[Wreck Review with Joe Lipsett] "Finding Nemo" Drops Danny like Dead Weight

Joe and Terry discuss Hulu’s cruise ship slasher series Wreck, alternating between our respective sites. 

Spoilers for episode 2 “Finding Nemo”

Episode 1.02: After shocking news concerning a chief suspect, Jamie and new friend Vivian work together to discover the identity of an officer onboard who was connected to his sister.

JOE

Alright Terry, it’s episode two of Wreck and while we don’t have a new murder to contend with, we do have plenty of suspects, secrets and 9 inch dicks to contend with!

First up: RIP Danny (Jack Rowan), who is well and truly dead. The body is unceremoniously dumped in the ball pool with a used condom (my soul died a little hearing Harriet Webb’s Karen refer to this as a “hot sloppy”), and is discovered by Lauren (Amber Grappy) who I thought for sure was going to be victim #2.

But no, the closest we come to another death is Sophia (Alice Nokes), who is targeted throughout the episode as the truth about her drug dealing comes to light. We now know that she, the Amys (Melissa and Merih Dilber), hysterical gay Hamish (James Phoon) and musically inclined airhead Bethany-May (Ali Hardiman), were dealing molly and poppers to both the guests and the crew.

The power hierarchy aboard the cruise ship is also starting to come into focus as we learn about not only who is on top, but who is on the bottom. The former consists of the Officers, including hottie Sam Rhodes (Louis Boyer) as well as Officer Beaker (Warren James Dunning), who is already too shifty to be anything other than a red herring. 

On the bottom are folks like the kitchen staff, whom Olly (Anthony Rickman) pisses off because he talks to Jamie (Oscar Kennedy) and Vivian (Thaddea Graham). We also learn that there are “Mafias” - ie: like minded groups organized by ethnicity, such as the “Filipinos.”

“Finding Nemo” definitely feels like it’s playing into and even mocking “white fright,” which is to say that dark skinned people are scary and threatening. Creator Ryan J. Brown makes this explicit when Jamie and Vivian venture into the bowels of the ship in search of The Baby (Francis Flores), the Sacramentum’s 300 lbs tattooist who is initially large and intimidating…until you learn he can be swayed by an appreciation for tattoos of sea creatures and DVDs of Garfield: A Tale of 2 Kitties.

It’s very silly, but that’s on par for the show, which leans into patently dumb humour such as when Vivian covers for their investigation by explaining to Karen that Jamie “calls everyone a she…because he’s a homosexual” and he yells to a clearly befuddled Olly “Hey girl!”

These moments are ridiculous and if the whole show was exclusively composed of this kind of humour, it would likely be a bit unbearable. That’s why the anchoring narrative device involving Jamie’s guilt over Pippa (Jodie Tyack)’s disappearance works so well for me. We need to see the flashback scenes that open the episode because it establishes why this hunt is so important to Jamie, while also ensuring that Pippa is a proper character and not just another dead or missing white girl.

But Terry, perhaps this is a good place to turn it over to you. Walk me through your thoughts on the queerness here - from Vivian’s new tattoo to the innuendo between Beaker and Cormac (Peter Claffey) over “basketball” to the literal sparks-flying kiss between Jamie and Olly. Oh, and what did you think of the episode-ending reveal that Olly is the one threatening Sophia? That definitely confirms he’s not Duckie, right?

TERRY

Last week, Joe, we were contemplating (and kind of fearing) that the slasher parts of the show was because of drugs. And while we can’t completely rule that out, “Finding Nemo” certainly suggests there’s at least two threats aboard the Sacramentum. 

Logically, it is possible that the killer might don different gear in the real world, but with slasher logic Duckie is Duckie while Man in Black is Olly. Duckie has killed two people in the Duckie uniform so I can’t imagine Wreck would break narrative conventions. 

What this reveal does do, though, is add a layer of dramatic irony to Jamie’s plight. While we know that the two probably aren’t connected, Jamie discovering the black-clad man means that Sophia’s group and his group will each think the Man in Black is the one behind the killings. They’ll be digging further into the drug situation, not knowing that there’s an actual slasher villain hiding on the ship. 

The sexual tension was high this episode, too, from the explosive kiss you mentioned to Vivian catching another woman’s eye in the bar to Sophia’s kink about sweaty men to the equally drippy tension between Beaker and Cormac. Given that there’s only six episodes, it makes sense that Wreck would just cut through the foreplay and dive right into Jamie and Olly’s budding desires. It’s nice to see a show just completely embrace queer desire from the very beginning. 

I can almost see their rom-com relationship trajectory this season. They’ll get closer to each other and then the rom-com misunderstanding will be that while Olly did chase after Sophia with a knife, Jamie will believe he’s the killer. Maybe he’ll run from Olly and directly into the real killer. But that’s most definitely a few episodes away.

