FROM Season 4 Episode 6 Review: ‘The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter’

(Warning: Major spoilers for FROM Season 4 Episode 6 “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” ahead.)

FROM Season 4 Episode 6 “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” begins with the aftermath of Jade explaining his plan to Boyd. While the previous hour ended with a very inspired “I know what we have to do to go home. I know how we can save the children” from Jade, this episode begins with him having to defend himself to a Boyd who (somewhat rightly) views the plan—or lack thereof, sort of—as a suicide mission. This opening debate, and the hopeless sort of devastation it eventually ends on when Jade’s hidden door isn’t where he simply knows it should be, features incredible work from David Alpay and Harold Perrineau.

Additionally, it sets the tone for what is, overall, an hour that’s more about Boyd’s “grit and good intentions” actually, somewhat miraculously, being enough to keep one of the most beloved people stuck in this place alive than it is about monsters, or escape, or anything particular to FROMville at all. That’s not to say that Sophia/the Man in Yellow isn’t still a very real threat. The latest? They’re up to something that involves Henry, who only finds himself drunk and alone enough to be a victim to whatever the villain’s latest scheme is because he’s unable to cope with the news of what that very same entity did to his wife 40 years ago.

But the series’ latest near death, and the one that has just about everyone dropping everything to keep vigil, is the result of something so normal, it feels like it has no place here at all. Donna has a heart attack. We could probably argue that the events down at the lake, the rush back to tell Boyd what happened, and even the emotional reaction to Tabitha confirming the “fears become part of the forest” theory, all contribute. But Donna’s life hangs in the balance, and time practically stops—the loaded silences at times feel like an actual death has occurred—because of that heart attack. What results is a FROM Season 4 Episode 6 that’s terrifying and anxiety inducing in a way that’s far more personal, far more raw and realistically human, than we’d normally expect when thinking about the kind of fears this place can bring to life.

Usually, though, when we bargain with death—no matter how angrily, how passionately, with how much determination, or even with so much sadness and/or inability to even imagine a future without our loved ones—we lose. But, ultimately, FROM Season 4 Episode 6 spares Donna’s life. That might be one of the most shocking twists this series has given us, considering how this season has seemed to foreshadow her end might be coming, as well as considering how often this place steals the lives of the characters who mean the most to others. But what’s not surprising at all, though remarkable just the same, is how perfectly Perrineau hits every desperate plea, every bittersweet moment of reflection, and every other overwhelming emotion possible as a Boyd Stevens who needs, more than anything, for Donna to wake up.

If anyone, or anything, can rip a person back from the jaws of death itself, it’s Boyd and the amount of emotion Perrineau brings to the character in this hour. I don’t know if that’s somehow going to be part of the bigger arc—whether the power of belief plays a role here or not—and I’m not sure I’d even want it to. But the near-loss of a dear friend, and fellow leader in all this insanity, snaps Boyd into action. So, in a tight, full-circle sort of storytelling, FROM Season 4 Episode 6 ends with a solution to the very problem it presents in the beginning. How can Boyd believe any of what Jade saw during his trip is real enough for it to be worth risking lives? Well. If there’s a wall in the way of a hidden door, trying breaking the motherf**ker down.

…instead of the expected devastation, we end with inspiration. There is an entrance to those tunnels in the basement of Colony House. Also a nice way to bookend the hour: Perrineau and Alpay, together, with performances that bring the house—or maybe just a single wall in it—crashing down.

MORE: Perrineau was also the standout performer in the FROM Season 4 premiere.

“I don’t think my dad’s that strong”

FROM Season 4 Episode 6 Victor on the roof — Screenshot Courtesy of MGM+

FROM Season 4 Episode 6 continues to show just how badly the truth—both learning it and revealing it—can hurt. Early in the hour, Victor stands on the roof of Colony House, and when Boyd and Kenny rush up to try to help him, he recalls the story of a man who jumped to his long, slow death. It’s yet another opportunity for Scott McCord to portray a character with so many wounds that run so deeply, all that’s left is this quiet sort of grief that sits alongside a certain, protective detachment. Victor can simply come out and say it—that a man not only jumped from the roof out of fear and an inability to “fix things,” but it also “took days for him to finally die”—because it’s not even close to the worst thing he’s experienced.

