Lodge 49 Review: Conjunctio (Season 2 Episode 4)
Conflict is found in every direction on Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 4, “Conjunctio,” as Dud loses partner after partner for the scrolls quest, and everyone else sees the harshness of the world around them.
Nostalgia runs rampant throughout, reminders of the past a conflict to the ways of the present.
It’s most apparent in Dud. The open-mindedness and closed-mindedness he faces here comes down to nostalgia, stories of an imperfect marriage and his father having an affair eating away at the perfect life he pictured for so many years. It’s an interesting contrast for Dud to be against those possibilities when he’s all about the possibilities of Mexico and the scrolls quest, as vague as they currently are.
It’s his two sides playing against him, the practical and impractical. So far, the impractical are out ahead.
Liz’s old friend Beth is another hint of nostalgia coming back to haunt them. Beth, too, pines for the days long gone, and her sudden interest, and marriage, to Dud is a grasp at youth and younger times. Such a rash decision is likely one that will prove itself a mess, but at least Dud is happy for the time being, and his dream future for El Confidente to paint is one person closer to reality.
Lenore’s nostalgia trips deliver an interesting wrinkle, in the end, as she tells stories to Liz: that Dud and Liz’s mother swam at night back in the day. The Dudley’s are drawn to water, it would seem: Dud surfs and is bitten by a shark; Liz jumped off the boat during season one’s training; their father disappeared in the water; and now there’s this, tying the Dudley name to water once more.
Their lives are dominated by water and the waves that fight and crash down on them.
Ernie’s fondness for the good old days becomes one of the best written moments of the episode (written by Alina Mankin), Brent Jennings’ reading of Ernie’s time on the road and seeing the city just as the sun sets this wonderfully poetic moment where the acting and the writing mesh so perfectly. His boss Bob should be taking some pointers for his poetry with how eloquently Ernie reminisces.
Another moment similar to Ernie’s is of Dud and El Confidente in the waiting room. Dud’s perfect future is a simple one, one with no worries, with friends and family surrounding him on the beach. It doesn’t sound so far-fetched, even in the short term. It’s the conviction of how badly Dud wants it, and how strong Wyatt Russell plays the scene, where you can feel the desire to make everyone in his life happy.
El Confidente’s confiding about the passing of his wife and how a year of torment followed is poignant for Dud, who is currently going through his own year of torment after his father’s passing. Each of these characters are hurting in their own way, the lodge their driving force and coping mechanism to find comfort in strangers to get through the hard times. The lodge is essentially a form of acceptance.
Outside of nostalgia, the air of change starts to flirt along the edges. Dud sees the change as bailing on him, when really it’s about each of these characters starting to face a little bit of reality. Blaise’s store is robbed, his seeking refuge in the lodge hiding from a world of terror. Ernie has lost hope, though Connie’s return may bring some fire back into his life. Scott even feels it, as his leadership is questioned.
Things aren’t the same anymore, despite the nostalgia that runs through them all. It’s something that makes Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 4, “Conjunctio,” such a captivating episode. While they may not find the acceptance they need in each other quite yet, there are signs of hope in each of their lives, a chance to make things right. But it may be bumpy on the way to getting there.
Some stray thoughts on the episode:
- The Orbis mascot with his head on fire makes a return from Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 1, “All Circles Vanish.” He appeared at the start of the episode when Dud and Ernie are on the plane, taking one of the parachutes. Here, he’s in one of El Confidente’s paintings of the future. Foreshadowing!
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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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.