NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 10 Bats-Review And Recap-Will There Be A Season 3?
A successful finale of NOS4A2 Season 2 provided an end to Charlie Manx but so many possibilities for Season 3.
NOS4A2 Season 2 gave us new villains, new allies, and plenty of Charlie Manx’s backstory to fill in the details of this complex character. Using psychiatric concepts of abuse, PTSD, addiction, and self-loathing the world of Manx and Vic McQueen were brought to life from the pages of Joe Hill’s tremendous novel. Many questioned with a story as complete as Hill’s how could there possibly be material for Season 3. The first two seasons hinted at the possible options. Manx’s fascination with Strong Creatives was a prime example. Some of them, like the fantastic Paul Schneider’s portrayal of The Hourglass, gave us a window into the endless possibilities for new stories. NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 10 may be over, but NOS4A2 Season 3 found new life.
When last we saw Vic, Maggie, Wayne, and Charlie, they were all still in Christmasland, and all of them were injured. NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 10 picks up right where we left off and quickly resolves the Manx and Vic showdown. Maggie and Vic had both been stabbed, Wayne was still a vampire child, and Manx was aging fast due to his beloved inscape burning to the ground. Practically before the final note of the opening credits, Wayne and the rest of the children were rescued, and their ornaments destroyed, and Maggie and Vic squared off against Manx in her inscape the Shorter Way Bridge. The final battle was slightly anti-climatic, but for a series that was always more about exploring psychological pain than physical, it was appropriate.
Whether Manx likes it or not, Strong Creatives have rules they have to abide by. Their power comes with caveats and consequences. The maker of the inscape often has the upper hand, and in Vic’s case, that was true. With the help of Maggie, who gave Vic the confidence, she needed to persevere she succeeded in tossing Manx into the big static void. A month later, some teens found his remains and the Wraith in the river. He was cremated and the car destroyed, but, as in most trauma, that isn’t the end of it for Vic, Wayne, and Lou. It was an abrupt but cathartic end to the dapper villain with the killer car. Manx may be gone, but his impact will be felt forever.
Wayne and the rest of the rescued children are human again, but they have many of the same urges they had in Christmasland. They have anger issues and poor impulse control. Wayne isn’t eating and quickly lashes out. Lou may have saved them all from being monsters by realizing their ornaments were the key, but he can’t save their fragile minds as easily. It will take years for them to recover if they ever do fully. This emotional plot beat is absent from the book. It is a powerful statement on resilience and pain.
The novel focuses more on Vic and her parents. The series explores the children’s mental health, and it’s one of the more interesting aspects. This isn’t a fairy tale ending where everything goes back to normal when the bad guy is killed. There are scars inside and out, and they will take time to heal. NOS4A2 is all about trauma and redemption, especially as it pertains to children and parents.
Easily the best thing about NOS4A2 Season 2 was the intense highs and lows highlighted by the horror of Charlie Manx. By showing Manx’s backstory all season, we were able to see he was a monster partly because of his childhood, but also because he was wired that way. The children don’t have to revert to their vampiric ways, but it will require effort to help them. Just as Vic will always be a recovering alcoholic, they will still be recovering Christmasland survivors. I would hate to see what the holidays look like in their homes.
Vic uses drawing to cope, and Wayne appears cut from the same cloth. She is drawing robots to keep him safe while he is drawing pictures of Millie and Christmasland. Millie is lonely and desperate but unwilling to destroy her ornament and become mortal again. Fear rules her. She has been alive for too long without guidance, and she is too far gone. Even her mother’s ghost can’t reach her now. After Wayne has a bad dream and leaves the house he finds, Millie. She is struggling in the real world and promises to rebuild Christmasland. She asks him to help her, and he agrees. For both of them, the inscape is like a drug they can’t get enough of. As much as Millie wanted her father, she liked the allure of Christmasland more. She is poised to be just as dangerous, if not more so, than her father.
Lou, Vic, and Wayne promise to be honest even about the bad stuff in the hopes of healing each other. They will be staying with Vic’s mother, Linda(Virginia Kull), who gives another grounded performance this week. She is a mother who has made mistakes and has regrets but is trying to learn from them. A wise person doesn’t do everything right; they do things wrong but learn from the failure. Kull has shown humility and vulnerability in a relatable way that has allowed Vic and Manx’s more flamboyant behavior to remain believable as opposed to ridiculous fantasy.
There are plenty of new directions and places I would love to see in NOS4A2 Season 3. Parnassus the demon bar being high on that list. A new season could also bring a new lead protagonist. Jahkara Smith(Maggie) did get one Maggie-centric episode this season, but by and large, she was underused. As NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 10 ended, she was heading to the World of Thought. What she finds there or any of the endless number of inscapes she explores would make for great television.
Smith is an engaging actor who brings her own baggage and skills to the table. Vic appears to be hanging up her leather jacket and Triumph, but if Maggie needed her, she could come to her aid. Even if she didn’t, Smith could carry the series exploring a new inscape and Strong Creative each week. There is also the pesky issue of Millie, who is eating her way across the country in search of her amusement park and kids to fill it.
AMC hasn’t declared one way or another if NOS4A2 will get a Season 3. Showrunner Jami O’Brien is confident there is room for new stories. I tend to agree. Ratings haven’t been great for the script to screen show in Season 2, though. They have gotten a modest bump from BBC America but not as much as they got last season. The ongoing pandemic has wreaked havoc with streamers and cable channels, all vying for consumer’s dollars in addition to hamstringing production schedules. Likely we should hear in the next couple of months. Catch up on all our NOS4A2 coverage here why we wait for news on a Season 3 pick up.
As the Managing Editor for Signal Horizon, I love watching and writing about genre entertainment. I grew up with old-school slashers, but my real passion is television and all things weird and ambiguous. My work can be found here and Travel Weird, where I am the Editor in Chief.