Lovecraft Country Review: Meet Me in Daegu (Season 1 Episode 6)
Sex scenes will never be safe again.
On Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 6, “Meet Me in Daegu,” tradition is merely a disguise for the weird, marking one of its best and most captivating episodes yet as Tic’s inciting moment comes into focus.
It’s a great premise: to become human, you must be a monster first.
The way the episode uses the older tradition of needing to settle down and the pressure parents can place on their children is an absolutely brilliant way to bring us into the strange.
We feel for Ji-Ah as she sees suitors pass her by while speed dating, where her love of American films and kindness are glanced over as weaknesses. We don’t know what’s coming, but we have empathy for her, doubly so with how Jamie Chung plays the scenes.
We all have gone through rejection, and the one that sticks out early on feels like an indictment on her when things are going so well. But as we learn, he’s saved from a hellish end, and so it’s this great dilemma of empathy versus the knowledge of what’s coming for her next prey.
The need for one hundred souls for Ji-Ah to return back to her old self is the kind of catalyst that puts into perspective all of the horrors that must have been endured to get to this point.
Ji-Ah and her mother casually cleaning up the massive, bloody mess afterwards is like going through the motions rather than a horror show, showing that this has become second nature for them at this point.
The kumiho spirit tells of seduction and devouring, but it’s a curious wrinkle that the Ji-Ah we see now doesn’t want to rid herself of the curse because of the toll it has taken.
She speaks as though nothing of the original Ji-Ah is left in there, but these feel like frustration and doubts over the pain she’s caused rather than the truth. She feels more a monster than herself now, where we may not know the truth of which side is winning out within her.
The idea of otherness is a theme that Lovecraft Country excels with, and here it’s combined with the fears of communism on top of Ji-Ah’s struggle. It’s a large canvas to place on top of a short-lived love story, but it combines into something special.
Everything is so uncertain and fragile that all it takes is a match to burn it all down.
Tic is that match.
We know the horrors he’s trying to run from during the present day, and we see now how he’s tortured by it. It saves him, in the end, as Ji-Ah sees her own horrors reflected back, and it sets up an interesting premise: does one horror outweigh another?
Both are products of the things done to them, and they find love within that.
But it also sets up two larger narratives. Ji-Ah is told that she will see countless deaths to come, and this could either mean the horrors of the Korean War and its decades of aftermath, or that she will be becoming part of the larger narrative that Lovecraft Country is telling.
There’s also the fact that she sees Tic’s death. It’s strapped up and quick (at least the flashes we witness), and with how Christina’s moves are going, could very well be coming soon. There’s also a flash of Letitia, so maybe she is involved in that moment in some way.
Since Tic phones Ji-Ah at the end of Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 5, “Strange Case,” maybe she will be his “eyes and ears” of sorts, to fill in the gaps that he needs as the threat grows larger.
This episode is an absolute stunner, its use of deep reds and showing the beauty of Korea juxtaposed against the chaos of war and the decline of freedom really setting the tone. Helen Shaver’s direction, along with Misha Green and Kevin Lau’s writing, pair perfectly.
Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 6, “Meet Me in Daegu,” may very well be my favorite of the series so far. It holds an impeccable focus much like the premiere, and plays with the morality and fears of both Tic and Ji-Ah in a way that has dissipated somewhat since the Braithwhite house collapsed.
The change of setting and showing different styles of spirits and folklore helps to show Tic’s pain, something only hinted at, while also showing a time and a place in the world that needs more of a spotlight. This isn’t to say the rest is floundering, definitely don’t get me wrong.
But there is this sense of focus here that’s been missing a little, which makes this episode stand out like the pilot. With fantastic performances from Jamie Chung and Jonathan Majors, and its remarkable visuals, “Meet Me in Daegu” is a gripping story for Lovecraft Country.
Some stray thoughts on the episode:
- The inclusion of Meet Me in St. Louis’ “The Trolley Song” is a great way to open the episode. Though the song is a major earworm, and won’t be easy to rid from the mind for a while.
What did you think of this episode of Lovecraft Country? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Lovecraft Country airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
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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.