Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023, James Mangold)

Dial of Destiny opens with a very long prologue flashback to 1945, setting up Harrison Ford (a CGI-de-aged Ford) having Toby Jones as a best buddy in the forties during the war and running afoul of Nazi scientist Mads Mikkelsen. The flashback’s technically successful; de-aged Ford looks pretty good (the eyes are off, and the expressions are static), but the sequence itself is kind of pointless. It’s ostensibly to start on an action sequence with Ford, but it’s a tolerable action sequence. Director Mangold—the first and presumably last director to pick up Spielberg’s whip for a theatrical Indiana Jones—will do great action sequences later on, but this first one feels like a video game cutscene. And having a computer-generated lead certainly doesn’t do anything to dissuade that feeling.

But once they’ve established Ford and Jones know each other, Jones is obsessed with Archimedes’s Antikythera device, and Mikkelsen is also after the Antikythera, the flashback’s done its work, and it’s time to jump ahead twenty-four years. Ford’s already done the Indiana Jones legacy sequel, which turned canon on its head, and now they’re doing a second legacy sequel, but it’s also basically a legacy sequel (coming fifteen years after that entry). So we’ve got all sorts of first act establishing to do: Ford’s been a settled down college professor for ten years, happily married to Karen Allen for some of them, but after son Shia LeBeouf died off-screen in Vietnam—he enlisted to piss off Ford which fails some basic logic tests if you start doing the math on LaBeouf’s age, but whatever… he’s not back.

Instead, Dial of Destiny introduces Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Jones’s grown-up daughter, who’s also after the Antikythera. After her is Mikkelsen, who spent the post-war being coddled by the U.S. government so he could get them to the moon before the Russians. He’s got a Black woman CIA handler (Shaunette Renée Wilson, who brings more to it than the role deserves), a redneck henchman (Boyd Holbrook, who maybe shouldn’t have trusted Mangold it’d be a good part), and a giant (Olivier Richters) helping him in the quest. Dial pulls no Nazi punches—it’s a Disney movie, after all, and they’re fighting fascists in real-life these days—but it’s fairly tepid with the American race relations. Holbrook really doesn’t like Wilson because she’s Black (and a woman), but he can’t say anything because political correctness. Meanwhile, Mikkelsen isn’t the standard Indiana Jones Nazi… he’s even more invested in the ideology than most. Because Nazis, even removed from the mid-twentieth century, are really dangerous and shouldn’t be ignored or placated.

Waller-Bridge shows up in New York City for Ford’s retirement—which seems to have been decided after they filmed Ford giving a lecture on the morning of the Apollo 11 parade (he’s telling the kids what’s on their final, but he’s apparently leaving right after that class)—and asks for his help with the Antikythera. Only she’s not being super honest, and since it’s 1969, Ford can’t just Google her.

The adventure will take them to North Africa, then the Mediterranean, where they can pick up various sidekicks, and there will be time for cameos from the other movies. Though very limited cameos; the franchise put all its eggs in a LeBeouf-sized basket last time, after all. Waller-Bridge has her own Short Round (spoiler: no cameo from Ke Huy Quan, which is too bad) in Ethann Isidore. And then Ford brings in Antonio Banderas to help just when it seems like there’s no more room for supporting characters.

The film will have some big third act surprises regarding supporting cast introductions, but the second act is where Dial of Destiny’s gears work up their momentum. Turns out Mangold can direct character-paced action scenes (something entirely missing from the opening), and Waller-Bridge and Ford are fun together. Though when it’s them and Isidore trying to beat the Nazis to the treasure, it’s painfully obvious the franchise missed a big opportunity for Indiana Jones Family with Ford, Allen, and, well, LeBeouf, I guess. Thanks to Waller-Bridge, it still works out with Dial’s configuration, but it’d have been nice for the four screenwriters to come up with a less comprised story.

