FROM Season 3 Episode 9 Review: ‘Revelations, Chapter One’

FROM Season 3 Episode 9 is a packed penultimate episode that definitely seems to be taking us somewhere…but we have absolutely no idea where. And that’s a good thing because we don’t want a show like this to be entirely predictable. (Though, we do love our theories and get excited when one turns out to be right.) While there is so much change happening in Fromville that even the Boy in White starts to look different, some things might never change. Case in point: Just when it seemed Boyd had lost the people’s respect, his inspirational speech gets everyone on board with fighting back — starting with finding Fatima. It’s one of many stellar moments from Harold Perrineau, who continues to deliver one amazing performance after another, week after week.

As far as other changes and returns to form in this episode go, there are many. From Jade’s continuing search for answers, to Jim’s sudden transformation into a guy we might’ve rooted for if he hadn’t annoyed us for so long; from Donna’s change of heart, to Victor’s continuing struggles with memory and a fear of failure, it appears as if the answers to the end really are in the beginning. After all, we seem to be returning to a place where Boyd’s the sheriff in town with Kenny as his deputy, and the Matthews family is making an attempt to function…all while hurtling toward some end that breaks down everything we thought we knew.

MORE: What did we think of the earlier episodes this season? Read our reviews of FROM Season 3 Episode 1 and FROM Season 3 Episode 2.

Boyd comes clean with Ellis

As Boyd and Ellis are out searching for Fatima at the beginning of FROM Season 3 Episode 9, Boyd again tries (and this time epically fails) to cover up what’s going on with his health. First, he claims the tremors in his hand are “nothing.” Maybe, with everything else happening, Ellis might have believed him; maybe, even, Boyd thought lying to avoid giving his son one more thing to worry about was the right choice. But, well, the truth doesn’t care — and chronic illness most certainly doesn’t — so, right as Ellis is maybe about to let it go, Boyd’s leg freezes up. He stumbles. And the son he was trying to protect has to help him back to town.

It goes without saying that this father/son pairing has been through it, but here’s one more thing for them to handle — a reckoning with reality. When he and his dad get back to the station, Ellis is so careful with him, hovering, concerned. It’s like he thinks his dad will break if he touches him but doesn’t want to let go either. And Boyd. Well. He’s Boyd…refusing to accept the care, not wanting to reveal anything, and kinda letting it all bubble up until he snaps.

Perrineau and Corteon Moore are, as always, great together. We feel weird saying it, but we kind of love the moment when Perrineau whips around and on the “I know what’s going on with me” line, hurling his words like daggers. Like, no, it’s not cool to react that way to your son caring about you. But yeah, we kinda get it — and love the performance quality. Same goes for the confusion and heartbreak Moore portrays here when his dad tells him he’s known what’s going on with him. For a while, no less. It almost looks like betrayal, something we really get when we return to the characters later, after Boyd’s finally filled Ellis in on his condition.

One thing you learn when you’ve got your own health issues is you don’t owe anyone a bunch of details about your diagnosis. And sometimes, too many questions from too many people can just be overwhelming and the opposite of what you need in the moment. On the other hand, Ellis is right to want to know more about what’s going on with his dad, and he’s right to feel some kind of way Boyd keeping something from him. It’s a complicated issue and one that FROM Season 3 Episode 9 handles about as well as any series can — especially with everything else going on.

That the two get interrupted by one of the monsters, just as Boyd’s also filling Ellis in on them trying to break him and his own fears that what’s happening with Fatima is somehow about him, is so very FROM. It fits. Because it’s just a fact of life, both in this world and in the real one. The horrors never stop coming, and they don’t give you a timeout just because you’re already dealing with “enough.” There’s never any such thing as “enough,” actually. Not on this spooky series and most definitely not out here.

MORE: How is Ellis really dealing the bad news and with Fatima going missing? Read our Corteon Moore interview!

Donna changes her mind in FROM Season 3 Episode 9

When Donna first learned the identity of Tillie’s killer in FROM Season 3 Episode 8, she was adamant that Boyd had to tell the town the truth — or she would. But in FROM Season 3 Episode 9, she realizes she can’t do it either. Before she arrives at that conclusion, though, she spends some time doing what we can only describe as grieving. Walking through Colony House, barely noticing the people who are still there, and just…reliving little moments before we see the flashback to the big one that affects her the most. That memory, of Fatima’s anniversary celebration and the way so many people came together for her.

Elizabeth Saunders pours on the heartbreak, both as Donna walks through the house lost in her memories and in the moment immediately after the flashback. It’s wild how such a joyful memory can wreck us so completely. But with Fatima in the condition she’s in — both now a murderer and missing — and everything else having gotten so much worse since that celebration, that’s exactly what happens here. And for Donna to conclude that sharing the news of what Fatima did to Tillie will hurt more people than it will help…is really fascinating. All of her points in Episode 8 were valid; yet this idea, that Fatima means too much to people to crush them by taking their idea of her away, makes just as much sense if not more.

