So a scheduling snafu meant we couldn’t record a recap this week, but we COULD have Messenger conversation about season 4 episode 8 of Mayor of Kingstown because WE ARE NOT HAPPY AND WE HAVE A LOT TO SAY. GIANT GREAT BIG SPOILERS OF COURSE.
We start with a quick recap of a very sweet episode of Night Vale, but we get into Mayor of Kingstown pretty fast because we’re still in shock about all of it.
Elizabeth
Ready when you are!
Kathryn
I was JUST typing that 😃
Elizabeth
Hee
Okay, I have THINGS I NEED TO SAY about Mayor of Kingstown, but I guess we should start with this week’s Night Vale?
Kathryn
Yes, which was one of those nice, contemplative episodes. I thought it was going to be poking a little fun at Hanukkah (the “Hanukkah Story” from the title starts in LA in 1981), but it ended up being surprisingly deep.
Elizabeth
And sweet, and hopeful
Kathryn
I’ve seen this mentioned in a lot of places, but it bears repeating: life shouldn’t be about what you’re WAITING to happen.
Elizabeth
Oh definitely.
The story wasn’t religious really, but I’ve heard the same thing said about some religions: you spend your whole life preparing for an afterlife that you never live the life you’re actually living.
Kathryn
And it seems pretty dark for Ruth – the aspiring actress from the story – to light a candle and say “when this burns out, so do I”. But not constantly thinking about the stardom she wanted and wasn’t getting meant she actually started appreciating the life she HAD.
And the idea that the candle burned for eight days after she said that felt like a benevolent god saying “Let’s think about this for a little longer and see if you feel better.”
Elizabeth
I really liked that. And I’ve heard a lot of stories from people who’d considered ending it all, and some random thing made them stick around. A football season, a movie coming out, any reason is a good reason to hold on a little longer.
Kathryn
Also a good illustration of depression. Maybe it’s not the overwhelming, catastrophic kind where you can’t get out of bed, but the kind where you just don’t feel like life is shaping up the way you wanted, and what IS the point.
Elizabeth
Which makes it sound like the episode was a downer, but it wasn’t. And I liked when he said “so that’s the Hanukkah Story. Well, “A” Hanukkah story.”
Because there’s lots of them.
Kathryn
There were also a lot of fun bits, like everyone in Cecil’s household having their own menorah. (Carlos’s is made from beakers that are juuust a little bit radioactive, and Estaban has a truck-themed one that he can set on fire WITH HIS MIND.)
Also Deb The Sentient Patch Of Haze with a brilliant sponsor: Dude Wipes. Made from 100% ethically sourced, humanely killed dudes.
“Dude Wipes: We use every part of the dude.”
Elizabeth
Hee.
Also, I couldn’t find a menorah made from beakers online, but I DID find one made from test tubes!
Kathryn
Aaaaa! Those are brilliant!
Elizabeth
Literally! 😃
Kathryn
Ha!
And it wouldn’t be Night Vale without a random bit of weirdness like the test of the (Indigo) Emergency Broadcast.
Elizabeth
Yes, if it IS A TEST.
Kathryn
“If this had been a real emergency you would not hear the announcer’s voice because I would have been running away screaming “SAVE YOURSELF”
Elizabeth
Hahahaha
What was that joke about Penfold on Dangermouse, something like his code name being the Jigsaw Puzzle, because when things get tough he falls to pieces?
Kathryn
Love it! I really need to rewatch those episodes sometime.
Elizabeth
They might still be on Netflix! I watched them all a few years ago, you can skip the final couple seasons, not terrible but not nearly as clever or charming.
And I never could get into the reboot
Kathryn
Yeah, there was so much British charm in the original show, and the reboot was kind of nationality-less somehow.
Elizabeth
Also the animation was too polished. I need the slightly unsettling look please.
Kathryn
Exactly.
Now as I said earlier, ABOUT THAT MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN EPISODE.
Elizabeth
Just…I’m speechless
Thinking about the episode I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach
Kathryn
My reaction at the end of the episode was just AAAAAAA THIS ISN’T FUN ANYMORE.
Elizabeth
Oh man I had the same thought. “Thank goodness there’s only two more episodes.”
Kathryn
I’m calling it now, I don’t wanna watch the final episode the day it drops because I DON’T think I want to finish up the Christmas season that way.
Elizabeth
No indeed
Kathryn
This was a low blow by the writers.
Elizabeth
And yet somehow inevitable?
Kathryn
For everybody, really. When Mike called Rebecca and told her to get out of the office because Calahan had escaped, I was CONVINCED he was going to find her body later.
Elizabeth
When he got there and the place had been trashed I was one hundred percent sure she’d be there. But nope.
Not that I have much hope of anyone getting out alive at this point
Kathryn
Calahan sure was set on killing a ton of people now that he’s out.
