This week, The Mist continues its theological theorizing, adds a new location (however brief), and deepens rifts in the mall.
Church
But first, let’s start off at the church. Kevin, Mia, Bryan, and Adrian are booking it out the front door towards the car they’re going to hot wire. Kevin trips over a dead body because he is Kevin, and he is dumb. The car is locked, and Adrian offers up the gun that he managed to snag off Sheriff Connor in the scuffle at the end of the last episode. Mia uses it to open the door, and Kevin snatches it right back, scolding Adrian for not handing it over right when he got it. Adrian says he held onto it after he saw what happened to Mikayl, and explains the death by moth wings. She tries to get the car going, but the ignition won’t even make a sound. They decide to make a run for a nearby gas station, and decide to wait for the mist to thin, because that when it seems safest.
Mall
A panicky lady is running through the mall and practically crashes into the front doors, and it absolutely reminded me of this scene from Airplane!. Jay and mall manager Redman decide to break out some board games to ease the tension (Monopoly, noted family ruiner, is wisely not included). Redman offers Jay a football to toss around. Vic and Todd (formerly known as Gamer Guys) hang on the stairs with Todd’s previously unseen girlfriend Zoe, and Jay tries to chat. Zoe immediately shuts him down and calls him a date rapist. Jay chucks away the football away in anger, just before Alex walks by. She picks it up, tosses it back to him, and gives him a nod. I guess Alex’s nod indicates she accepts his story about not being a date rapist.
Church
Father Romanov is trying to play the piano, when his most enthusiastic parishioner (Michael? name TBD), walks in and talks to him about faith. The priest is scared not because he’s losing his faith, but because this all makes it feel stronger than ever, and he feels he must save the souls of everyone in the church, including Natalie.
Speaking of, she’s on the floor asking, “Are you there?” When asked what she’s looking for, she says she doesn’t know yet.
Father Romanov rounds up the group and explains that he’s not going to preach, but he is very convinced that this is judgement day, and he will do whatever he can to save their souls. He starts a group prayer and invites Natalie to join, but she tells him it’s not necessary. She tells the group the moth (you know, that killed Mikayl) is a friend of hers, that they met in her garden, and that she’ll find out what it wants. Then she resumes crawling on the floor.
No gas, no cars, and no big gulps either.
Gas Station
The gas station is deserted, but Kevin, Mia, Bryan, and Adrian make it inside. Unfortunately, there’s no cars for them to steal. But suddenly, a car does arrive, and a man emerges wearing a gas mask and brandishing a gun. He demands to know if they got any gas, and then recognizes Kevin. The man is Clay, and he has a son in Eve’s class, and that’s who he’s searching for out in the mist. Clay shows them a picture of a boy on a bike, and it is the body that Kevin tripped over earlier. Kevin lies and says he hasn’t seem him, and the group follows his lead. Mia tells Clay he should get some rest, and he goes off to sit for a bit. She asks Kevin why they had to lie, and they argue about trying to convince him to drive them to the mall so Kevin can get his family.
Church
Natalie is going through some books and spots Sheriff Connor sitting on the stairs. He’s feeling pretty low about losing his gun and prisoners all in one fell swoop. Connor feels like he failed his job upholding the law, but Natalie tells him law is just trying to control humanity. Father Romanov announces dinner, and she’s reluctant to go, but Connor happily escorts her to the main chapel.
Mall
Alex and Eve’s splinter group is having a quiet dinner in the dark. A little girl, Lilah, doesn’t want to eat much and is afraid of the dark, but Alex tells her a about a book her dad used to read to her, and offers to find it in the bookstore with her. They leave, and Eve, Kimmy, and Lilah’s mom Shelley have another glass of wine. Kimmy asks what it is about Kevin that is making Eve so miserable, and she explains that he loves Alex so much he gives in to everything, and it’s starting to get her hurt. Eve adds that she’s glad he’s not with them in the mall (ME TOO).
Church
As the group eats dinner, Natalie is going through an old church log, and spots deaths that happened during the Black Spring she’s been reading and hearing about. She tries to explain it to the group, but Father Romanov cuts her off, and tells her to look in the Bible for answers to the mist, and the pain of losing her husband. He asks her again if she knows what she’s looking for. Natalie has no answer, until Enthusiastic parishioner tries to smoosh a spider crawling on a pew. She stops him and saves it in a jar, saying this is what she’s looking for.
You are just unsettling everyone here, lady.
Gas Station
Clay explains his situation, and that most cars out there in the mist have died, but his doesn’t have a circuit board. He got it from doomsday prepper who says it would be safe in case of electrical interference. Kevin explains that Eve and Alex are at the mall, and asks if Clay will please take them. He’s hesitant because there’s only an 1/8th of a tank left, and he needs to find his kid. Kevin asks Clay to sleep on the decision.
Mall
Alex and Lilah find the book in the store and start to read it. Meanwhile, gamer guys Todd and Vic are back watching the bodies they sent outside and come up with another idiotic plan. They decide to get a harpoon gun from the sporting goods store and retrieve the bodies so people will stop hating on them (they are giving Kevin a run for his money in the idiocy department). Poking their heads into the mist, they successfully bring one body in, but the second one gets stuck. Todd decides to walk out and pull it in by hand, but is quickly lost in the mist. Vic looks for him, and when he doesn’t return, closes the door. And then Todd’s bloody body is tossed through the door.
