Lovecraft Country — Series 1 Episode 8 — Jig-a-Bobo: A Review

26th October, 2021.

That’s a rather good intro video, don’t you think … ?

It tells you exactly what I’m going to be doing, tomorrow night.

Yep: telling you about the episode of Lovecraft Country I’ve just watched.

Which I think is rather good … 

~≈🐙≈~

I will mention, now, though … ?

That I posted the usual Daily Teaser, this morning: the brain teaser quizzes I run each morning.

I mentioned in this morning’s Teaser, that I was going to install macOS Monterey, at some point in the not too distant future.

Just not today.

I — theoretically — had a busy day.

That day went more rapidly than I expected: so I’ve gone right on ahead and installed the upgraded OS.

Which, bar a minor problem with iMovie, went well enough.

There even seem to be a couple of improvements to QuickTime I can make use of.

And Apple have reverted a change it made to Safari’s tabs.

Thankfully!

The ones Apple had switched too were … unusable, as far as I could see.

At any rate?   I’ll discuss that in tomorrow’s Teaser.

~≈🐙≈~

27th October, 2021.

Episode 8 — Jig-a-bobo opens with the usual summary of previous episodes.

Then shifts: to show ’Tic, Leti, Ruby, Montrose and Diana (Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Wunmi Mosaku, Michael K. Williams and Jada Harris) at the funeral of Emmett Till*, a school friend of Diana.

Diana wanders off distraught: but stopped by Lancaster, who curses her, after she refuses to tell him where the Orrery is.

The rest of the family decide they need to try to find Diana.   With Leti heading to the Winthrop House, Montrose going to the Freeman family home, and ’Tic visiting Christina to learn how to cast a spell† to protect Leti.

Something ’Tic feels more strongly about when he finds former lover, Ji-ah, has come to warn him of his impending death.

Later that night?   ’Tic and Montrose reconcile: and Atticus confesses he visited the future after going through the portal at the Winthrop Observatory.

He’s come back with a souvenir: a book called Lovecraft Country, written by his son, a son Leti’s expecting.   A book that’s given him knowledge of the future.

A book that tells him Christina will sacrifice him, at the Equinox.

In five days time.

~≈🐙≈~

Now … it’s got to be said, Jig-a-Bobo is rich: and there’s bound to be something I missed out in trying to summarise it for you.

Diana, for example, is found by Montrose: whilst she’s desperately trying to hit spirits he can’t see.

Suffice to say, the writing?   The writing is, again, superb: more so, I think, in this episode than some.

For me, though … ?

It’s the cast that stand out: especially Jada Harris as the grieving, and angry, Diana,  and Wunmi Mosaku as Ruby.

Ruby’s speech to Christina, in one scene?

Ruby:        A 14 year old boy was beat and shot to death then tied with barbed wire by the neck, to a cotton gin fan, and cast into the Tallahatchie River.

Christina:        I know.

Ruby:        But do you care?

Christina says nothing.

Ruby:        At all?

Christina stands up and walks towards Ruby.

Christina: You want me to say yes.

Ruby: I don’t want you to say anything.   I want you to feel what I feel right now.   Heartbroken.   Scared.   Furious.   Tired.   So f*cking tired, of feeling this way over and over.   And I want you to feel alone, and shameful, ’cause I’m here, feeling this.   And you will never understand it.   I want you to feel guilty, ’cause — for feeling safe, next to you and your privilege.   I should be on the South Side, with my people, mourning a sweet little boy, who was taken from us.   You wanna know why I took that potion?   Because, today of all days?   I didn’t wanna be a black woman f*cking a white man.

Is both powerfully written: and amazingly performed both by Abbey Lee’s Christina … and by Wunmi Mosaku‡, herself.

It’s one of the most riveting things I’ve seen in the series: as was Montrose’s speech about family love: given Michael K. White’s recent death, that gives his performance a touch more power.

Jig-a-Bobo is one powerfully deep episode.

An episode like this, that’s carrying the plot forward, beautifully written, and that has complex performances like that?

Demands I keep watching.

Frankly?

I’m going to watching episode nine, next Tuesday: and posting both a written and video review, 

I’ll hopefully see you them!

Because I think we’ll be richly rewarded.

Jig-a-Bobo.

★★★★

* Till was a real world lynching victim: and — in the series — a friend of Diana’s.

†   Christina shows ’Tic  a symbol he’ll need to learn, to protect himself from magical energy: the Rune sign mentioned in Episode Five — Strange Case.

The Stone … !

‡        Wunmi Mosaku’s British: and trained at RADA, no less!   If you’re going to train as an actor, RADA’s the place!   (Peggy Ashcroft, Judi Dench and Laurence Olivier, may disagree: they were at Central^.)

^        Saying that … ?   Freddy Kruger went to RADA!!!!!!!!!!