Lovecraft Country Review: Rewind 1921 (Season 1 Episode 9)

Tragedy reverberates through the past and the present on Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 9, “Rewind 1921,” as Tic, Leti, and Montrose attempt to save Diana while also reliving the cruelty that is the Tulsa massacre.

There’s immense power in wanting to change the past, but there’s just as much in the past looking out for future generations. This episode brilliantly takes both concepts and puts them together as separate but just as important pieces to a single whole, which is the fate of those in Tulsa.

Both Lovecraft Country and Watchmen have smartly reminded both America and the world of the horrors that have been inflicted on Tulsa in 1921, both using this as a jumping point for the future to hold onto these memories and use that tragedy to live another day to fight for something better.

It’s a haunting image, the burning, the shots, and the rioting, but there’s something to be said about the bravery and the pride that comes from Dora’s grandmother handing over the Book of Names, knowing that fate has already come.

Leti experiencing the same moment but unable to feel the same agony is such a heart-wrenching moment, leaving her walk through the dropping of bombs on the main street this experience of being bathed in flame, much like Dora, Tic’s mother, does in their shared vision.

The present echoes the past, and the past echoes the future. Everything is connected in its own way.

Just like when it becomes clear that Tic is the mysterious stranger that Montrose mentions, their savior in the park. His vision/dream from Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 1, “Sundown,” of Jackie Robinson saying, “I got you, kid,” snaps right back, where you have to wonder if their visions are hints of what’s to come without proper context.

This episode gives characters a lot of the power they have been waiting to gain but with a caveat. Atticus saves the future generations but may doom himself in the process; Letitia gains the Book of Names, but witnesses trauma and may be putting Tic in mortal danger; Montrose sees his early pain from the outside, but may view Tic in a new light now.

There’s also Hippolyta, who becomes the very comic book icon Diana creates with her new shocking blue hair.

But it’s through Montrose where so much of the episode’s emotion comes from. We get to see the violence inflicted upon him firsthand, where his anger and own beatings likely come from.

He is beaten out of who he really is, and it’s a heartbreaking realization that he just wants to save a single life of someone he cares for, and the slow realization that he can’t.

Michael K. Williams has always been a superb performer, and this episode is no exception. You can feel his need to do this one thing while Tic and the hesitation pull him back to reality, while the harsh words of the recent past play over and over in his head.

The bond between Tic and Montrose may be irreparable at this point after the harsh things Tic says, but it speaks volumes about Montrose that he never really fights back anymore. The violence he inflicts can never be excused, but he is attempting to build from it as best he can while being haunted by the violence inflicted upon him.

There looks to be lines drawn in the sand now. Ruby may be on Christina’s side for good, the way she speaks to Leti early on the episode, and Leti is not quite in great standing with everyone now that they know she’s taken the invulnerability that could have saved Tic.

But she does have good reason, since she’s pregnant. It’s a conundrum, where the illusion of choice is impossible when there’s only the single option (protecting herself). All we can hope for is that Tic sees his death in a different timeline, or that Hippolyta can use her powers in some way.

One issue with the show is that the magic system appears rather wish-washy with what it’s capable of in one moment and impossible to do the next. It’s easy to cast a seemingly permanent invulnerability, but impossible to break a spell without the exact caster, who we see die early on the episode.

Perhaps that’s just how spells work on the show, but typically the more hardcore spells take more work than the spell that’s turning Diana into one of the dolls from the previous episode. This may be a nitpick, though, when it’s more a story beat to get to Tulsa.

The production side of the episode is fantastic, the painstaking recreation of this time from its costume design to its old-fashioned cars really helping sell the period while also unflinching from its violence.

Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 9, “Rewind 1921,” is all about the characters. Each of the three leads not only learn something about themselves, but also about the trauma they’re born out of from a different perspective.

That’s where the most power of the episode comes from: perspective. The finale hopefully uses this experience to gain leverage against Christina as she attempts her Autumnal Equinox ritual, as they will surely need it.

 

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Lovecraft Country airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Sorcerer Face off: 30 of TV’s Best Mages Compete For Dominance