The seventh episode of the ongoing third season of From can easily be called the weakest chapter of the series and acts more like filler than actually taking the narrative in a meaningful direction. In the last episode, a number of revelations led fans to wonder about the series taking a new turn, none of which were really explored in the latest episode, which simply pads its forty minutes of runtime with unnecessary arguments, mindless dialogue, and a random death that feels extremely out of place. Previously, Victor, along with his father, Henry, had ventured into the underground tunnels, from where he was able to retrieve Christopher’s puppet doll, Jasper, while narrowly escaping death. Using a portable ultrasound machine recovered from the ambulance, Kristi was able to deduce that Fatima wasn’t pregnant, much to the shock and dismay of Fatima and Ellis. While helping Jade to find a connection regarding the years mentioned in the bottle tree, Tabitha recognizes the sketches of the totem/voodoo dolls outside wooden shacks of the wilderness and remembers the place from her childhood nightmares.Â
Spoilers Ahead
Victor’s Plight Concerns Henry
Ever since he brought the puppet doll, Jasper, back from the tunnels, Victor has been obsessed with his efforts to make it talk. Victor is convinced that Jasper will share some significant secrets regarding Fromville with him—like it apparently did with Christopher. Victor’s obsession concerns Henry, who is disheartened to realize how this dreadful place has taken a toll on Victor’s mental health. While it is true that the sordid experiences in Fromville have stunted Victor’s growth, he might be onto something with his plans regarding the puppet, given the mysterious ways the town and its various machinations work. Henry is unaware of the fact, given he is a newcomer to the town, and directly assumes his son to have lost his faculty for reasoning.
Henry tries to persuade Victor to give up his futile attempts at making the puppet talk, and an exasperated Victor leaves his room to go to Sara’s house. He will try to question the puppet in the seclusion of the basement of her house, unbothered by any interference. Given the way stuff works in this godforsaken place, there is a strong chance that in the remaining three episodes, Jasper will start speaking, providing the clues Victor is desperately seeking. Henry, on the other hand, is having a hard time accepting his son’s situation, and he confides in Donna that it would have been better to accept his son to be dead than to know the truth about how tormented he is at present. A troubling realization indeed; hopefully, as the story progresses, Henry will be able to learn a thing or two about the place and find a better perspective.
Acosta Locks Horns With Boyd
Speaking of newcomers, police officer Acosta, who arrived at the town in the ambulance with Henry and Tabitha, appears to have a short fuse, as in her desperation to understand the place, she can’t help but lash out at the others. Given the fact that she accidentally killed Nikki, Acosta is plagued by guilt, and perhaps this, coupled with the helplessness she feels, drives her further to take it upon herself to find a clue, a solution to get out of this hellhole. As she speaks with Kenny in the diner, she doesn’t mince her words to convey how much she hates Boyd’s guts—who had given her a hard time previously when she came up with a shoddy plan to distract the townsfolk. Kenny reassures her about Boyd’s intentions, and as for her growing curiosity about everything regarding the town, he reveals that too will pass, once she gets used to the survivor routine. Kenny shares his own misery of losing his parents to the town and the fact that he had no option but to make peace with it—but Acosta is not someone who is prepared to just abide by the rules the strange place forces its inhabitants to accept. She goes to the sheriff’s office to search for her gun, which is at Boyd’s disposal, and as she gets engaged in a heated argument with Boyd, Acosta even tries to trigger his guilt by mentioning how much he has recently failed in his self-appointed job as the protector of the townsfolk.
Boyd eventually gives Acosta her gun back but takes out the bullets, mentioning she needs to prove herself worthy enough to get them back. Given the present situation, Boyd cannot afford a trigger-happy cop roaming about without a grip on her mental faculties and putting everyone’s lives in danger in the process. For now, Acosta takes her leave, and it goes without saying that she is holding a grudge against Boyd and his methods.
