FROM Season 3 Episode 6 Review: ‘Scar Tissue’

As is often the case, we find the task of describing FROM Season 3 Episode 6 to be an incredibly difficult one. The easiest thing to say is that the hour is, yet again, incredibly well done from top to bottom. It’s also, as usual, packed with moments that make us emotional, that make us think up all sorts of theories about From Town that are probably going to turn out to be laughable in the end, and that make us terrified of what’s around the next dark and terrifying corner. That this series always delivers is, at this point, no surprise. And yet, it still manages to actually surprise us and keep us desperate to know more about these people and — of course — about this strange place they’re stuck in, together, through all the ups and downs.

Whatever happens with the huge, overarching mystery, we continue to live (and sometimes die) for the way FROM lets the characters tell the story instead of trying to make the story force the characters to react. “Scar Tissue” is a perfect example of that dynamic. Even in this fictional world, in this unfathomable story, there’s just something real. And it’s all down to the detailed character work, allowing emotional beats time to land….and — yeah — scaring the crap out of us.

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

While FROM Season 3 Episode 6 features a number of elements that may seem “bigger,” we really can’t stress how important the personal scenes, out in the pool that now serves as Dale’s final resting place, actually are. The thing is, Donna is doing this work of covering Dale up with those heavy rocks alone. There’s something to be said for her being the only one to take the time and the care to address something that might seem like a totally useless task. But it’s not useless. As Kenny points out, it’s about giving dignity to the dead. Yes, even when the dearly-departed was kind of a jerk. Because he was still someone’s friend — and, in this case, that someone was Donna.

But there’s more to it than that. As we’ve pointed out before here, Donna is the one who’s always so tough, always so there for everyone else. Because of that, even without anyone saying so, it’s pretty clear Donna feels like this is something she has to do on her own. She doesn’t ask for help, doesn’t dwell on the sadness — just does the thing. And yet…she gets some pretty meaningful visitors. Let’s discuss them in reverse order.

So, first up: Poor Kenny. With Tian Chen gone, it’s just him by himself in that house with the Matthews family…and all their issues. Of course he would want to get out of there and go elsewhere, but he can’t really isolate himself in this place and doesn’t exactly fit somewhere like the clinic. Luckily, he knows he can turn to Donna. He knows she will give him a home, and, obviously, that’s exactly what Donna does. There’s something very special about the way Elizabeth Saunders and Ricky He build those moments, with Kenny kind of…dancing around the issue and Donna, gazing at him with such empathy and concern, ready to do whatever it takes to take care of him. Every single pause they take during their conversation is a meaningful one, and we kinda adore each and every second.

But that’s not all. Out there, in the cold, in that pit of an abandoned and drained pool where Dale is just…stuck in that cement forever, something beautiful happens. No, we’re not only talking about the scene itself being beautiful — though it most certainly is. These two people, who are both suffering from recent losses, manage to find a moment to just…make the load a little bit lighter for each other. Just like everyone’s been trying to tell him since his mom died, Kenny isn’t alone here. He has people. Donna is one of those people, and even after she sends him off to pack his bags, she takes a moment, watching over him on his way out. However, even if it might seem like Donna’s doing all this work — carrying all these emotional loads, if you will — by herself, it’s clear here that she’s not.

“You’re not still throwing those sex parties up there, are you?”

Kenny checks in on her, in his way. It’s easy to see with all that…hesitation on his part that he’s making sure Donna’s good before he burdens her. But these two people, being able to lighten the moment and actually get to laugh a little despite both being in mourning, is what really resonates with us the most. Kenny’s actual choice of a joke also reminds us just how much has changed and in such a precious, short amount of time.

