https://www.hbo.com/lovecraft-country

Based on Matt Ruff 's novel of the same name, Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he meets up with his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams). This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.

Lovecraft Country is executive produced by Misha Green, who also serves as showrunner, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller; based on the novel by Matt Ruff.

************************

Searched for a post but only saw one in GD. Really excited for this. I'm re-reading the book and I'm glad I did because I definitely forgot a few things.

Interesting to see Misha + Jurnee together again, and in another period piece.

I enjoyed the book, but I've heard the show is even better. I'm interested to see where they go with the show, and which of the stories they decide to cover and what they create on their own.

Same quality as their Watchmen. God bless HBO for you know what. Good first episode even if the ******* 's seem hokey

I'm coming in blind. Didn't watch any trailers and I'm not familiar with the books.

The only thing that bugged me was after their run-in in the small town.
After they were chased from the restaurant, and there's a high speed chase on the road
where they nearly escape thanks to an unknown assailant,
the very next scene they're sitting around a dinner table drinking and laughing.
The contrast of those two scenes together just didn't work.

And I get it, time probably didn't allow the showrunners the ability to show them coming down from the very odd encounter.
Time didn't allow them to bring any nuance and reflection to what happened. Still annoyed me.

I loved the nuance and care of how LovecraftCountry dealt with Jim Crow with the bus scene. Wonderfully done.
It was so much more powerful watching the characters go from sitting on
the side of the road to carrying their own bags. Again, loved that editing choice.

But it's the 1st episode, and I know 1st episodes have to do a lot of heavy lifting.
Love the Gordon Parks easter eggs.
The teaser at the end really gave me a better idea of the wide world they've created, so I'm intrigued to see where they go.

But this scene in particular, they only discussed some of the situation with her brother. Didn't mention the car saving them or the fire truck jumping in mid air.

Read it earlier this year but I remember the diner scene, Letitia deciding to join the road trip, and the forest scene all done better in the book.

Love the casting though and this looks like it will be an entertaining show, even if it does have some missteps. I'll have to stop comparing it to the novel, which I enjoyed a lot.

The other was the rap music playing as Atticus walked down the street. Rap music (or most contemporary music) in period pieces is jarring and annoying.

The contemporary music was something I meant to mention.

BUT, I'm willing to forgive them because of the James Baldwin montage and the Gordon Parks easter eggs...ha.
If they're gonna do more of those things, they can run Sault in there if they want...haha (I hope they don't).

Some music I can ignore but that was so blatantly out of place to me.

but I also hate when they put modern hip hop in period pieces.

Rick Ross song.

Ignorance at the danger he put them through at the diner. Dude, youre in cracka town and saw one up and leave in a hurry..not to get away from you but you now it was to go gt some hicks with ropes and guns.

>I'm coming in blind. Didn't watch any trailers and I'm not
>familiar with the books.
>
>The only thing that bugged me was after their run-in in the
>small town.
>After they were chased from the restaurant, and there's a high
>speed chase on the road
>where they nearly escape thanks to an unknown assailant,
>the very next scene they're sitting around a dinner table
>drinking and laughing.
>The contrast of those two scenes together just didn't work.
>
>And I get it, time probably didn't allow the showrunners the
>ability to show them coming down from the very odd encounter.
>Time didn't allow them to bring any nuance and reflection to
>what happened. Still annoyed me.
>
>I loved the nuance and care of how LovecraftCountry dealt with
>Jim Crow with the bus scene. Wonderfully done.
>It was so much more powerful watching the characters go from
>sitting on
>the side of the road to carrying their own bags. Again, loved
>that editing choice.
>
>But it's the 1st episode, and I know 1st episodes have to do a
>lot of heavy lifting.
>Love the Gordon Parks easter eggs.
>The teaser at the end really gave me a better idea of the wide
>world they've created, so I'm intrigued to see where they go.

I don't understand how they skated away freely leaving a wrecked truck full of dead(?) white men behind.

>I don't understand how they skated away freely leaving a
>wrecked truck full of dead(?) white men behind.

