‘Lodge 49’ Recap: ‘Zugzwang’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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I think that sometimes in television, the storytellers behind the scenes lose their way. Because time and time again, I’ve seen lighthearted dramas attempt to keep their audience’s attention by doing something bold and brazen with their characters, and the idea behind such a move, is that it will get people talking about the show and get more viewers to tune in. But often times, this kind of decision is nothing more than a gimmick, one that turns the audience off in fact, and a common trick that shows use to make that happen, is to have a particular character fall from grace so to speak. Which means they go through some intense strife and some ridiculously difficult challenges when it comes to their respective journey, and we see them at their lowest point and that doesn’t work for the fans because; we know they are better than this.
 
If anything, this is another reason in a long list of reasons as to why I’m such a fan of AMC’s Lodge 49. Because this is a series that avoids gimmicks and presents tough journeys in realistic fashion, and it has no problem acknowledging the fact that people often stumble and fall, and that when we do, it’s not always some self-destructive venture that has us hurting people and tearing down our lives. Sometimes we just straight up lose our faith in ourselves and our beliefs and we do our best to get by in a world that suddenly feels hollow and that’s really where last night’s episode of the series spent a lot of its time. For ‘Zugzwang’ focused heavily on so many lost characters. Such as Blaise, who had lost his faith in just about everything. Because the search for the Scrolls left him feeling as though he was a fool and that there was no meaning left for him at the moment and he wasn’t the only person who lost their faith in this tale.
 
For even Scott found himself in a tough place when he came to the realization that no one at the Lodge took him seriously as Sovereign Protector, and knowing that his attempts to unify the Lodge and lift it up from the doldrums were going unnoticed, along with the fact that no one really viewed him as a leader, broke him. Which prompted him to just go on a booze fueled journey around town to find himself and as the episode rolled on, it became clear this kind of despair was simply in the air for just about everyone. Heck even the omnipotent Janet was losing her faith in just about everything since she revealed to Liz that Omni was falling apart at the seams and bleeding money to the point where it was barreling toward insolvency and it was just incredible to see so many characters struggling in this manner since you really don’t see characters take the time to express their pain in this manner on television.

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​Yet while all of that was fascinating in its own right, the true centerpiece of this unique brand of suffering came by way of an unexpected new friend for Dud and Ernie. For they finally were able to meet and hang with L. Marvin Metz, the writer of their favorite novels and well, Mister Metz turned out to be the personification of how most people handle a loss of faith in everyone and everything, since he simply acted like nothing was wrong. In fact, Metz took it one step further, by showcasing himself as a suave and magnificent writer who had everything figured out in life. But by the end of his arc in this tale, he finally opened up to reveal that his career as a writer was falling to pieces and that he felt trapped in his life and that there was no escaping the prison he had created for himself and his journey was simply powerful to watch, since it served as a fine reminder that we are taught to put on a happy face and pretend that nothing is wrong when the going gets tough.
 
However, while it seems as though these various vignettes reflect a darker episode, one indicative of the gimmicks I made mention of earlier, that’s simply not the case. Because everyone that was suffering in this tale was propped up by someone and the story also took the time to explain why losing our faith is actually a good thing. Because doing so, outright frees us. For now, we are no longer locked within a particular path that we might not be happy with and we are free to either try new things or attack what we were chasing in the first place from a new angle. In essence, we no longer have anything to lose and Ernie is the one who helped express this wondrous notion since he finally realized that that while it is never a bad thing to have a plan, sometimes you just need to live a little and go for broke and see what happens, and the best way to accomplish that in the here and the now, is to rally the troops and to take a trip to Mexico, and finally find the Scrolls.
 
So, just like that, the Scrolls are back in the mix, and I love the fact that everyone is joining Dud on this quest to find them. Because this search will unify everyone at last, and likely help them discover some important things about themselves and their relationships with one another, all while growing the mythos of the series, and just… wow what an episode this turned out to be. If anything, I truly applaud writer Micah Cratty for crafting a refreshing screenplay that celebrated this plight for a change. And also, kudos to Paul Giamatti, who played Metz, for turning in a powerhouse performance since he brought incredible life to the role and quite frankly, stole every single scene he was in. But all of that aside, I won’t lie, I’m quite giddy to see what everyone finds in Mexico and I’ll once again be counting down the minutes until next Monday, to see where this magical journey takes us next. Until then.  

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