In all, it’s mostly a success. The technicals are all sturdy without being exemplary, with Phedon Papamichael’s photography being the easy standout. John Williams’s score isn’t bad. It isn’t particularly good, but it isn’t bad. Excellent costumes from Joanna Johnston, which compensate for Adam Stockhausen’s surprisingly pedestrian production design. Thank goodness Papamichael’s lighting it.

Once he gets to act the part instead of his CGI counterpart doing it, Ford has some good moments. It’s a rough part, mostly because he’s trying to incorporate so much hackneyed plotting from previous entries. Waller-Bridge is tabula rosa and can zoom past Ford, but she keeps pace with Ford thanks to her timing and Mangold’s direction. He maintains a steady clip at eighty years old (playing seventy), but there aren’t any Indiana Jones endless punch-outs this sequel. No Ben Burtt punches.

Mikkelsen’s great. Isidore’s fine. Banderas is fun. Holbrook’s a good piece of shit? Maybe don’t get typecast. And good little turn from Thomas Kretschmann in the prologue.

Dial of Destiny is too long, too digital, and too trepidatious.

But, otherwise, it’s aces.

Wayward Pines (2015) s02e09 – Walcott Prep

Wayward Pines, the town, is in dire straits. The creatures outside the wall have destroyed their food supply, and they’re out of MREs. They’ll only survive another thirty days (or, more precisely, two episodes). So teen dictator Tom Stevens decides everyone’s going back in cryo-sleep for fifty-seven years or whatever. Only Djimon Hounsou then discovers no one kept the cryo-pods charged since season one ended and the teenage Nazis took over. As a result, they can only take half the populace.

Jason Patric’s still hoping he can come up with some kind of medical solution and won’t help Stevens evaluate the breeding stock. Patric says they should do a lottery; Stevens says it’s got to be based on white bloodline or whatever. Like most scenes for Stevens, there’s potentially a good character thread, but then they immediately drop it. In this case, it’s in favor of a personal quandary—Stevens doesn’t want defects, love of his life Kacey Rohl can’t have babies and is, therefore, defective. Joss Whedon ghostwrote “Wayward Pines?”

Patric is also actively plotting against Stevens this episode, though we don’t get to see any of his plans other than when he checks in with Josh Helman to ensure Helman won’t support Stevens in a coup. It’s a pointless scene, only there for Helman to taunt Patric about how Nimrat Kaur’s preggers with Helman’s baby. Kaur’s around for useless scene with Stevens—encouraging more, different character development–because it turns out this episode’s all about a huge secret.

Toby Jones stars in a flashback story about how he got baby Tom Stevens for the town. First, he tried buying a pregnant blue blood’s unwanted baby, but then he had to resort to more traditional means (bribing a public hospital).

The secret is the identity of Stevens’s mother. Sadly, not an Emperor Palpatine clone. Instead, it’s someone whose identity is going to knock every character arc for Stevens out from under him. There’s also some retconning involved with Hope Davis and Melissa Leo’s characters in particular, though they’re long gone and out of the guest star budget, so who cares. As PG-13 exploitative as “Wayward Pines” got with this season, I really did not expect them to embrace it to this episode’s degree. Worse, it doesn’t do anything to inform characters’ behaviors in previous episodes. Mom’s secret identity doesn’t explain why Stevens is king little shit.

It all comes to a fateful conclusion, including the not ineffective shot of blood running through the streets of the Wayward Pines model in Jones’s office. They probably should’ve used that visual last season with Jones’s death and not here when they’re trying to make a contrived plotline have more of an oomph.

On the other hand, faced with an inevitably disappointing conclusion—season two switched over to building to the finish just as there was character development—a large-scale cop-out and shrug do kind of make sense. Why bother doing anything else?

Wayward Pines (2015) s02e07 – Time Will Tell

After an inglorious character arc in the regular story, Djimon Hounsou finally gets his own episode, albeit a flashback one. Turns out Hounsou’s job—before “Wayward Pines: Season Two”—was to wake up every twenty years and take care of the people sleeping in cryo-pods for two thousand years. He also tested the soil, played chess with himself, and did some cardio.

