Thursday, October 24, 2024

My Review of Grotesquerie: "In Dreams"

 


Written by Ryan Murphy And Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken 
Directed by Elegance Bratton

Lois (to Dr Witticomb): "And what about Grotesquerie? Does that represent me?"

In some ways, this felt like a redux. With Lois out of her coma and her actual family uninterested in wanting to be around her, she had to attend her physio without their support and even do a deep dive into her psyche, also without their support. She was truly isolated.

The deep dive in general came through her session with Dr Witticomb, who definitely stood out as an intriguing character. We got a decent look into how Lois thought about the people in her orbit while also wondering if Grotesquerie represented her. It was fascinating stuff.

As far as things went for Lois, her relationship with Merritt was the one that impacted her the most. She slept with her own daughter's husband and the latter wasn't in a forgiving mood. Even I found Merritt's words to be stinging and Lois felt more pained by them than the slap she had gotten by Merritt.

Then there's the relationship with Chief of Police Megan Duvall. The woman idolised Lois but resented Lois's recklessness over the Andrea Salana case and the vert real consequences of that. Lois also made a point of pointing out about Megan being possessed as well. Megan didn't really take kindly to that.

As for Lois and Marshall, they didn't interact in the episode, but I noticed that both of them knew their marriage was over. Lois even admired Cherry for putting up with Marshall while Marshall himself no longer wanted to be married to a woman he considered mentally ill.

As for Dr Charlie Mayhem, I love that he's on Lois's radar. She still viewed him as a killer and for all we know, she might be on to something. He did very little in the episode  to make himself appear trustworthy. Perhaps Lois will be justified in her suspicions of him.

- Marshall literally compared himself, Lois and Cherry to Charles, Diana and Camilla. He didn't speak of Diana favourably. Maisie was also the Tryon housekeeper.
- Megan has an abusive partner named Justin, whom she walked out on to go face to that motel. She had also made an awful purple punch at Lois's retirement party.
- Standout music: Baby Rose's Slowly Burns
- Chronology: Lois had been in a coma for six weeks. 

In Dreams was very bittersweet with Lois facing the reality of her actions now that she was awake. While it might have been devoid of kills, it did examine how being around them had influenced Lois and the way she had alienated those in her life.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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