‘The North Water’ Recap: ‘We Men Are Wretched Things’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘The North Water’.
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One question that storytellers love to explore in literature and television and film, is what drives mankind to commit to darkness? Which is a question that captivates us, simply because we would like to believe that evil is not in our nature. That we are instead, pure beings of love that strive to be more and are eager to spread good about our world. But instead, we find ourselves indulging in anger or hearing of how others commit dark acts with impunity. Which is why we turn to these types of stories, so that we can hopefully understand what drives us to evil in order to eradicate it and really… this is of note for our discussion today, because that exploration takes the center stage of the next episode of The North Water.

For ‘We Men Are Wretched Things’ saw Patrick Sumner survive his horrific encounter with the cold and having a near brush with an icy death, definitely gave him pause and perspective, the kind that left him pondering upon what kind of man he was going to become after this. For in the moment, he was rejuvenated and revitalized and truly believed that his second chance here was designed to push him to do better in this world and it wasn’t long before someone on this vessel gave him that chance. Because the cabin boy showed up in the medical bay with some concerning injuries. The kind that made it clear that someone violated the sanctity of his body against his will, out of some sense of cruel satisfaction and that motivated him to get the captain involved in an investigation and that decision… brought about all kinds of trouble.

Because eventually the cabin boy turned up dead and an innocent man stood accused of his murder and well, it was shockingly odd that Henry Drax was happy and overtly eager to offer up an eyewitness account of how the poor boy died at someone else's hands, when he likely was the one that raped and killed him and well… Henry’s actions make it clear that sometimes what drives us to evil and dark acts… is the power that they provide us with. Because Drax was in complete control here, and basically put the fate of a man’s life in his hands without giving it a second thought. And he enjoyed every single second of it and had no qualms with the possibility that an innocent man might hang for a crime he didn’t commit. All because he was in charge, he had the power and that also relates to the fact, that Henry Drax is a nobody. After all, in London he was just a horny drunk that couldn’t get six pence to buy a snifter of rum. 

But aboard this boat, he’s somebody and he’s revered, and he can be powerful and strong here and that lends credence to the reality that marginalization can also bring about the evil that men do since it gives them a sense of satisfaction and existence they never had before. But above all else, one of the greatest reasons that people indulge in evil… is because they come to like it. Because men like Drax really do relish in the thrill of bucking a system that tossed them to the curb and the pleasure they receive from being half present in life and half in the shadows, gives them joy to no end since they can continually fuel their fire and angst for the world and indulge their darkest fantasies and well, that epiphany is quite frightening to say the least. Because Drax is settling in and finding his twisted groove and indulging if he’s killed once to enjoy power… he will again and that puts everyone at risk.

If anything, this was simply a bleak and devastating story when all is said and done. Because there is an outright murderer operating aboard this ship without any restrictions or suspicions and that really does leave one hopeless since there is a good chance that a great deal of people could die at Drax’s hands. For there is the risk that eventually his secret will get out and a man like that, won’t go down without a bloody and vicious fight. But while we wait to see what comes next now that suspicious eyes are upon Drax, we can bask in a story that really did dive deep into the evil that men do, and it was simply fascinating to see how easy it is to lose ourselves in the darkness if we don’t fight it and all this kind of character study does is leave us eager to continue this journey. All so that we see what other dark recesses of mankind’s psyche this voyage is going to explore. Until next time.

As an added bonus, here is a clip of this week's episode for you to enjoy!

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