# Lovecraft Country S01E03 "Holy Ghost" OAD 08/30/2020



## markb (Jul 24, 2002)

Here's the thread for this week. Untagged spoilers, for this episode and earlier episodes.

Official episode description:


> Hoping to mend her relationship with her sister Ruby, Leti turns a ramshackle Victorian on Chicago's North Side into a boarding house--an endeavor that stokes neighborhood racism and awakens dormant spirits stuck in the house. Meanwhile, Atticus remains burdened by a guilty conscience as George's wife Hippolyta presses him for the full story of what happened in Ardham.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

This show seems to be going in all sorts of directions. The pilot was awesome. Episode 2 was whiplash in plot movement, could've been stretched out for a season arc. I dont mind that they sped things up, but then episode 3 we're weeks at least in the future, far away from the on goings of the Cult of Adam. Back in normal racist Chicago suburbia, and now doing a haunted house episode. I'll stick with it, but my excitement has been diminished by the pacing.

I'm beginning to think this show will be like the X-Files, with a motw each episode, and long seasonal/series/mythology arc stuff sprinkled in, and our characters are just jerked along through it.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

robojerk said:


> This show seems to be going in all sorts of directions. The pilot was awesome. Episode 2 was whiplash in plot movement, could've been stretched out for a season arc. I dont mind that they sped things up, but then episode 3 we're weeks at least in the future, far away from the on goings of the Cult of Adam. Back in normal racist Chicago suburbia, and now doing a haunted house episode. I'll stick with it, but my excitement has been diminished by the pacing.
> 
> I'm beginning to think this show will be like the X-Files, with a motw each episode, and long seasonal/series/mythology arc stuff sprinkled in, and our characters are just jerked along through it.


Considering it's adapted from a novel (which I haven't read), I suspect that in the end it will all hang together more than it seems at the moment...

They did bring it back to the Cult of Adam, though.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

H.P. Lovecraft wrote a ton of short stories. I've read quite a few but they're probably a drop in the bucket compared to everything he wrote. Most of the stuff I read was centered around the Cthulu Mythos, but he wrote a lot of other stories and several were made into feature movies like The Shuttered Room and Re-Animator, among others. I have a feeling that the show revolves around a central group of characters and each episode is based on one of his short stories. Apparently he was also quite racist, which is clearly delineated in the show.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

This episode spectacularly proved wrong my belief that only white people investigate the spooky basement of their clearly haunted house especially when that house is yelling at them too get the bleep out of that house. Leti is an honorary Scooby Gang member.

I like this show's music.

I'm beginning to get the feeling that a Tic-Leti-Christina love triangle is inevitable. If so, I hope it's not as tedious as most tv show versions are.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

mr.unnatural said:


> H.P. Lovecraft wrote a ton of short stories. I've read quite a few but they're probably a drop in the bucket compared to everything he wrote. Most of the stuff I read was centered around the Cthulu Mythos, but he wrote a lot of other stories and several were made into feature movies like The Shuttered Room and Re-Animator, among others. I have a feeling that the show revolves around a central group of characters and each episode is based on one of his short stories. Apparently he was also quite racist, which is clearly delineated in the show.


The show is an adaptation of a novel by Matt Ruff.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I like the part about the racial tensions, not so much the ghosts and mythos. But I'll see where it goes.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

cheesesteak said:


> I'm beginning to get the feeling that a Tic-Leti-Christina love triangle is inevitable. If so, I hope it's not as tedious as most tv show versions are.


Considering how Tic's blood (well his blood line or DNA) was needed for the spell to work in e2, I think Christina won't ever "love" him, but rather just want him to cast stronger magic, and maybe strengthen her own blood line. </WINK>



Steveknj said:


> I like the part about the racial tensions, not so much the ghosts and mythos. But I'll see where it goes.


So far the racial tensions stuff is the strongest part of the show. As a standalone plot, the haunted house was good too, but I guess it was my bad to expect continuity of the mythos after all that happened in e2.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

robojerk said:


> So far the racial tensions stuff is the strongest part of the show. As a standalone plot, the haunted house was good too, but I guess it was my bad to expect continuity of the mythos after all that happened in e2.


I'm not a big horror fan, but from the previews this looked a bit different. That's why I gave this a look. It's the period piece / racial tensions part that really appeals to me and makes it an interesting story. Heck, if they completely took out all the ghost / undead stuff, it would still be a pretty interesting story.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Steveknj said:


> I'm not a big horror fan, but from the previews this looked a bit different. That's why I gave this a look. It's the period piece / racial tensions part that really appeals to me and makes it an interesting story. Heck, if they completely took out all the ghost / undead stuff, it would still be a pretty interesting story.


Matt Ruff is a pretty geeky writer. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if it turned out the genesis of this book was him loving Lovecraft as a kid, and then as an adult coming to terms with the kind of man Lovecraft turned out to be (i.e., horribly racist).


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## markb (Jul 24, 2002)

robojerk said:


> I'm beginning to think this show will be like the X-Files, with a motw each episode, and long seasonal/series/mythology arc stuff sprinkled in, and our characters are just jerked along through it.


It does feel like that, and I find it surprising that a novel would follow that format (if it indeed matches the novel).


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

markb said:


> It does feel like that, and I find it surprising that a novel would follow that format (if it indeed matches the novel).


I haven't read the book, but according to Wikipedia it has an interesting structure...and it is a structure.


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## markb (Jul 24, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I haven't read the book, but according to Wikipedia it has an interesting structure...and it is a structure.


You inspired me to look at the wikipedia page, which has broken the plot summary into stories, which makes it easy to read about just the parts that have already happened on the TV series.


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## gossamer88 (Jul 27, 2005)

In the words of the immortal Kramer...I'm out!


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The show is an adaptation of a novel by Matt Ruff.


I guess it would help if I actually stuck around to look at the credits once in a while.  Based on the title I had assumed the show was centered around the works of HP Lovecraft, but after looking at the wikipedia page I see that's not the case. I assume that the author was influenced by Lovecraft's work to have named the book after him. I was actually hoping it would have more of the Cthulu Mythos intermingled with it, but the season is still young so I suppose that's possible down the road.


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