Jerks abound in this week’s episode of From with all the characters being worn down by the town’s mind games, escalating into shouting matches about who is failing the town’s hierarchy. Something about “These Fragile Lives” left me cold.
(*SPOILERS AHEAD!*)
The episode explores the characters’ morale as they are being attacked on all fronts. Acosta being the biggest problem for a lot of the characters, namely Boyd and Kenny in this episode, as she unravels from not being in control. The bad things Acosta has done so far are weighing on everyone. The imaginable horror of someone like Acosta abusing their authority is compounded by the unimaginable monsters. Her tantrum is impervious to any of Kenny’s attempts at sympathizing with her. A gun is the last thing Acosta needs and Boyd was right to stand between her and a gun when she broke into the station.
Acosta killed Nicky when she inadvertently brought back Tabitha, who is having her own problems. One of Tabitha’s issues is her family going through three storylines at the same time. While her daughter Julie and Randall were going through their own “Tricia Tanaka is Dead”, Tabitha is teaming up with Jade.
Her husband, meanwhile, is having a hard time understanding Tabitha had childhood nightmares of this place. The old doubting husband routine is something we as a people are over, especially considering that Jim was just talking to his dead son on a phone that was not connected to anything (a plot point I’d like to return to). Fatima is also dealing with her husband not being on the same page.
Photo: Chris Reardon/MGM+
Crazy is a theme being thrown around without actually saying the word. Bodies are either being invaded by cicadas or devoured by monsters, but Ellis has a hard time believing that his wife Fatima is still pregnant. The episode, however, does reveal that nothing is showing up in an ultrasound. Medical observation is the best thing for Fatima, whether she’s actually pregnant or not, and could’ve prevented this episode’s ending.
Colony House is honestly the last place a person should be during a medical emergency. A bed is what Fatima needs, but her and Ellis arguing causes her to rush out of her room. Produce is what Fatima feels she requires as she searches the trash, jonesing for more rotten fruits and vegetables. Over her head with her current situation, Fatima is essentially a powder keg ready to go off on anyone who even says one word.
It is necessary to note that this is not even the first time that Tillie stuck her nose into someone else’s business, having bothered Elgin and Fatima. The greenhouse would be the last place Tillie ever stuck her nose into someone else’s problems. Already on edge, Fatima did the only reasonable thing in response to Tillie’s banal prying: stab her in the heart with gardening shears. We end the episode with Ellis walking in on Fatima standing over Tillie’s body, wondering how he would respond.
“These Fragile Lives” explores what keeps these characters together, especially when the horrors hunting them are causing them to squabble amongst themselves. The place these characters are trapped in leaves them so preoccupied with death, what exactly do they have worth fighting to live for?
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