The Mosquito Coast 2.4: Motion Pictures on the Cave Wall

I've been watching and enjoying this second season of The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+, but haven't had a chance to review more than the first episode.  Episode 2.4, however, was just too good not to review, or at least offer a few words about ...

First, let me just say, I really liked that scene with Dina and Adopho in the cave, with that vintage motion picture showing on one of the walls.  It reminded me of a paper my old friend and erstwhile colleague Ed Wachtel at Fordham University wrote back in the early 1990s -- "The First Picture Show: Cinematic Aspects of Cave Art" -- in which he theorized that the prehistoric art that depicted various animals in the caves in Lascaux, France were actually motion pictures brought to animation by the flicker of prehistoric lamps that burned fat.  That possibility always struck me as plausible, and I'm wondering if Adolpho was watching motion pictures in a way that was common in Mexico, and maybe other countries as well?  If it is, and Wachtel was right, that would be an example of a prehistoric custom evolving and surviving into our current world.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Otherwise, the story in episode 2.4 was riveting but not very plausible.  I get why Margot wants to leave Allie and take the kids back to the U.S., but surely she knows that Allie is right -- she would end up in prison here in the U.S. more quickly than anyone else in her family.  Also, I don't think she's given Allie quite enough credit for saving everyone in the family's lives, more than once, including hers.

Also, as long as I'm being critical, I'd like to see the story move a little more quickly.  We've already been introduced to William, the unflappable assassin, and we know how dangerous he is.  I look forward to his getting into range of the Foxes a little faster.  I mean, I know that they'll triumph -- at least I hope so -- and it will be fun to see how they do that.

See also The Mosquito Coast 2.1: Thirteen Years Ago

And see also The Mosquito Coast 1.1-2: Edgy, Attractive, Enlightened, and Important ... The Mosquito Coast 1.3: Broadening Horizons ... The Mosquito Coast 1.4: Charlie and the Gun ... The Mosquito Coast 1.5: Charlie and the Gun, Part II ... The Mosquito Coast 1.6: What Kind of Brother? ... The Mosquito Coast season 1 finale: I'm Well Bitten