Tell Me A Story Review: Rage (Season 1 Episode 4)

Four episodes in, and Tell Me A Story continues to struggle with finding its thesis. It bypasses creator Williamson’s usual complex genre critique and chooses to supplement stories with over-saturated meta moments that superficially align with the source material it draws from. 

Tell Me A Story Season 1  Episode 4, “Rage,” continues in the same vein as the three episodes preceding it; trudging along in three separate — and seemingly aimless — storylines that fail to merge in any significant or interesting way.

That’s the truly surprising thing about Tell Me A Story; it fails to deconstruct the notion of the fairy tale genre in any meaningful way.

Williamson is known for his intellectual approach to questioning standard tropes in both TV and film, cleverly challenging every cliche in the horror genre, while still making an extremely terrifying and timeless movie. 

Why Williamson doesn’t attack Tell Me A Story from the same lens is a mystery. The contention is there for the picking; an opportunity to shine a light on fairytales simply being ways to cope against the unbearable darkness of one’s own reality.

It certainly, at the very least, would allow the series to feel more poignant. 

Instead, what’s left is three meandering stories about hopeless situations, scrambling to parallel their supposed source material.

There may be red wardrobe sightings for Riding Hood, or indulgence of gluttony for Hansel And Gretel, but there’s nothing of substance from these tales — Disney or Grimm — that seems to be saying anything that actually matters. 

That’s not to say the performances aren’t worth noting.

With a star-studded cast of Kim Cattrall, James Wolk, Danielle Campbell and Paul Wesley (who continuously proves his range as an actor), it’s impossible not to marvel at how well the characters are brought to life —  even if they aren’t given enough screen time to fully develop.

With lack of character development, there should at least be plotlines that feel like they’re working towards something, but again, these stories mostly read as flat and anticlimactic. 

Kayla’s, or Little Red Riding Hood’s, premise works best, with at least a semblance of mystery behind who “the big bad wolf” of her story may be, or how she plans to get out of the mess she’s created with her new boyfriend (and teacher) Nick. 

It’s also unfortunate the most interesting storyline has to be the one about yet another inappropriate student/teacher relationship.

Have we not moved past this fad?

The Three Little pigs plotline — well, Eddie’s plotline, because neither of the other two pigs seems to matter much — is only captivating when it allows its characters to spiral from their trauma.

“Rage” finally brings Eddie and Jordan face to face, and their physical altercation, juxtaposed with the reality of two men mourning the same loss in different ways, is an intriguing dichotomy that serves as just enough to keep the story alive. 

Still, Tell Me A Story desperately needs to structure these three seemingly unrelated vignettes into a thread that sews itself together.

The overlying scope of the show’s purpose won’t add up to much otherwise, beyond three random narratives attempting to showcase as much violence and nakedness as CBS All Access (and now The CW) will allow them. 

I’m holding out hope based on the faith of Kevin Williamson’s talent, and the stature of the cast who signed on to the project, that the final six episodes of Tell Me A Story changes course in a profound way.

For now, I’m left feeling underwhelmed, and slightly bored. 

What did you think of this episode of Tell Me A Story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Tell Me A Story airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. 

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