"There's a creeping menace underneath everything here, and it makes watching the show a discomfiting experience even when the actual threat of violence isn't there. In fact, much of this episode plays out as a series of misunderstandings and clarifications, and that might be the dominant mode for this show: introducing something unsettling but then undercutting it one scene (or one episode, or five episodes) later."
"Of course, it's not like Ron can forget about what just happened. Each of these scares leaves a lasting imprint on his psyche, and you get the sense that they're starting to accumulate. At the rate this man is going, he might be a shut-in by the finale. The scene with LT is just the latest nightmare fuel-up, judging by his aggressive broom-stabbing to check the closets in the middle of the night."
The episode settles into a steadier groove while sacrificing some of the earlier surprise. A minor detail—a bug entering Ron's phone via the charging port—receives only a single line and is never revisited, contributing to an omnipresent unease. Much of the episode consists of unsettling setups followed by clarifications that undercut the initial fear. The opening resolves a cliffhanger by revealing the photographer works for Mike Santini and mixed up burner numbers. Repeated scares accumulate on Ron's psyche, driving paranoid behaviors like aggressive broom-stabbing and the sense that his solitude may worsen by the finale.
Read at Vulture
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