# Lovecraft Country S01E08 "Jig-A-Bobo" OAD 10/04/2020



## markb

Official episode description:



> A distraught Diana finds herself in Captain Lancaster's crosshairs. When a visitor from his past arrives at the boarding house, Atticus and Leti each take steps to protect their future.


Diana gets stalked by creepy contemporary dancers!

Hippolyta is still not back. But apparently Tic went to the future and made it back.. with a copy of the book that the series is based on? (Except, not really, because this one was written by Tic's future son.)


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## trainman

This is even more of an anachronism than, say, playing Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" over people lining up for Emmett Till's funeral...










The Chicago Transit Authority didn't name its train lines by color until 1993... and the Pink Line was a later addition to the naming scheme, not introduced until 2006.

(More info: the "Loop" in downtown Chicago is considered a historic landmark, and as part of an agreement for getting maintenance and renovation funds in the 1980s, the CTA agreed that they'd restore one of the stations along the Loop to resemble its original appearance as much as possible, including old-timey-looking signage that doesn't look like what's used elsewhere on the 'L' system. They've kept that up over the years, so what's seen in this screenshot really is a modern-day sign. The platform scene was shot at this station as well, which is at Quincy and Wells streets.)


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## smbaker

trainman said:


> playing Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" over people lining up for Emmett Till's funeral...


I was just gonna say, I can't wait to hear @Steveknj's opinion on the appropriateness of Bananarama. 

I thought it was weird, and I really like Bananarama. "Venus" might have fit in for prior episodes though. They missed an opportunity!


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## astrohip

trainman said:


> This is even more of an anachronism than, say, playing Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" over people lining up for Emmett Till's funeral...


Which was once again the _perfect _song for that scene.


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## Mike Lang

Threads merged.


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## gchance

So Dee's friend "Bobo" was indeed Emmett Till.


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## Steveknj

smbaker said:


> I was just gonna say, I can't wait to hear @Steveknj's opinion on the appropriateness of Bananarama.
> 
> I thought it was weird, and I really like Bananarama. "Venus" might have fit in for prior episodes though. They missed an opportunity!





astrohip said:


> Which was once again the _perfect _song for that scene.


Whatever I say now is redundant, but, I will say this might have been the most egregious of all of them. First of all, yeah, the song was around 35 years later. Second, it's an upbeat song played over a funeral? Really? How was it "perfect"?

I guess it all fits into the theme in that the show is so weird and makes absolutely no sense, but it's really fun to watch.


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## astrohip

Steveknj said:


> I guess it all fits into the theme in that the show is so weird and makes absolutely no sense, but it's really fun to watch.


Finally, you get it.


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## smbaker

Steveknj said:


> Second, it's an upbeat song played over a funeral?


upbeat? It's literally titled "Cruel Summer" and is a song about loneliness.

I agree though that it seemed out of place. Bananarama doesn't really do bleak and lonely very well, and immediately hearing their voices I'm drawn into memories of all their music videos. Maybe they were intentionally trying to setup some contrast by picking a song by three young white women who usually sing upbeat dance music, but if they were, it was lost on me.



markb said:


> But apparently Tic went to the future and made it back.. with a copy of the book that the series is based on? (Except, not really, because this one was written by Tic's future son.)


He went to _a future_, but not necessarily _the future_. Hippolyta made a big deal about the many worlds hypothesis last episode, but Tic doesn't know or understand that. I would say Hippolyta's experience almost directly refutes Tic's interpretation. There's infinitely many outcomes were Tic dies, but also infinitely many outcomes where Tic lives (and even infinitely many outcomes where Hippolyta and George are adventuring around in an improbable-looking spacecraft).


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## Tony_T

astrohip said:


> Which was once again the _perfect _song for that scene.


_Hot summer streets
And the pavements are burning
I sit around
Trying to smile but
The air is so heavy and dry
Strange voices are saying
(What did they say?)
Things I can't understand
It's too close for comfort
This heat has got
Right out of hand

The city is crowded
My friends are away
And I'm on my own
It's too hot to handle
So I got to get up and go

You're always around
You found yourself
But now you're by yourself, waiting for me
I'm your self
I am the sun (leaving me)_​


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## Steveknj

smbaker said:


> upbeat? It's literally titled "Cruel Summer" and is a song about loneliness.
> 
> I agree though that it seemed out of place. Bananarama doesn't really do bleak and lonely very well, and immediately hearing their voices I'm drawn into memories of all their music videos. Maybe they were intentionally trying to setup some contrast by picking a song by three young white women who usually sing upbeat dance music, but if they were, it was lost on me.


