NOS4A2 Episode 2 Recap

NOS4A2 Episode 2 opens with Bing typing a letter in response to the Christmasland ad in the back of the comic book that Vic game him in the previous episode. As Bing finishes typing his letter down in the basement, he begins to hear haunting Christmas music coming from upstairs. Following the music, Bing finds his father dancing with his mother’s corpse in front of a Christmas tree. Bing’s father is wearing a gas mask and chases Bing back down to the basement, where Danny taunts Bing with his invitation to Christmasland. Bing wakes from the nightmare to see man in the moon give him a wink.

Vic

Vic is testing her newfound ability. She brings Petey out to where the Shorter Way used to stand, asking him the name of the old stuffed rabbit that he used to carry around as a kid that Vic accidentally lost. Vic rides her bike toward the bluff and the bridge appears. Petey tries to follow, but skids out and is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, Vic is back. She found the old plaything in a landfill. She is relieved that Petey was able to see the bridge, too. Petey tells her to stay away from the bridge, that using a Shorter Way to find things will have some sort of terrible cost.

Vic is helping her mother clean houses, using the time together to try and find out if there is a way to fix the broken relationships between herself, her mother, and her father. Her mother is still against the idea of Vic going off to college, which Vic feels like an anchor keeping her stuck in Haverhill. Trying a different approach, Vic goes to her father staying at his new girlfriend Tiffany’s house. Tiffany isn’t keen on Vic staying with them until college starts in the fall. Vic asks her dad if there is any way he would ever come home so that they can be a family again. He says he can’t go back there. Vic’s mother arrives to pick up Vic and bring her home. While the adults fight, Vic jumps on her bike and heads for the bridge.

Maggie

Maggie returns to the sheriff’s office with her research on The Wraith. There were only 500 or so produced. Such an old car will have required work done on it by now. The parts are rare, but there is a junk yard in Nebraska that has Wraith parts. Though the officer is skeptical about Maggie’s tiles, they have helped in the past, so he agrees to check it out.

At the junk yard, the owner tells of the time 32 years ago that the older-looking version of Manx showed up needing some work done on the car. Her son was fascinated by the old car, even after it started behaving oddly and without a driver. One day, she came home and the car, her son, and her grandson were all gone. She believes that Manx kidnapped them.

Inscape & Knife

The Shorter Way drops Vic off on a rain-slick street in Here, Iowa, where Maggie is waiting for her. Maggie takes Vic to the library to bandage her knee. There, Maggie explains that Vic is a Strong Creative, able to make the world in her mind — the bridge — manifest in the real world using her bike. Doing so has a cost, though. That explains the pain behind and blood inside Vic’s eye. Maggie Maggie describes herself as a medium, able to interpret the message in the static. Maggie developed a stutter from using her skill of pulling answers from the Scrabble tiles. Maggie believes that Vic is the only one who can find Manx and save Danny. Spooked, Vic rushes away and rides back home.

Vic finds Haley out in the woods looking for her cat that wandered away. Haley is lonely and feels neglected. Vic visited her earlier, giving Haley her colored pencils. At that time, Haley had a candy cane in her hand, which caused Vic to experience some sort of feedback. Vic takes Haley home, making her swear not to tell anyone about the bridge and to stay away from it if she ever sees it.

The Graveyard of What Might Be

While looking for the Shorter Way in Haverhill, Manx picks up Bing and takes him for a ride in the Wraith. Manx drives Bing to a graveyard outside of Christmasland, where Bing spots kids frozen in the ice beneath their headstones. These kids aren’t dead, explains Manx, but their childhood innocence was stolen from them by bad parents. Manx says he wants to save the kids by abducting them and bringing them to Christmasland. Bing is startled by one particular headstone and face in the ice. Manx apologizes that he wasn’t there to save Bing all those years ago.

Manx explains that kids are always welcome in Christmasland, but that adults have to prove themselves worthy. If Bing will help him save 10 kids, then perhaps Bing’s dreams will come true and he’ll be able to enter Christmasland.

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