Shoggoths, memory loss, demonic apparitions and dodgy allies in the second episode of HBO’s Jim Crow-era fantasy sci-fi
When we last saw Tic, George and Leti, they were standing, bloodied and beaten, on the threshold of the Ardham mansion, mystified by their welcome from William (Jordan Patrick Smith), the house’s apparent butler, who had been expecting them. As this episode begins, they’re in sumptuous surroundings and clean clothes, generally appreciating the hell out of their unexpectedly luxurious lodgings. That’s a pretty jarring tone-shift, but perhaps a point is being made about the carpe diem attitude adopted by people who live in constant danger? Or perhaps something altogether more sinister is going on …?
Tic is the only one still brooding on the shoggoth-sherriff attack and is already deeply suspicious when William gives them the house tour, pointing to a portrait of “Ardham’s founder and the original owner of the lodge, Titus Braithwaite”, an unnervingly KKK-looking chap in a hood. William explains that Titus made his fortune in “shipping”, which, as Leti hisses in George’s ear, is clearly “code for slavery”. More suspicious still, the car that Leti totalled last episode has turned up looking brand new in the Braithwaite’s garage, and there’s no possibility of calling Montrose to verify his whereabouts because, apparently, present owner Samuel Braithwaite never installed telephone lines.
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