Television 

Five Thoughts on Lovecraft Country’s “Whitey on the Moon”

By | August 25th, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

Welcome back to Multiversity Comics’ coverage of Lovecraft Country! This is the buzziest HBO debut since last year’s Watchmen and I am thrilled to report that it absolutely lives up to the hype. In its sophomore outing, the series continues to deliver thrills, smart social commentary, and some beautiful family drama.

1. Movin’ On Up
As “Whitey on the Moon” opens, we’re greeted with the glorious sounds of the theme song to The Jeffersons and a palpably joyous celebration by Leti and George who quite dig the mansion they’re staying in and all of its perks. It’s nice that Lovecraft Country gave us such a positive feeling to cling to because the rest of the episode is permeated by a sense of anxiety and darkness, even in its lighter moments (and I say that in a good way). “Whitey on the Moon” brings Get Out-vibes with a magical Southern Gothic twist with its Braithwhite mansion setting. Tic, savvy as ever, gets those vibes immediately and wants out; but that’s not what good television is made of and the Freeman family goes through quite the crucible here. On the whole the episode is strong- taking massive strides forward in the narrative while ably tending to all of the different types of stories that exist within it.

2. Meet the Braithwhites
This week, we’re acquainted with the Braithwhite family, whose mansion the Freeman family is staying at and who just so happen to have owned Tic and Leti’s grandmother. The family, all blonde and practically translucent in their whiteness, is properly creepy. Tony Goldwyn plays the Braithwhite patriarch, Samuel, with an energy that immediately induces skin-crawling. Abbey Lee is incredibly charismatic as Christina Braithwhite, Samuel’s magic-wielding daughter, who acts as a particular foil to Tic. She plays off of Jonathan Majors well and helps make the terrifying, cult-leading family feel watchable in a way that Goldwyn intentionally does not. The Braithwhites are decidedly everything that the Freemans are not: rich, powerful, and white. They toy with the Freemans, giving them visions tantalizing (George), horrifying (Tic), or both (Leti) while an audience watches. They use spells to trap the Freemans in their rooms and to make George and Leti forget the vampire monster giant mole rat things. This is racism in a very different form than the sheriff’s department of last week. This is a white family taking a Black family into its home under the guise of hospitality but actually to use them as playthings. It’s scary and wrong and also very good television.

3. How the Turn Tables
There’s a scene in the second half of “Whitey on the Moon” that most manages to be funny, deeply deeply uncomfortable, and an interesting shift of racial power dynamics all at once. At the meeting of Order Of The Ancient Dawn, George and Tic start out at a table separated from their dinner-mates as they’re served pieces of Samuel’s liver. Soon, though, Uncle George begins a monologue revealing that Tic is the last blood descendent of Titus Braithwhite, making him a “son among sons” ranking above everyone else in the room. As George delivers his monologue, he walks from his table to the one in the center of the room, placing himself with Samuel. Then, in a truly transgressive move, Tic kicks every man out. Of the room but Samuel. The whole scene is bizarre but what really matters here is there power that Tic and George seize. Tic’s power is a birthright and George’s comes through performance; the pair refuses to comply with the power dynamics that have been set up by this white family/cult and it’s really something to behold. Of course, that power only holds for so long, but there’s something about this part of the episode that cuts through the creepiness and the sense that another shoe is dropping soon to give us a sense of triumph.

4. *Vin Diesel Voice*: Family
As it turns out Tic’s father was locked up under a weird tower on the Braithewhite estate the whole time that his brother, niece, and son were setting out to rescue him. They find him as he tunnels his way out in a quiet and almost-triumphant scene immediately undercut by family drama. Montrose (played by the always great Michael K. Williams) didn’t want them to save him and doesn’t even seem to feel a hint of joy from their presence. On top of that, we soon learn that there’s a possibility that George is Tic’s real father, though Tic doesn’t know that. There’s some rich history that’s alluded to in this episode but the real meat is delayed until further down the road. With the Freeman family headed back home, we’re sure to be getting some of that juicy family drama in episode 3.

Continued below

Interlude. Oh My God the Wardrobe
A brief interlude before we talk about the absolute bonkers crazy town conclusion to the episode: how good is the costume design in this show? The most obvious example of this is in Leti’s wardrobe which is endlessly stunning. The outfit she wears for the bulk of the episode with that vest was so good, in fact, that I said “wow” out loud when it appeared on screen. But good costume design isn’t just about what you notice- it’s about what you don’t. Good costume design is notably nice, yes, but not distractingly so. And in a show such as Lovecraft Country, it has the added difficulty of being period-appropriate while still feeling normal to look at. The costume designers on this show deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve put together and so, this interlude exists.

5. My Brain is Lit-ruh-ly Melting
In the famous words of Troy from Community, “this is wrinkling my brain.” The “this” we speak of is, of course, is the episode’s ending sequence. Early on, I made a note that there was more of a mystery box feeling to “Whitey on the Moon.” I expected most of the ideas and plot points it was introducing to become season-long mysteries but instead a great deal is solved by the episode’s end. A different show might reveal Tic’s lineage much further down the line and the ritual to reach Eden is certainly the stuff of season finales. But in Lovecraft Country, there’s no time to waste. It’s only episode 2 and so much has happened already. It’s encouraging to see a show willing to really just get into its story, especially when that story is so good. Plus, by making and solving a mystery box in the span of just an episode, we as viewers don’t really get the chance to deconstruct the show and ruin it for ourselves. We’re forced to take in the story as it comes. And in case you weren’t feeling sufficiently on edge, Misha Green makes sure that we know how high the stakes are when George dies at the end. Set to Leon Bridge’s “River,” that ending scene is a heartbreaker and a very grounding force. After seeing a portal to a biblical world open and a cult turn to stone, we’re met with something relentlessly real. That’s the magic of Lovecraft Country and I’m excited to see what it has in store for us next week.


//TAGS | Lovecraft Country

Quinn Tassin

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