Hi y’all,Had the opportunity to watch Lovecraft Country episode 5 this morning then listen to your Twitch instant reaction. There’s a couple of things rattling around my head. First, and this was a small moment in the episode, when Tic and Leti were talking as Leti was taking a bath, how Leti described Ruby felt wrong. We have been given a character in Ruby who is hardworking and hardheaded. I don’t think we have seen the woman that Leti describes who constantly falls in love. This made me think back to earlier in the series when Ruby describes Leti as being flighty and manipulative which doesn’t reflect the Leti we are viewing. This leads me to think that both sisters project what they didn’t like about their mother onto the other. At some point in this season, that has to be addressed? Second, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of those stories that I would like to see told without the Hammy Hammer Horror aspect to it. It is an incredibly masculine book about male middle class Victorian culture. Women literally get trampled on as inconveniences in the story. Hyde is a fiction in a similar way to how Oscar Wilde uses Bunbury in The Importance Of Being Earnest. It allows the respectable Jekyll to sate his other desires. That duality in Victorian society between what society demands of a gentleman and what goes on in the twilight. It’s no accident that Stevenson has meetings occur at dusk or early dawn. As an historical aside, if you look at Booth’s maps of Victorian cities, you see the commuting routes between the city centre and the respectable middle class areas. Nice wide roads to walk along. Yet you can take a side road off the main thoroughfare and you immediately walk into gambling dens, brothels, drug dens etc. Who was visiting these establishments? Why it was the respectable middle class Victorian commuter. Jekyll’s drug usage is partly because he is burning the candle at both ends as he tries to keep his public image and his private life from collapsing and because he has become an addict. Addiction, mood swings, violence – these are all fairly predictable patterns. Is Jekyll queer? It’s plausible to read him that way. The tension between keeping the appearance of the middle class doctor serving the community whilst disappearing into the shadows to pursue his base desires. This reading fits well with our story of Montrose. It would also tie in with Tic’s beating of Montrose as being an expression of disgust and shame as much as any frustration or anger at the death of Yahima. It makes me question whether Tic can accept Montrose living true? There’s a lot to unpack for the pair of them. I think that I am enjoying this show more than Ash or Gene. I disagree that the show is sitting still as I am getting a different vibe from Misha Green. My sense is that we’re getting a palette of colours over the season and each episode adds a colour or two which enriches the story. I am happy to sit with these characters and see them slowly reveal themselves. Perhaps this is too trusting of the show but there’s a lot of thought and cleverness on display so am hoping for a satisfying conclusion. I am British though so possibly I am missing some references which are snagging other viewers. Other short thoughts:The body horror genre was really well done this episode. Properly creepy. Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett are damn sexy.I am still getting a big Lilith vibe from Christina.Looking forward to the deep dive. Would it be possible to clip any Shappy Hour discussion of Lovecraft Country onto YouTube as a short video? Appreciate that’s more work for you all but as I am asleep when Shappy Hour occurs (I need all the beauty sleep I can get frankly) it’s a bit odd to stream a day or two afterwards. I do like watching the instant reaction on Twitch – that works well. Stay safe and keep well Shat family.John Lish
