"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, August 24, 2020

Lovecraft Country 1.2: Malleable Dreams


I decided to watch Lovecraft Country 1.2 tonight - though it was on last night - instead of the first night of the Republican National Convention because, come on, you know which one was the greater horror.

But Lovecraft Country nonetheless had horror a plenty, which I'll talk about in a minute or two, after I go over two of my favorite ingredients.

The music in this series is brilliantly chosen.  I have to give a shout-out to "The End," because the one and only Jimmy Krondes wrote the music all those decades ago.  And, I actually wrote some songs with Jimmy, too, a few years after he wrote "The End".  Here's a YouTube video of one of them - Snow Flurries (#s 38, 59, 86 on this list were also written by Jimmy Krondes and me.)

The other stand-out ingredient is the acting.  I mentioned Jonathan Majors as Atticus, and Jurnee Smollett and Courtney B. Vance in other lead roles in my review of the first episode last week.  The second episode gives us a good  couple of scenes with Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose, who is Atticus's father.  I've never seen an actor (includes actress) from The Wire in another role who wasn't excellent - I often think that series was the best ever on television - and it was great to see Williams aka Omar Little doing what he does again in Lovecraft Country.  My only regret is that I hope Vance's character (Atticus's Uncle) didn't die.

I don't know the story (haven't read the novel), so I don't know that he did.  But (and here we get to the plot) there's apparently a pretty good chance that anyone who is killed in Lovecraft Country can be brought back to life, if they were even dead in the first place, as long Atticus does what the powers that be want of him.  It worked with Leti (Jurnee Smollett) in this episode.  I'm still not clear exactly what's going on, but apparently a lot of what happens to people are dreams, illusion, or being under spells, which are more amenable to alteration and improvement than real life.

See you back here, I hope, next week.

See also Lovecraft Country 1.1: Racist Police Get Horror Comeuppance

 



 

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