“Because of what she means to people here. Her spirit, her light. I don’t think people could take it. I don’t think I can take it.”

In times of darkness, we need to cling onto whatever light we can. Even if that light is an illusion. Donna gets that. Even if part of what causes her to change her mind is at least a little selfish, that’s ok too. Because Donna needs that something to hold onto, as well. If her something is a someone, so be it. When we interviewed Saunders, we noted how interesting we found all of this…and here’s what she told us:

“…that’s what’s been so special about — I mean, the writing is special every season — but about this season, I think the writing has really captured…how inconsistent human beings are, but also how inconsistent everything in our environment is. Including the monsters, including the town, including everything…nothing’s consistent. And I — I love how they’ve caught that this season.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

MORE: If you missed the rest of our interview with Elizabeth Saunders, you can still check it out!

Fatima is totally not Elgin’s prisoner…or so he says

Everyone’s focused on trying to find and save Fatima — and rightly so. Elgin continues to be a creepy “true believer” type, forcing Fatima to start drinking blood to nourish the “baby,” even as she just asks for him to let her go. (Side note: Can we call this thing a real baby at this point? Demon baby? Vampire, perhaps? What even.) FROM Season 3 Episode 9 sees him yet again dragging Fatima back into her prison. But, you know, Elgin just swears up and down that she’s “not a prisoner here.” He’s trying to protect her. Whatever you do, don’t think about the multiple layers of “protection” Elgin has to go through to enter the place where Fatima is trapped.

Elgin is convinced this demon spawn (or whatever) is going to save them all and has already done so before. That zealotry could be what saves Fatima in the end, as Elgin’s waaayyyyy too obvious about being overly-calm when he pairs up with Ellis during the search party. Regardless, the real-world terror of a woman being held prisoner by a man, all in service to trying to force her to give birth to something that might be deadly, hits us particularly hard here. On more than one occasion, both at the end of the previous episode and in FROM Season 3 Episode 9, Fatima nearly escapes — achieves barely a taste of what freedom might be like — only to be dragged back down. And that, too, hits particularly hard. It’s too real, yet not at all real given the circumstances.

Remember when we used to think Elgin was just sweet and quiet, when we used to feel bad for him? Eh. We don’t. And that’s entirely down to some genius combination of the awful things he does…and the chilling, utterly terrifying, performance that Nathan D. Simmons gives us. No, it’s not scary in the way that, say, the monsters are scary. But that’s…kinda what makes Elgin scarier than anything else. He’s just a guy with a belief; even if that belief comes from supernatural meddling, he doesn’t have any special powers himself. And yet.

Fatima’s spirit remains unbreakable for quite a lot of this ordeal, though. Because she does keep trying to find a way out. She tries to make a weapon out of something on the side of the bed, tries to climb up those stairs even though Elgin’s dragged her back before, even makes an attempt at digging with her own hands and an empty can. But it’s too much. Pegah Ghafoori does a remarkable job of portraying that suffering and agony…but we really just hope she doesn’t have to give us much more of it. Here’s hoping the people find Fatima in time. After all, the children helped Tabitha and Julie get so close.

MORE: Read our interview with Pegah Ghafoori for more insight into how she approached Fatima’s pregnancy storyline this season. When you’re done with that, check out what we had to say about FROM Season 3 Episode 7 and the murder that set Fatima up to be just vulnerable enough for Elgin to get her in the first place.

Victor gets a visit from the Boy in White

FROM Season 3 Episode 9 sees some huge developments for Victor. He’s decided that his memories can’t help — can only hurt people — so he is done. And he throws a holy tantrum to prove it, tossing everything out of his window and scaring the people down below. And that’s all before he picks up an axe and refuses to put it down, even when he notices everyone’s reactions to him. All we can say is we’re grateful for Kenny…because we’ve seen what happens when Acosta is afraid.

Victor doesn’t get to destroy the bottle tree like he wants to, though. Although the tree itself doesn’t fight back with some kind of witchy powers, the Boy in White does show up just in time to stop Victor from doing any real damage. That can’t be a coincidence. As we’ve kind of figured out by now, those bottle trees are important…somehow. But Victor’s right to be a little fed up and to just want to end everything. He has lost too much, blames himself for his mom’s death now, and just can’t find real answers that actually help people no matter how hard he tries.

The Boy in White, while he may have helped Victor in the past, just winds up being another part of this whole mystery that hurts him in FROM Season 3 Episode 9. Victor is melting down, raging about everything, and then outright begging his “friend” to help him. But the Boy in White won’t. He says he tried that before and got nowhere, so now “you need to learn for yourselves.” It’s a special kind of cruel, to see how upset Victor is and tell him he’s on his own. But…here we are.

Throughout this penultimate episode, Scott McCord does what he’s done all season (all series, really) — he delivers a nuanced, emotional, performance as a character who is oh, so fragile, yet clearly has to be so very strong to have survived so much. For a character like Acosta, who doesn’t know Victor, seeing his rages probably is scary. He probably does look threatening. But to us, and to the people in town who’ve gotten to know him, he’s still that lost little boy. That heartbroken, forlorn creature whose voice breaks and who appears to be so very small when he tells the Boy in White, “then help me. Please.”

