‘NOS4A2’ Recap: ‘The Shorter Way’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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If someone would have told me ten years ago, that someday soon, horror would be one of the most popular genres on television, I would have laughed that right off. Because a decade ago, the idea of horror shows populating the landscape and hanging with the big sitcoms just seemed silly. For at that time, the mantra was that horror was only enjoyed by a niche audience that watched these movies on VHS or DVD with like-minded friends on the weekends, and there was simply no way it could ever be mainstream and appeal to the masses. Yet, here we are, and horror is king when it comes to the small screen and as someone who watched his favorite scary movies on VHS and DVD on the weekends, I couldn’t be happier with this end result.
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But while it’s been quite an incredible experience to see people accept shows like The Walking Dead into the overall pop culture environment, and get into discussions with a more diverse fan base about the wonder of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, there is one inherent downside to having the genre go mainstream in that, mediocrity can settle in. Because studios and networks love formulas and status quo and that means sometimes we are treated to horror stories that lack depth and punch and that’s unfortunate since the genre has the ability to tell incredible stories about everyday people that find themselves plunged into a world of terror. But, thankfully, there are still networks and storytellers out there looking to keep the genre fresh and filled with fascinating stories and last night saw the premiere of a tale that meets that all-important criteria in, NOS4A2.

Now, this story, adapted from Joe Hill’s novel of the same name, introduces us to a character named Vicki ‘Vic’ McQueen, a teenager who is about to graduate from high school and she is at quite the crossroads in her life. For she wants nothing more than to go to art school and see her talent blossom there, but a busted family life and her social standing in Haverfield, Massachusetts seem to be stacking the odds against her and well, while all of this sounds like the setup for a drama instead of a horror story, there’s a lot to like about the fact that the series premiere of this show, ‘The Shorter Way’, works hard to establish the characters of this universe and what they stand for, and that matters greatly since so many horror stories work to get right to the gore and the monsters, rather than create an immersive environment filled to the brim with characters we can genuinely care about.

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If anything, the slow burn approach that went into this particular tale and the vast amounts of time we spend with well, everyone, made this a refreshing premiere to say the least. Because we truly learn everything there is to know about the characters here and their struggles in life and that allowed for a supremely different horror story to be told in this tale. For our fear of failure, of being alone and of going nowhere in life were on display here, and sometimes the horrors of the world and the evil we do to one another make for more chilling moments than an evil clown can supply and taking the time to establish this world did wonders for the story because we genuinely care about Vic, since we are now fully aware of the good that resides in her soul, and how she tries to engender that in others by making people feel as though they matter.
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However, at this point, we’ve talked little about the scares in this story, or why Vic’s good nature matters and now is the perfect time to discuss that. Because in Vic’s world, there is a great evil, a monster named Charlie Marx, and Mister Marx, is constantly on the hunt for the one thing that can sustain him; the souls of young children. But how he gets them is what truly disturbs one in this tale since he seeks out children from broken homes who are vulnerable and lonely, and he makes sure there is nothing for them to return to before he drags them to a place called Christmasland, all the while sapping their spirit and transforming these kids into something twisted and that’s important, because only a pure evil can perform an act as atrocious as that, and only a force of true good can put that kind of evil down and now that Vic has discovered a fascinating gateway in her home town, Charlie is on his way to learn of her and its power, putting good and evil on quite the collision course.

If anything, it’s best to just declare this series as brilliant right now. For it is the perfect mix of horror and drama since Vic’s story is powerful and at times supremely relatable, and the scares are simply top notch since some of what Charlie does preys upon our biggest fears and well, I am utterly in love with this series. For its ability to captivate me and unsettle all at the same time is special to say the least, as are the stunning performances from Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh Cummings as Charlie and Vic respectively and the intelligence present in the writing is equally as amazing since this show is able to tell its story without pandering or making use of excessive exposition and well, I need more, plain and simple and I cannot wait to see where this incredible adaptation of Joe’s novel is going to take us in the weeks to come. Until next time.  

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