Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) sets his sights on Wayne McQueen (Jason David) on NOS4A2. In “The Lake House,” Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) enlists the help of her friends and family to keep Wayne safe from the NOS4A2.
RELATED: Recap the Latest Episode of NOS4A2, “The Night Road”
SLEEP WALKER
Wayne starts sleepwalking when he gets to Haverhill. He hears Christmas music and goes downstairs to see where it’s coming from. Vic sees him come downstairs humming Christmas songs. Vic tries to wake him up, but Wayne is busy talking to Charlie Manx.
Charlie invites Wayne to Christmasland, where unhappiness is against the law. Only special children are allowed. The children of Christmasland ask Wayne to come play with them. Charlie says he can come to Christmasland, but he has to do one small favor first first.
Vic is able to wake Wayne up before Charlie can ask for his favor. Wayne doesn’t know where he is. Vic takes him back to bed, but Wayne lingers a bit. He pulls the candy cane from his pocket and looks out the window. Christmasland is still out there.
The next morning, Vic and Lou (Jonathan Livingston) try to talk to Wayne about the sleepwalking, but Wayne just wants to go back to Colorado. Unfortunately, they can’t. Vic says the lake house is the safest place they can be. Charlie Manx can’t get to them out there. Lou says it’s like the batcave. They tell Wayne not to talk about Charlie Manx. If anyone asks, Bing Partridge is after them. Lou cheers up Wayne by giving him a new cell phone. Vic tells Lou that Wayne doesn’t sleep walk. Lou attributes it to the trauma of their situation and the fact that they are asking Wayne to lie about all of it. He’s really short with Vic, obviously frustrated with her.
PROTECTIVE SERVICES
The FBI assigns two agents to protect Vic and her family. Tabitha (Ashley Romans) is on the case, too. Maggie (Jahkara Smith) tells her that she’s going to the lake house with Vic. Tabitha is concerned about the seizures that Maggie has when she uses her tiles. Maggie says she will use the tiles only in case of emergencies and asks Tabitha to trust her. She kisses her and Tabitha agrees.
Chris McQueen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has never met his grandson. He’s very taken back by how much Wayne looks like Vic. Wayne thinks the place looks creepy, but Chris promises it’s not. He promises to teach him how to fish. Chris wants to show everyone around, but Wayne hangs back a bit. He pulls the candy cane out again and looks up. There are Christmas ornaments on the trees. Vic calls for him, and he snaps out of his trance
Vic wants to do whatever it takes to keep Wayne safe and asks Chris for explosives. He has some, but he doesn’t want the FBI agents to know about it. He also thinks she is hiding something from him. Vic admits to being a screw up and a drunk, but promises she just wants to protect Wayne. Chris agrees to help her. They plan to set the explosives along the driveway after Wayne goes to sleep.
Vic lets Lou in on the plan, but things are still really tense between them. Lou tells Vic that he wants to adopt Wayne for two reasons. One, if something happens to Vic or two, if she decides to run away again. He says he can’t lose Wayne. Vic agrees and says Wayne needs his mother too. That sets Lou off. He is frustrated about how reckless Vic has been lately. He wants their relationship to work, but he’s not sure it will if she doesn’t figure out what’s more important.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT
Tabitha presents her research on Bing Partridge (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) to her superior. She’s sure that Bing will return to Haverhill. She found businesses that have the type of gas that Bing uses on his victims. She wants to question them about Bing. Her boss doesn’t want to lose Tabitha. Tabitha’s tried to go after Bing before, but nothing’s panned out. Her boss is worried that she’s falling into old rookie habits. Tabitha promises to be smarter about Bing this time around.
Lou, Chris and Wayne go fishing, while Maggie and Vic have a chat. Maggie loves how ordinary the boys are. She basically tells Vic it’s time to choose them over her bridge. Maggie had to make that choice, too, when she got together with Tabitha. Tabitha is her home. But Vic says she’s with her and her tiles now. Maggie admits it’s not easy being ordinary.
Chris and Vic set up the explosives. They hear someone walking toward the room and find Lou. Lou says he woke up and Wayne was gone. He’s in the living room, looking out the window and talking to someone. He’s sleepwalking again. Vic looks at him, and he whispers that sometimes his mom doesn’t like them. Lou takes Wayne back to bed and Chris tries to console Vic, but she’s not having it.
Tabitha goes to a dentist’s office where Bing used to work as Ethan Anderson. They know him as the janitor and say he’s a real oddball. She asks for his address on file, but he only has a P.O. Box. The dentist says hearsay is that he lives in an abandoned church. Tabitha asks where they keep their gas. The dentist takes her to the storage room and it’s empty. She says they had a delivery the night before.