It's an upbeat dance song. There's never been a dance song about something bad happening? Yeah, I didn't find it fitting at all. Again, hundreds of better choices here. Maybe they were able to get the rights to the song on the cheap?


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## mattyro7878

I watched every episode and I have no idea whats going on. Time travel, multiverse, shapeshifting, --all things I love to read and watch. The magic words and the book and the crazy white people? Tic is gonna be a Marvel superhero I read. Or DC maybe.


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## smbaker

mattyro7878 said:


> I watched every episode and I have no idea whats going on.


Actually for something that has "Lovecraft" in the title, the episodes seem to make a lot of sense to me and I feel like I have a pretty clear understanding of the basic story. I expected to be more bewildered and lost.

I do like how individual episodes sometimes have a theme all their own and even a genre that deviates from the primary.


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## cheesesteak

I let out a mental "Please, no!" when it looked like the episode was going to be Dee-centric. She's been a relatively uninteresting tertiary character so far and it seemed like a waste of opportunities to spend more time with the major characters and their plots. After watching the episode, I'm still 50-50 on how much the Dee plot points will affect the story in the long run but I have to admit, those two creepy ghost girls would have scared the living bejesus out of me too. It would have been fun seeing them in the Soul Train dance line, though.

I'd like to see how they explain all those dead mutilated cops.

I fast forwarded through the yucky shape shifting sex scene.

Christina's "murder" in the way that Emmett Till was killed was brutal to watch. I guess she wanted to "feel" after being berated by Ruby? I'm confused as to why she was laughing after resurrecting.

The height difference between Christina and Leti surprised me. I had no idea who Abbey Lee was until I just wikipedia'd her. Apparently, she's an Australian supermodel with some film acting credits.


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## Rob Helmerichs

cheesesteak said:


> The height difference between Christina and Leti surprised me. I had no idea who Abbey Lee was until I just wikipedia'd her. Apparently, she's an Australian supermodel with some film acting credits.


Most notably, Mad Max: Fury Road, a haven for beautiful, tall women.


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## Dawghows

smbaker said:


> Actually for something that has "Lovecraft" in the title, the episodes seem to make a lot of sense to me and I feel like I have a pretty clear understanding of the basic story. I expected to be more bewildered and lost.
> 
> I do like how individual episodes sometimes have a theme all their own and even a genre that deviates from the primary.


For me, the show --both individual episodes and as a whole-- somehow maintains its own internal logic, and I love watching it. At the same time, I'm not at all sure what the end goal is for any specific character or for the show overall. But I don't care very much. I'm enjoying the ride even though I don't quite know where we're going.


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## cheesesteak

Regarding this show's music choices, I assume there's going to be an accompanying soundtrack cd and that it would be expected to sell a lot more copies if some of the songs were more contemporary than from the 1950s era


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## astrohip

Dawghows said:


> I'm enjoying the ride even though I don't quite know where we're going.


Well said, this sums up the show in one sentence.


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## David Platt

I realize it's glaringly obvious, but I'm surprised I haven't seen a comment made yet that Diana draws comic books and her mother is Hippolyta. That had to be an intentional WW reference.


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## Fixer

cheesesteak said:


> Regarding this show's music choices, I assume there's going to be an accompanying soundtrack cd and that it would be expected to sell a lot more copies if some of the songs were more contemporary than from the 1950s era


I've read the complaints regarding the music and couldn't help but laugh a little. If folks are uppity about the music in this show, they would lose their mind if they watched Britannia. Set 2000 years ago, but the soundtrack is '60s psychedelic rock!


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## Steveknj

Fixer said:


> I've read the complaints regarding the music and couldn't help but laugh a little. If folks are uppity about the music in this show, they would lose their mind if they watched Britannia. Set 2000 years ago, but the soundtrack is '60s psychedelic rock!


Thanks for the warning. I will pass on that show.


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