Elizabeth
And we STILL haven’t seen Robert’s body. I’m calling it, he’s not dead
Kathryn
Oh yeah, that was too obvious when Ian drove by Robert’s place but didn’t go inside
Elizabeth
Who do you think Calahan’s going for next? My money’s on Cindy
Because of that look he gave her while he was still inside
Kathryn
Probably. Is there anybody left that Mike’s close to other than Bunny at this point?
Elizabeth
Rebecca but I don’t know if Calahan knows about her?
Kathryn
But before we leave the Robert story…
I had an awful thought. What if Robert’s wife and kid had come home and they were actually upstairs asleep when Ian left Robert’s car running in the garage?
Elizabeth
Ohhh nooooo
Kathryn
I wouldn’t put it past the writers at this point.
Elizabeth
Geez me neither
Right out of that animation “Ninety five senses”
Kathryn
Gawd, yes, horrible things happening because of a spur-of-the-moment bad decision.
Elizabeth
And speaking of bad decisions, somehow I don’t think Lamar’s getting out of this scot free either
Kathryn
One of the recaps I read is CONVINCED that Mike’s gonna hand Lamar over to Bunny anyway
Elizabeth
Interesting. I mean, either Bunny kills him for being a traitor, or Frank kills him for murdering his second in command (and I was surprised how much that stung. Aside from working for a psychopath, he seemed nice.)
Kathryn
Yeah, he was actually trying to talk Moses into maaaaybe they could find some way to NOT always be in the middle of a crime war.
Elizabeth
I should’ve realized that meant he was going to be dead in a few minutes. Basically planning his retirement.
Kathryn
The recapper also pointed out that his second-in-command’s last action in this life was to shout a warning to Frank. Man had his priorities.
Elizabeth
Damn straight.
Kathryn
Pretty smart move by Mike to have Lamar kill him. He destabilizes Frank’s whole organization, makes it much more likely that Frank will make an impulsive move, and leaves him alive to be arrested so Mike can get Kyle out. And the actual shooting is done by someone who’s probably gonna get executed by someone anyway.
Elizabeth
Yes, all neatly wrapped up. Which probably means it will backfire horrifically.
Oh, before I forget, the Warden’s second in command Torres is almost definitely dead right?
Kathryn
Sure looked like it. “David called in sick today.” RIP Torres.
Elizabeth
Rest in pieces.
Kathryn
Probably.
Elizabeth
Like Mike’s house
Kathryn
Oh crap, I almost forgot about the house. Miriam’s house, the last trace of her life, GONE by some methed out tweaker on orders from Calahan.
Elizabeth
I remember him and Iris working on patching the gunshot holes.
Kathryn
Speaking of the tweaker, Calahan taking out the meth dealer by having is accomplice burn him to death because he hadn’t been loyal ENOUGH was a little startling.
I really think Kyle’s comments about him being a has-been got under Calahan’s skin.
Elizabeth
Seriously, guy’s got a giant chip on his shoulder now.
As if he wasn’t scary enough already
Kathryn
Yeah, I think Calahan is scarier than Milo was.
His scariness is more grounded in reality.
My notes for that were “Jeez, the meth dealer with some sense just bought the farm. On FIRE.”
Elizabeth
All the fire shots in this show are really impressive, the house on fire looked cool but the guy running around ON FIRE was really well done
And of course the train on fire a couple episodes ago, just stunning
Kathryn
Heh. I liked the argument Mike, Ian, and Stevie had over the crisped body.
“You think Calahan’s got himself a cabin by a fucking lake in Canada?” “Sounds nice.” “I’m sure it IS nice.”
Elizabeth
Hee
Kathryn
Also glad Stevie got to beat the living daylights out of an Aryan Brotherhood member in jail. Even Mike looked impressed.
Elizabeth
I’m glad Stevie got some fun out of it but did they need confirmation that Calahan was going after Mike? Seems like a no brainer?
Kathryn
I think maybe everyone thought they’d get specifics on where Calahan was going once he escaped.
Speaking of escape, the prison alarm sound was CHILLING, but I loved how everyone in the town mobilizes when they heard it.
Elizabeth
I LOVE scenes like that, horrible noise, everybody MOVES
Kathryn
For some reason it’s so much more impressive when everyone’s reaction is mostly “Shit, here we go again.”
Right down to the waitress at the diner cocking a gun and then getting right back to bussing the table.
Elizabeth
Yes!
The Warden was of course not happy but when is she ever.
Wonder what her goal was in talking to Cindy. Intimidating her into staying in line?
Kathryn
Or sensing that she must be palling around with Mike and she doesn’t want Mike to have that much of a foothold in her prison.
Elizabeth
Tiny chance it’s a warning, because goodness knows the Warden is in it up to her neck, maybe she hopes Cindy can stay out of trouble?
