'The Mist' Recap: 'Withdrawal'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

As the old saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover and really...that saying can easily apply to television pilots as well. Because those stories are often times uncharted territory, wherein both the show and the audience are getting a feel for a brand new world. Granted, latter episodes could end up being outright rough as time goes on, but giving a show a fair shake after a so-so start is the only way to find out what exactly we are in for.

Oddly enough, that particular line of thinking also applies to Spike's The Mist. Because my first impressions of the initial episode were mixed to say the least. On one hand, this is clearly a series with major potential since the script featured some smart moments when it came to social commentary and also because when the scares and the gore arrived on screen, they were simply top notch. Yet it seemed over the course of that first hour that the show was definitely holding back when it came to the scares and well...in the end I'm extremely glad I didn't write this one off in immediate fashion. Because the second episode, 'Withdrawal' finally let loose storytelling wise, giving us a taut and terrifying thriller, one filled with intrigue and chilling moments to boot. 

Picking up immediately where last week left off, the show completely and utterly delivered on one key element missing from the prior week, a true sense of danger and fear permeating over the town of Bridgeville because now...the unknown is upon them. The Mist is everywhere, the horrors it harbors are still a secret and people are afraid and looking for immediate comfort and they appear to get what they need, for now, inside the church and the mall, but you can sense the trouble is brewing. Mrs. Raven is quickly losing faith in just about everything following the onset of The Mist and her husband's death, and already there's panic bubbling beneath the surface at the mall as people begin to cry out for leadership and stability and of course help since a young man points out, there's a F.E.M.A. emergency radio present in the security room of the mall per Homeland Security Regulations...and that's when this episode kicks everything into overdrive.

Now we are plunged into the true wonder of The Mist as Eve and that young man try to their best to contact outside help. We have no idea if anything is waiting for them within its ominous droplets and perhaps the best part of this particular segment of the episode, is that this scene and the ones that follow it give us our first big ties to the book, outside of said Mist of course, since the Arrowhead Project begins to take the center stage as we discover the young man that accompanies Eve to the Security Room to use the radio is part of that project and so are his friends and judging from their final and fatal decision after Eve is forced to put down their friend (a fact she is keeping secret from everyone else in the mall) it's clear we're starting to tread down the dark path that we've been waiting for when it comes to this tale...a pseudo collapse of society once people are cut off from the rest of the world.

If anything, this was quite the impressive episode, simply because it truly feels as though the show has finally found its footing with the arrival of The Mist and everything is going to degenerate from here out on out and that leaves me ready for more. Because I'm curious to see what a lack of hope is going to do to Mrs. Raven since she's teetering on the brink and it's only a matter of time before the safety and security of the mall is either compromised or supplies begin to run low. Either way, things are only going to get worse from here on out and I have high hopes now that this show is going to take us to some genuinely terrifying places once fear truly takes hold. Until next time. 

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