The flashbacks also reveal Hounsou met the creatures (Homo sapiens superior?) early on before they’d turned into Gollum-looking things when they still just looked like Paul Bettany. One time out of the cryo-pods, Hounsou goes hiking and runs into Dakota Daulby. They hang out, but Daulby lives in a post-apocalypse and is miserable and suffering, and Hounsou’s just observing, so it’s very uncool for him.

It does, however, lead into Hounsou’s character motivation after he wakes Toby Jones. They discover a settlement, complete with huts, on the land where they want to build the town. Hounsou says, let’s sleep until they’re gone; Jones says let’s kill them because we’re white men. Well, he’s a white man, and Hounsou gets to work for a white man.

There’s also some ret-conning to explain why he wasn’t in the first season (other than they only let one Black person on the show for ten episodes). Hounsou thought it was gross to wipe out the creatures and isn’t cool with the human settlement, so he was antisocial all first season.

Sure.

There’s an okay Simone Missick cameo. She’s Hounsou’s wife, who he hallucinates depending on how lonely he’s gotten.

The present-day action has Jason Patric and Hope Davis trying to communicate with the female creature (Rochelle Okoye, who glares well, the only role requirement). They have some success until they have to tell Tom Stevens, and he loses his shit. Kacey Rohl tries to reason with him (a weird flex since last episode she told him to white man his way through everything), and it just pisses him off more.

Stevens’s character arc has pretty much stalled out at this point.

There’s also no update on Nimrat Kaur, Josh Helman, and Patric’s love triangle, with Kaur and Helman not appearing in the episode. Tim Griffin’s around a bit to assist Patric (broadly speaking). He makes little impression, which is a compliment for Griffin.

The end twist is really good—Jeff T. Thomas’s direction is competent throughout the episode without ever being exciting. The Hounsou flashbacks all seem to be done on the cheap, and the present-day action takes place in one or two locations. But when it comes time for the twist, Thomas does a phenomenal job with it.

This episode also lets Patric and Davis really act opposite each other and not just for exposition’s sake. Credited to Anna Fricke, the script breaks through Davis’s caricature a bit and lets her show some personality. Davis’s a good villain; this episode’s the first time we’ve seen more to her. The way she’s startled when Patric’s nice to her is very cool.

Patric’s really good too. He should’ve done a doctor show.

It’s a good, affecting episode. Lots of tension in the present-day plot, and the flashbacks are interesting to a point, especially with Hounsou doing it.

Wayward Pines (2015) s02e05 – Sound the Alarm

Toby Jones is back this episode, which has a flashback subplot about how architect Nimrat Kaur actually designed Wayward Pines, the town, and lied to husband Jason Patric about it when he asked a few episodes ago. Jones looks much older in the flashback than he did last season on the show when he was a regular. He also plays the part like full Bond villain, instead of how he built up to that reveal. Apparently, in the past, when putting the project together, Jones was whole-ass evil and toned it down for the future. He also got some plastic surgery to take a few years off.

Wait, that second part’s not a bad idea.

Hope Davis also appears in the flashbacks, establishing an animosity between her character and Kaur’s, which we first saw the last episode. None of the other people who ought to be in the flashbacks are in the flashbacks, meaning Melissa Leo and Terrence Howard. Though maybe they were off on a kidnapping mission together.

The idea the town was designed by an architect is the silliest detail in the “Pines” lore, as the town is not architecturally interesting, innovative, or even distinctive. Patric sees her working on the design—and apparently forgot in the future—and makes a Mayberry crack, but it’s on-point. The town made sense when the show was an M. Night Shyamalan joint. As the intentionally, willfully created future cauldron of white fascists… it’s a lousy job. Like, hopefully, Kaur’s better as a hairdresser than an architect.