Mist has been pouring into the mall this whole time, and Vic runs through the bookstore yelling for help. The bookstore is completely filled with mist, and Alex and Lilah get separated, but find each other. THat’s when the run into something in the mist, a big, black, swirling, humanoid shape. Vic has alerted the group, who are standing in front of the glass doors of the bookstore, but won’t open them despite two screaming girls inside.
Are you there mist? It’s us, Alex and Lilah
The shape appears at the front of the bookstore, as everyone just watches, and Lilah runs up against the windows as well. That’s when the mist puts its hand on Lilah’s face and turns her to ash in front of her mother. Further in the bookstore, Alex runs into the monster too. Moments later, she makes it unscathed out of the bookstore, and claims to have fought off the monster.
Church
As Natalie observes a spider web in the window, Connor and Father Romanov discuss her sanity. Connor says she’s always had funny ideas, but Father Romanov says she’s worshipping a false idol. If it is judgement day, she’s in deep trouble for that. The sheriff tells the priest he wasn’t out in the mist, and describes that it felt like the mist knew him. He approaches Natalie and takes the dead fly from the web and places it in the jar for her new pet spider to eat.
Chip in for a tank of gas, guys.
Gas Station
Kevin approaches Clay again, and begs him to drive him to the mall. Mia steps forward and decides to tell him his son is dead. He doesn’t believe her, and says they wouldn’t have lied when they saw the photo. She tells Kevin to tell Clay the truth, and Kevin confirms it. Clay snaps and pulls out his gun, and demands to know why they lied. Kevin says it was so he wouldn’t lose hope. Bryan sneaks up and tries to disarm him, and Kevin pulls his own gun out. In the struggle, Bryan is shot in the leg. Adrian picks up Clay’s loose gun, and Mia begins first aid on Bryan, saying they have to get to a hospital NOW.
Mall
Vic the doofus has his hands bound and is being judged at the front doors of the mall by the whole group. He promises he won’t do anything like that again, but no one is buying it. Redman says that Todd’s girlfriend Zoe should have a say, and she is all for tossing Vic to the mist. Jay says they should wait for the police, and she calls him a wimp, saying his dad the sheriff would have handled the situation with swift judgement. They put it to a vote, and Vic is voted off the island.
Church
The group is getting real nervous around Natalie and her spider pal. She says nature has a reason and they all just need to listen to mother nature. Enthusiastic parishioner tells Father Romanov he needs to stop her worshipping a false idol. He tells Natalie to kill the spider to save her soul, but she refuses. They argue back and forth, until Father Romanov tosses the spider out of the jar and stomps on it. She is crushed herself, and mourns the spider.
Say goodbye to your little friend.
Mall
Vic is sent out into the mist with some supplies, after begging not to be sent away. Redman tells him it’s what they voted for, and he marches out alone.
Church
Natalie puts the spider’s teeny corpse back in the jar. Father Romanov acknowledges that what he did was harsh, but he insists he was trying to help her get to heaven. She declares she has a theory about what’s happening, and Father Romanov cuts her off telling her no one is interested. Connor says he’s interested, and as she places the jar on an altar, and baby spiders are seen crawling around inside the jar.
Mall
A vigil is held for poor Lilah. Alex bursts into tears and confesses that she didn’t fight off the mist, she just waited for it to kill her. But it didn’t, and she doesn’t know why. Shelley leaves and rejoins the big group, telling Jay that he was right, Alex is a liar.
Gas Station
Everyone is packed up to head for the hospital, but Clay refuses to go. He insists his son is still out there. The group leaves, and Clay walks off alone into the mist.
And that was The Mist this week. Definitely intriguing this time around, I think what’s happening at the church is the most exciting part so far. But seeing that thing in the mist was pretty spooky too, and just raises so many more questions about what exactly the mist is and does. So, we’ll all just have to tune in next week.
Questions for Next Week
- Why was Alex spared?
- What is Enthusiastic Parishioner’s backstory? He’s pretty fervent in his beliefs, and very much egging Father Romanov on.
- Will Jay and Connor have a crisis when they’re reunited, especially since Connor is fully on team Natalie/Nature?
- Are Kevin, Mia, Bryan, and Adrian going to find an open and operating hospital?
Points of Interest
- New Mist Power: Taking a specific shape, and disintegrating children.
- The title of the episode, Pequod, is a reference to Captain Ahab’s ship from Moby Dick.
- Sorry Shelley, but Alex isn’t a liar. It’s not lying if you genuinely don’t know what happened.
- Between Clay looking for his son, and the shape in the mist, this episode felt like a combo of Morgan from The Walking Dead and of course, Lost.
- I think one of the strongest themes of this show, besides questions of faith, humanity, and nature, is how easy it is to lose and gain a gun in a light scuffle.
- The other major theme? Not naming characters until well after they are doomed in some way (R.I.P. Vic, Todd, and poor Lilah).
- Jay, the star quarterback, completely misses a catch in that first mall scene. It looks intentional, but come on, he’s the quarterback!
- What a bunch a jerks, not opening the bookstore doors to try to help a kid.
- If Bryan dies, I’m out you guys.
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