Creepshow Review: The Companion/Lydia Layne’s Better Half (Season 1 Episode 4)
Trying to escape fate doesn’t always turn out as intended, as Creepshow Season 1 Episode 4, “The Companion/Lydia Layne’s Better Half,” teaches us.
Both segments carry a heavy emotional burden on its two leads, stuck in situations that they must desperately get out of. The episode soars creatively by taking situational awareness and causing its characters to face their fears in order to succeed. With “The Companion,” Harry manages to come out ahead, though with wickedness in his heart; on “Lydia Layne’s Better Half,” Lydia does not find such luck.
“The Companion” is essentially about turning fear itself against one’s fears, in this case Harry’s crazed brother. But where this tale finds its potency comes through the owner of the farmhouse having created the Companion due to the loss of his wife. It’s a strange and unusual choice, to create something so inherently creepy as a factor of solving loneliness, but it works within the context of Creepshow here.
It’s the good intentions that makes the decision pure, with adding the crochet-stitched heart as the Companion’s weakness and source of life. It’s love and loss that effectively created the creature. The choice to take out his brother with the Companion is a dark turn, but it shows Harry as finally in control, the Companion becoming the segment’s message personified. He faced his fears by embracing another.
The segment picks up in its appeal the moment the house and Companion come into play, taking the spooky atmosphere and elevating the piece. Creepshow has been making considerable strides with its production, especially with its creatures.
The design and movement of the Companion creature is top notch, this patched together monstrosity that fills the frame with this undeniably uncertain, unpredictable presence. It’s an impressive monster to face off against, and using roots as a way of snaring its prey is something that hasn’t been played around with in horror much outside of Evil Dead.
“Lydia Layne’s Better Half,” is a little too loose with its story, but keeps that at bay once the elevator becomes its main focus. The passing over for the job causing Lydia’s girlfriend to turn on her comes across as too forced, making their relationship less believable. Are there other complications to their relationship not being mentioned, has the job been promised, or is the job simply expected?
But it’s with the guilt and terror of being caught that the segment finds its center. Tricia Helfer does wonderfully playing the majority of the segment by herself, as she’s able to convey the slow breakdown as emotions wash over her and it becomes a question of whether or not she’s losing her mind or something supernatural is at play.
Being trapped inside an elevator is a horrific event in itself, but causing Lydia to face the trauma she’s caused and making escape paramount to keeping her life intact is handled in a compelling and clever way, the small enclosure changing the situation in novel ways to play with her sanity. It’s the kind of thing Creepshow could lean into more on future episodes.
It’s the same case as Creepshow Season 1 Episode 3, “All Hallows Eve/The Man in the Suitcase,” where raw emotions and more personal stories draw a larger hook and entry point for what happens throughout the segments.
Something that also has become apparent through each segment of Creepshow is that not many come out well afterward. Rarely is a happy ending in sight. This works most of the time, but sometimes, like with “The Companion,” it doesn’t exactly fit in line with the character to turn to dark tidings to feed comeuppance on those standing in their way.
Creepshow Season 1 Episode 4, “The Companion/Lydia Layne’s Better Half,” is, much like Creepshow Season 1 Episode 3, “All Hallows Eve/The Man in the Suitcase,” a solid step forward for the Creepshow series so far. Its strength continues to come from an attention to detail in its production, and through capturing emotional states of its characters to pit them against their fears in inescapable nightmares.
There is room to grow still, mostly through using its time a little more wisely, but it’s picking up momentum the earlier episodes did not possess.
What did you think of this episode of Creepshow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Creepshow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Shudder.
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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.