On Revival Episode 3 "Reality Check" things are getting messy in Wausau and I'm absolutely loving it, this series just keeps on giving and nothing really feels forced or push out of the way, because everyone in this damn town is finally starting to realize that the whole revival situation isn't going away anytime soon and the way people are handling it is both impressive and completely terrifying at the same time, such a bizarre situation and everyone is dealing with it on their own way. Dana is still trying to figure out what happened to her sister Em but now she got to deal with some seriously sketchy drug dealers who might have killed her and honestly the whole thing is giving me major small town corruption vibes that I absolutely like very much as it adds a lets say subplot because I'm not sure if the entire drug dealer thing is going to end here. The episode opens with Dana talking to Em's roommate Kay, who is basically telling this wild story about how Em supposedly stole drugs from the Check family, which sounds like complete bullshit to me but I was still wondering how she got so many pills? but Dana is desperate for answers so she is listening to every word. Kay's story involves them going to Dorothy's house (Check Family) to buy drugs disguised as art lovers, which is actually pretty clever consider Dorothy has this weird art love for chickens but then Em apparently went upstairs and just decided to rob them blind which doesn't sound like something someone with her mental health would do. The whole thing feels off, especially since Kay was the one providing Em with drugs in the first place so why would Em need to steal more, it just doesn't add up and I think Dana's starting to see through the lies too, there is something else missing and I love how the series is not desperate to tell.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13951052/
- Platform: Peacock
There is still Ibrahim trying to figure out the scientific side of things and in my opinion Andy McQueen is really bringing something special to this character, he shows how much he cares about these revivers as people instead of just treating them like lab rats. When Ibrahim gets the toxicology reports back on Arlene, he finds mercury in her system, which leads him to believe that Bob Dipman was poisoning his own mother in law and honestly that makes so much more sense than her just going crazy because she came back from the dead. The whole scene at the Dipman house is tense as hell, especially when Ibrahim finds those chains and medicine bottles in Arlene's room and Bob pulling a gun on him just confirms that this guy was definitley up to no good. It's actually pretty messed up, again small town weird stuff, Bob was so jealous of his wife taking care of her sick mother that he decided to poison the old woman and when she came back as a reviver her brain was already damaged from the mercury so she acted violent, that could be one believable theory. This whole revelation really changes how we see Arlene, she wasn't some mindless zombie, she was a victim of abuse who came back wrong because of what was done to her while she was alive, and that's actually pretty heartbreaking when you really think about it.
The relationship between Em and Rodie continues to be one of my favorite parts of the show, these two actors have such great chemistry and their scenes together feel so real and sweet. Rodie's whole punk rock aesthetic is perfect and the way he performs by cutting himself open during shows is both gross and fascinating like this guy has found a way to turn his condition into art which is pretty cool, although a bit extremist but their town is already weird enough for that to be a normal thing I guess. When Em tells him about how she has never really lived fully because of her medical condition, it hits different because you realize that dying actually freed her from a life of being treated like she was made of glass and now she can finally experience things like concerts and jumping off bridges without worrying about breaking every bone in her body. The whole avocado story that Rodie tells about his death is probably bullshit but it's sweet that he is trying to make Em feel better about her situation by sharing something embarrassing about himself, rizz. Their conversation about how Em couldn't have jumped off the bridge because she doesn't have broken bones is a crucial moment like something click, there is not much context of how revivers work but I did remember that moment how there was a guy missing an eye on the scene all revivers come from the death because it confirms that someone definitely murdered her and the fact that she remembers seeing Blaine right before she died might not be a coincidence at all, that guy is very fishy.
Speaking of Blaine, Steven Ogg is absolutely killing it as this creepy preacher guy who seems to know way too much about what is going on with the revivers and his whole holy war speech at the end gives me serious cult leader vibes that I'm both excited and worry about Em and Dana, but who knows if this is just cult behavior and he doesnt really know shit. The funeral scene is probably the most intense moment of the entire episode, watching Arlene show up covered in blood and snap Bob's neck like it was nothing before crawling onto her daughter's body was horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time, I found weird she pull a move like that on Bob instead of probably ripping him apart of bite him, I was not expecting a black ops neck breaking move. Blaine showing up with gasoline and setting her on fire while spouting religious nonsense was the perfect way to setup him as a major threat, especially since the sheriff just lets it happen because he is so desperate to deal with the reviver problem besides he did shot Arlene like five times and did nothing on her. The fact that Arlene is still healing even after being burnt to a crisp just shows how hard these things are to actually kill, which makes Blaine's whole holy war thing even more dangerous because regular people are going to get caught in the crossfire. The governor showing up and basically authorizing internment camps for revivers is exactly the kind of fascist bullshit you'd expect in this situation and her whole shark week comment about tagging them is both hilarious and deeply cringe, her bodyguards also look cheap, you cant tell Revivals is not a high end production.
Dana's investigation into the Check family leads to some great action sequences, especially the concert scene where she has to arrest Adam Check while Em and Rodie are trying to enjoy themselves and the whole thing just shows how these two sisters keep missing each other by minutes. The phone call with Anthony Check is interesting because that voice definitley sounds familiar and I love how Dana manipulates the situation to get information while also protecting her family from retaliation. The fact that the Check brothers had no idea Em was Dana's sister until that moment really puts Kay's whole story in a weird spot about them being the ones who killed her so is full of bs?, which just confirms that the roommate is lying about something important. Ibrahim's discovery about the contaminated creek water at the end suggests that whatever caused revival day might be spreading, which could mean more dead people coming back and even more chaos for this already overwhelmed town or even appear in other parts of the country, thats just me speculating but I doubt the series might open country wide. This episode does such a good job at keep building up that tense situation with revivers and now between Dana and the Check brothers while also going deep into the character relationships and I'm really impressed with how the show is balancing all these different storylines without anything feeling rushed or underdeveloped, it's definitley becoming a must watch for me.
#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #revival, #episode, #recap, #zombie, #drama, #horror, #murder, #mystery, #family, #sister, #investigation, #drugs, #poison, #preacher, #cult, #town, #supernatural, #death, #violence, #corruption, #government, #quarantine, #punk, #romance