'The Mist' Episode 2: 'Withdrawal'

It's been a while, so I was worried that I was going to have a hard time getting into this episode.  You could say I was a little foggy on the details.  Thankfully, the episode does a good job of reminding you what's up with each batch of characters.

Even better, there is a marked improvement in the writing.  The dialogue sounds a lot more realistic and there are less cringe-inducing moments.  Even the bisexual goth kid talks like an actual human being.

With the titular mist now looming, the tension starts to escalate.  People now have enough reason to be unnerved and it only gets worse as the body count starts to rise.  As the show has more time, it's able to show the fear slowly start to set in.   The cast don't go into full panic mode and steps are taken to try to keep everybody calm.  I think it's going to work out in the long run as it seems more believable than everybody turning on each other immediately.  There's still some sniping and snap judgments, so the seeds are definitely being planted, but it isn't in full bloom yet.

The one plot development I didn't get regarded Clint.  He tries to contact "Arrowhead" and proceeds to try and kill Eve for no explicable reason.  Why didn't he just say he was in the military and trying to contact somebody when she first got suspicious as a way to allay her fears? If it's a matter of her knowing too much due to her listening in, why did he say anything to begin with?

The only thing I can think is the "ARR" that was written suggests he's connected.  However, that doesn't work either as they never clearly deciphered that.  To me it looked, oddly enough, like "AMC" anyway, so I'm surprised they did as well as they did in picking up the intent.

Still no monsters, but there is a lot of talk about something in the mist.  The causes of death also suggest something more than crazy gas or an animal.  We do also get what appears to be a hallucination of a deceased relative that, in one of the episode's big wham moments, turns out to be not so hallucinatory.  Again, though, the increased time span allows for more of a slow burn that works rather well here.

On a more trivial note, I was surprised that the drone fared as well as it did.  It gets stuck, but they never lose the feed.  In situations like this, it almost always cuts to static, usually just after hearing some ungodly noise.  I guess they figured that would be the obvious route and decided to subvert the trope.

I was also surprised that those who the episode suggests are tied to Arrowhead kill themselves so quickly.  You'd think they'd want them around to either stir up conflict or at least drop an exposition bomb or two.  This seems like a bigger missed (or mist?) opportunity in the long run, but we'll see how it plays out.

All in all, though, I thought this was a strong outing.  It worked out the kinks seen in the pilot episode and managed to get me more invested in what's coming up.  It also does a surprisingly good job of juggling a large cast of characters.  Even the one or two line background characters still feel distinct and manage to convey a lot in a short amount of time.  That's not an easy feat to achieve, so kudos for that.

Click here to join our Patreon campaign