The Amazing Scoot McNary

Published February 11, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Morning, Shat hosts,

I normally email the night of, but, alas, my three year old, Finn, is asthmatic and had a horrible asthma attack last night due to the temperature going from 70 degrees one day to 35 the next. Anyhow, he’s fine now. We’ve rested, and I wanted to shoot a quick email about this week’s episode, if it’s not too late.

I feel like it is a bit challenging to write much conjecture about this week, as they gave us so much information and closed so many holes. To that end, one complaint I have is how neatly the season is coming together. Now, for those of us that have been crazy and following along in Shat Nation, the Hoyt family connection isn’t hard to put together. But, I was watching with my husband, who is a casual watcher, let’s say, and he was so confused. He had forgotten about the Hoyt bag that was found at the house. He had not connected the murders to the Hoyt corporation. So, I do think the season has been clunky by not leading its viewers into a smoother conclusion. But, I thought the last scene in that Pepto colored room was terrifying.

Also, let’s take a moment to give a shout out to the fucking amazing Scoot McNary. I have two children, and the guttural scream in frustration he gives after being interrogated, I could only imagine feeling, uttering myself, if one of my kids went missing, and I found myself in a similar situation.

This brings me to another complaint, though. The fact that he’s homosexual really feels like a reach. I have no issue with Tom Purcell being gay, but they really didn’t earn that one. It feels cheap. It feels like a weird add on, and I really hated it. I feel the same way about it, as I did about the insanely increased racial overtones in episode 4. Also, if they are trying to make it seem like because he’s gay, he definitely isn’t Julie’s dad, I will have a huge issue with that. It’s too much of a neat closing, and it assumes he wasn’t having sex with their mom, which isn’t necessarily true just because he’s gay. I have many gay male friends who had sex with women long before eventually coming out and having sex with guys… or who continued to have sex with both. I just think it is a short changed solution to a very complex problem, and I felt just a general “ick” factor about the whole thing. Curious what you all thought about the “big” revelation, though.

As far as theory making goes, I only wanted to bring up the scene when Amelia is at the group home interviewing the runaway, Shelly. We get that great shot of the landscaping truck with the Ardoin family name. I am not sure if anyone else has written in about this, but we all remember, hopefully, Mike Ardoin from the first episode when he waves at Julie and again in E2 when he is interviewed by the detectives and gives all those clues about Halloween.

Well, I know you all hate when we go on Reddit, but I had a Dana Buckler show listener send me a Reddit link a few weeks ago (so blame them), and it was talking about how the names on the show and their origins all tell us something about the characters. For instance, “Purcell” means “swineherd” which is supposed to relate to their being the outcast and debased family. Amelia Reardon has a last name that means “royal bard,” which of course is someone who tells stories… you can get lost in a Reddit hole and continue with more and more examples, but let’s talk about Ardoin. That most commonly translates to “home,” so wouldn’t it be interesting if adult Mike Ardoin is where Julie or (Mary July) found her home. We do know he was there landscaping while she lived in the home. Perhaps there was a sweet reunion of childhood friends, and we now have been given a clue as to where our adult Julie has found a home… or Ardoin :).

Anyhow, it was an ok episode. The ending was amazing, but some of the interior story lines felt gross or unearned. Here’s to two more and another week with the Shat crew.

-Ash Schlafly

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