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S2E5 — "Lullaby"

Air date: May 21, 2023 · Director: Jack Bender · Writers: John Griffin & Vivian Lee

Synopsis

Word of Sara Myers's return spreads through town, and Sara must face the music. Jim Matthews and Tabitha Matthews confront Boyd Stevens at the church, demanding she be put in the Box; Boyd argues that she knows things that could help them. When Ethan Matthews insists on seeing her himself, Jim takes him, and Ethan tells Sara she is a monster and he is not afraid of her. Sara's old house is now home to newcomers Reggie and Paula, who confiscate the ceramic ornament she came to retrieve. At the diner, Tian-Chen Liu delivers her belongings with cold fury, and Kenny Liu smashes the ornament before her eyes, warning her to stay away from his mother.

Jade Herrera, haunted by visions of the man in Victor's photograph, strikes an unlikely bargain with Victor Kavanaugh: Victor will share what he knows if Jade plays the violin for him. In the car graveyard, Victor plays "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" — the song his mother used to calm him during the screams — and finally reveals that the man in the photo was named Christopher, that Christopher began seeing the symbol and stopped smiling, and that one night Victor's mother told him to hide; when he woke, everyone was dead. "There are bad things in this place that make people do bad things," he tells Jade.

In the forest, Tabitha assembles Ethan's block puzzle at the mouth of the caves, and the ghoulish children emerge, surrounding her and chanting "anghkooey" until her nose bleeds. Kristi Miller and Marielle Sinclair take a step forward, sharing a kiss — while Marielle secretly sips morphine from the clinic's cabinet. Tillie entrusts Kristi with her liquid morphine, revealing she has terminal cancer.

Key Events

  • Boyd defends Sara to Jim and Tabitha, arguing she is their best link to understanding the town; Tabitha orders Sara to stay away from her family.
  • Ethan insists on confronting Sara himself and tells her she is a monster; Sara watches them leave.
  • Sara is refused entry to her old home by Reggie and Paula; Kenny smashes her ceramic Christmas ornament and threatens to drag her to the Box himself.
  • Jade and Victor strike a bargain: the violin in exchange for answers; Victor plays "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in the car graveyard.
  • Victor reveals the man in the photograph was Christopher, who saw the symbol, changed, and was followed by the massacre that left Victor alone.
  • Kristi and Marielle reconcile over the Gerhardt Trucking t-shirt Marielle has carried since Kristi vanished.
  • Tillie gives Kristi her liquid morphine for safekeeping and admits she has cancer.
  • Sara tells Elgin she killed her brother; he leaves shaken.
  • Tabitha lures the ghoulish children out with the block puzzle; they chant "anghkooey," touch her, and vanish — leaving her nose bleeding and Jade seeing nothing.
  • Jim tells Boyd about the radio voice that knew his name and warns of observers, citing experiments dating back to World War II; he proposes they work together.
  • Boyd's worms surface again in the diner as the jukebox plays Roy Orbison's "In Dreams."

Characters

New Information / Reveals

  • Christopher — the man in the photograph — saw the symbol and changed, and the massacre that orphaned Victor followed; Victor was hidden by his mother and woke to find everyone dead.
  • Victor's warning: "There are bad things in this place that make people do bad things."
  • The ghoulish children speak — "anghkooey" — and only Tabitha can see them.
  • Tillie is terminally ill with cancer.
  • Marielle is actively using the clinic's morphine, and Kristi is unaware of the extent of her relapse.
  • Jim lays out his theory of the town as an experiment, with observers who "watch" and manipulate.

Locations

Deaths

  • None.

Lore & Mysteries