There are still some other unanswered questions about Kaur’s involvement with the project, but her big reveal to Patric—in the present—isn’t even about designing the town; it’s about how she knows Josh Helman. Helman’s not in the episode very much, which is great. Outside a scene where he gets drunk–he works around kids, incidentally—and gazes what I think’s supposed to be longingly across at Kaur’s salon, he doesn’t have many shots where he needs to try to act. Though his scene opposite Patric is embarrassing for Patric. Patric’s got a lot to do in the episode, even though he’s basically supporting everyone else, and he’s really good throughout. Even when the script’s thin. Patric works. Helman takes up space. Their scene’s very existence plays like a diss on Patric.

Especially with the reveal.

Helman takes the cake on a show with some profoundly bad casting and performance decisions.

Anyway.

Besides Kaur’s flashbacks and present-day reveals, the episode’s got three subplots going. First, Djimon Hounsou, Shannyn Sossamon, and Tim Griffin are doing an agriculture survey outside the wall. The drama comes from Griffin revealing he machinated the whole pilot set up just so he could get into Sossamon’s pants. Reacting to that confession gives her something to do besides be sad about Charlie Tahan’s death; Tahan didn’t come back to play the corpse. I wonder if they lowballed or just didn’t offer.

In town, Kacey Rohl has decided Hope Davis doesn’t know anything about science and wants Patric to run the “study the monsters” project. Davis gets really mad about it because she likes torturing them to get back at them not eating her last season. Rohl’s good—she’s got a funny scene opposite Siobhan Fallon Hogan—and the personality tensions are strong this episode. At least in the present. In the flashbacks, they’re all exaggerated because Jones hasn’t got any subtlety and is a bad influence on Davis, who’s best when she’s the only broad caricature in a scene.

Then Michael Garza has a subplot—also involving Patric—about not being able to get his procreation on, no matter what girls they try him with. His conversation with Patric addresses some things the show entirely avoided in the first season when it seemed like it wasn’t aware it was creating a fascist, white supremacist future. This season they acknowledge it.

Garza’s really sympathetic.

The show’s now halfway through the season and isn’t really forecasting what they might try to get done before it’s over.

The cliffhanger’s good too.

In addition to Patric playing support, Tom Stevens has been reduced quite a bit lately. Outside yelling about one of the monsters getting into town, his big scene is threatening Kaur while dressed very much in SS summer wear. It’s weird no one’s acknowledged Jones’s reclusive billionaire very much wanted to have a little Nazi army because all of the clothes in the town were made in the past and brought into the future with them. Stevens’s outfit this episode is almost too obvious.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e10 – Cycle

This season finale has four credited writers. First, there are the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, who certainly haven’t been credited on the show’s worst episodes. Then there’s show creator Chad Hodge, who has been credited on the show’s worst episode. And finally, there’s source novel series author Blake Crouch, who’s had some credits and is below the Duffers but nowhere near the Hodge drecks.

It’s funny because most of the episode is action. It’s either technology suspense action with Melissa Leo realizing brother Toby Jones is going to feed all the people he doesn’t like to buff Gollum monsters, and she’s got to try to get the security system back on. Michael Crichton action, basically.

Or it’s suspense monster action with Shannyn Sossamon and Charlie Tahan hiding from a monster in a dark hospital.

Or it’s bang-bang monster action with Matt Dillon and Carla Gugino shooting at the monsters.

Lots of writer credits for a string of very basic action sequences.

Tim Hunter’s back directing and not great at any of it. The suspense action is fine, but when he gets to the sci-fi stuff (cryogenics and whatnot), he’s lost. Some of it’s the show’s production design looking good for 1982, but some of it’s Hunter.

The episode’s got a big twist ending coming after killing off many regular cast members. Less than halfway through, and it’s clear lots of opening credits names and frequent special guest stars won’t be back for another “Pines.” The character farewells range peak at middling, though none are terrible. The second twist ending changes the impact of a few of them. Not a great way to finish out the season.

