Each week Joe (@bstolemyremote) and Terry (@gaylydreadful) discuss the most recent episode of HBO’s The Outsider, alternating between our respective sites -- queerhorrormovies.com and gaylydreadful.com.

Episode 1.03: “Dark Uncle” — Despite being on mandatory leave, Ralph continues to scrutinize the circumstances surrounding the night of the murder; Jack has a hair-raising experience at a remote barn where key evidence and a mysterious substance have been found.

TERRY

Here we are, Joe, on episode 3 and shit’s getting weird. Last episode ended with a peculiar scene in a barn where a farmer dude (that’s their professional name, by the way) discovers trousers, socks, shirts and a very familiar belt buckle. All of it encrusted in something that looks like semen. So it only makes sense that “Dark Uncle” begins with CSI: Goo as the police, led by Yunis Sablo (Yul Vazquez) examine a scene that looks like a rural bukakke gone wrong. Of course it’s something more insidious and as they bag up a sock that’s so encrusted in the not-cum, it breaks in half.

Meanwhile, the unruly Jack Hoskins (Marc Menchaca) is getting drunk instead of helping with the not-cum rag. By the time he actually does show up, it’s night and he’s alone. Well, not completely alone. We get a jump scare of the Hood Dude who’s shown up in a variety of places in the previous two episodes. Jack freaks when he illuminates him with his flashlight before disappearing again. And while we don’t see Hood Dude reappear, Jack can feel his presence behind him. Something lashes out and marks Jack, sending him to his knees in agony as the camera shows he’s alone in the bar.

And that’s all before we even get the title card.

Jack becomes a slightly bigger character in this episode and he seems to fall into the Stephen King category of the Human Accomplice. A common King trope is to introduce a side villain, someone who’s consumed by evil but is also flesh and bone; a mortal foil to the characters. Most recently, we saw this in It: Chapters 1 and 2 in the form of Henry Bowers. The characters are usually alcoholics or have a tendency towards some kind of addiction and they’re assholes who get progressively more asshole-y and detached from reality through the narrative. Jack ticks all those boxes and the episode leans into it in the finale, as the last shot we get is of Jack, painfully moaning, “Whatever you need me to do...whatever you need me to do…” to an empty room.

While Jack slowly deteriorates, we get more of the police procedural. Sablo brings all the information to Ralph (Ben Mendelsohn), who’s still working the case even though he’s on administrative leave. The story Sablo brings with him further complicates the mystery of who killed little Ralphie. The belt buckle discovered in the barn matches the one caught on surveillance cameras when Terry (Jason Bateman) was loitering at the train station. The fingerprints match his. But the odd thing is that some are well defined while others are faint lines and whirls, almost entirely broken up, suggesting the fingerprints of an 80 or 90 year old. So between the fingerprints in the van and on the buckle, the police have a young Terry and an ancient Terry.

What follows is a lot of very short crisscrossing scenes as “Dark Uncle” introduces more characters to our already full story, but doesn’t give us a lot of time to spend with them. We get scenes of a man in prison, arrested for killing kids who is preparing his shank made from a popped out glass lens. We get another criminal, new to the cell block who keeps eyeing the “child killer” with malicious intent. We get scenes of Jack dealing with the very nasty mark on his neck that painfully flares up occasionally. And we finally get Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo).

Holly Gibney is a returning Stephen King character who’s become a bit of a fan favorite over the last few books. She was introduced in Mr. Mercedes (and played by Justine Lupe in the Audience Network adaptation) and its two sequels Finders Keepers and End of Watch and she’s one of the more fascinating characters Stephen King has created in recent years.

But over to you, Joe. Were you happy to see Erivo finally show up? What did you think of this episode as a whole? Holly brings up the idea of the doppelgänger and brings up the possibility of a supernatural being...do you think her initial assessment holds water or are you with Ralph “No tolerance for the unexplainable” Anderson? And what about the “inky” man Jessa Maitland keeps seeing in her dreams?

Cynthia Erivo. photo_ Bob Mahoney_HBO_0.jpg

JOE

I don’t know that we mentioned it last week, but I appreciate the confidence of the storytelling in The Outsider. This is unabashedly a series that refuses to hold viewers by the hand, which requires a (frankly) unprecedented amount of attention compared to the vast majority of what is currently being offered on TV. It’s refreshing, and also occasionally daunting to try to keep all of these pieces sorted as you watch, particularly as a Non-Constant (King) Reader.

Like last week, “Dark Uncle” includes several scenes that don’t appear to have any relationship to the main action until near the end. Obviously the amount of time that is spent on the mysterious black inmmate will be paid off, but he’s given a surprising amount of screen time for a character who barely speaks and then commits suicide. Still, the brief connection to the A plot (established by Holly’s Internet search), tantalizingly suggests to me that Terry may not have been the first wrongfully accused man. As viewers we are clearly meant to connect this man’s treatment to the way that Terry was threatened by other inmates at the end of the first episode; this is the fate that awaits child killers.

This is a very specific example of how tightly plotted The Outsider is and one of my greatest joys as someone who’s notes most frequently read “WHAT IS GOING ON?!” It’s pleasurable, but it’s not easy!

