[7.3/10] I like the fact that after a raft of character stories for each of the kids, we get to do one for Papa Crain here. After six episodes, his path feels the most mysterious of anyone’s here, so it’s nice to get a deeper look at his character and what things looked like from his perspective.
I also appreciate that this one picks a theme and sticks with it. That’s been the show’s M.O. since episode 2, and while that makes things a little simple at times, it also keeps a focus to the episodes, where most, if not all scenes, are built around that theme in a way that gives them more purpose as a whole.
Here, the theme is that Papa Crain likes to fix things on his own -- whether it’s the Hill House, his relationship with his kids, or the police investigation into what happened with his wife -- whether he really should or not. I still don’t know quite what to make of Hugh. On the one hand, you get the impression that maybe he fell on a grenade to protect his kids, to protect them from a harsh truth, even if it meant that they would hate him for it, because he thought the alternative was worse. On the other hand, there’s clearly a lot of bad blood between him and his children, and his awkward interaction with the oft-mentioned, never-before seen Aunt Janet (whom I suspect has more involvement in the story than we’ve been led to believe thus far), suggests that there’s some legitimate grievances there too.
I’m also shocked at how much I don’t mind the show’s mystery box approach here, which is normally a real turnoff for me with a T.V. show. I think the answer for why this one works and why the others don’t is two-fold. For one thing, the show actually gives us pieces of the puzzle toward what happened at Hill House rather than just spinning its wheels until the big reveal. We get more and more of the picture sprinkled throughout other stories, to where while there’s still a lot to unveil, you feel like you’re moving closer. Second, there’s two big mysteries to the show: what happened to Olivia and what happened to Nell, and the show answered the latter one at the halfway mark, which makes it feel less like it’s stringing you along.
It also helps that even when the show is pushing the throttle in terms of plot, it lets you get to know the characters. I like the idea of Olivia as Hugh’s Obi Wan or Jiminy Cricket. My impression is that she isn’t a ghost or a spirit, but rather, as Hugh mentions, a coping mechanism for Hugh, the part of him that represents his regrets and his worries and maybe even his better self that he can’t push away. I like the interplay between conscience-Olivia’s encouragements and Hugh’s stuttering and shaky interactions with the kids he wants to love.
Again, the scary stuff doesn't really do it for me (with more characters who seem like actual ghosts, to the extent there are actual ghosts here and this isn’t all just creeping mental illness), but I like the family tragedy idea the show is exploring.
Overall, nothing that felt like blockbuster moment or performance in this one, but a lot of nice little moments built around a comprehensible theme that helps fill in another piece of the character puzzle.
