Lodge 49 Review: The Slide (Season 2 Episode 2)

The power of emotion grows strong on Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 2, “The Slide,” as Liz, Dud, and Ernie all find themselves down paths that are like a cycle.

It’s something Lodge 49 does so well: everyone is spinning their wheels, never really making much progress, and that’s completely okay. It’s about the attempts, the desire to do better even when things are looking down, and finding those who can help make it all less hard to face. 

The episode isn’t as heady as other episodes, because it’s about feeling. Dud even says so, as he explains to Liz what he feels earlier on the episode as he cleaned a pool. It’s about trying to capture a feeling on “The Slide,” something that is lost and is in need of returning for all of these lost people.

Trying to recapture something lost is a deep human emotion, wanting to go back to the good times becoming a fruitless chase of nostalgia and disappointment. Ernie’s search for those better days become more hazy as his life after El Confidente falls apart around him. It’s the need for Connie to be in his life, and the need to progress in his job, all coming up empty and revealing what’s truly important.

It’s about having people around you who care, who can help lift you up when times are down. Dud is that touchstone in every character’s life, surprisingly, being the rock for both Ernie and Liz when they need it; and Liz returns the favor when it comes time for Dud at the end of the episode.

Liz’s downward spiral appears to be a personal goal, which is certainly a choice. It’s in line with her thought process during the first season, where the fear of change takes on the form of self-destruction of the highest order. She’s punishing herself for not having a future, when all she needs is to find her place. I still think that place will be the lodge, but that still remains to be seen.

Let’s just hope her use of the “doctor’s” gold card doesn’t come back to haunt her.

Daphne’s law provider status becomes less convincing as it continues, as her deep interest in the lodge and Larry make for her being either a spy or even Larry’s long-lost daughter. Dud’s casual ignorance to the fact she wishes to interview everyone at the lodge should be sending off alarm bells, but he’s far too trusting.

The big climax in the strip mall parking lot is one of the most exciting and fluidly directed on Lodge 49. From a story perspective, the Dudley pool shop is now up for grabs and the Booie threat is thwarted, and Liz finds a win for herself. Plus it has Dud playing possum in order to avoid getting run over, which is one for the books.

Liz standing up for her family’s honor is perhaps what she’s best at as the tough one of the family. She’s worryingly good at it, that’s for sure.

Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 2, “The Slide,” finds emotion taking over for mysticism. By doing so, the episode is able to connect to the wants and needs of its characters as they desperately try to find their place in the world. Some may be better equipped at finding it, but the support system that’s always been there is starting to be more obvious for those who need it most.

Now we just need to find out who Daphne is, and why the woman Dud meets outside her house when Booie assaults him is so interested in the Dudley family.

 

What did you think of this episode of Lodge 49? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Lodge 49 airs Mondays at 10/9c on AMC.

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