>Ignorance at the danger he put them through at the diner.
>Dude, youre in cracka town and saw one up and leave in a
>hurry..not to get away from you but you now it was to go gt
>some hicks with ropes and guns.

nah he's been in that situation countless times...the whole reason they went there was to see if it was a good place for the guide or not so he was riding it out regardless...for his notes lol

d

>>Ignorance at the danger he put them through at the diner.
>>Dude, youre in cracka town and saw one up and leave in a
>>hurry..not to get away from you but you now it was to go gt
>>some hicks with ropes and guns.
>
>nah he's been in that situation countless times...the whole
>reason they went there was to see if it was a good place for
>the guide or not so he was riding it out regardless...for his
>notes lol
>
>d


He didn't need to wait to see. It was already seen from jump. I know he's was the guide writer but still.

Because he's the guide writer, he should be more attune to what's welcoming and what's not.
I thought his demeanor during that scene was off too.

Yes he's the guide writer but he (and as you will see, his brother) are very much so 'Our money is just as good as anyone else's. This country belongs to us too'. So he KNEW the danger but he kept them in a fucked up situation out of pure stubbornness.

regardless of what's righteous

>Yes he's the guide writer but he (and as you will see, his
>brother) are very much so 'Our money is just as good as anyone
>else's. This country belongs to us too'. So he KNEW the danger
>but he kept them in a fucked up situation out of pure
>stubbornness.

>I'm coming in blind. Didn't watch any trailers and I'm not
>familiar with the books.

same here and i'm glad...the book readers gonna be constantly disappointed because they already have expectations/constant comparisons...i'm glad to get to enjoy the show on its merit, free of that.
>
>The only thing that bugged me was after their run-in in the
>small town.
>After they were chased from the restaurant, and there's a high
>speed chase on the road
>where they nearly escape thanks to an unknown assailant,
>the very next scene they're sitting around a dinner table
>drinking and laughing.
>The contrast of those two scenes together just didn't work.

I was initially taken aback by that, as well...then I saw it from a different perspective...that they are so used to the shit...their life is always in danger and some wild white-related shit happens so much that its like whatever, imma still enjoy life in these private times...and i kinda like that. Because its what we do now...we Black people live in a constant state of danger from white supremacy, perceived or not. Its just our lives and we're used to it.

https://youtu.be/sw0qB9hqPV8

There are no rules.
I'm still processing this episode but I'm realizing that I can't cement my feet in this show being just one thing.

I'll have more thoughts later, but I will say I busted out laughing and IMMEDIATELY thought of this post when this episode started.
But in an odd way, by the end of the episode, I understood the music choice.

yea I'm being that person who read the book but what the fuck was this?

Also - this is why I stopped watching Underground in the middle of season 2. It felt TOO...hokey? Cringy? On the nose? None of those accurately display my distaste but....yikes

....Atticus's Mom tho......who's the actress playing her??


Im hearing several folks having issues with this ep.
I did not. I had fun.
I will say that it probably coulda/shoulda been TWO episodes...there was enough to explore that I think it would have filled out 2 eps juuuust right.

this shows gonna make an all out star outta the lead Jonathan Majors. Dude owns this role. Same goes for Jurnee Smollett, I know she's been all over in a bunch of things, but I think this might be her 'breakout to the next level' role.





�
have you listened to
her stuff?
v

http://www.meshell.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/officialmeshell?fref=ts
http://www.freemyheart.com


RIP David Williams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williams_(guitarist)

>this shows gonna make an all out star outta the lead Jonathan
>Majors. Dude owns this role.

he BODIED that film! his acting omg...if you haven't seen it, you must...i'm sure they cast him in this because of that.

I watched the first two episodes by my mind was wandering back to the Watchmen, comparing.

I don't think Lovecraft Country is for me because I think it
leans towards adventure horror while I prefer dark thrillers.
I actually tend to forget there are horror elements in this show until they happen.
And when they do, I kinda roll my eyes a bit.

In an interview, Misha Green has said she's cramming a lot of story in each episode, and I can tell.
There's a lot going on. This episode, like the rest, actually felt like a stand alone with the focus being on this new house.
And then every once in a while they remind you that there's an overarching story that they're trying to tell, so they slide that in when they can.

