Into the Dark‘s second episode premiered November 2nd on Hulu.
[Ed. Note: Being that TV and City is on a bit of a hiatus, this article has not been edited.]
By Chris Flanagan
Into the Dark: Flesh and Blood is a clear regression from the previous Halloween entry.
Flesh and Blood centers around Kim, a teenager suffering from agoraphobia ever since her mother was murdered and the case was left unsolved. She lives with her father, Henry, who is faced with having to navigate single parenthood while still trying to provide a positive home life for his daughter. As the one year anniversary of the murder approaches, both Kim and Henry attempt to create the closest thing they can to a normal Thanksgiving meal in order to move past their pain. But in the midst of preparation, Kim discovers some information that could potentially lead to answers her mother’s open case. This discovery leads her down a path of paranoia and assumptions as to who might be her mother’s killer.
On paper, Flesh and Blood sounds interesting, however, the execution of its intended vision couldn’t be further from it. From Dermot Mulroney’s overt attempt at downplaying his character’s inherent creep factor that comes across as false and unnatural allows the viewer’s minds to wander too frequently ultimately landing on the truth long before it is finally revealed. Diana Silvers (Kim) gives a decent performance as someone who willingly allows her fear to keep her in place even as she begins to realize the truth. For me, this was a frustrating concept to watch unfold because it painted the entire narrative into a corner that forced the final reveal way too early in the episode and from there, had nowhere else to go leaving the viewer’s interest to wain with each passing minute.
While October’s entry, The Body, was by no means perfect, with comparing the two episodes it stands head and shoulders above Flesh and Blood. Sadly, even given such a small sample size, Into the Dark has not lived up to any positive hype it has previously garnered and is becoming one of those disappointing additions to a streaming service that is destined to be lost forever in scrolling Purgatory. Hopefully, it will begin to build better momentum with December’s entry, however, for now, Flesh and Blood can easily be missed and was a glaringly obvious step in the wrong direction after last month’s fun episode.
I give Into the Dark: Flesh and Blood a C-.
TV and City 