The Cutprice Guignol

Nailed it. Literally.

Mirror Moves picks up where last week’s episodes left off, deeper into the dark, stormy night that has drawn our cast together at the site of a famous mass murder.

The patented Quivering Finger – well, knives, plural – of Accusation is in full force here, as all eyes turn to Ruby (Brynn Godenir) after the murder of her partner. Crow (Shaun Benson) leads the charge against her, taking control of the swirling paranoia to claim a little power for himself. It’s such a brilliantly chaotic first act, from Ruby trying to shove her partner’s heart back into her chest to the climactic moment where a handful of characters pounce on her to finish her off after she threatens Paige (Paula Brancati – and, with how much I love her work in Slasher, I’m pretty sure I’d resort to murder if I saw her with a knife to her throat too). It’s another great wrinkle for this season, one that casts half of these characters as killers almost right off the bat – as Adriana points out, they’re all Cold River Killers now. I’m looking forward to seeing how this revelation weighs on the remaining cast, particularly Blake (Atticus Mitchell), who moves from lone survivor to group perpetrator in the course of just a few swings of the knife.

This episode focuses on Crow and his involvement with the original Cold River Killings – specifically, how his psychic visions impacted the case (and, to be honest, if sitting cross-legged in a faded anorak having visions surrounded by candles after hitting the pipe is what it takes to make a difference in cold cases, the version of me who existed in college is a veritable John Douglas, let me tell you).

Now, this is a plot point I’m a bit uneasy about, because I’m not sure a show like this benefits from the introduction (or, at least, confirmation) of the supernatural – it strips the need for specific human motivation in a way that can be really damaging to the plot when not handled right (see also: American Horror Story: Coven), and it’s something that Slasher made a point to avoid, to its benefit. But Crow interacts with what appears to be the spirit of one of the victims of the original murder, who appears to share some oblique commentary on the crime.

With that said, Motel Hell does feature killers whose motivations are entirely supernatural, in the form of their worship of Baphomet, so we’ve got to contend with it at some point – and, I think, it’s handled pretty comfortably here. Crow’s visions serve as the motivator for the eventual suicide (in custody via head-smashing, in case you hadn’t heard enough about bloody Longlegs in the last year as it was) of a man we know to be innocent, after years of harassment from the police after the crime itself. It’s an interesting angle for the true crime premise that seems to be the focus of this season – the arrogance of someone placing themselves at the centre of a crime isn’t lost on me here, even if it’s draped in the plausible-deniability of the divine. The production of the interrogation, with Crow behind the two-way glass, is genuinely sinister, especially the reflection of Baphomet that appears in the dark.

The language used in the vision of the original victim is oblique enough to pass for Crow’s projection, even if it does end up having some parallels in this particular episode, and his psychic “abilities” serve more as an extension of the arrogance and urge to dominate that turns up in the rest of this episode than some grand confirmation of the supernatural in the show at large.

Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part – the rest of the season will tell, I suppose. Either way, he gets nailed to death at the end of the episode (and not even in the fun way) – like the death of Eric McCormack’s character in episode one, I think it’s smart to dispose of the characters written in broader strokes earlier on, to leave more room to get into the rich potential of the remaining cast as we continue.

Elsewhere, Floyd and Shirley (Gray Powell and Yanna McIntosh) are still trying to figure out exactly who is jacking their murderous style, and exactly how they’re going to be able to complete the ritual they began all those decades before. I mentioned last week how much I love these two, especially McIntosh, and they’re swiftly rising up the ranks of my favourites of this season – the character motivations are just so interesting, and the contrast between the impulsive Floyd and the more measured Shirley has this pitch-perfect chemistry I can’t get enough of. Floyd is the centrepiece of my favourite sequence of the episode, as he takes off in the Baphomet outfit only to be confronted by another killer in the same garb – I love the gothic, shadowy lighting as he and Shirley offer their prayers to their deity, and the shock of a double Baphomet is a great visual.

Outside of major plot details, Hell Motel is here for a good time and isn’t afraid who knows it – from the sly nod to the Executioner of Slasher’s first season to swiftly-emerging MVP Genevieve DeGraves’ breathless “did someone else get murdered?”, it’s shot through with a sense of camp that cheerfully papers over some of the blunter-edged dialogue. I love the set design and production of Hell Motel so far – it’s got that mannered, slightly off-kilter look that reminds me of horror of years past shot on soundstages and other constructed-for-purpose sets, and, while it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste, I will gobble that shit up with a spoon every time.

So far, I’m really enjoying Hell Motel – it’s got that balance of interesting character work and fun, slashery camp to keep it going down easy. What are you making of it so far (and who are your guesses for the as-yet unknown killer/s)? Let me know in the comments!

(header image via Rotten Tomatos)