There are moments of Lovecraft Country, especially this episode, that they really get right.
The beginning of this episode in the church did that.
And the scene in the basement when all of the 8 ghosts rose up around the white man that murdered them?
Very well done from the music and especially the visual effects.
When Atticus was possessed and was shouting? I really enjoyed that.

The overall story, I've lost interest.

It's not lost on me that shows like this with Black leads are rare,
so for those that have been clamoring for this, great. I hope they make 3 more of these. I just don't know if I can personally finish it.

I was like “Oh, this must be an anthology” because Leti was so happy-go-lucky about the house. It totally felt like a one-off episode until the argument with Tic and his dad.

I’ve been to plenty old folks houses, and ain’t never seen a pencil sharpener on the wall.

characters are the same but the stories are diff. So it seems like they're combining some parts..which I don't love

It was so prominent in the scene, I thought it meant something.

>I was like “Oh, this must be an anthology” because Leti
>was so happy-go-lucky about the house. It totally felt like a
>one-off episode until the argument with Tic and his dad.

I hated the end of the first episode just due to how much you could see the monsters clearly looked like computer graphics, it was jarring...but the characters and plot outside of that was good, at times even great, but if it's going to continue to lead to wack CGI monsters I think I'm done with it

Second episode was just bad and pointlessly confusing. They did a very good job of creating a deeply creepy atmosphere. CGI was pretty shaky, but didn't detract from the actual story.

Hoping the second episode was an anomaly. Actually, recent HBO shows have a history where the second ep. is the worst.

I was kinda shaky on this one. It felt a little Scooby-Doo-ish piling almost every known character in Woody the OG Mysterymobile. I'm choosing to suspend disbelief that this museum in Boston magically transported them allllllll the way back to the fuckin house in the Chi.

I'm feeling like I don't really care for MKW's character, or at least the character choices. If he's not crying, he's raspy-whispering and it's hard to hear.

Tree was triggering this episode because I hate stir-the-pot ass niggas and goofy-ass niggas.

Hippolyta and Dee heading back to Ardham, dolo, after dark, made me anxious.

I agree about MKW's voice.

Maybe it's the pacing? It seems like they cram so much into episodes. Also the modern music choices realllllly bother me. That's any series but this episode had 304 from the 30 minutes I saw so far and I just rolled my eyes.

>Also the modern music choices realllllly bother me.

The show hasn’t lost me yet but I don’t expect anything from it at this stage. Unless they massively tighten the remaining episodes this will be the TV disappointment of the year for me

Just figured that out via the accompanying podcast.

I didn't have expectations going into this and have liked all of the first three episodes. the tonal shifts are fun.

and actually want to talk about it and engage with it instead of the constant complaints

i'll stick to the post in GD...this one is trash

d

The pacing is ridiculous. And the creative liberties (what I'm calling the things on the show that differ from the novel) taken do not enhance the story at all. Atticus is not as sympathetic of a character as he could be and I'm....I'm over it. Him choking the woman to death in ep 2 almost took me out but after these past two weeks I really am tapped.

I haven't watched the past 2 weeks but they might get me back with this one

the history lessons embedded in each episode alone are worth it

Misha Green is serving us artistry and nuance in each wild ass episode...here you have a Black story told from the perspective of a Black woman...

come on now...even if you don't love it, at least respect the fact that WE get to tell these stories at this level right now.

d

if you've seen the first two episodes. i think any black woman would love this week's ep

The sentiment being that Tic's love scenes with Ji-Ah were given more detail than the loves scenes with Letti.

there was nothing wrong at all with those love scenes..the episode was fantastic and was so much more rich and deep than just focusing on how they shot the sex.



d

I loved the episode...but the commentary that I read/listened to multiple times was exactly what I stated. I felt it was worth commenting on that because men in general were cool with the episode primarily because they found Ji-ah attractive, which I felt was a shallow take, and I felt the criticism I heard from Black women reflected a more nuanced look at not only what happened on screen, but the decisions in how to film what happened on screen. I respected that so I shared it.