Before now, the worst was what happened to his mom; now, it’s how he might have broken his dad by telling him about it. When Victor’s on that roof, head tilted just so, looking down and remembering, time stands still in its own sort of way. Not with the sharp ending it seems to meet when Donna has her heart attack, but instead, it seems to stretch on forever in some unnatural, dreamlike way. For example, take those long pauses between when Boyd first approaches Victor and when, after a closeup on that infinite amount of grief, he finally begins to tell Boyd about that man.

And then, because Victor’s the only one here who knows things, Boyd has to oh-so-cautiously ask him if he can remember anything else about the Man in Yellow. There’s a fascinating little beat where McCord actually takes a slow step forward—toward the edge!—as Victor’s actually turning around to go with Boyd. We’re left wondering what he might do, picturing an all-too-tragic final act for a character whose life has been the definition of tragedy. But, much like Donna’s story, Victor’s doesn’t end here.

Back in his room, gripping that rope tightly and worrying it between his hands as he struggles with his memories—then, later, frantically fidgeting with one of the cans up there—he digs deep for a few details. A yellow suit he thought was funny, a man who seemed nice at first, a brown car—that’s it. So, after a knock at the door has him cowering in fear, and Donna goes off to tell Boyd about what happened in the forest (before, you know, the health scare)…Victor gets to work. He starts drawing again.

It’s a little bit heartbreaking to see how he refuses to share anything with Ethan about that yellow suit that scared him so much and interrupted their search for the Lake of Tears. Yes, he’s frustrated with Ethan, irritated and annoyed when he continues to interrupt his drawing of that brown car. But his reason for not sharing, that his dad “got really upset” (an understatement if I ever saw one but the best the mind of a traumatized Victor can manage to explain), highlights not only how bad he feels about what his own memories have done to Henry but also that he can’t—won’t—do the same to Ethan. Even it means being a little bit mean to his friend to make him stop asking.

Ethan is nothing if not relentless, though, so he gets Victor to let him sit there and draw with him. And, when Ethan shares what happened at the other lake, Victor comments that Tabitha sounds “pretty tough.” His own mom, Miranda, “was pretty tough, too. She was always…she always smiled even—even if she was scared. Because she knew that we would be scared if she didn’t.” But “I don’t think my dad’s that strong,” he tells Ethan, in an hour where Henry continues to bury himself in the bottle and avoid others. Alcoholism doesn’t mean a person’s weak, but considering Tabitha’s defeating giant dolls and Miranda at least pretended to be ok for Victor and Eloise’s benefit—while Henry not only can’t defeat the demons, but also breaks when he hears about what his son has survived—there’s some truth in Victor’s statement.

It’s that truth, some perceived fragility—or maybe even just that he’s isolated and avoiding the horrible reality of FROMville by any means necessary—that gets “Sophia” working through a whole bottle of liquor with him. (And then a second bottle!) Perhaps in his right mind, Henry might wonder why a girl of her size, with her history of coming from such a pious an sheltered upbringing, isn’t nearly as affected by all that alcohol as she should be. But, in a fantastic performance from Robert Joy, he’s too far gone, oblivious even to the girl putting something in his next drink. (And, I think, also drinking something totally different than what he is there at the end?)

Whatever Sophia’s up to there, one thing’s for certain: Just as FROM Season 4 Episode 6 teases a major death in the FROMily, only to—thank F***—reverse course and let Donna live, the hour doesn’t let viewers forget that there are other families continuing to crumble. Although I don’t even want to think this next thought, it’s also difficult not to look at what happens here, know Sophia is actually the Man in Yellow—who ate Miranda and, now, has her sights set on Henry for purposes that we know can only be evil—and worry that the even the character who’s endured the most and survived every awful thing has got to have his limits.

