In this 8-episode mini-series “Cabinet of Curiosities,” produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Episode 2 is titled “Graveyard Rats.” Unlike the first episode, “Graveyard Rats” deals with a more gruesome plotline. Yes, there is a creature, and that, too, is very detailed, much like any Del Toro production. “Graveyard Rats” primarily deals with the greed that humans possess. But, there are different layers in this short story that could intrigue your curiosity.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ Episode 2 ‘Graveyard Rats’ Recap And Ending
Two thieves are seen stealing jewelry and other valuable things from the grave of a dead woman. Later, the steward of the graveyard, Masson, caught them and grabbed whatever they had gathered. Soon we see that the steward himself wanted all of it, including the golden tooth of the dead woman. However, he lost the golden tooth and was bitten by a rat. He came to pay his debt with whatever valuables he could scavenge from the dead. He was threatened to come up with something more valuable, or else he would be put in a coffin. Frightened, he went to see one of his friends, Dooley, who was working at the morgue. He gave him a vile of some sort, maybe a liquid drug or something, in exchange for observing the bodies in the morgue. However, Masson failed to find any golden teeth among the dead bodies. Later, he saw the body of a wealthy shipping merchant who had many golden teeth. Dooley tried to stop Masson from doing any harm to the body as he was a very important man. Later, Masson learned that the family was planning to keep the saber, gifted to the man by King George, in the coffin. Masson then planned to steal the saber from the coffin.
However, when he opened the coffin after it was buried, he saw the rats had already stolen the whole body and were running away with it through a man-sized hole in the ground. He knew that he had to get the saber, or else the people he was indebted to would kill him. Masson followed the trail of the rats and encountered numerous problems. Later, he came face-to-face with a gigantic rat, the creature of this episode, and he shot at it. It did not help him much, and he ended up in a place full of human skeletons. There he found the saber and also a golden locket with some creepy symbols engraved on it. The locket was on the neck of a skeleton, and when Masson took the locket from it, it screamed and grabbed Masson. After a lot of struggle, Masson accidentally killed the Giant Rat and stopped the skeleton from chasing him. Later, he found light through the hole that ended in another coffin that was already buried. Masson knew he was completely trapped, and suddenly he saw the rats coming at him. After that, the two thieves were seen again, and this time they opened the coffin where Masson was lying dead. Numerous rats were coming out of his body.
‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ Episode 2: Ending Explained – What Was The ‘Black Church’? How Did Masson End Up In The Coffin?
The whole thing was going in a circle. After learning about the saber, Masson prayed to God to help him have this opportunity. Basically, he asked him to let him have the saber before the rats. Right after his prayer, he had a nightmare where he was covered with rats. He refused to believe that it was the way God was trying to warn him. Anyway, from the time he started following the trail of the rats, he encountered many warnings. First, he almost got himself blinded by a sharp root of a tree. Later, while trying to shoot a rat, he shot with his left foot. After that, the Giant Rat had every opportunity to kill him but did not. Even after he shot at it, it only scratched him. Each of these omens was trying to stop him from going to the “Black Church.” But ignoring all the warnings, he finally ended up there. A “Black Church” is a cult location where people gather to seek some sort of demon. We saw the seat of a demon, and right in front of it, there was the skeleton with the locket. It had a gesture like praying to the demon.
The Black Church offered Masson everything he was looking for. He even saw the skeletons, but he was too stupid to understand what might happen if he proceeded with his greed. Anyway, it was the demonic presence that killed the Giant Rat and stopped the skeleton. The presence alone opened up a new path for Masson. If only he could understand that he was not guided by the light but by darkness alone. Everything seemed like a plan orchestrated by the Demon of the ‘Black Church’ because Masson was only following his instincts from that moment until he ended up in the coffin. So, it was Masson’s greed that led him to the Black Church and then the darkness that led him to his doom. Later, the rats used his body as a vessel and started living inside it. An interesting point can be raised here. When Masson is listening to the saber for the first time, he is looking through a glass, and the shot represents him as a metaphor for the rats. He had been warned numerous times, but greed got the better of his conscience. Hence, Masson ended up dead, offering his body to the “graveyard rats.”