Gugino and Leo give the best performances. Not Gugino’s best in the series, but closer to it than lately, and probably Leo’s best. The show did a successful character rehab on Leo, one of its few accomplishments.

Unfortunately, the four credited writers can’t come up with very many good excuses. Given the circumstances, one of the main characters who isn’t coming back goes out in a particularly nonsensical manner. Though there’s a deus ex machina in the form of a falling brick; it’s not like “Wayward Pines” tries very hard.

What’s particularly strange is the disconnect between how characters act and how other characters talk about them acting. It feels a little like some actors shot their scenes before the rewrites came in. Or the writing is oblivious, or the actors are failing. Or flailing. Though no one really flails this time, which is nice. Not many people get an arc—not even Jones, who’s full Bond villain now—and, if they do, it’s an action arc. The show’s ostensible protagonists, Dillon, Sossamon, and Tahan, are indistinguishable action movie tropes.

There’s some good acting from Barclay Hope as Hope Davis’s reluctantly concerned husband. Davis does have an arc this episode, actually. It’s an incredibly narratively problematic one, not dissimilar to how the show treated the last regular guest star, Terrence Howard.

After ten episodes, “Wayward Pines” has fewer stakes than a commercial for a disaster movie. But maybe next season’s acting, writing, and directing will be better. It’s going to be an entirely different show, the finale promises; pretty please, give us another try.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e09 – A Reckoning

Second-to-last episode of the season, and it turns out “Wayward Pines” has waited this long to introduce the fascist teenagers who want to shoot the normies. Tom Stevens plays the leader. He’s both too much and just the right amount of despicably intense. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t really know what to do with him—introducing him this late—but there is a great scene where sheriff’s secretary Siobhan Fallon Hogan stares him down. It’s nice for Fallon Hogan to finally get something to do on the show, despite the “terrorized woman” trope.

Thanks to Hope Davis riling up the teenagers—with Charlie Tahan’s help in shitting on his dad, Matt Dillon—Stevens and his bros are going to execute Carla Gugino and her friends. They’re all locked up in the police station, where they sit around moping; Gugino assures them Dillon isn’t going to execute them in town square, but we’ve already seen what happens a few hours later—Dillon’s going to execute them in the town square.

The episode starts with a recap (making sure to remind viewers Tim Griffin was on the show at one point so he can “appear” later on), which ends with the monsters about to breach the wall. The action then cuts to Dillon and his gallows, finally ready to embrace his position as killer sheriff. You’d think he’d have been more worried about the breached wall.

And he will be, after the opening titles, when the show turns back the clock a day. It’s a very traditional narrative device, but it’s a little weak for “Wayward Pines,” which spent the first four episodes spinning the narrative around from twist and gimmick to twist and gimmick. Also, there’s no “twenty-four hours earlier” title card, which would’ve helped. But, just to confirm, the show’s taking itself seriously enough.

Overall, it’s definitely one of the better episodes. Some of the moments are cheap, but there’s a lot of good acting in them. The show finally lets Gugino and Shannyn Sossamon in on the secret, which immensely helps their characters and performances. “Wayward Pines” has enough problem with a single narrative distance; trying to maintain a half dozen have been a disaster.

Credited to Duffer Brothers Matt and Ross, the script gets a lot done. It would’ve been better if they hadn’t had to do so much—the insurgency is only two episodes old, and they’re resolving that storyline, but they’ve also got to insert the teenage Neo-Nazis into it. Whoever wrote the season outline did a lousy job.

Speaking of significant immediate changes—Melissa Leo. She plays her part totally straight now, no more Southern Gothic Nurse Ratched, but given how she acts around Sossamon, there’s this implication she only acted so weird in front of Dillon at the beginning of the season. I mean, there were some other scenes, but it’s like someone finally told them to stop using M. Night Shyamalan’s performance direction guidelines.

Thank goodness.

