'The Mist' Recap: 'Pequod'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

For the past three weeks, The Mist has done a fine job of well...outright teasing us. We've been dying to know what horrors await the people of Bridgeville within The Mist itself and I think at this point, some folks out there are likely taking bets on which character is going to crack first under the pressure of this strange and scary set of circumstances.  

Yet, we've only received glimpses of the monsters that populate The Mist, and so far everyone has been able to keep it together, for the most part, but that all changed on the show last night. Because 'Pequod' decided to unleash some horror-tastic fury upon all of us, by letting several of the characters embrace a breakdown, making them terrifying in their own right and also by at long last showing us something populating The Mist that wasn't a creepy bug or an unknown terror and these little surprises made for a simply fantastic episode. 

Now when it comes to people starting to lose control, well that was put on display by way of Mrs. Raven and the man we met in the gas station named Clay, and the latter of these two stories was handled in simple and predictable fashion. So, let's spend more time on Mrs. Raven because her story was downright disturbing, and one reason her journey was so unsettling is because of the fact we've slowly watched her descend into madness week after week since she's gone from gentle neighbor to grieving widow before succumbing to utter madness since last night, she finally explained her new found beliefs through her actions and it would seem now that Mrs. Raven firmly believes that nature, and the earth as a whole has grown sentient and sent these beings to punish mankind and well...her newfound faith is starting to cause a divide and instill terror into the hearts of the people at the Church.

However, while that was fascinating to watch, let's be honest...none of it compares to what happened in the mall this week. Because once again, resident idiots Ted and Vic are up to no good, and their attempt to 'redeem' themselves by bringing the corpses they dumped outside, back inside, ends up leading to complete and utter disaster. Something in The Mist gets hold of Ted and the sight of seeing his best friend be served as dinner to the unknown is enough to get Vic to panic...and unleash The Mist into the bookstore, which just so happens to contain Alex and her new friend Lila. Naturally, chaos ensues and Lila's life is lost while Alex's is spared but what made this little sequence so stunning...was that the show finally delivered us something new monster wise in The Mist mythos. The creatures that attacked didn't have tentacles or wings, they were merely forms in the void and they thoroughly enjoyed consuming the life force of humans. 

However, while one would expect this sequence of events, and the banishment of Vic, to serve as the centerpiece of the night, it was all grossly overshadowed by the continued mystery that is The Mist. Because not only did the Sheriff speak of feeling a connection with it when he was surrounded by it, Alex was able to survive the attack from the Dementor-like creature by simply doing nothing which definitely gives me reason for pause. Does The Mist feed off of the worst parts of humanity? Does it love fear and anger and suffering and does apathy and respect appease it in some fashion? It's hard to say, but it is clear this iteration of The Mist is far different from anything that's come before it and it should be fascinating to see what else we learn about it in the weeks to come. But in the meantime, this was the episode we have all been waiting for. There were thrills, chills and what looks to be the beginning of the end of civilized behavior and I'm expecting the series to get far darker from here on out. Until next time. 

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