I loved the episode for different reasons. One I feel that in world building, when Black writers and filmmakers build worlds we don't fall into the myopic lens of only focusing on stories within the story that are specific to our culture. Something as simple as when the Americans arrive and they are tossing leaflets at the Koreans, this was filmed from the perspective of the occupied. That was important. We see the intricacies of Ji-Ah's relationship with her mother, and the difficulties that Ji-ah experiences in someways mirrors Tic's relationship with Montrose. This made their relationship more tangible. The Korean shaman....that was powerful to see Asian spirituality that isn't tied to Buddhism depicted...and of course the Kumiho was powerful, and again tying it the cultural mores, illuminating in how it played into Ji-Ah's mother yearning for respectability in her community. The same abuse, silence and struggle regarding patriarchy .....that was the monster in Ji-Ah's world. That was what I saw, and in response, what I heard mostly was about how Tic and Ji-Ah were handled differently than Tic and Letti.

>I loved the episode...but the commentary that I read/listened
>to multiple times was exactly what I stated. I felt it was
>worth commenting on that because men in general were cool with
>the episode primarily because they found Ji-ah attractive,
>which I felt was a shallow take, and I felt the criticism I
>heard from Black women reflected a more nuanced look at not
>only what happened on screen, but the decisions in how to film
>what happened on screen. I respected that so I shared it.

I would agree w/that if the showrunner wasn't a Black woman...i give Misha Green the benefit of the doubt here in the way she's choosing to tell these stories visually.


>I loved the episode for different reasons. One I feel that in
>world building, when Black writers and filmmakers build worlds
>we don't fall into the myopic lens of only focusing on stories
>within the story that are specific to our culture. Something
>as simple as when the Americans arrive and they are tossing
>leaflets at the Koreans, this was filmed from the perspective
>of the occupied. That was important. We see the intricacies
>of Ji-Ah's relationship with her mother, and the difficulties
>that Ji-ah experiences in someways mirrors Tic's relationship
>with Montrose. This made their relationship more tangible. The
>Korean shaman....that was powerful to see Asian spirituality
>that isn't tied to Buddhism depicted...and of course the
>Kumiho was powerful, and again tying it the cultural mores,
>illuminating in how it played into Ji-Ah's mother yearning for
>respectability in her community. The same abuse, silence and
>struggle regarding patriarchy .....that was the monster in
>Ji-Ah's world.

really great observations and analyses and I agree wholeheartedly...the layers and parallels are just so well thought out.

That was what I saw, and in response, what I
>heard mostly was about how Tic and Ji-Ah were handled
>differently than Tic and Letti.

i hear you. that is a factual surface observation though. i wonder if anyone dug deeper into the why...especially from the perspective of a Black show runner.

if this show were made by someone else, i could definitely see assuming racism or anti Blackness had a hand...

d

>>I loved the episode...but the commentary that I
>read/listened
>>to multiple times was exactly what I stated. I felt it was
>>worth commenting on that because men in general were cool
>with
>>the episode primarily because they found Ji-ah attractive,
>>which I felt was a shallow take, and I felt the criticism I
>>heard from Black women reflected a more nuanced look at not
>>only what happened on screen, but the decisions in how to
>film
>>what happened on screen. I respected that so I shared it.
>
>I would agree w/that if the showrunner wasn't a Black
>woman...i give Misha Green the benefit of the doubt here in
>the way she's choosing to tell these stories visually.

Agreed, but my folks weren't trying to hear it. I think given the level of rigor that Green has exerted in creating cultural references and such, especially after seeing episode 7, that she would not overlook that aspect of how we see Letti and Tic's relationship depicted.