Now, let’s go back to Donna’s first visitor in FROM Season 3 Episode 6. At that point, Donna just seems so defeated as she tosses those heavy rocks around. But, she also does an impressive job of trying — failing, as Saunders lets us see that vulnerability creep through — to keep that tough exterior. For some reason, Tabitha kind of gets it, offering condolences right off and listening as Donna kvetches about Dale. Which, let’s be real: It’s totally her way of showing she cared about him…without being sappy about it. And, just like she’ll later do with Kenny, Donna finds a way to help Tabitha. Because she’s a helper. It’s who she is. In this case, she reminds Tabitha there’s no reason to feel bad about coming back without answers.

Then, there’s the hug. Tabitha just embraces the other woman, seemingly out of nowhere, just as Donna’s starting to pull herself back together and get back to business. Sure, she doesn’t break down the way she did with Boyd. But Donna lets herself just…feel for a moment. No, she doesn’t totally lose it like she let herself do with Boyd. But this is just as powerful to watch, if not moreso, at least in part because the gesture from Tabitha is so unexpected and genuinely touching. Additionally, we see how much Donna struggles against all that emotion — now very present under the surface, in even more fantastic work from Saunders — as she tells Tabitha to get back to those kids of hers.

And whatever you do, don’t miss the physicality that comes afterwards in the force behind the next rock Donna tosses aside. This burden, of grief, of covering up Dale’s awful ending, is heavy. Tabitha helped ease it for a moment, but it just doesn’t go away.

But without that early moment with Tabitha, we’re not even sure Donna could have had the one she does with Kenny later on. Either way, sometimes, these tiny moments are the best resistance we have against something trying to strip away our humanity. Not only that, but the scenes serve to remind us — again — that the strongest among us really are sometimes hurting the most. Donna shows that here.Same goes for Randall in those scenes at the clinic where he talks about how horrible it is out there on the bus, yet never once says “I need help.”

TL;DR FROM Season 3 Episode 6 has some brilliant character work for literally everyone, but we really, really love Donna’s scenes. Because…how could you not?

Finding Jasper

FROM Season 3 Episode 6 sends Victor and Henry down into the dark, terrifying tunnels to get Jasper. Victor’s still sure Jasper can tell him what he needs to remember, so he doesn’t care about risking his own life — refuses to turn back the multiple times his dad tries to get him to — in order to find him. As far as the journey and the destination themselves go, everything about the way they are shot and edited make their trip the horror element of this episode. There are points where all we see are the flashlight beams in the dark — it’s giving The X-Files in the best way, ok? — or there’s a camera angle that feels like the tunnels themselves are looking at Henry and Victor instead of the other way around.

Not to mention, every time Henry just…doesn’t get it and tries to convince Victor to leave, it’s like our hearts jump into our throats. Those things might wake up and come after them! But that doesn’t happen until the big moment when they actually do find the dummy. That bloodied corpse of Christopher in the corner suddenly arises, becoming one of them. However, all Henry fixates on is why that thing has something that used to belong to his wife, and — as we hear later — …her voice.

“Because you were alone. My God…”

Afterwards, when Victor shows his dad the place where he used to hide, things start to click for Henry in a way we don’t think they have before now. Robert Joy does a wonderful job with Henry’s healthy fear — something Victor shoves aside in favor of completing the mission and keeping his dad safe — in the tunnels, but it’s Henry’s reaction to fully hearing about Victor hiding there before the people came that has got to be one of the most powerful displays of emotion we’ve seen on this series. And that’s saying something, considering just how much there always is. There’s sort of a similar beat earlier in the episode, when Henry has to take in Victor’s story about Mrs. Davis and it ends just as tragically as we’d expect. But after living through all that horror together…oof.

Victor and Henry’s journey in FROM Season 3 Episode 6 is interesting to us for another reason, as well. Henry’s technically the father here, but Victor takes the lead in the tunnels. He shushes his dad’s repeated “are we there yet” type of questioning, has to be patient with him and explain that they must be quiet. And Victor does all of this, in his own, particular childlike sort of way — thus making the role reversal that much more obvious and meaningful. Henry certainly gets to be the father figure plenty of times, too. So, we’re fascinated by how each man gets to play protector and protected. On top of all that, they’re just trying to learn each other, figure each other out — while clinging desperately to this idea that they absolutely, under no circumstances, can lose each other again.

