NOS4A2 Season 1, Episode 3 recap: The wraith hunts the brat

Charlie Manx begins his hunt for Vic in the third episode of NOS4A2. But it will take the kidnapping of someone she cares about for Vic to take notice.

The plot begins to pick up in episode three of NOS4A2. Bing becomes a bigger part of Charlie’s plans and his actions directly lead to Vic finally taking the Manx threat seriously. By episode’s end, she is finally on the same page as Maggie and moving forward, we can assume we’ll see her accepting her fate and trying to hunt down the nefarious Charlie Manx.

RISD or bust

Vic is doing her darndest to get out of Haverville but her parents are not making it easy for her. Application aside, Vic needs to figure out a way to fund her education should she get in or there’s not much point in trying. Neither of her parents will part with their tax information because they’ve been getting paid under the table for years. This forces Vic to turn to Willa and her mother Angela for help. Angela has a contact at the RISD office and organizes a visit for the girls.

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They take a road trip to visit the school, Willa at Brown, Vic at RISD, and Willa’s two other friends – frat boy Drew and another guy. But once in the office in front of the student aid adviser, Vic finds out Angela has been telling this woman about her potentially abusive home life. This triggers a panic attack in Vic. She has flashes of Manx of looking for her before nearly getting hit by a car.

Drew saves her and they talk about their mutual hatred of their parents wishes for them. Drew’s are a little harder to empathize with since his problem is his parents want him to go to Cambridge whereas Vic’s mom doesn’t even want her going to college.

I do not care for this strange love triangle between Vic, Drew, and Craig. It is, without a doubt, the least interesting part of the show. I’d rather see Vic with Maggie (who is delightfully queer as declared by a scene in the library this week), but honestly, I don’t know why this series needs romance at all for Vic.

The wraith hunts the brat

When the Scrabble tiles are vibrating you know trouble is afoot. This time they warn Maggie that Manx is in town and he’s looking for Vic, or at least, the Strong Creative using the Shorter Way Bridge. Maggie, again, tries to convince Vic to take this seriously but she’s not there yet. Vic still in denial of her destiny.

Instead, Maggie tries to seek answers elsewhere. She visits an ailing woman named Jolene at a psychiatric hospital she volunteers at. In the episode’s opening, we watched Manx torment this same woman. She is a Strong Creative too, perhaps one who once tried to stop Manx herself. By communicating with her, Maggie realizes just how long Manx has been doing this and how truly dangerous he is.

The gas mask man

Who is the gas mask man? None other than Bing Partridge. The once lovable janitor has become a child-kidnapping right-hand man to Charlie Manx. It’s hard to feel sorry for Bing when he has willingly allowed himself to become complicit in a kidnapping ring. I’m sure he is naive enough to believe what he’s doing is right, but that doesn’t make it acceptable. It’s especially eerie to know how close he is to Vic. Right now, Bing is a tenuous thread between Vic and Manx.

And in this episode, the inevitable happens. Haley is kidnapped. Bing uses his gingerbread gas to knock out her mother and then take Haley while she sleeps. Just in time too, since Manx is looking particularly reprehensible. I guess his children moisturizer can only hold up for a few days or so.

Vic realizes Haley has been kidnapped after Maggie calls her in a panic about a new message containing the word “smitten.” In reality, the word is Mittens, and its the name of Haley’s cat who becomes an unwitting victim of Manx.

Well, Vic is officially in the game now and her promises of never using the bridge again are going out the window.

New episodes of NOS4A2 air Sunday nights on AMC. If you subscribe to AMC Premiere, you can binge the complete first season of NOS4A2 any time.