MORE: Last season, when we interviewed Scott McCord, we talked about Victor’s fear of failing Henry.

More FROM Season 4 Episode 6 reactions

“I am telling you, it is the only way.” Check out that tension in Alpay’s arms as he makes that gesture to punctuate all this! If Jade took that amount of strength with him to that wall, he could break it with his bare hands.
So interesting to begin FROM Season 4 Episode 6 after Jade tells Boyd his plan so that the audience gets to hear how absurd it is from the perspective of the person who opens the hour, standing there, looking very much like his only thought is “this crazy MF.” We’d know what Jade’s proposing is a little nuts and extremely dangerous regardless, but this drives that point home sharply.
“We knew going into this it was an out of the box swing. If you’re just gonna flatly reject everything I found based on how I found it, then what the F**K did I even do that for?” First, points were very much made. Second, there is so much emotion and passion here, I can’t get over it. Alpay’s voice breaking after the “what the” and going into the F…wow. That was difficult for Jade! And he’s right! Why suffer through uncovering those memories for nobody to do anything with them???
“Let’s just forget for a second that you saw all of this during a…mushroom-infused fever dream…” Perrineau reads this line like the thought is so ridiculous, Boyd has to force everything from “mushroom” on out. It borders on comedy…but only borders.
“There are countless examples throughout history of cultures, of religions, that hold the remains—the remains—of the deceased in great reverence….what do you think the Egyptians mummified their rulers for? This place, this f**king nightmare that we are stuck in, was built by sacrifice…what if the bones are what anchor the spirits of those children here?” He sounds so sober, despite just finishing a trip and despite just taking a drink, here.
That hushed sort of wonder on “sacrifice” kinda got to me, too.
“Explain to me why this was fun for your generation?” “We didn’t have phones.” “Interesting. It’s like social media from the Stone Age.” I love the perky, little way Samantha Brown delivers that last line. However. I feel attacked by the “Stone Age” comment.
“Boyd’s just trying to keep me busy because he knows that I want to kill myself.” “Oh? How’s that going?” “Haven’t slit my wrists yet.” “So, it’s going well then.” If you like gallows humor, is this the exchange for you! Alpay and Brown make this darkly, darkly hilarious. It should go without saying, but no, suicide itself isn’t funny. But because the actors hit the right dynamic, and the facts are what they are—Jade has a point, Acosta is…thumbing her nose in Boyd’s face about his “build a narrative” plan by saying anything at all, and Jade is so completely consumed by his mission here—it just…works. Like, “just a casual conversation. No big deal!” And that is the funny part of it.
“I’m looking for a secret door that I saw while I was on mushrooms I found in the forest.” Brown’s comedic timing and that look up in Perrineau’s direction make this funny AF, too: “People have strange conversations here.”
Oh, God. Jade’s reaction when there’s just a wall there? Gutted me. Like, all of that risk was for nothing. Nothing. He’s bewildered, helpless, hopeless…basically, just, like, pain. Pain and confusion.
“Oh. You’re ok with that? What, we lose a couple people? Maybe a dozen? How many is too many, Jade?” That accusatory tone from Boyd…
“How many people are gonna die if you keep sitting on your godd—n hands doing nothing? How many have you already lost? Huh?” Perrineau builds up that response so well, with Boyd slowly coming at Jade…before just attacking all at once. And then, when Jade warns him “there is only so long that you can hold this place together with grit and good intentions,” that one closeup on Boyd is just…pure rage. Wow.
Again, we pick up after Boyd tells Kenny Jade’s plan. Amazing.
“If you’d asked me before I…I got worms under my skin…or before I found magical rocks in the forest that protect us from monsters. What the—…” Love the frustrated gesture and way he cuts himself off and turns away…