Just as Scott McCord told us, nothing scares Victor more right now than the idea of failing his father and/or losing him again. It’s why he refuses to go back when his first idea of where Jasper should be is wrong. And it’s also why he takes Henry with him, against his initial plan to go it alone, at all. He absolutely can not bear to see that disappointment on Henry’s face, so he carefully, haltingly explains to his dad how dangerous his mission is. And, when Henry takes that invitation and refuses to turn back, you can tell Victor doesn’t like one bit of this but also gets it.

…just saying these two had better not lose each other again, like, ever.

The nightmare ultrasound

A series like FROM was never going to give Fatima and Ellis a true happily ever after. Or, at least, if they’re ever going to get one, it’s not going to be within reach while they’re still in Fromville. We know that, and we know genre TV’s fixation on taking away any semblance of reproductive choice. So, the question has always been how is this series going to do the demon (or whatever) baby trope. And, at least so far, it’s been all about turning pregnancy’s perfectly normal abnormal cravings into something else, between the rotten food and…a dead Nicky’s blood. Both of those plot points, while extremely disturbing to watch, have still fit the usual pattern in terms of there definitely being a baby — and there definitely being something very wrong with the baby in question.

“It doesn’t have to mean that there’s something wrong with the baby, right?”

FROM Season 3 Episode 6 makes us believe, for as long as possible, that we’re sticking to the established problem. Ellis tries to rationalize, to find some “medical explanation” for Fatima’s abnormal cravings. This, while she just pleads with him to keep her secret so no one else knows or sees that there’s something wrong with the baby she’s carrying in her body. Then, they tell Boyd. As Ellis’ father, he has to be this pillar of strength and try not to show his actual reaction to the news. But the way he looks almost sick the whole time Ellis is talking, desperately clinging to any kind of hopeful outlook, lets us know right away that he knows good news is probably nowhere in sight.

In that moment, we don’t know who’s giving the better performance. Is it Pegah Ghafoori as the terrified first-time mom? Corteon Moore, as the almost equally afraid — sorry, Ellis. The “just as scared as you” comment is a nice sentiment, but that baby beastie is in Fatima’s body. That adds a whole layer of terror Dad can’t experience even in normal pregnancy, which this, quite obviously, can not be — first-time dad who’s still trying to support the woman he loves? What about Harold Perrineau, as their parent who has so much he’s barely holding together and now has to hear about this, to worry about them while trying not to show them how worried he actually is?

Take your pick. But right after that, as Boyd steps out in the hall and literally just has the wall to support him in that silent, empty space…whew. What an image. It’s yet another example of how well this series is about the people, just as much as — if not more than — everything that’s dragging them down.

“…keep your expectations in check, ok?”

Eventually, the trio makes their way over to the clinic…and that’s where FROM Season 3 Episode 6 manages to shock us with its version of a pregnancy-related horror plot. After everything we’ve seen so far, after all the coaxing it took for Fatima to go to the clinic, and with us wondering what that ultrasound was going to show — or even what spooky sh**t might happen to destroy the machine or prevent Kristi from taking a look, kinda like the whole bird incident — we get…nothing. Somehow, that manages to scare us more than if the ultrasound had shown one of the monsters (but, like, tiny) in there.

One major, major real-world nightmare scenario for a lot of pregnant people is losing that baby. Taking the gross cravings away, seeing nothing in that ultrasound has got to be devastating for Fatima, who thought she couldn’t become pregnant, then became pregnant in this awful place, then had all this extra stress happen on top of it. And now…this. So, what does it mean? Is this place messing with Fatima now? Was there a baby, and if so, without signs of miscarriage…where did it…go? Or. Is whatever this is still inside of Fatima, just like she says — but that nobody seems to want to believe her on, to the point of giving her that “awww, poor thing. Let her down gently” sort of treatment?