>>I loved the episode for different reasons. One I feel that
>in
>>world building, when Black writers and filmmakers build
>worlds
>>we don't fall into the myopic lens of only focusing on
>stories
>>within the story that are specific to our culture.
>Something
>>as simple as when the Americans arrive and they are tossing
>>leaflets at the Koreans, this was filmed from the
>perspective
>>of the occupied. That was important. We see the intricacies
>>of Ji-Ah's relationship with her mother, and the
>difficulties
>>that Ji-ah experiences in someways mirrors Tic's
>relationship
>>with Montrose. This made their relationship more tangible.
>The
>>Korean shaman....that was powerful to see Asian spirituality
>>that isn't tied to Buddhism depicted...and of course the
>>Kumiho was powerful, and again tying it the cultural mores,
>>illuminating in how it played into Ji-Ah's mother yearning
>for
>>respectability in her community. The same abuse, silence
>and
>>struggle regarding patriarchy .....that was the monster in
>>Ji-Ah's world.
>
>really great observations and analyses and I agree
>wholeheartedly...the layers and parallels are just so well
>thought out.
>
> That was what I saw, and in response, what I
>>heard mostly was about how Tic and Ji-Ah were handled
>>differently than Tic and Letti.
>
>i hear you. that is a factual surface observation though. i
>wonder if anyone dug deeper into the why...especially from the
>perspective of a Black show runner.
>
>if this show were made by someone else, i could definitely see
>assuming racism or anti Blackness had a hand...


Given the amount of podcasts and think pieces, we'll find out eventually.

"Strange Case", "Meet Me in Daegu" & "I Am."

"Strange" & "Meet" were intense with the situations & themes, and some truly impressive performances from all involved (Wunmi Mosaku as "Ruby" is becoming my fave, so impressed with her work on this show.) And the "I Am" Ep was such a fun ride, with some groovy and quirky visuals...i had a good time.


�
have you listened to
her stuff?
v

http://www.meshell.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/officialmeshell?fref=ts
http://www.freemyheart.com


RIP David Williams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williams_(guitarist)

She was perfect in the role. Just saw a tweet that she'll be in an upcoming horror film as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYY0QJhlXjc

For real!?! No discussion about either of the last two episodes? WOW!
Honestly this show has stepped it up. This shows depiction and horror of Tulsa was gut wrenching.

...heck, more than just the last two, the last 4 or 5 have been consistently impressive, expansive, thrilling & fun. we love having this as our 'Sunday night show'.



�
have you listened to
her stuff?
v

http://www.meshell.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/officialmeshell?fref=ts
http://www.freemyheart.com


RIP David Williams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williams_(guitarist)

no use casting pearls amongst swine.

But god forbid its a Terrence Malick film.

But GD doesn't

>For real!?! No discussion about either of the last two
>episodes? WOW!
>Honestly this show has stepped it up. This shows depiction and
>horror of Tulsa was gut wrenching.

That honestly might make it the most active post of the month in PTP, lol.

There just isn't that much regular discussion on PTP anymore. Weekly discussion has tended to move to GD or the myriad FB groups.

really fun, statement-making TV that didn't follow all the same beats of modern series. loved it from start to finish.

you get to see ALL the layers. Folks put in work.

In a weird sense, this acknowledges the quality and impact of the series, but it also will be the crutch that gatekeepers lean upon to prevent it from having a season 2. And yes, prevent is the correct word. Michael K Williams couldn't even get an Emmy. That is how much they want this to fail.

As Chuck said... Burn Hollywood burn...

the map Misha Green showed of her S2 planning looked amazing:

https://twitter.com/MishaGreen/status/1411123731653566466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

HBO's chief content officer couldn't even explain the "why" behind the cancellation, because we know the real reason -- the content was making the power brokers at Warner uncomfortable.

>the map Misha Green showed of her S2 planning looked
>amazing:
>
>https://twitter.com/MishaGreen/status/1411123731653566466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

reminds me of Man in the High Castle, only better

>HBO's chief content officer couldn't even explain the "why"
>behind the cancellation, because we know the real reason --
>the content was making the power brokers at Warner
>uncomfortable.

I'm saying "Supremacy" had them shitting bricks.

I don't know the ins and outs or what goes on behind the scenes but it's a shame that Tyler's and Oprah's production companies couldn't keep this going.

Someone pick this up, somewhere.

I cannot believe HBO is just going to leave this dangling.

saying she created a hostile work environment....

Yet she continued to work for HBO. No one has come out to back this hwight man's claims. I say it's bullshit

to actual vet what they consider newsworthy -- not everything said or written is worth spreading

*the few ones that are in a position to do so. probably most spreading the smear have connections to Time Warner