I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how Andre’s power works. It requires touch. Then, it seems like he finds the significant moments of a target’s life, twists and warps them, playing the warped version back to them so that it feels like memory; like truth.
Then he and Lia reinforce this tailored version of reality until their victim’s hope is gone; until all they have is Andre. The creep factor is extremely high.
Years ago someone said to me that child predators are natural psychologists. They can look at kids and tell which ones are going to tell an adult and which ones will not. While Andre may be able to curate his victims at the shelter, he wasn't able to do so with Tandy. Then again he didn’t pick Tandy, Lia did.
She never stops declaring that he’s lying and messing with her and her fellow captive’s minds. She tries to escape, but fails. She’s drugged as a punishment, but persists in trying to convince Del, a captive with "higher status", to save herself.
It would have been so easy for the show to transform Tandy into a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued by Tyrone. Usually this show sticks out for me in the way they tell their story than as one that makes unexpected story decisions, but this week I was pleasantly surprised.
The writers never let Andre destroy her spirit. Tandy’s light dagger reappears as her first john lays down his money. But I don’t think her powers reappeared because she was terrified. I think her powers reappeared because Tandy restored Del’s hope.
It was Tandy’s words that drove Del to seek out proof that Lia lied about the other girls being dead and the fact that her family had been looking for her.
After watching Tandy steal people’s hope in season one I thought it was fantastic, that the key to her freedom was restoring hope to someone who’d had their hope stolen.
Andre’s a little smarter when he attacks Tyrone. The idea that Tandy won't stick around; that she's only part of his life until she has no use for him isn't a hard sell. It is a concept that is part of Tyrone’s world.
Ty may believe he and Tandy’s relationship is the exception that proves the rule, but (especially after the stunt she pulled last week) it wouldn’t be a shock if, in the back of his mind, he wonders if Andre is right.
Tyrone walks away, presumably thinking about his life without Tandy Bowen.
Then Mayhem steps in.
She plays one of Tandy’s A-Sides for Ty. I loved the moment on the trolley. The smile on Ty’s face as he’s listening to the recital music was so sweet. And the little ballerinas reaction to his disappearance was downright adorable.
The whole sequence surrounding Mayhem selecting records to destroy the damage Andre work was nicely done. The imagery and how it led to Ty painting the veve on the roof was pretty cool.
After Andre spots a veve on the wall of the record store. One of Ty’s record covers has pictures of Chantelle, Evita and Ty’s veve been drawing. It leads him to seek out Chantelle.
Andre decides to manipulate Chantelle into helping him get rid of his headaches. The scenes between these two provided some nice cat and mouse moments. It always felt like he was underestimating her; like she really was seeing through all of his BS. It even felt like she had more control than he was aware of.
The idea that his veve shows Andre is on the cusp of becoming a loa (or god), intrigues him. It scares me. Can the world handle another devil?
I was a little worried when Chantelle agreed to let him play one of her records. Was the heart beat hers? Was he trying to break her by corrupting her beautiful memory of the baby with the belief that the baby died?
The last we saw she was unconscious on the floor of the record store. If that was her heart beat…is she dead in the real world? I really hope not, since she’s the source of so much wisdom on the show.
After last week, when the wine bottle turned out to be empty, I came to believe that Conners was telling the truth; being upfront about wanting to pay for his crimes and earn some redemption.
But when he went for that tool….I’m back on the fence.
Adina managed to get Conners to tell her where her son is buried. That scene gave me the impression that Conners was planning to stall, but Adina manipulated him into telling her the truth. But we're still left wondering if Tyrone is ever going to be free of the false charges hanging over his head.
I really enjoyed this episode. I was so pleased that they didn’t strip Tandy of her strength. She’s never became a victim. Loved the way Ty used his power to find her.
Ty’s fight choreography was awesome. Loved the way he used the momentum of the big man slinging him away to come back and throw a massive punch. And Yay! Tandy rescued herself.
The anthem used in the final few minutes of the episode is another song I’m going to have to find for my library.
I want to smack the producers with a wet noodle for their cliffhangers. Come on guys! You’re seriously messing with my stress levels!
This episode finally moved Tandy into a place where I can see her as a hero. I finally feel like she's on an even plane with Ty in terms of the ideals of a true hero. What did you guys think of the episode?