WORRISOME NIGHT
Maggie calls Tabitha but only gets her voicemail. She seems concerned and asks Tabitha to call her soon. Maggie goes inside and Vic comes outside. She sees Wayne and Lou playing in the water. Chris is sitting nearby and says he’s finished setting the bombs. They are going to bury them after Wayne goes to bed.
Vic is worried about Wayne sleepwalking, but Chris thinks it’s because of stress. Wayne is a tough kid like his real dad. He’s lucky to have Vic and Lou. Vic expresses her fear that Lou is going to leave her and Wayne will want to leave, too. Chris says Lou doesn’t want to leave because he’s staying. His biggest mistake with her mom was choosing to stay or leave. He says if Vic doesn’t want Lou she should let him go. If she wants him, she needs to fight for him. Vic runs to the lake to join in on the fun.
Later that night Vic and Lou have a talk. Vic thanks him for staying when he didn’t have to. He asks if she would have picked him if they met under different circumstances. Vic doesn’t know but it doesn’t matter because she’s glad they met. She asks if he would have picked her. Before he can answer, Vic says she wants to stop drinking and clean herself up for them. Lou says okay, but she really has to show him this time. It’s time to see the bombs, so they leave with Chris
They are almost through burying the bombs when the Feds come back from patrol. Chris stays to finish and gives Lou the detonator. He walks back to the house with Vic and they see Wayne walking on the pier.
WAKING DREAM
Wayne is sleepwalking, but in his dreams he’s walking with Charlie Manx in Christmasland. Wayne says he’s tired of hiding and his parents acting weird. He just wants to go home. Charlie offers to make Christmasland Wayne’s new home where he will always be happy and feel loved. All Wayne has to do is tell Charlie where he is.
Vic is walking with Wayne back to the house and hears him say he’s at his grandpa’s house on Lake Passamaquoddy. Wayne starts humming Christmas music and Vic finds the candy cane. Elsewhere, Charlie wakes up and tells Bing to load up the NOS4A2 Wraith with his sleeping gas.
Vic puts Wayne back to bed and asks him about the candy cane. Wayne doesn’t want to tell her where he got it, but eventually nods when Vic asks if Charlie Manx gave it to him. She tells him never to take anything from Charlie Manx because he’s a scary man. Wayne disagrees, saying she’s the scary one. All she does is lie, disappear and make Lou sad. He wants a regular Mom with a regular home.
Vic gets sad, but sucks it up. She tells Wayne that he’s the best kid and he deserves a better mom. And that’s what she’s going to be. She’s going to try hard to change, but it will take some time.
Tabitha finds the abandoned church where Bing is staying and calls for backup. She doesn’t wait, though. Instead she goes inside the church and looks around. Back at the lakehouse, Maggie knows something is wrong. She calls Tabitha and gets no answer. Vic finds her and wants to know what’s going on. Maggie and Vic know what happens to cops who cross Charlie Manx. Maggie refuses to let Tabitha die and grabs her tiles.
HOUSE OF SLEEP
Maggie asks if Tabitha is okay and the tiles answer “House of Sleep.” Tabitha found Bing. Maggie starts seizing, and Lou holds her. After Maggie regains her composure, she tells Vic and Lou about her search for the House of Sleep. Tabitha helped her, and they never found it. Vic can find it, though. Lou has no objections, but Maggie insists on going with her. Vic gives Lou the detonator and kisses him before leaving.
Tabitha finds a set of stairs and continues her search. Bing grabs her from behind, making Maggie drop her gun. Tabitha and Bing fight, as Bing throws her around the room. She finds a metal candlestick and hits Bing with it. She is able to grab her gun and knock him out. While she handcuffs him, Charlie comes up on her. He hits her in the shoulder with a hammer and says it’s a shame he has to kill her there. His children enjoy eating pig. Tabitha grabs her gun and shoots Charlie in the head. Tabitha makes it outside when the NOS4A2 Wraith starts up. Charlie Manx isn’t dead. He pulls the bullet out of his head and starts laughing
Vic and Maggie get to the church as Tabitha is being put into an ambulance. She says she had them both but they got away. Meanwhile, at the lake house, Wayne tells Lou that he did something bad. Vic gets a call from Lou saying Wayne’s been talking to Charlie Manx and told him where they are. Vic says she’s on her way and tells Lou not to let Wayne get in Manx’s car.
RELATED: Catch Up on the NOS4A2 Recaps Here!
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
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