Matthews Family Connections
The revelation of Tabitha’s connection with Fromville in the final moments of the last episode was significant, and in this episode, Jim takes Tabitha and Ethan to the wooden shacks in the wilderness—where the three red stones from Tabitha’s childhood nightmare are located. It is the same place where Jim and his foraging party are gathering resources, and he is understandably surprised to see his wife and son arriving at the place. Listening to Tabitha’s realization about her connection with the place, Jim cannot help but assume that, like Julie’s suffering or Sara’s situation in the past, Tabitha too is getting messed up by the town, but Tabitha is able to convince her husband that unlike their situations, Tabitha carried a past that indeed connects with the town’s mysteries, and it is imperative for her to learn more about it. Tabitha doesn’t remember the exact detail, but something close to the place haunted her in childhood nightmares—the same being or thing that probably roams around the wooden shacks at night. For now, the identity of the presence remains unknown, but here’s hoping we will find more clues regarding it in upcoming episodes, and I am hoping it has something to do with the cave paintings seen by Tabitha and Jim. Speaking of Jim, he shares his realization that if Tabitha has identified the connection from her past, it means, like Miranda, she was doomed to arrive at the town anyway—a realization that puts the dichotomy of free will and determinism in question.
On the other hand, an unlikely friendship begins between Randall and Julie, as Randall decides to give her a driving lesson after Julie opens up about her past and family troubles, among other things. Randall is distracted by the illusions of the insects, which prompts him to stop the van he was driving and storm off into the woods. Julie follows him, and the duo arrive in front of the dilapidated arched building—the same one that guided Boyd to the dungeon in the second season, where Martin was seen held captive—and the spirit selves of the trio of Julie, Marielle, and Randall were seen held in chains after they were put in a trance-like state by the machinations of the town. Julie is able to feel an instant connection to the place, and so does Randall, even though he refuses to acknowledge it—and he takes Julie back to the town, fearing something troubling lurking at the place. This indicates that in the remaining episodes, this place will have a function to serve as well, although in what capacity we still don’t know.
Elgin Enters The Root Cellar
After taking pictures of the Colony House residents since the last two episodes, Elgin is shocked to see the Polaroid camera at his disposal suddenly taking a snap by itself with him as the subject, but instead of finding himself in the picture, Elgin sees the entrance to the root cellar at the outskirts of the town. Viewers might remember that this is the same root cellar where Jade found the shrieking corpse of a person who was killed by a boulder in the first season, and that Boyd saw the murderous Ballerina monster emerging from inside of it. However, as Elgin finds the entrance and ventures inside, he hears a knocking sound, which prompts him to find access to a secondary entrance behind, where he comes across a rotting corpse. At this point, Elgin confronts the Kimono Lady creature inside the root cellar, and his fate remains unknown. It seems the root cellar presents every individual with their personal dread, and in Elgin’s case, that takes the shape of the Kimono Lady. There seems to be bigger things at play, which the last few episodes of the season will surely reveal.
Did Fatima Just Kill Tillie?
Fatima isn’t able to take her diagnosis in a normal way, as she finds herself unable to convince anyone that there is indeed something messed up with her, which is not merely a psychological problem or assumed pregnancy like Kristi considers it to be. She acts increasingly erratic, angry towards Ellis, who isn’t sure how to help her, and as Fatima’s condition worsens, he decides to take some strong anti-psychotics from the clinic, only to be stopped by Boyd and Kristi in time. Boyd offers his counsel to his son, while assuring him things will get better, and as Donna learns about the situation, she suggests Boyd arrange a separate place to stay for Fatima and Ellis. She is concerned that Fatima’s situation might put the Colony House residents in danger, and her fears are quite justified. Tillie, on the other hand, tries to comfort Elgin, showing sympathy towards the couple while sharing some of her survivor’s resolve with the young man. She had already been diagnosed with cancer before arriving at the town, and the strange mysteries of the place aren’t enough to break her spirit—something Elgin should learn from. Fatima’s situation worsens as she feels there is something inside her belly that is putting her through a world of pain, but she isn’t able to convince Elgin or the rest of the townsfolk about her predicament.
Fatima’s mental degradation syncs up with her physical afflictions, and even when Marielle tries to help her, she isn’t interested in taking her advice kindly. Finally, Fatima gives in to her cravings as she goes to feed on rotten vegetables at the town greenhouse, where she is suddenly interrupted by Tillie—and in her anger and confusion, Fatima ends up stabbing Tillie. Although we don’t know whether Tillie met her end, she advises Fatima to run for reasons that are not clear as the episode comes to an end, with Ellis witnessing the horrid actions of his girlfriend. It remains to be seen what Elgin chooses to do next; he needs to make a choice between siding with the townsfolk or protecting Fatima, who at this point seems beyond saving, by covering up her crimes.