Pregnancy itself can be horrifying. But, perhaps what might be more horrifying even than that — or any of the things that can happen to end a wanted pregnancy — is knowing your body, knowing (just like we do!) that something is going on, and nobody listening when you ask them to help you keep looking. FROM Season 3 Episode 6 leaves us in a place where the “nothing” could actually be nothing. Or, it could be any number of things, both logical and inhuman. Whatever happens from here, one thing’s for sure: Ghafoori’s performance here delivers on everything we could imagine feeling in a moment like this and so, so much more.

Now, how are Kristi and Marielle going to react if Ellis and Fatima go through with telling them about…everything? Here’s hoping it’s not medical gaslighting, though that slight hint of hysteria from Ghafoori when Fatima mentions that something’s inside of her certainly leaves the door open for that. But Kristi would do well to remember that this is, after all, a place that defies everything we know about the world. And then some.

Two bottle trees, repeated numbers in FROM Season 3 Episode 6

Speaking of science not quite being able to explain this place and people potentially sounding crazy…Jade. The scene where he frantically rushes through one theory after another, while Boyd basically stands there like “????” is so much fun. Perrineau’s delivery on that “…Jade” slayed, for what it’s worth. And, honestly, this is probably what we sound like to “normal” folks when we talk about our shows. Can also confirm, from personal experience, if you’re really good at Mathematics and start passionately launching into explanations of things, you’ll get that blank look from whoever’s listening.

But then, another clue derails everything. When Boyd mentions there’s a second tree, it’s like he’s poured ice cold water over Jade, sending every pathway in his brain to a screeching halt. So, what do we do with all this new information? Well, there’s the entertaining AF back-and-forth between Jade and Dead!Tom.

“Well. nature has a design, Jade. And that is not nature. It’s just something somebody put there.”

Whether Dead!Tom is a true ghost, some evil apparition put there by the forces controlling Fromville, or even just a manifestation of Jade’s inner doubts, it doesn’t matter. Because nothing he says to try to get Jade to stop looking for answers works. This man is convinced — that’s what matters. (Convinced and hilariously over anyone or anything doubting him.) David Alpay doesn’t hit a single bad note in FROM Season 3 Episode 6. But, man, do we love the “I am a little bit annoyed!” delivery — gritted teeth, wild gesturing, (more than) a little bit frustrated look on his face and all.

As we know he will, he gets back to work. And we think it’s a very compelling choice for Tabitha and Ethan to show up when Jade’s working through figuring out how the second set of numbers matches up with those from the tree Tabitha went through. We also appreciate how Alpay just lights up when Jade says he actually has no idea what it all means, but he’s “increasingly optimistic that somewhere here — somewhere in these numbers — is a key.” Because, well. Solving a puzzle, even when it breaks every single brain cell when we start trying, really can be such a blast.

Then, there’s the big twist at the end. Tabitha…has seen the place with the red rocks before, and Jade’s work reminds her of that. Not only do Jade and Tabitha work really well together in general, but just before that, he’s tried to comfort her over the whole terrifying children showing up in her house thing. And it works. It’s sweet. (Should we be like GTFO, Jim? Or, well. We’re already there, but..should we be like, GTFO Jim because look at that chemistry?) But to end with this huge discovery — one we probably never would’ve had without Jade being, well, Jade about looking for these answers — just gave our theories the same kind of upending that Jade’s got when Boyd told him about the second tree.

Also, can we applaud Catalina Sandino Moreno for that emotional, bewildered, horrified, and grieving response there at the end? Because. Um. Wow.

