So I watched episode 1 of Lovecraft Country, which is a new HBO Max series produced by Jordan Peele and Misha Green, (amongst others), starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Jonathan Majors and Courtney B. Vance last night and let me tell you!
I hate horror but I’m so excited about this!
HBO Max has proven that it’s the platform for “weird” series, with Doom Patrol being the first show to come to mind, and now Lovecraft Country has arrived, and I’m here for it!
Plus this is centered around Black folks in the 1950s and despite me having issues with The Umbrella Academy taking us back to the 1960s, I was fully prepped and ready to tackle the racism in Lovecraft County. (Not that the “warning” helped much, it’s still triggering.)
However, if you’re not sure what Lovecraft Country is even about, the ten-episode series, based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams).
Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.
I have no clue what a Lovecraft paperback is but, from the looks of this, I want no parts of it!
So what did I think of the first episode?
Here Are 17 Thoughts I Had While Watching Episode 1 Of Lovecraft Country On HBO Max
1. This must be the tv they watching right?
2. Wait, WTF?! Is this a video game? I ain’t watch the trailer and the description was a tad vague so I’m lost.
3. Always great to see a black man reading.
4. Currently wondering how a show set in this time seems to have subtle hints of racism, you know enough to make it feel like it’s back in the day but so far not enough to make you cringe and wanna cry, unlike The Umbrella Academy, despite this entire show being based on the 50s.
5. Uh oh. What happened? These music cues are telling me something’s wrong. What is it!
6. Hip hop feels a little too modern and outta place for this show right now.
7. I wonder where they found that old camera and does it actually still work?
8. Oh shit! Had no clue it was painted white to cover up burn marks!
9. Omg if he doesn’t stop saying sir!!! That shit getting on my f*cking nerves! Black folks really are “trained” to say sir after every f*cking sentence so they don’t die! Because god forbid you be annoyed by the cops stopping you for NO god damn REASON right? Ugh!
10. WTF SON!
11. Wait, wait, WTF?! So he stood there talking to them and basically wasted their time so they’d have less time to leave the county? So he could have a reason to kill them? I hate people!!
12. And you’re telling me sundown means … oh hell nah!
13. Never mind what I said earlier! I just cringed. This may not have the violence The Umbrella Academy has but it sure does have the racism.
14. This just got hard to watch.
15. WTF is going on!? This shit just got real!
16. OMG! I can’t believe this is a whole series and not a movie! I gotta get through how many more episodes of this?? OMG! I’m scared but very intrigued to see what they come up with next.
17. Oh shit! Did he just say welcome *omitted*? OMG! I knew it!!!
So yeah, that’s pretty much what went through my head while watching the first episode.
Episode 1 is moderately heavy on the racism, light on the ‘gore’, and definitely feels like a setup. Like they’re purposely trying to get you hooked so that when it REALLY kicks in you’ll already be too deep in to quit.
And since Jordan Peele is involved, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what’s going to happen. So I’m bracing myself for the next 9 episodes because I have to see this through!
Have you seen Lovecraft Country yet? If so, what did you think of it? If not …
Awww thank you!!! It's so good!!