Circling back to your question about Erivo’s arrival, the answer is without question a resounding “yes”. I mentioned last week that I find the show both dark and quiet (literally), but it’s also a very masculine, white and somber show. Erivo - and Holly - is not only introducing some much needed race and gender diversity into the mix, the character is completely…”unique” (as several folks describe her). It’s completely understandable why Holly has become a beloved figure in the King canon; she’s a freaking breath of fresh hour and Erivo (who just last week was nominated for a friggin’ Oscar) is superb in the role right from the outset. I love the staccato rhythm that Erivo uses for line readings and how much meaning she packs into a sentence like “Sometimes I just need to hear the voice of someone who is on my side.” It could have come off as ridiculous or trite, but instead it has such a vulnerability to it. Oh, my heart, Terry!

With all of this said, I’m still mostly lost as to what is going on. The mysterious old fingerprints, the semen-y fluid and Jessa’s description of the changing form of the mysterious man visiting her in the night suggests that Holly’s feeling about a doppelganger is spot on. Whether we’re dealing with a serial killer who sets out to ruin random men’s lives is uncertain (why? To what effect?) And if that is the case, why bother hanging around to deliver vaguely threatening messages to Ralph via the daughter of the man that was framed? Part of me loves that the scope of this story, desperately threading across multiple states and incorporating dozens of people, is, at its heart, small potatoes.

There’s a lot of good here, particularly in the show’s willingness to simply let scenes breathe. I was especially pleased to see the scenes between Glory and Jeannie (Mare Winningham), which, in any other program, would have been cut for pacing, but instead here provide a real sense of weight and camaraderie. It actually makes me more frustrated with Jack’s storyline, if only because King’s reliance on human accomplices has increasingly smacked of a narrative crutch. Is the weird rash on his neck a compelling visual? Sure, but I fear that there’s very little surprising or innovative in what lies ahead for the character because we’ve seen this play out in so many other King adaptations.

Terry, I’ll kick it back to you: what are your feelings about Holly (and, if you watched Mr. Mercedes or read the books, how does Erivo compare)? Considering our experience reviewing Servant, do you still appreciate The Outsider’s tendency to use slow zooms to create moody atmosphere? And how do you feel about some of the slower, more character-based scenes, such as Ralph’s therapy visits, that the series is making room for amidst the mysteries?

TERRY

Joe, the biggest question mark for me going into this series was how Holly would come across. Not that I had any concern about Erivo’s performance, far from it! And what perfect timing for her Oscar nomination! But when I first “read” The Outsider, it was through an audiobook. The narrator was Will Patton who is an incredible narrator and actor but delivered her lines in a very monotone, odd-sounding cadence that I guess was trying to be staccato but ruined her character for me. Holly is a very unique character who has a particular way of interacting with the world and I didn’t know how well that would translate to screen, particularly when I had just heard a butchering of it in audio form.

Obviously I went in with a ton of trepidation, but Erivo’s performance is fantastic and has quickly become the only way that I can see her character. When I eventually go back to read Books 2 and 3 of the Mr. Mercedes series, I will be picturing Erivo. I also have not seen the Audience series because, until very, very recently, their shows have not been available to purchase (in the U.S. at least) and the channel belongs strictly to DIRECTV. But, after this, I don’t know if I can divorce this character from her performance.

I wanted to echo something you said, too: this show is very masculine so the writers’ decision to have scenes focused on the female characters works really well for me. Some of the early interactions in King’s novel felt a bit shoehorned in. It felt as if he knew there was a lack of women and so he tried to smash the wives in the story, but it felt inauthentic (in the first half, at least). The HBO version seems to *mostly* smooth over those wrinkles and I absolutely enjoyed the scene with Jeannie and Glory where Jeannie was just coming in to check on her. Ditto the earlier scene where Glory allows Jeannie to talk with Jessa.

But what about you, Joe? Do you appreciate the measured pacing? Part of my joy reading the novel was asking the questions you’re asking, so I’m curious about how you feel the mystery is handled here? With the mysteries a bit condensed and streamlined, it’s coming off a bit different from my experience, but as someone coming in cold, is it working for you?

Ben Mendelsohn, Yul Vazquez. photo_ Bob Mahoney_HBO_0.jpg

JOE

Good question...I’ll confess that I’m cheating a little because I’ve seen review headlines floating around the internet from critics who have watched all six of the screeners and everyone seems very positive on the series. So with that in mind, I’m cutting the slower pace of the series and its staunch refusal to really answer anything a little bit of slack. Thus far I’ve always been intrigued enough that I want to immediately start the next episode (echoes of our experiences covering Servant), so I think that’s a good sign.

Still, if the first two episodes played like a one-two punch, this third episode definitely feels like Richard Price easing his foot off the accelerator a little. As I said, I appreciate the quieter character moments, but I do hope that the series doesn’t stretch out its mysteries just for the sake of it; unlike Servant where I was willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt, I am (I think rightfully) a little more worried about how well a King story will come together in the end.

Three episodes in and I still don’t feel any closer to having a handle on what’s happening, or even where people will begin connecting. As we inch towards the mid-way point of the season next week, my one hope: Holly Gibney and Ralph take center stage. Oh, and someone finally notices Hood Dude.

Next week: we’re back at QueerHorrorMovies for episode four, “Que Viene el Coco.”