2.12- “D is for Doll”Written by: Davita Scarlett
Directed by: Kevin Sullivan
Reviewed by KathM
Okay, what?
This episode is dolltastic in the worst way, taking the idea of The Creepy Doll to a whole new level.
Before we settle into that nightmare, let’s take a look at what’s going on in the doll-free world.
David is one week from ordination and has yet another conversation with Kristen full of innuendo and possible futures. Would they have worked as a couple? We may never know. “Go get Ordained,” she tells him. I’m so unsure which way he’ll go that I won’t even place a bet on it. And I wonder about Hidden Option Three: something happens at the Ordination (remember that icky thing chasing him in the previews?) and the church for some reason changes their mind about ordaining him.
A lot of people say that David is unsure about taking Orders because of his feelings for Kristin. Maybe in part, but there are bigger things on his mind. It’s a given that he’s looking hard at what he’s doing. Can he follow without question? Is he okay with knowing he may never obtain a position of power due to his skin color? I was interested in the church where his friend was preaching, and it makes sense that he’d look at the roads others have taken. The place seems somewhat sinister to me, though, but then everything seems spooky and full of various interpretations on this show.
It looks like Leland is making his move while having tea (or trying to) with the Monseigneur. Could he really get a place within the Church doing therapy??? Not if Sister Andrea and David have anything to say about it.
Sister Andrea: a woman who can say more with a dozen napkin flicks than can be said by a mere mortal in 1,000 words. She wielded that thing like a whip, Leland. Remain vigilant.
Let’s talk about Eddie. And Eddie. And Eddie. The gathering of the Eddie’s. The Eddie brothers are having a reunion in the Broussard garage, and I for one would be dousing the place with holy water and running like hell. Okay, maybe not hell. Maybe I’d run quickly.
The Eddie’s have these things in common: they demand to be worshiped and given gifts continuously; they control their “owners'', and will hurt them if they don’t obey. This includes killing them occasion and they have abysmal taste.
For some reason they want to get to the Broussard’s to reunite. We have no idea why, but I would get a migraine trying to process the possibilities.
We learn more about each doll as we meet them: Elijah Eddie was inherited from his mother, who died after ignoring her Eddie. His father, Nathan, feels that there is a dark presence in the house, and that it caused his son Elijah’s broken arm by pushing him down the stairs. Kurt, Nathan’s therapist, asks Kristen to check it out. He’ll be accompanying them (the Boys come along, too), because he wants to write a book about their experiences.
Kurt, step away from the madness! You really don’t want to do this, trust me. And that creepy-looking thing you saw at Nathan’s house? The one that touched your nose while you stared at it while you gaped at it like a fish? It is real. It has friends called George and Abbey, who may at some point want to spend 1:1 time with you. You don’t want that, I assure you. Trust me, you are too inexperienced and naive to play this game.
Elijah-Eddie goes home with Kristen when they take it out of Nathan’s house despite his insistence that they keep the creepy thing.
Sebbie-Eddie arrives via Lynn, who is babysitting Sebbie. Come to find that Sebbie has a ‘friend’ he says controls him, dictating Sebbie’s behavior. Sebbie likes playing hide-and-seek, for example, but when he comes across Eddie while playing with Lynn he has to stop. Why does he listen? Lynn asks. “He’s just a doll”. “Because he just seems small, but he's actually big," Sebbie tells her. Okay. then.
Although Lynn leaves the house Eddie-less (smart move), when she’s unpacking her backpack Sebbie-Eddie is right there.
She denies she has it when Sebbie’s desperate parents come to see whether Lynn has it, but later tells her mom. Lynn hides Sebbie-Eddie in the closet, where Laura finds it. She thinks it’s Grandma’s and wants to return him to her. She and Lexis (OMG don’t let her touch it!) take it over to Grandma’s and set it on the empty altar. Lexis starts to utter the prayer that Sheryl says to her Eddie, but fortunately the train noise scares them and the girls run away.
I so want to know what’s going on over at Sebbie’s house that has his parents rushing over, desperate to get the doll back. Poor kid.
One thing I noticed, apropos if nothing, is how much Brooklyn Shuck (Lynne) looks like Katja Herbers in some of her scenes. I look forward to seeing Lynn grow as the strangeness of the Luria/Brousard women wafts towards her.
Sheryl-Eddie just appears as an accessory one day with no rhyme or reason. Given that it’s Sheryl, it makes perfect sense.
It is important to keep track of your Eddie’s, because they may all mean something in the end. Okay, so we have Sheryl-Eddie, Sebbie -Eddie, and Elijajh-Eddie. That’s three: Sheryl’s “Trinity”. But there’s also Edward, who may have been an Eddie before becoming a Real Boy, and Great Grandfather-in-a-jar, who is most likely an Eddie, too.
Sheryl Luria, who are you? What is your deal? She plays a game with Edward in which she may or may not have allowed him to implant permanant a trigger in her mind. She performs two “favors” for Edward when he says the word daffolill. Once she does, he will give her something "monumental." He's so excited he can hardly sit still at thought of getting rid of it. He hands her a jar. “You are my successor. This is your sigil.” Sheryl scurries inside with the head of Edward's great-great grandfather in a jar of...something that looks like the fluid Sheryl keeps injecting herself with (her monumental surprise) and checks the copy of the map she photographed when the weird priests from Rome showed up so Kristen et. al. could beg to take a look at it to further their demon seeking. Yup, it’s there. It’s a sigil. Joy.
As Sheryl joins her three Eddie’s together on the floor of her bedroom she murmurs “Father. Son. Holy Ghost.” And as a figure of the Blessed Virgin looks down on them from a shelf, Sheryl tells the Eddie’s to use her as they will. Oh. My.
I wonder what Sheryl will do in the end, if we find out this season. The one thing I remember is Sheryl telling Leland after they broke their engagement is that she’s dated demons before and she knows how to handle them. Here’s hoping she's right.