There’s a lot more with Toby Jones getting even jerkier; he’s turned out to be an even worse Bond villain than it seemed like he’d be earlier, and he seemed like he was going to be bad.

Nimród Antal directs, which is a downgrade from his theatrical work, but okay. I was expecting a little more, however. Definitely not the gimmicky structure.

There’s a good cliffhanger, and the stage is set for an intense finale. It only took “Wayward Pines” three-quarters of its season to get compelling, but it’s finally arrived.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e08 – The Friendliest Place on Earth

Tim Hunter directs this episode, which is notable for a couple reasons. First, it means he’s been directing Matt Dillon for almost as long as Dillon’s wife on “Pines,” Shannyn Sossamon, has been alive. Hunter directed Dillon in 1982’s Tex (but also wrote Dillon’s 1979 Over the Edge); Sossamon was one when Edge came out.

Second, Hunter knows how to direct actors, which is kind of new for “Pines.” Shame it happens eighty percent of the way through the season, but better than never? There’s a terrific sequence for Melissa Leo, who’s seemingly no longer in Nurse Ratched mode.

Leo’s got one of the episode’s subplots; more and more paranoid and less and less compelling Toby Jones has her interviewing the surveillance team to see who’s giving aid to the insurgents in town. Anyone with any melanin in their skin seems to work in surveillance and not get to repopulate the planet, instead of leaving Hope Davis to cultivate the white stock of the future.

Davis has a little to do in Charlie Tahan’s recovery subplot, trying to turn Tahan against dad Dillon. She wants Tahan to tell Dillon to start executing the insurgents, something Dillon doesn’t want to do. Tahan might be recovering from a near-fatal explosion, but he’s still a dim bulb; still so’s everyone else on the show. It’s part of the conceit.

However, when Tahan confronts Dillon, Dillon tells him a teenage football anecdote because he never talks to his kid. So, it’s not like the material isn’t there for Tahan’s character arc; the show just doesn’t know how to do it. The episode’s got three credited scripters: Patrick Aison, Rob Fresco, and source novel author Blake Crouch. Apparently, none of them thought Dillon needed a father arc.

He spends most of the episode trying to find Reed Diamond, who’s still on the run after last episode’s terror attacks. He and a red shirt (maybe Toby Levins) are going to break through the wall in a stolen dumpster truck; it takes a good while for Dillon to find out about the stolen truck (he’s then chasing that lead), which suggests “Wayward Pines”’s omnipresent security systems only operate when a particular scene needs contriving.

The other big subplot is Carla Gugino sitting in her jail cell thinking about the past, including her relationship with Jones, who posed as her therapist for years. It’s a not-good shoehorning of an existing character relationship; the subplot culminates in a showdown between them, where Gugino’s able to reclaim some acting mediocrity since Jones is so inert.

What else… Shannyn Sossamon is just playing concerned mom, waiting around the hospital with Tahan. Though she does find out why Dillon had to have an affair with Gugino—Dillon needed someone with classified clearance to make his sads go away. It’s a really lazy finish to a nothing-burger plotline. And then short scenes for Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Teryl Rothery, who gossip about what’s going on in town a couple times.

The cliffhanger’s pretty good and, even though Dillon’s a lousy investigator, his performance isn’t his worst. As usual, Diamond seems comfortable getting through hacky material; maybe he should’ve been lead.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e07 – Betrayal

Thanks to the insurgency plotline—and who gets put in danger—this episode’s more compelling than most. Also, there’s less Toby Jones, which helps a whole bunch. Plus, Melissa Leo stops acting hacky around Matt Dillon, another plus.

The episode begins with Dillon telling Shannyn Sossamon about how they live two thousand years in the future, and there are monsters and whatever. She thinks he got brainwashed. At no point does Dillon talk to son Charlie Tahan, who Dillon knows knows about the future thing because Dillon’s a bad dad, and “Wayward Pines” never has honest scenes between its characters.