Kathryn
That would be nice if someone on this show had that kind of empathy and try to keep people OUT of trouble instead of dragging them into yet another scheme.
Kathryn
Because there was really only one or two people who are that nice, AND ONE OF THEM IS NOW GONE.
Elizabeth
Ohhh maaaaaaaan I was so bummed
From the second Cindy wheeled the phone to Kyle and said it was Tracy I knew this was it
Kathryn
As soon as Kyle took the call and heard the baby screaming on the other end…
And then to see Tracy’s face and she just says “Kyle..”
That was it, I knew she wasn’t making it out of the episode alive.
Elizabeth
I kept pausing and thinking “maybe I’ll watch this later” and starting it up 30 seconds later
Calahan was so CALM
Kathryn
He didn’t look conflicted at ALL. He was gonna do this horrible thing and then walk away because it would destroy Kyle and thus destroy Kyle’s relationship with Mike.
Elizabeth
And she’s holding it together until he says he’s going to kill the baby too
Which was next level awful, considering what happened
He’s holding the baby, gun in her face, calmly telling her she can close her eyes if she wants
Kathryn
I hate hate hate that she died thinking Calahan was going to kill the baby too.
And you KNOW Calahan will find some way to tell Mike that Tracy told him to just kill Mike instead if that was who he wanted to punish.
Elizabeth
But when I thought about it, Mike could always assume Calahan lied, there’s no way to know what he did or didn’t tell Tracy. So his only reason to tell her he was going to kill the baby was to torture her just a little more for fun
(Though Mike will almost definitely believe that’s what he did.)
At the last second, was she lunging for the gun?
Kathryn
I wondered about that, and the claw marks on Calahan’s face made me think she got in one good swipe before he shot her.
Elizabeth
Ohhh I didn’t notice the claw marks
Kathryn
Interesting move on the writers’ part to not show the moment when Mike and Kyle were notified that she was dead.
Elizabeth
I was JUST about to type that
Maybe they’re worried they’ve already lost half the audience, seeing that gut-wrenching a scene might lose everybody else?
Kathryn
Those kinds of scenes are usually such a kick in the heart. For some reason I always get more teary-eyed at scenes of people being sad about a tragedy than seeing the actual tragedy.
Elizabeth
Same. We got to see Kyle go absolutely insane when he realized Calahan was in the house with Tracey, I was a little relieved we wouldn’t see the moment when he heard she was dead
Also I think it makes her last moments the most powerful scene in the episode, anything after that might’ve taken away from it
Kathryn
One of the recaps I read thought that Mike and the Warden walking into the prison side-by-side meant they were going to tell Kyle the news. I kinda think they implied that he was already informed, since he tried to do himself in and wasn’t agreeing to be sedated.
Elizabeth
I really hope he already knows, I don’t want to go into the next episode with that reveal
Ian also told Mike that Kyle knew he’d have to be there for the baby, I’d assumed that meant he knew that Tracy was dead, but maybe it means he’ll know that when he finds out
Kathryn
NOT looking forward to the next episode if that’s the case, although I’m really hoping we see a BIBLICAL act of revenge from Mike when he finally catches Calahan.
Elizabeth
That’s probably the only thing that’s gonna save this season for me, I mean it’s been an AMAZINGLY good season, just about as good as the first honestly, but it’s such a bummer, if they don’t pull something satisfying out of it, it’s not going to have any rewatch value for me
Kathryn
If we end this season with Mike never finding out about Iris then I’m going to be equally PISSED OFF and really impressed with the writers for a bold choice like that.
Elizabeth
Right?? I mean they have to do something, why have Stevie and Ian specifically talk about it if it wouldn’t ever come up again?
Kathryn
If we end with the pile of bodies that I’m thinking we’ll get, I could see Ian and Stevie shuffling off the mortal coil before he can tell Mike.
Elizabeth
Stevie’s one of the ones I hope makes it out alive that might actually make it.
Kathryn
Stevie, Cindy and her kids, Rebecca…
Elizabeth
I’d love for Cindy and Rebecca to make it, but that’s not looking reeeeaaally great
Elizabeth
Jinx
Kathryn
Jinxy
Elizabeth
Ugh, what if one of Cindy’s kids gets killed?
End of the episode she tries to call Mike and he doesn’t pick up, maybe she’ll be out of the blast radius?
Kathryn
I could see that happening too. Kingstown’s taken most of Mike’s family, now it can start taking everyone ELSE’S family too.
Elizabeth
How fun would it be if Calahan goes after Cindy’s kids and she kicks his ass?
Kathryn
God that would be great. I sense there’s something she’s deliberately not saying about her ex that they had to run away from. Maybe it was because she killed him.
Elizabeth
Ohhhh I would watch the hell out of that reveal
Kathryn
Same.