title: No good very bad days
This week’s episode focused on Rosalee and Ernestine and their struggles to survive. Rosalee’s obstacles are obvious while Ernestine’s fight with her demons comes to a head.
The ghost visiting Ernestine this week is Sam. I was a little taken aback at his performance. The Sam we met in season one may have looked at the ground when Tom Macon was around, but he was an intelligent, proud and strong man.
The difference between the two versions of a single character impressed me. Yet another fantastic performance from a huge cast of fantastic actors that are not getting the recognition they deserve.
The episode gave us a little more focus on the highs and lows of Ernestine’s life. We got a clearer picture of what drove Ernestine to make the choices she made and eventually let an emotional distance build between them.
The one scene that didn’t fit for me was that scene with a much younger Ernestine seeking out a woman to keep her from ever having children. Taken out of the context of the episode, it’s a well done scene, but in the context of the overall episode it felt out of place and disconnected.
I mentioned community last week when discussing Elizabeth’s struggle with her grief. Community comes into play again this week in a fairly strong way. Ernestine’s behavior has come to the attention of the religious leader of the camp, Table Tapper. He’s aware that she’s hurting and haunted. He points out that the drug she’s taking isn’t going to fix it, nor is her self-imposed isolation. Not surprisingly, she rejects his offer and continues struggling until she hits rock bottom.
For a moment, I didn’t think she was going to get out of that parlor alive. I wondered if her singing performance was another attempt to get someone to kill her. If it was she finally decided to take matters into her own hands. She picks up a rock and walks into the ocean.
Table Tapper told Ernestine that they would be there for her and they were. They pull her from the ocean. What caught my eye was how upset Hicks seemed. This guy has been beating her, got another girl pregnant and yet he professes to love Ernestine? I hope that, as she gets herself together, Ernestine drops this guy.
Rosalee’s fight for survival was pretty straight forward and a little harrowing. When she took that bullet out of her shoulder, I started thinking Rambo and just couldn’t stop.
Apparently, when Moses told her to cut down trees to build her physical strength, it wasn’t just her muscles that got stronger, but her spirit as well.
The woman pulled a bullet out of her shoulder, cauterized the wound by firing a gun right near her ear, was bitten by a snake and found herself in a hand to hand fight for her life. The next time traffic is a little annoying, I will not complain. That was a bad day! But she survived and found the wagon. Let’s hope the horse knows where it’s going.
We spent a lot of time with Patty Cannon, and I wasn’t sure why until we hit the final scene. August is back and we can find out if his son got the surgery he needed. Regardless, Cannon is right, August is certainly motivated to find Rosalee.
This episode didn’t obviously move the story of rescuing Noah, Ernestine, or James further, but I think Rosalee’s struggle is going to strengthen her in terms of succeeding. I really enjoyed the episode, but I did miss Noah this week.
What did you think about the episode?
