“Lovecraft country” episode 1 gives you monsters and racists in a nightmare drive down jim crowe america

By: Keaton Marcus

In this review of the highly anticipated HBO series Lovecraft Country, I will be reviewing each episode when it airs on the streaming service. The pilot of the first season came out yesterday, so it’s time to begin with that.

REVIEW OF LOVECRAFT COUNTRY: S1, E1

Just a thing you should know about my opinion before I really delve into the details: no passion can quantify my love for this first episode. There, I said it, I’ve no doubt fallen in love with the characters, storytelling, and well…monsters before any others even came out.

The first episode is about pulp-fiction aficionado and ex-veteran Atticus Freeman (Jonathon Majors) who recruits his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), and his childhood friend Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) to find his recently gone missing father Montrose Freeman (Michael Kenneth Williams). But it’s also much more than that, the storytelling is deep, the characters are layered and likable, and it handles some of the nuttiest tonal shifts ever. I am not exaggerating, the first three quarters of the pilot is a compelling drama that tackles racism in Jim Crowe America, but that last 25 minutes turns into a huge blood-and-gore fest with some weird creatures involved.

This series is absolutely gorgeous, the cinematography is crisp, clear, and it gleefully presents the old-fashioned US. The sound-design is also magnificent, and so is the lighting. Especially in a block-party scene about a third way in, wherein a somewhat ethereal glow, Black men, women, and children dance to a cover of Rosetta Tharpe’s “I Want A Tall Skinny Papa”, followed by a duet performance of Dave Williams’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”. It captures the utter innocence of these families just enjoying themselves, despite the States’ monstrous position on Black people. The whole episode is full of visual pizazz, from the color palettes to the admirably terrific special effects during the action sequences. Again, when you combine producers JJ Abrams, Jordan Peele, and Misha Green, you’re gonna get some serious eye candy.

The performances are just brilliant. Jonathon Majors, who recently had a supporting role in Spike Lee’s Da Five Bloods, has a poignant and emotionally nuanced screen presence as Atticus. Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Canary in Birds of Prey), also gives a captivating performance in the stand-out role of her entire career. From beginning to end, you care about Bell’s Letitia all the way through, and her compelling emotional shift at the end of the episode is absolutely epic. Courtney B. Vance’s Uncle George also makes for a solid, if more supporting role as the trio get into some serious trouble down in the Midwest.

And I’m talking about some awful stuff. No, not the creepy crawlies, they show up later. The actual, disgusting monsters that roamed the USA in the ‘50s, racists. This brings me to an excellent scene in the series, when the trio are driving through a segregated town while we listen to the soothing speaking voice of writer and social critic James Baldwin. “It would seem to me that the proposition before the House, and I would put it that way, is the American dream at the expense of the American Negro, or the American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro, is a question hideously loaded, and then one’s response to that question - one’s reaction to that question - has to depend on effect and, in effect, where you find yourself in the world, what your sense of reality is, what your system of reality is. That is, it depends on assumptions which we hold so deeply as to be scarcely aware of them.”

Baldwin’s mesmerizing words are seared when paired with Atticus, Letitia and George eyeing the segregated ice cream shops and movie theater entrances. The score matched with that scene, and the rest of the episode, is somber, intense, and beautiful at the same time. And that’s not the thick of it just yet. After a delightfully suspenseful scene in a Cafe, they are forced to drive like hell after a couple white supremacists chase them with their truck, armed with shotguns. After a thrilling shoot-out while driving on the road, a mysteriously fancy silver car helps them escape, only to run into the Sheriff.

The good old Sheriff of course stops the three without probable cause after they stop in the middle of the woods, and this leads to one of the greatest scenes in television ever. This racist arse proclaims that it’s his “sworn duty” to hang them if they stay in his county after sundown. With the sun setting in under 10 minutes, they have a tense cat-and-mouse game. But you didn’t think they’d actually escape, right? Correct, this scene then leads them to a whole bunch of coppers, and they’re interrogated in the woods. This leads to my biggest problem with the episode.

There are a few issues with it, including that big tonal shift. The last minutes of “Sundown” is a fun finale that gives horror fans what they’re expecting. The whole Lovecraftian lore and creatures are set up in the beginning of the pilot, but you can’t help but think where the series will go from here. The thing is, the series is at its scariest before the creatures ever showed up, it terrifies audiences when it goes deep into true American horror, and the finale just feels like popcorn entertainment that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the episode. This makes it more of a juxtaposition of two things that do not work together. Otherwise, however, I’m totally psyched to see where the rest of the series goes.

Still, you can’t argue against the fact that this is one of the most unique, creative and original shows in a long time. It’s something a lot of us don’t see very often. Lovecraft Country isn’t just an effective horror series, but it is also an audacious, provocative, and ultimately sensational achievement that just isn’t for everyone. All things put aside, the weirdness that fuels this episode is what makes it stand out from the big genre crowd.

Peele and Abrams have made a nutty juxtaposition and social commentary that doesn’t always work. Though as an audience member, you have to see past its few flaws. If you look deeper, you’ll find an entertaining, yet thoughtful and visually stunning piece of work. And in a world that’s always looking for innovation, this is the prime example of what that looks like.

The final opinion is: Despite a couple tonal issues, Lovecraft Country’s first episode is gorgeously filmed, magnificently scored, and packed with fine performances from its stunning cast. I would say…BINGE IT

TV Review: Lovecraft Country - Episode 1

“Lovecraft country” episode 1 gives you monsters and racists in a nightmare drive down jim crowe america

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