Dillon’s uptick, performance-wise, is apparently over. He’s not as bad as he’s been at one point or another, but he’s entirely unconvincing as an investigator. Meanwhile, Carla Gugino—now revealed to be the insurgency leader—is only slightly better than last episode’s lows. However, the show addresses Gugino as being entirely unreliable previously; she doesn’t really answer Dillon about why she lied, just making a lot of noise.

She and her husband, Reed Diamond, are going to blow up the wall and escape. Despite the entire town being under video surveillance, Dillon has to wait to catch everyone in the act. Otherwise, the timing can’t go wrong, and people can’t get hurt. Makes you wonder how Terrence Howard would’ve dealt with it.

Fertility is a big subplot, including Hope Davis giving a lecture about how it’s the teenagers’ responsibility to have sex early and have sex often. They seem to be pairing them off—turns out Sarah Jeffrey lied to Tahan earlier, and Davis did assign Jeffrey to befriend and seduce him if possible—instead of having dudes stud, which makes sense for birth defects, I guess. Down the road anyway.

Melissa Leo’s also got a fertility subplot; she’s checking in on the married couples about their pregnancies or lack thereof. She interviews Diamond and Gugino and clarifies “Wayward Pines” wants some very white babies born. More amusingly, Leo tells Diamond (aged forty-nine) and Gugino (aged forty-four) they’re the perfect age to have a baby, which seems weird.

One of the bad guys—I mean, the insurgents are murderous bad guys, indifferent to collateral damage—Andrew Jenkins is awful. It kind of helps to have worse supporting actors than your principals, something “Wayward Pines” should’ve exercised from go.

Another of the bad guys, Ian Tracey, is fine. He stands out because I thought he was the guy from Blink, but he’s actually one of the bad guys from Stakeout.

Anyway.

“Wayward Pines” is a mess and not good, but still far better than I’d have thought by this point in the season.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e06 – Choices

“Wayward Pines” makes a lot more sense now. Not because of the revelations in this episode, but because of what’s better and what’s worse. Well, who’s better and who’s worse. Unfortunately, the show’s got no idea when it’s good or what makes it good.

Also, can’t forget–the racism’s intentional. More on that delightful aspect in a bit.

The episode opens with Toby Jones standing amid a wrecked downtown “Wayward Pines.” Something terrible has happened, and since Jones hasn’t started talking yet, it’s not his acting. It soon will be. Jones will get a lot to do in this episode—including numerous flashbacks to when he was a rich genius who no one paid any attention—and he’s lousy.

However, we also get Melissa Leo acting a lot better. Turns out her regular characterization on “Pines” is her acting like Nurse Ratched to keep the townsfolk in line. Her regular medical professional, sister to genius with a plan Jones is a lot better. Not great, but not profoundly terrible and borderline incompetent.

Their part of the episode is telling Matt Dillon what’s really going on and showing him various things while Dillon confronts Jones about the cult-like nature of the program. Well, sort of confronts him about the cult-like nature. It’s a cult-like nature; Dillon identifies problems but doesn’t expressly say it’s a cult. But it’s culty.

Dillon’s better this episode, which would be great if it didn’t apparently mean Carla Gugino would be worse. This episode introduces a whole new plotline for Gugino and her husband, Reed Diamond (who inexplicably shaved), and it’s bad work from Gugino. It also means she’s entirely unreliable because the new plotline directly opposes what she told Dillon a few episodes ago. It also reveals things about now-departed guest stars, changing the context of their appearances and participation.

Without giving those actors the chance to act that plot.

Sigh.

Though having departed cast come back isn’t necessarily a good thing. Terrence Howard shows up to reveal before he was the “Wayward Pines” sheriff. He was a standard Black man with a hidden criminal history who peaked in elementary school—Jones recounts it to him—and needed a magnanimous, albeit megalomaniac rich white man to pull up his bootstraps for him.

