Lovecraft Country
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I guess Ive just seen so much bad.
Im just trying to find something good.
When Leti says this, I feel her grief.
Leti is searching for something to help her make peace with the magical, violent world around her.
And as the viewer, its difficult not to agree.
I felt icky after this episode.
And Im choosing to believe this is intentional, that its meant to be a difficult watch.
When I first began Strange Case, I couldnt stomach it.
I had to fast forward, skip ahead, and see to it Ruby was alive at the end.
I was nauseated after, and my nerves were fried.
These feelings were further punctuated by Rubys final act of violence.
The episode opens with Ruby waking up in Williams house.
But she is out of place.
The Black residents look on warily but still offer her help, sensing her panic.
And of course, white police arrive and give us an answer.
They assume the young Black teenager trying to help Ruby is trying to hurt her.
In the back of the cop car, Ruby starts to change back.
We hear her bones cracking, her screams of pain, and the breaking of gristle.
We see Rubys brown eyes take over Dells blue ones.
Its clear this is about to get bloody something is bursting through.
Then a caterpillar emerges from the same cells, the essence of the butterfly, yet different.
The potion Ruby was given just mimics metamorphosis and wears off after a time.
Her insistence that Tamara does better feels condescending rather than caring.
Her remarks arent only inflected by her new appearance, either.
Its an arrogant thing to say, a bootstraps mentality wrapped up in respectability that isnt entirely fair.
But it makes Ruby complicated, and thats good.
Meanwhile, Montrose takes refuge at Sammys (Jon Hudson Odom) apartment.
He walks in, not saying a word, and the two have unromantic sex to Frank Ocean.
Montrose cries during and he wont kiss Sammy; he likely never has.
His hands were (literally) still bloodied after killing Yahima.
The show raises the stakes of this conflict in its queer ballroom scene.
Sammy has won second place, wearing an elegant black and gold dress with a golden, shimmering coat.
The scene is frustratingly pretty.
Hes even raised in the air, a Jesus figure, arms outstretched.
Glitter rains down on him.
He shares a passionate kiss with Sammy for the first time, unafraid of whos watching.
The most uncomfortable part of the episode for me is Rubys final act of vengeance.
Christina gives Ruby an inverse of Letis thinking: You misunderstood Williams invitation.
It wasnt just to be white.
It was an invitation to do whatever the fuck you want.
She holds up the potion to Ruby, asking Who are you really uninterrupted?
The manager calls the woman a slur thats both racist and misogynistic.
Uninterrupted, Ruby wont let this go unpunished.
But whiteness, too, has violated Black people so much, literally and systemically, throughout history.
This is not that.
Its messier, and further complicated by medias historic use of forced anal penetration in depictions of homophobia.
Ruby returns to Williams mansion after and witnesses Christina burst from his skin.
Youve been William this whole fucking time?
she yells, seemingly more in anger than in shock.
Shes never seen them in the same room, and neither have we.
Now we know why.
Leftover Country
Ruby/Hillary to Tamara: Your hands are a bit ashy.
But the Moses Sumney track in the ballroom scene is gorgeous.
Its called Lonely World.
Leti took pictures of Tituss pages before Yahima was killed.
Atticus spends the episode trying to decipher them.
Next week we might find out.
Captain Lancaster seems to have … what looks like a Black persons torso when he removes his shirt.
I dont like it.
Atticus finds Letitia reading the Bible in the bathtub.
Ive been trying to say a prayer for Yahima, she says.
Heres how our cameo actors are listed in the credits.
