‘Black Snow’ Recap: ‘The Lost Boys’

8/22/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Still from Episode 104 of ‘Black Snow’ – ‘The Lost Boys’ – Courtesy of Sundance Now/AMC Networks.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Black Snow’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

When we last settled in to discuss the wondrous and fascinating AMC and Sundance Now series, Black Snow, it seemed as though Detective James Cormack was on the verge of a breakthrough. For he had uncovered the truth about who was driving the blue car that was constantly tailing Isabel through the streets of her hometown, and that her father, the pastor, was involved in this somehow. Which should have brought forth… a bevy of truths about that fateful night, such as who killed Isabel. But alas, for its next episode, this series opted to enact more realism regarding this case. In that, sometimes the truth or having enough evidence to move the case along, means nothing when people are still unwilling to participate in matters of justice.

For ‘The Lost Boys’ saw James and Hazel confront Joe about his involvement in the case and his knowledge, only to be stonewalled again. For he truly believed that the covenant between a pastor and those who confided in him to be sacred, where those truths would be carried to Heaven. Which left James with no choice but to try a vastly different strategy to get the case moving, while Hazel, worked to try and help her father understand the importance of this moment, and this case. Which shockingly, prompted him to open up to his daughter at least, and inform her of the fact that Ezekial had harmed someone else on that night, and that he was indeed with Joe when the murder occurred, and the reason suspicion existed around Ezekial, related to the fact that Pastor Joe told him to run after everything went down… since he knew better and knew what people were capable of.

Which absolved the pastor of wrongdoing… and that’s not a bad thing. Because this episode also made it clear, there are other suspects present in this town. A truth revealed courtesy of some hard pressure on James’ part. For he inquired often about the missing cousins that Isabel was helping Ezekial search for, and he made sure to visit anyone else on his interview list, including Billy… to apply pressure and open old wounds and just make everyone concerned that he was inching toward truth and well… that brought about some interesting revelations in this story. Such as the fact that Billy knows more than he has led on, and he had no idea what to do with his knowledge. Because on the one hand, he wanted it to help him land a hell of a payday by blackmailing Steve. But also, it was clear here that such knowledge was eating at him, and the pressure made it worse and motivated him to try and talk to James, to no avail since James was out and about in that moment. But what mattered most was that the pressure worked, and he wasn’t alone in that.

Because we spent a fair chunk of time with Hector in this story as well, and he was not in a healthy place mentally. For he partook often in this story to seemingly numb something ominous, and he even had a run in with Billy that was violent and scary, and that was because… he was hiding an ugly secret that he was clearly worried would come to light. For he had in his possession, Isabel’s necklace. The very one she wore on that fateful night, the very one that James also noticed had gone missing at some point. Which raises all of kinds of questions about Hector and makes him begin to look akin to a prime suspect. All because of James’ unique approach to the case. But alas, it would seem we will have to wait a little bit before more comes out of these surprises.

After all, Kalana was once again eager to send a message about the sorted past of her nation by spray painting that statue once again. An act that was observed this time and may have led to hurt and harm, since an ‘accident’ pulled James away from his hotel room and his father related funk at the end of this tale. But while we wait to learn if Kalana is okay, we can revel in another fascinating chapter in this case. One that truly did reveal that pressure and time are starting to have an impact on the secrets being kept in this town. Since slowly but surely, they are beginning to come to the surface at last, and if James can keep it up and keep people nipping at one another through his actions… the truth at last about Isabel’s end may come to light, and someone will finally face justice, and it won’t be long now before those truths come to light, since we are now in the endgame of this unique and dynamic series. Until next time.

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