away from this one feeling out of sorts, the show really does deserve credit for being bold. Because it takes guts to really look at the exact origins of evil, and this episode really did hold nothing back in showing us how someone’s soul can be corrupted. But now that this grand and important exploration has come to a close, it’s likely that we are going to return to some intense storytelling for certain. For the Wraith is back on the road, and time is running out to save Wayne from becoming the latest addition to the unhappiest place on Earth. Until next time.   

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