“Remember the good ol’ days? When…when we used to count the nights when nothing bad would happen?” That gets Boyd ligtening up, chuckling, and clapping Kenny on the shoulder, all “if you’d told me, that was the good part…” Just a lovely, little moment from Ricky He and Harold Perrineau here. I’m so glad this is part of FROM Season 4 Episode 6 because there is just an increasing, relentless series of terrible things in this hour. And these two characters having a light moment, especially one that is so familiar for anyone who’s seen things go downhill so badly, is just…it’s a really important detail.
I love the way that roof scene’s blocked. Victor, so close to the edge. Boyd not far behind. Kenny, back there, taking it all in and worrying over both. Same goes for that head tilt and the overall way McCord holds himself there.
Ok but Julie, YOU WEREN’T TRICKED. WE’VE SEEN YOU SUCCEED. (Ish.)
More from Hannah Cheramy on that “pivotal moment” that has Julie completely doubting her powers.
I do love how Cheramy and Avery Konrad play this…awkward, hesitant tension, though.
“I don’t know how else to say this, so I’m just gonna say it. We were attacked by giant dolls…that came out of the lake. And these are not just decorative. Tabitha used it to kill one of the dolls. Drove it right through the f**ker.” This is a great moment from Elizabeth Saunders. Donna obviously knows how insane all of this is going to sound and is at a loss on even how to describe it. Plus, there’s the really bada** way she picks that thing up and wields it.
“Anybody need a drink? Because I need a drink.” Mmmhm.
“…I feel like there is just so much more that I—I should be doing to help. And I feel—I feel like I am the one that’s failing here.” If your heart doesn’t break for both of these people here…
“Growing up, there were a lot of times when I was afraid. A lot of times when I felt powerless. But those stories about…the djinn, Vishnu and Krishna, the Golem of Prague…I understand now why my father told me those stories. The world was so f—king scary. But if I could believe in magical things, then…that was something no one could ever take away. We have seen so much darkness, we have lived with so much fear. I need to believe in magical things.”
The writing on this series continues to be so good. Like, forget about the myth itself and how it’s pretty clear, based on recent episodes and their callbacks to the beginning, that there’s always been a plan. Just the beauty and intelligence of a lot of the things people say, like what Fatima tells Ellis here…it’s just brilliant, brilliant writing that reminds us, over and over, of the importance of stories and imagination. To put it another way: Whatever your belief system is, whatever you believe in or want to escape with, it’s important. It’s how you survive.
“I just told you I don’t want to tell you that.” PROTECT VICTOR.
“What did—…what did your mom do?” “My mom killed one.” Notice, again, stories are important. Victor is grouchy and almost doesn’t even let Ethan draw with him. But when Ethan dangles the prospect of a story in front of him—of what happened at the lake with the giant dolls—he suddenly becomes interested. Back to best friends!
“Why is there a…bar inside of a gas station?” “Better question is, ‘why is there a gas station in a town where no one can leave’?” Robert Joy’s shaky voice on “no one can leave” is about the millionth thing in this episode to break my heart.
“Here’s to the resiliency of the human spirit.” Toasting to that with something that’s inhuman AF and delights in breaking spirits: Tragic? Irony? Tragic irony? All of the above.
The physicality when Donna slams her drink down…
“How are we gonna tell people? How are we gonna tell them that they not only have to worry about those smiley pieces of sh—! that come out at night. But now, we have lit-eral. f**king. nightmares. That we can’t even protect them from. How much more can people take before we just—…” Elizabeth Saunders, take a bow.
…no. Not like that!
Tag yourself if you had a difficult time breathing from, like, the second Donna staggered into that doorframe and collapsed until the second she opened those eyes. Scarier than a bazillion evil doll and Creature attacks, combined. How dare.
That score as Boyd desperately tries to get Donna breathing again? Tilton’s genius work behind the scenes is limitless, huh.
Harold Perrineau. That is all. What else can I say about the sequence where they try to resuscitate our Donna?
“You don’t die until I say you die, you hear me?”
“Open! Your fu**ing eyes!”
Exactly zero things about Jade finding a Rubik’s Cube and making progress on solving it surprise me.
