[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Lovecraft Country, Season 1, Episode 5, "Strange Case."]

We're now in Week 5 of Lovecraft Country's Season 1 run and I'm growing frustrated. This is the halfway point of the season, a point where one would hope Lovecraft Country would be hitting its narrative stride. Instead, the HBO newcomer is still getting lost in the weeds. What first seemed like an anthological approach to chipping away at the main story is now revealing itself to just feel more haphazard than effectively structured. And while I'm all in on the stylishness and the show's approach to exploring its thematic interests (not to mention the performances), it feels like Lovecraft Country is in disarray at a time when it should be chugging along smoothly.

No matter what, at least we can be glad for Wunmi Mosaku.

It's Ruby's Turn in the Funhouse

I can't confirm it, but I'm pretty sure Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green reached out to Roman poet Ovid to pen this week's episode, "Strange Case." (Who cares if he's been dead for over 2,000 years!) There is a grotesque beauty to the situation Ruby finds herself in this week that recalls both Ovid and perhaps even Faust when the true nature of the seemingly sweet deal she gets roped into comes with hidden costs.

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Image via HBO

Ruby wakes up in her own home after her evening of illicit staircase sex with William. But, uh, Ruby is not exactly Ruby. Instead, she's taken on the physical form of Dell (Jamie Neumann), Ardham's white female peacekeeper Leti knocked out while freeing Montrose in Episode 1. Naturally, Ruby is freaked out and struggles to understand what's going on. An incident on the streets of the South Side lands Ruby back at William and Christina's home where William lays Ruby (still in Dell form) down on plastic sheeting and practically eviscerates her as something crawls under her skin.

Here's where the Faust of it all comes in. When Ruby transitions back into her own body, William tells her everything. Not only does he reveal her physical transformation into a white woman's body is the result of magic, but he promises her unlimited access to that magic so long as he can rely on Ruby to do a favor at the right time. Initially cautious — and rightfully so, because when has trusting a good-looking white man in the year 1955 ever been a great idea — Ruby is persuaded with the promise of access to everything she could ever want with the help of the blood magic which allows her to change form. Time spent in Dell's skin allows Ruby to move through the world with the full freedom she's craved her entire life. Ruby delights in the simple pleasures of eating ice cream and sitting on a park bench, unharassed. She uses her newfound privilege to secure the job she's been aching to get at Marshall Fields, but her Freaky Friday body switch trip offers her a window into the truly stomach-churning side of what white women discuss behind closed doors.

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Image via HBO

Ruby's excursion into whiteness, for all its pros and cons (it's slightly uncomfortable to see Ruby unthinkingly turn into public cruelty against her Black co-worker at one point without taking a step back to understand the implications of her behavior), does the trick: She'll do whatever Williams wants. Turns out, it's simply a matter of going undercover to a party at the Chicago lodge to sneak in a device that will allow Christina to spy on her new enemies. Christina's pursuit of power in claiming the Chicago lodge for her own has allowed her the opportunity to form an alliance with Ruby through this transformation magic, one Ruby is slightly wary of but not so wary that, while Christina is making her final pitch, doesn't seem to listen to and consider

Ruby's arc ends with the second great "Ta-da!" moment of the episode. She returns to William and Christina's house to confront William. He doesn't seem to hear her as he drops down and his skin peels off in a familiar fashion. Christina stands up, a blood messy fresh from her human chrysalis, revealing to us that every time we've seen William here in Chicago, it was actually Christina.

Leti and Atticus Become Human Decoder Rings

Even though they're saddled with some of the most boring scenes (the couch scene definitely doesn't count), Leti and Atticus make do with the relatively smaller amount of screentime they're given in "Strange Case." It's nice to get a break from them, truth be told. Lovecraft Country has taken its precious time turning its gaze toward the cast of characters supporting these two in their quest and giving said characters any kind of development. Perhaps that's the one silver lining to the current state of this show: Leti and Atticus stepped back this week to give the spotlight to Ruby and Montrose.

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Image via HBO

This week, all Leti and Atticus have to do is work on decoding whatever they can from the photos Leti took of the Book of Names pages before Montrose destroyed them. The pair have the brainpower to do so, but decoding ancient languages is a tough business. Out of all their precious screentime spent trying to figure out what the heck these pages contain, the only fruitful result is revealed at the very end of the episode when Atticus decodes one word after all of that effort: "Die." The message practically undoes him and his first thought isn't to tell Leti, but to rush and call his former flame, Ji-ah (Jamie Chung), who seemed to have predicted this moment would come. Let's hope we get clearer answers about what this moment really means in next week's episode.

Montrose Emerges From His Chrysalis

Montrose's story is a profound one this week. Like Ruby, Montrose is undergoing his own transformation — except there's no blood magic to help him come into his final form. While his arc mirrors Ruby's in the way it explores a transformation or transition narrative, it also shows us how Montrose's transformation is more hard-won and ultimately smaller in scale.

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Image via HBO

The biggest revelation of "Strange Case" is that Montrose is gay. Finally understanding this about Montrose feels like the "Ah-ha" moment we viewers desperately needed, especially when it comes to understanding (and perhaps pathologizing) his alcoholism, temper, secretiveness, and other less-than-savory qualities. But where Ruby now has the option to go out into public in the skin of a white woman and embrace freedom after being offered access to the unthinkable, Montrose is still forced to remain in the closet. It is 1955, after all, and Montrose is a middle-aged Black man. There is no such opportunity to live outside the closet, even if Montrose wanted to.

And yet, Montrose takes the chance to find comfort and love when he can. After some hints in last week's episode, we learn this week he's romantically involved with Sammy (Jon Hudson Odom), the bar owner we met in Episode 1. After nearly being killed by Atticus when Montrose let slip both Yahima and the Book of Names pages were gone, Montrose flees to Sammy's apartment in the Cabrini-Green projects where the two spend the night together.

Then, in one of the most beautiful and stirring setpieces so far on Lovecraft Country, we're taking into the underground gay nightclub where Sammy and his friends transform in their true selves, all glorious drag queens ready for their moment out in the spotlight. Montrose is on the quiet side at first but as the show goes on in the club, he visibly loosens up and softens. He is free. He is home. His transformation may not have the same physical effects as Ruby or Sammy's transformation, but he is nonetheless just as comfortable in his own skin — a luxury he deserves just as much as anyone else.

Extras

  • I'd like to personally thank Leti and Atticus for that couch scene.
  • Lovecraft Country is really sinking its teeth into the moments of revenge or securing the upper hand against white characters — and it remains a satisfying viewing experience.
  • I would gladly welcome a Lovecraft Country-meets-Pose spinoff series set in the 1950s drag ball scene at the end of "Strange Case."
  • Is Lovecraft Country trying to devote separate episodes to how different characters get the abilities they need to defeat the Order of the Ancient Dawn? If so, wouldn't it be great if that were a little clearer?

Allie Gemmill is the Weekend Contributing Editor for Collider. You can follow them on Twitter @_matineeidle.