NOS4A2 season 2 occurs eight years after season one. Last week we caught up with Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) and her family. In “Good Father,” we catch up with Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto), who was dead in episode one. Bing Partridge (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) found the Wraith and put it back together. At the same time, Manx’s heart started beating again. What will become of Christmasland if Charlie can’t make it home?

Also, Check out our interview with NOS4A2‘s Mattea Conforti, aka Millie Manx.

RELATED: NOS4A2’s Mattea Conforti Talks About Her Journey from Broadway to Christmasland

RESURRECTION

A nurse at Jefferson Memorial Hospital talks a security guard into getting a picture of Charlie Manx’s body in exchange for drugs. She also wants Charlie’s hands. The security guard goes to the autopsy room where Charlie’s body still lays with his chest open. The guard gets his photo, but then the lights go out. While he is sending the picture to the nurse, he doesn’t see Charlie get up off the table. The nurse reminds him to get the hands and that’s when the security guard realizes that Charlie is gone. The guard returns to the autopsy room to look around and Charlie hits him from behind. He kills the security guard and staples himself back together. 

Charlie takes the security guard’s clothes and calls Bing. He tells him to put a child in the Wraith and meet him at the Sleigh House. Bing explains that he put the engine into the car, but the car won’t start. Charlie repeats his instructions, saying the Wraith will start once a child is inside the car. Bing gets excited and gets right to work. An older, more feeble Charlie makes his way to the security guard’s car and speeds away.

FLASHBACK
Celeste Arias as Cassie Manx in NOS4A2

Celeste Arias as Cassie Manx- NOS4A2 _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Cara Howe/AMC

Charlie was once married to a lady named Cassie (Celeste Arias). Cassie is the daughter of Horace Haber (Victor Slezak) a prominently rich man. She met Charlie when he was Horace’s chauffeur. The two fell in love and eloped. And Horace hated Charlie forever. The night Cassie told Charlie that she was pregnant, he was super excited. Not only for the child but also for the opportunity that now stood before them. Charlie wanted to ask his father-in-law for a loan to start a chauffeur business. He thinks Horace has an obligation to help Charlie provide for his family. 

Cassie gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Christmas Day. They named her Millicent, Millie for short, after Cassie’s mother. Charlie thought this would be a good time to ask for that loan. Not only did Horace refuse him, he insulted Charlie as well. He called him an insufferable son-in-law and said there’s something off about Charlie. Charlie tried to appeal to his father-in-law saying the business will provide a good life for Cassie and Millie. Horace says Millie will be well provided for in the form of a trust held until her eighteenth birthday. 

GETAWAY

The next morning, Bing tracks down the son of the artist who bought the Wraith. The kid’s name is Mike Demeter (John James Cronin). Mike went to his mother’s house for his step-brother’s slumber birthday party. Bing told the young lady who answered the door that Mike’s dad sent him. The girl let Bing in without any questions as to who he was. 

Bing finds Mike in a cage with the word “gay” written on his forehead. He confronts the step-brother and his friends to get the key to the cage and let’s Mike go. Bing cleans up Mike and tells him about Christmasland. Mike would like nothing better than to go somewhere where he can’t be bullied. Only if Bing comes with him though.

DEPRESSING TIMES

Some years after Millie was born, Cassie and Charlie are living a meager life. Horace is dead and his money’s all gone. Now Cassie worries they won’t have enough food to eat. Charlie is optimistic that things will change but feels like Cassie has no faith in him. She says she does, but she wants to help by getting a job. That makes Charlie angry. Cassie threatens to leave Charlie and go to her sister’s with Millie if things don’t improve. 

They start to argue but stop when Millie enters the room. She’s about ten years old and Charlie’s face lights up when she’s around. He takes her back to bed and assures her that everything is fine between him and her mother. Millie asks for an Eskimo kiss and he tells her to dream of Christmasland. She starts to talk about how Christmasland should look and eventually falls asleep.

DUCT TAPE FIXES EVERYTHING
Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx in NOS4A2

Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx – NOS4A2 _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Cara Howe/AMC

Charlie’s staples are coming out and he’s bleeding all over his clothes. He stops at a trucker rest stop to clean up.  A woman sees him get out of his car and calls 911. Charlie goes to the payphones first and calls Millie. She is very concerned about her father and wants to know when he’s coming home. Charlie tells her to be brave because he might not make it home. She shouldn’t worry though. Christmasland is forever and Millie will be safe there.  She informs him about the power going out and the white static getting close. The children are afraid of being swallowed up by the white static. Charlie says it’s not possible that the white static should reach Christmasland, but it did. He promises that he’s on his way home. 

Charlie goes into the bathroom to clean up and uses duct tape to close the opening in his chest. Another man is in the restroom so Charlie hides. He waits for the man to wash his hands and then kills him. Charlie takes the man’s clothes and hides the body in a closet. The police arrive and search the bathroom. 

Meanwhile, Bing and Mike go back to the artist’s garage where the Wraith sits. Mike is skeptical about the car even starting, but Bing is certain it will happen. When the car won’t start, Bing gets frustrated.  He gets out, scared about what will happen if he doesn’t get it started. Mike is sitting in the back seat watching Bing. Bing hits the engine in frustration and the car starts. At the same time the police find Charlie in a bathroom stall, but he’s no longer an old, creepy guy. He’s young again. 

UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

Charlie takes the trucker’s keys and goes to the parking lot. A crowd of people surround the car he drove up in. He gets to semi and starts feeling weak. He reaches inside his shirt and he’s bleeding again. Charlie leaves the rest stop and goes to the Sleigh House. There is a child’s bicycle there, so Charlie goes searching for the kid in the woods.

A young boy stands in the trees, looking at the ornaments on the trees. Charlie tries to chat with him about the beauty of Christmas, but the boy says his family doesn’t celebrate Christmas. He finds the ornaments creepy because Charlie Manx hung them up. He says Charlie Manx killed a bunch of kids. Charlie gets a little offended and tells the boy not to believe everything he hears. He also calls the boy’s mother a liar, unaware of who she is. Charlie asks if the boy lives nearby. He looks into the kid’s eyes and realizes who he is. Bruce Wayne McQueen (Jason David) stands before him, but no one calls him Bruce. Charlie says he’s seen the boy before, in a dream. Wayne sees the blood on his chest and runs away. 

RELATED: Read the NOS4A2 Season 2 Premiere, “Bad Mother” Recap Here

THE LAST STRAW
Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx in NOS4A2

Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx – NOS4A2 _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Cara Howe/AMC

The day Charlie came home with the Wraith was the last straw for Cassie. Millie was super excited because the car meant they were going to Christmasland. Cassie was upset because Charlie pawned her mother’s rings for collateral on the car and didn’t tell her. Charlie was determined to start his chauffeur business and he got the car at a good deal because someone died in it. 

Cassie tells him to take it back. No one can afford a chauffeur anymore and he can’t afford milk. She says Millie needs a stable home with food, clothes, shelter and healthcare. Charlie gets upset because Cassie thinks he’s a failure. She says she’s leaving so Millie can have a stable life. He says he bought the car for Millie and his family, but Cassie disagrees. She says like everything he does, this is for Charlie Manx and no one else. 

Cassie packs her bags and gets Millie ready to leave. Millie says she doesn’t want to go to her aunt’s house, she wants to go to Christmasland. Cassie says there’s no such place.  She bought bus tickets the week before to prepare to leave, but Charlie insist on driving her there.

GOING BACK TO CHRISTMASLAND

Charlie lays by the Sleigh House, bleeding out when Bing arrives to save him. He picks Charlie up and takes him to the Wraith. The door opens for Charlie and he climbs in. As soon as he sets up, his chest heals and the blood disappears. He looks in the rearview mirror at Mike. He asks if he’s ready for the ride of his life. Mike smiles back at him, already turning.

Charlie makes his way to Christmasland with a sleeping Bing and Mike. Bing wakes up and is excited that they are almost there. He can’t decide what he wants to do first: ride the ferris wheel or the gum drops. Charlie stops the car and says Bing can’t come this time. He hasn’t fulfilled his agreement to provide ten children. Bing argues that he’s ready, saying he’s been really good the past eight years waiting for Mr. Manx. 

Charlie looks at Bing and asks if he ever had any doubts in those eight years. Bing admits he did, but he always knew Charlie would come back.  Nevertheless, Charlie makes Bing get out of the car and tells him where to go. He says he will meet Bing there and it will give him a chance to let go of any lingering doubts he has. Bing starts to pout, but Charlie says he won’t be disappointed.  

NOS4A2
Mattea Conforti as Millie Manx in NOS4A2

Mattea Conforti as Millie Manx – NOS4A2 _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Zach Dilgard/AMC

On the way to her sister’s house, Cassie complains about the temperature in the car. A sleeping Millie sits next to her in the backseat of the Wraith. Charlie misses his turn on purpose and then starts driving recklessly. Millie starts coughing as Charlie starts yelling at Cassie about ruining his life. 

Millie wakes up, laughing and says her teeth fell out. Charlie asks who wants to go to Christmasland, making Millie more excited. She tells her mother not to be afraid and gives her an Eskimo kiss. When Cassie pulls back and looks at Millie, Millie fully transforms into NOS4A2. Cassie is her first kill. Charlie’s eyes turn into white static and he speeds up the car. Cassie sits up and looks at Charlie one last time before Millie finishes her off. 

Charlie blacked out and when he woke up, he looked in the rearview mirror. He could tell that something about him had changed. Millie tells him to look out the window, but all he sees is his beautiful vampire daughter. He looks again and sees Christmasland for the first time. They get out of the car and walk hand in hand through the gates. 

GOOD FATHER

Back in the present, Charlie drives through the gates and honks the horn. Millie runs to his arms to greet him. Mike gets out of the car and meets Millie. Millie is more interested to know if Charlie is staying this time. Charlie tells her to say hello to Mike first. Millie does as she is told and asks Charlie again if he’s staying this time. He doesn’t answer. Instead he feeds Mike’s father (Tim Guinee) to the children, but Millie doesn’t eat. She’s upset with her father saying he promised to stay this time. Charlie says there’s more children out there to saves. He promises he will return as soon as he can. 

Charlie meets Bing in a graveyard near Christmasland. Bing stands in front of one particular gravestone, saying this one needs saving more than any of the other children. He shines his flashlight on the grave and says the kid looks like his mom. The gravestone says “Bruce Wayne McQueen” and there is a body under a layer of ice that looks like Wayne.

RELATED: Catch Up on NOS4A2 Season One Here! 

Images provided by AMC

 

 

 

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