Then, there’s the end of FROM Season 3 Episode 9. Victor is so utterly bewildered when Tabitha runs away from him, right after trying to comfort him. And as she reaches for him, then immediately recoils again, all we can do is feel extra terrible for him. And for her. Not to mention Julie. Also, if that flashback Tabitha seems to have after touching Victor means what we think it does, what does that say for not just the Matthews family, and not just Victor, but for the series’ entire mythology?

MORE: What’s Victor’s biggest fear? Read our interview with Scott McCord. We also caught up with Catalina Sandino Moreno earlier this season to talk about Tabitha’s search for answers. And Ricky He shared some of his thoughts about Kenny’s grief, especially when he initially hears about his mom’s death, with us.

More on FROM Season 3 Episode 9

That shot of Boyd bracing himself against the trees after he trips speaks volumes. This man is fighting a battle he can’t win — one of about 2398473 reasons why I hate anything having to do with health being described that way, as if if you’re just “strong enough,” you can “win” something — and he is so frustrated. Frustrated and scared. For himself, for the people he’ll leave behind, for all of it.
“I can’t help you. All I do is make things worse.” The more Victor doubts himself, the more I identify with the character. Anyone else?
Yet another phenomenal mirror shot of Randall. Not quite as powerful as the one in FROM Season 3 Episode 6, but still so good.
The Jim/Randall scene is everything, actually. Jim actually acts like a parent (???), and Randall just levels with him despite having his own stuff to deal with. Also a bazillion points to him for the whole “if this is your version of the big, bad dad routine, I’m not in the F—in mood” comment. Seriously, can “protective” dads just stop acting like their daughters are property and start worrying about teaching their sons how to not to mistreat them?
Also, this is good advice: “Go get in the van and teach your kid how to drive. Because there is f**kall you can do about the rest. None of us are getting out of here alive.” The little things are important, actually! And even the real world, nobody’s getting out alive. Might as well do what we can, while we can.
“I haven’t been doing a very good job.” Understatement.
Sure, waving a gun at one of the monsters is useless and dangerous, but Boyd screaming at that thing to shut its mouth is still A MOMENT.
That tiny little smile on Sara as she puts her fixed snowman back. Hate Sara all you want, but you’ve got to appreciate what Avery Konrad does with the character.
Be like Fatima. Keep fighting back, even when it’s useless.
Drinking blood…makes pregnant belly pop. This was not a thing they taught in school.
“They want you to know you can’t save her.” Ok but they had better be wrong.
“You’re scaring people.” “They should be scared. They’re — no one’s scared enough!” Victor, my dear, that’s because they’ve normalized all the worst things they’ve seen (so far) and, apparently, forgot how bad they were. Relevant to current events? Yep.
“Because of what she means to people here. Her spirit, her light. I don’t think people could take it. I don’t think I can take it.” “She’s gone.” HER REACTION. Like, my God, imagine hearing that immediately after you’ve been vulnerable enough to admit you can’t take the idea of losing her.
F this place indeed.
“Everybody here was living day to day. Moment to moment. Hour to hour. We found these [talismans]. We proved that this place couldn’t. Break us. Now, it’s trying to break us again. So. You can either lay down and die. Or. We can say F—k you. F—ck you. We’re taking our lives back!!! It’s possible! To fight back. We proved it once before! And I am asking for your help to prove it again.” The way he shouts those F bombs and sticks those middle fingers in the air…God. Yes. Perfect. Not to mention, a lot of us could probably use this little speech right now. Great timing, coincidentally.
Elgin buddying up to Ellis on the search is giving “serial killer who keeps an eye on the police investigation by inserting himself.” Prove me wrong.
Donna having to deal with Acosta during the search…too much, too much. Love the way Saunders does that whole scene, from the “try me” look when Acosta starts, to the more sincere “because…what she means to me” and all. But too much.
At the risk of saying I love too many things: I love everything about the Boyd/Kenny scene in the woods, too.
Sorry, not sorry, but I also continue to love Jade. He’s so hilarious stumbling down that ladder and being like “???” about the town meeting. (As we know, Jade doesn’t care for meetings anyway. See also his comments to Ethan in FROM Season 3 Episode 5.) But then, what he tells Henry about Victor later…what a king. Also, isn’t the “he’s not broken” speech kinda similar to what Henry just told Jim about Tabitha?
Jim? Parenting? Being sweet with Ethan? Disturbing.
Tabitha telling Julie she’ll “never be alone here” is…another throwback. Interesting. Folks have been telling that to Kenny all season.
Since one of the children led Tabitha and Julie to Victor and/or Fatima, I guess we trust them?
Ellis is basically like “???” when Elgin starts talking his mess. And seriously? Same.
Perhaps Elgin should see what his “friend” does to Fatima while she’s begging to be left alone and stop thinking it’s at all trying to “help.”
When the Earth shifts….
But what does it mean???