When the writers of Midnight, Texas wants to turn things on their head, they don’t do it by half. After losing Creek and Rev to the call of life outside of the small town, the Midnighters lose another one when Lem makes one of the rasher decisions in the show’s short history while Olivia faces her past and Fiji gets a shocking revelation that has her considering the wonders of embracing her dark side.
The whole will they/won’t they question surrounding Patience and Manny was answered at the end of the last episode but, if by chance you missed it, the pair waking up together in bed said it all. The chemistry between the two is great and there’s a bit more smolder to it when compared to the sweeter ‘ship Manny shared with Creek. Patience and Kai’s relationship is more of a partnership and despite her unhappiness, she’s sticking to it because “sometimes it’s easier to just stay stuck.” It’s a good bet that Manny’s mistrust of Kai is exacerbated by his feelings for Patience but his instincts are on the money. By episode end, Kai’s most trusted acolytes—Sequoia and Lyric—are dead, the former killed by the latter while Manny kills lyric in self-defense. As it turns out, Kai’s gathering the supernatural energies he’s taking and storing it; what his plans for the vials are remains to be seen but considering a swig of that energy gave Lyric the powers of invisibility, there’s no telling how much trouble is waiting in the near future when these magical vials get out.
On the magical scale, Fiji’s story was second billing. In an effort to keep Bobo safe, she transformed him into man’s best friend. It’s a stop gap, one she knows can’t be a lasting solution. When a dark witch by the name of Celeste—a woman embodying all the traits of a Real Housewife— reaches out to her, Fiji discovers her true heritage: a dark witch from the line of Theophilus. Celeste provides Fiji the answer to ridding herself of the curse and, in effect, saving Bobo: embrace her dark side and the power it offers…It’s a Faustian bargain, one she has to take in order to save Olivia and Lem but one that will also nix the curse that has followed her family’s bloodline for generations.
Though the secondary storylines set up a full plate of happenings as the season progresses, there’s no question that Olivia and Lem are at the center of “Drown the Sadness in Chardonnay”. It starts innocently enough when Lem tells Joe that he’s now able to experience Olivia’s dreams. After seeing a particularly vivid dream involving family, Lem makes a unilateral decision and has Kai remove his supernatural side. It’s an incredibly reckless decision, not just because of his duties to protect the town but not even talking to Olivia about it is head-scratching. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that Lem hinted at being fine with his nature? Had his decision been about his own wants, then fine, but if it was predicated on nothing more than a glimpse into Olivia’s dream, he deserves a smack to the forehead.
Family has always been a sore spot with Olivia. Losing her mother (and, by proxy, her father) she’s never had that picket fence-type life. The vileness of her step-mother’s actions and a father who was never there has scarred Olivia to the point where she accepts the fact that she’s broken. This is only emphasized when she confronts her father to see that, by magical means, he’s resurrected her mother and a nine-year-old Olivia to live through one perfect moment of decorating the Christmas tree and having dinner. Though his actions seem to be somewhat disturbing but effectively harmless, Papa Charity reveals just how horrid a person he is by capturing Olivia in the spell, determined to live this ‘perfect new life’, her wishes be damned. Thanks to Fiji, Olivia is freed of the spell and she releases her pain and anger on her father with words and emotion but not violence. For a child to go through the horrors she had to endure is heartbreaking, especially as so much of it has defined who she is now. But if there is one positive to come out of the situation it’s that maybe for the first time, Olivia speaks a truth she never thought she’d ever experience.
“I’m not alone anymore.”
Midnight Mile
- Things may have ended up in a bow of sorts for Olivia and Lem, there has to be more than their cursory conversation about his decision to de-vamp. Talk about going overboard, he bought bag fulls of pregnancy gear without having “the talk” with Olivia. It may ultimately end up with the pair of them deciding to have a sprog or two but there’s no other way to see Lem’s actions than impulsive and irresponsible.
- We’ve all known that Kai was set up to be the antagonist. Though it’s not 100% confirmed he’s a villain, he’s doing so much shady stuff and it’s only a matter of time before he answers the question. He already suspects Manny’s on to him, so will the medium’s affair with Patience affect how Kai deals with Manny? It’s difficult to get a read on Kai’s emotional state as he comes across as very controlled and his power…there seems to be much more to it than we’ve been shown.
- Fiji exploring her darker nature seems oxymoronic, considering she’s epitome of sunshine, hugs, and kittens. How her dabbling into that darkness changes her relationship with Bobo and her rep as Midnight’s version of Glinda remains to be seen. More to the point, will this be a dinner bell ringing to all sorts of shadowy things that want to get their hands on her power? There’s still so much about this world yet to be told so anything’s possible.