More on FROM Season 3 Episode 6

Tabitha and Jim are going to become the next Marriage Story meme, huh. Either way, I might’ve cheered when she slapped his hand away. Jim is getting on my nerves more than ever this season, and Tabitha so very much doesn’t deserve his BS.
Also cheered at this part: “Oh, yeah. And you were the knight in shining armor, right? Everything you did, every choice you made was perfect…you think getting the divorce was going to let me deal with it on my own? I was already on my f**king own!” Like, what an amazing performance from Catalina Sandino Moreno. Just nasty, bitter, angry, condescending, petty…totally up in his face…Talk about some pure disgust and daring a man to keep messing with you. People cheered. (I am people.)
“I thought you said you had something exciting to show me.” “Yeah!” And Jade’s gesturing around like “look at alllll this” kinda thing, kinda an Oprah shrug moment, too. A COMEDY. Like, how dare Boyd not understand his conspiracy board ramblings???
1864.
“It’s very…dangerous. What I — I have to do, and I — and I — I, uh, don’t want you to get hurt. But you could walk with me for a bit if you want.” Absolutely floored by how Henry lights up at just the offer to take a walk after previously being so disappointed Victor seemingly didn’t want to spend time with him. They told me this was a horror show; it’s a tragedy.
“You should go home.” What home?
Seeing Randall’s struggle through Boyd’s eyes hurts.
“He was a pain in my a** for almost two years. He had some good moments, though. Would’ve loved this. Hauling these f***in stones across town. Only thing he would’ve liked better is if I left him to rot so he could ruin everyone’s breakfast every morning.” That half grin, though.
“I just got you back. i’m not losing you again. If you’re gonna do this…we’re doing it together.” Look how guarded and shocked Victor is from just his dad holding onto his arm. This poor guy has been deprived of so much basic human love.
We could say a lot about Randall here, but the way he has to steel himself and then jerks that hand up — like ripping off a bandage, if you will — to look at his wound in the mirror just guts us. So, we don’t even know what the descriptor would be for the shot of what he sees in the mirror because it’s even worse. (Imagine thinking we’d feel this bad for him when we first met him. Kinda hate this show for its character work sometimes, actually. Do we not suffer enough????)
The altar, right after Kenny hears from Julie about Jim moving his mom’s junk drawer around…pain.
Boyd patting Ellis on the chest because there’s really nothing else he can do to comfort his son in this…kill me now.
Jade’s FFS moment. Relatable. Basically me whenever there’s news.
Sure, sure. Let’s throw in some classic horror stuff! Creaky door, camera looking down at Tabitha as she climbs the stairs…why not? The children themselves aren’t creepy AF enough! (Keep doing it. This is so good.)
“He would’ve hated it. ‘Great. Pile of rocks? That all I get?’”
“I’ll always have room for you.” If not crying…how?
Donna is such a mother!
Tabitha mouthing “thank you” to Jade over Ethan’s shoulder after he lit up over getting to help Jade with his puzzle. I am beginning to inappropriately ship it. Don’t @ me.
“WTF is real anymore” indeed.
“It’s not like that out on the bus. I don’t get to pretend. It’s f**kin…terrifying.”
A.J. Simmons really killed this episode even while everyone else was killing it, huh? Like, the way Randall just keeps trying to bury his emotions and kinda losing that battle…oof.
The flashlight beam hitting Jasper the dummy. An. Image.
“You know, Victor, if you keep coming down here, one of these days, we’ll make you stay.” Absolutely not. I refuse.
Once again, it’s ok not to be ok. Julie and Randall, essentially, showing this again…love it.
“But, Victor. Victor! That’s a…toy.”
“I don’t need you to be sorry. I need you to look again.” Going to be real on main and say a male doctor wouldn’t look again, most of the time. Kristi might. Here’s hoping…
Nothing good can come of the kimono woman asking Elgin for help, right? Right.
“The fact that some of the numbers repeat — that means there’s a pattern somewhere.”
Backwards 2…
So, Tabitha saw this place as a kid. Before she came here. Um.
“…same nightmare over and over again…”