1x03 Stained Glass

I don't like dream sequences at all. Like any tool, I guess they're neutral, and dependent on the hands that wield them, but I can honestly count the number of dream (or vision) sequences I've seen that have felt narratively and/or artistically engaging on two hands. Which makes it even more impressive that this teen super hero show just did an episode that was at least 50% dream sequence and managed to knock it out of the park to a degree that's honestly a bit scary.

I'd enjoyed the parts of the previous episodes where we got a taste of Tyrone and Tandy's empathy powers, and in hindsight, I really appreciate the way those glimpses built towards what this episode did. The creative team manages to lend a weight of emotion and purpose to these abstract happenings that made them feel both moving, scary and consequential. I think the most important part is, that even if these powers are rooted in trauma, the prevailing mood in the dream sequence is one of empathy, sympathy and connection. Tandy and Tyrone recognise each other's pain, they recognise the pain and joy in the people they're channeling, and the show manages to make that connection feel comforting and uplifting for me as a viewer, even if I'm intermittently (and deliberately) unsettled by the imagery and trauma involved.

I'm honestly a bit flabbergasted at how well the show does these things, and I'm really happy it exists.

Side note: Still a bit on the fence when it comes to Olivia Holt; the directors/producers don't quite seem to have cracked how to get the same level of performances out of her compared to those of the rest of the ensemble. It's not like she's bad or anything, it's just that the level of the rest of the cast have been such that her perfectly competent-but-nothing-more performance sticks out a bit.

(1,151-word review) As if on cue, right after the previous episode, which slowed things down a bit to focus primarily on adding more substance to Tandy and Tyrone's characters/their story arcs, giving us a front-row seat to the progression and development of that, this one was waiting with confidence: knowing its value and worth. This rivaled the premiere – possibly surpassing it ever so slightly.

The soundtrack remains superb, contrary to how it's the type that can get on the nerves of some people, who'd dislike it immediately because of its addition to the already-present teen drama feel. My outlook towards that aspect of this show is noticeably different.

We also got a smidgen of social commentary with that one particular section with Tyrone in Tandy's IMAX dream experience, propelled even further by the specific song that the music supervisor(s) chose for that scene, lots of visual storytelling, ripe with symbolisms and likely various probable interpretations to glean from them – a clear favorite of the directors and writers – especially if you're already knowledgeable about mythology, history, and such – understanding, for example, the two framed photos in the Johnson family house after Tyrone got out of the bathtub and Evita's Damballah Voodoo Tour – and the structure and editing of the episode, with the lead-up of Tandy's story arc, after the beginning, to her entry into the dream sequence, then rewinding time to the start, only giving us Tyrone's perspective this time and the lead-up of his story arc to his entry, most notably with both of their respective experiences within each dream sequence was well done.

The entirety of those sequences was excellent, with much to unpack. He protected her from being electrocuted, which goes hand-in-hand with how she could potentially see him as an angel or angelic figure, indicated by her looking at the angel on the church window at the end of the premiere – and even in a different way with how Evita said he should be the one on the stained glass in their texting conversation in the previous episode; while she comparatively "kept him in check" and helped him see a better way to go about his compulsive/impulsive tendencies regarding Connors – presenting that herself; it could also possess the potential of extending to a general second-voice/second-opinion, positive influence in his ear.

They're compatible and ideal for each other – and for the betterment of the other – on a human level, on top of the symbiotic nature of their powers that bind them together and their similar pasts/experiences of a family member dying (in front of them), adding a more robust connection through relatability and emotional association; they complete each other.

Additionally, he played that role with her in a similar but potentially negatively-resulted way by helping her not only to stop running and face things head-on but also either go the stabbing/killing route, get revenge on the Roxxon Corporation, or something to do with the hope-imbued side of her powers, like taking away the hopes of those who played a part in her father's death – something she's already familiar with to a lesser extent, as shown by those who came to her for hope, except they receive a poisonous death instead, symbolizing that she slowly poisons the people around her and their continual contact could end in death or avoidable life-changing events; Liam, in particular, took the symbolic pill voluntarily, symbolizing his blind faith and the ongoing (because of his arrest and Tandy's subsequent abandonment) but likely impending further consequences of his naive devotion to her.

The prospect of taking away hopes could even come from a place (and be symbolic) of feeling like they took him away from her by how he was barely involved in her life, neglecting her because of his work, and in turn, hindering her relationship with him, on top of driving a wedge between them and amidst their family – possibly a contributing factor in her mother's pill addiction in the first place while he was alive; another layer of fault and blame on them/additional reason for her to vehemently detest them – and now the fact that they're her mother's obsession in present time, who strongly desires to take them down, in addition to how they disregarded her father's concerns, leading to him being preoccupied enough to have not been paying attention to the road while driving, further caused by the explosion, resulting in his death; she sees the Roxxon Corporation as responsible. And that course of action would be worse/more negative than killing them once you think about it; they'd essentially be shells of themselves – giving them a taste of what she went through and endured; what she felt, only their mental state would be about 99.9% more permanent.

Circling back to the initial topic of this episode's central focus with both characters, there was an additional super subtle layer, one that likely went over many heads; most people probably noted this but had no idea of its meaning/intention, though it could be an incorrect assumption on my part – and that's the piece of paper/possible check Billy gave Kid Tyrone in the basketball scene, the two (bloody/blood money) checks Tyrone was holding after shooting Connors, and all the checks at Kid Tyrone's feet in the final part of Tandy's dream sequence; more specifically, the extra guilt on his shoulders stemming from Billy's death, as the implication is that those two guys weren't stiffed by the rich guy, whose car they put the stereo, but rather the money was paid, only to Billy, who supposedly lied to them about being stiffed, stole it himself, and gave the money to Tyrone, hence the checks throughout the episode.

As a minor extension of that, Tyrone's heartfelt, one-way talk with Billy in Father Delgado's office was great. That was a powerful scene. It was already quite powerful alone, but that increases once that knowledge is applied – that extra layer. Once that's done, its powerful impact increases again because the weight and value of the scene are doubled by Aubrey Joseph's acting in it.

To conclude this review, there was one final observation I made: Tyrone's wish. It's unknown to us for now. And while I don't definitively remember whether it's revealed, chances are its reveal will happen, maybe in the next episode. Its contents, no doubt, feature Connors – probably something about taking him down, particularly the way to proceed. And, as it so happens, that was the principal theme and focus of the multiple-choice scene within Tandy's side of the intensely personal enlightenment journey. She presented a third option. He may not have gotten his wish, but now he knows she is the first step to discovering the answers he yearns for and recontextualizing his very being, how he views himself, how he views the world – the survivor's guilt, the emotional and mental turmoil, and everything that's weighing on him.