At first you feel bad for Howard because he’s got to act opposite Jones. Then you feel bad because of the scenes’ content.

Meanwhile, Shannyn Sossamon—the only one in her family who doesn’t know the truth of “Wayward Pines”—investigates real estate mysteries and trades barbs with Gugino.

Son Charlie Tahan spends the episode staring out the window thinking about the last episode.

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, and Brett Conrad get the script credit, which isn’t as bad as some of the worst episodes, but certainly isn’t turning the ship around. Though there’s only so much anyone can do once Jones starts talking. He’s awful.

Though someone included a great deep cut reference to Barry Lyndon in the episode, which really made me want to watch Barry Lyndon again and instead.

Wayward Pines (2015) s01e05 – The Truth

There’s so much going on this episode I didn’t even realize Carla Gugino isn’t in it.

It’s a brand new day in “Wayward Pines,” with Shannyn Sossamon starting as a realtor—working with caricature male chauvinist pig Michael McShane, which is actually fine; the show couldn’t even manage caricatures before. Son Charlie Tahan is still in school, but he’s about to find out the capital T truth (hence the title) from intense, manipulative schoolmarm Hope Davis. Matt Dillon’s busy trying to escape to Boise to get help. His plot ties into Tahan’s, whereas Sossamon is separate. She’s living the ominous but mundane while Dillon’s in danger. Davis is explaining that danger to both Tahan and the audience.

This episode is where “Wayward Pines” pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s actually going on in the town. The kids get to know about it because they’re the future. Unfortunately, they need to keep it from their parents, who aren’t well-adjusted enough to cope.

It’s also where “Wayward Pines,” the show, explains why Wayward Pines, the town, is such a cracker-ville, and it’s not because they’re trying to mimic the racial demographics of real-life Idaho. Whether the show’s intentionally lily-white or if it’s just, you know, Hollywood, it ends up being a flex. I suppose the show could address the lack of diversity—there are no Black or brown students at the high school, so the future’s very white with maybe four Asian girls–but I don’t expect them to address it.

Maybe it’ll surprise me. If it’s not just another MacGuffin, the big reveal is a surprise. And has some interesting connotations for how all the pieces fit in the previous episodes with the timeline. They didn’t do it well; they could’ve leaned into the time disconnect much better, but… still. It was a surprise.

Dillon running through the woods with a gaggle of Gollums chasing him was not a surprise. It’s on par for the show.

The episode’s got an interesting creative team—James Foley directs, with the script credit going to novel writer and property creator Blake Crouch and then Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer (credited as The Duffer Brothers, which is obnoxious but whatever).

Foley’s direction’s okay. I was expecting more from him, but both he and the script focus the episode around Tahan, who gets a literal slide show exposition dump. If Davis had looked into the camera and asked, “Any questions,” it wouldn’t have been a surprise for how much they info dump. Also, the teen actors aren’t bad. Sarah Jeffery’s still good as Tahan’s new girlfriend, but he’s in class with Sarah Desjardins and Samuel Patrick Chu, who get a lot of reaction shots and sell them.

The guest star this episode is Scott Michael Campbell, who’s new to town and needs a house, so Sossamon shows him one. Their arc compliments Dillon and Tahan’s, but it’s got nothing to do on its own. Except give Melissa Leo a scene. She’s still not good, but she’s getting less dreadful as the series goes on. It’s still a weird miss for her.

Oh, and then Sossamon’s other scene has Tahan being really shitty to her because she wants him to listen to her and treat her with respect, and he doesn’t have to do it anymore since he’s in “Wayward Pines.” It’s interesting because Tahan’s “better” as a little shit than when he was a thoughtful kid, and also, he seriously doesn’t remember running someone over with a car two episodes ago. He really does think they’re in an ordinary little town, at least until Davis truth bombs him.

I’m not interested to see if they’ll make this material, post-reveal, good, but it’s a compelling hook. Four episodes is too long to wait for it, though. Especially those four episodes.