The most intriguing tension was between Cormac and Beaker for me. Cormac just comes across as a very sexual person, but the fire burning from Beaker when he finds Cormac in his boxers (these men always lounge around in their boxers!) was a surprise. I’m curious to see what they get up to at these basketball games. After Cormac commented appreciatively at the 9”er, calling it an “ankle slapper”, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one to discover who the large appendage belongs to. 

The other quietly simmering story is the one surrounding Lauren, her fiance (I think?) and Jerome (Diego Andres), the horny guy with the single room. At the initiation party during episode 1, there’s a brief shot of her snogging Jerome the same day that she was declaring her love for her lover back home (who gave her a mood ring as an engagement ring?!). In “Finding Nemo” she’s been terrorized by seeing Danny’s body plummet into the pool in front of her and we don’t see much of her the rest of the episode. Except for a moment when she tries to call <3 Daronte <3 and isn’t able to get through. Is this guilt? Is it because she’s terrified? I want to know more about her and her situation! 

I do want to briefly go back to Cormac’s run-in with Beaker because of what precipitated the encounter: Cormac hearing Rosie (Miya Ocego) in the hallway. Ever the horny, lost puppy, Jerome chases her down the hall, asking the Cher impersonator whether she believes in life after love or not. Her response is interesting. “No. It was hell and once you’ve been to hell, life isn’t the same. Just a slow march towards death.” This incredibly melodramatic line could just be about a girl with a broken heart who’s still not over a relationship…or it could be a hint that Cormac isn’t the best dude. I still think he’s a suspect and this could either be more red herring clues…or actual clues. 

But over to you, Joe. I am curious how you read the interaction between the hyper masculine Beaker and Cormac? Is series creator Ryan J. Brown setting up an inversion of testosterone-filled manly men? The show has introduced a number of side characters…is there one you hope the show will spend more time with? Whose “9” knocker” do you think the tattoo belongs to? Does it belong to your suspect from last week, Sam Rhodes?

JOE

The Officers definitely seem to be at the top of the pecking order, so it would make sense for them to not only be the ones running the ship’s drug cartel, but also getting up to other nefarious activities. Or Wreck (more likely) could be distracting us with all of this drug stuff, which might be revealed not to be important at all.

With that said, given the run-in between Beaker and Cormac, I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn that Beaker is the owner of that particularly large appendage. While their run-in anticipates awkward sexy scenes in the future, I still think Beaker is too mustache-twirly to be anything other than a closet homo. 

I’m calling this bluff: he’s a narrative distraction for sure!

I’ll confess that I’m intrigued by your read of Cormac, though. He definitely comes across like a lighthearted dumb jock - from his inability to wear pants to his aw shucks interactions with Jamie and Vivian. I couldn’t quite pin down whether he was threatened, scared or intrigued by Beaker’s obvious sexual interest in him. 

And while I can see the show milking the sexual tension between them for a recurring gag, I’m not entirely convinced it’ll turn into something more. Do you even think Cormac will follow-through on the basketball “date,” Terry? I read Cormac’s response as a fight or flight response; he said whatever he needed to in order to get out of there.

Finally: I’m glad you’re into Lauren because I’m a huge fan of Amber Grappy after watching her steal scenes in HBO’s The Baby last year. She’s a formidable actor - she can sell the drama just as easily as the comedy, so I, too, hope we get more of her. While I’m not entirely sold on her adultery storyline, I’ve got big hopes for the character.

Take us home: are you revising your suspect list? (Officer Hottie is still atop mine). Why is Olly stalking Sophia? Does the episode hurt from a lack of Duckie? And would you belittle a bartender if you ordered a “Fire in the Hole” and it didn’t have smoke?

TERRY

Oof that last one is a problematic thing for me. Would I be upset that I didn’t get a smoking drink when it’s probably overpriced and watered down? Yes, I would be disappointed. Would I belittle the bartender? Absolutely not (though I’d hope that they’d inform you that they were out of the smoke since that seems to be the reason to order it). Regardless…still not the bartender’s fault. 

I am still sticking with Cormac as the potential killer…at least for now. No one else makes complete sense, unless there’s multiple killers wearing that big ol’ Duck suit. I think the officers are too involved with their drug cartel to suit up, particularly because I believe, per the ranking structure in the ship, that they are using Olly to do their dirty work. Why would they get involved directly, when they can pawn it off? Besides direct threats, such as when Beaker suggests to Sophia that they could just drop her off in some, to quote him, “shithole country”, seem more their style. Particularly since it’s established they’re all ex-military. 

Finally, yes. More Duckie, Wreck! He’s the one. 

I can’t wait to see where we go next when we head back to QueerHorrorMovies for episode 3!