Jade totally losing it when he sees what those dolls did to Roger: Same.
Notice the worried look Tabitha shoots Victor before answering Ethan’s question.
“I want to see her before she dies.” “Hey. Don’t say that. She’s not gonna die.” “Yes, she is. Everyone here dies. So, please…just let me say goodbye. Please.” This poor boy. But, like, his usual ability to know the outcome of something seems off here. Unless…
…you know what? I’m not finishing that thought.
“Donna? I won’t forget what you said. That fear is what makes us heroes. Promise I’ll always do my best to be brave…I love you, Donna.” Simon Webster: Another heartbreaker. And not a single eye was dry listening to that.
That demented laugh from Julia Doyle as Sophia’s snickering about the bottle being empty…
Such amazing physical acting from Robert Joy throughout this. The way Henry struggles to get out of his seat, swirling around on that stool, then shuffles and staggers around to look for a clean rag…so good. And the way he plays that haunted explanation of why Henry had the reaction he did to that suit is such a stunning moment of clarity, in between all the over-the-top Drunk!Henry stuff.
“And that—that man. Where is he now?” “Rotting in Hell, I hope.” Joy’s breathless way of saying that last part before Henry takes another drink…
And the b***h is actually sitting right beside him, playing him, as he says this. Boy, you in danger.
Real talk: Is she initially only here for information and only just now deciding to do something to him???
“It’s weird doing something normal. I almost forgot what it was like.” Most folks when there was an actually blandly normal leader…
Going to reuse “heartbreaking” again here. Because, like, seriously. Sara forgot about donuts. The mere existence of a simple treat like that, just…gone from her mind after being in this place for long enough. Such a light, little moment between her and Julie, talking about candy…and then…that. OUCH.
What a touching scene. Super work from Avery Konrad and Hannah Cheramy, as one person who’s been tricked and used by this place and another processing such fresh grief, she doesn’t know what is and isn’t a trick.
“Something here convinced me that I could still help my dad. Like I could go back to the day it happened…I could—I could save him…I can’t do that…can I?” The lack of confidence, the self-loathing, the twitchy way the corners of her mouth try to turn up to almost laugh at herself—but she can’t…Seriously. OUCH.
That hug?
“I want you…to listen to me. Ok?”
“I cannot.” Such a long, heavy pause there while he looks down. And then, “I cannot do this. Without you. So, you’d better wake the hell up. You hear me? We got things to do, you and me. I’m not saying goodbye. You understand? I ain’t f*kin’ saying goodbye.”
“Make sure you get those nice and thin.” “I said I’d help, not cut off my fingers for part of your stew.” “It’s really good stew.” I snort-laughed. And then, again, when she said he could get them a little thicker after all.
“I wasn’t asking.”
Elgin and Randall, having a cute little moment????
Whole thing where Boyd remembers his first night in town: Just top notch work from Perrineau. Stunning, amazing, perfect, emotional, excellent, super…all of the above and more.
“I didn’t know what the F— she was talking about. We just heard monsters screeching, in the forest and then climbed into a hole, and this lady is talking about snoring…then, she looked at me calm and steady and said, ‘if you snore, they’ll find us.’ Riiight there in middle of all the fear, the disbelief, the….pants-shi**ing chaos, a little voice in the back of my head said, ‘this one. She knows how to survive. We might be ok.’”
“Darkest scariest night of my life, and she’s the one that got me through it. I don’t think I ever told her that.” If FROM Season 4 Episode 6 doesn’t loudly scream, “tell people what they mean to you before it’s too late,” I’m not sure what does.
“She made it very clear that she did not like me at all. No sir.” He’s almost laughing on that “no sir.”
Just a beautiful tribute to how tough, how practical, and how special Donna is and how complicated the history between her and Boyd has been. It’s also just super powerful to have Boyd fondly look back on what was a rough time, sure, but that was made better because this person was there. So relatable to anyone who’s either lost someone they loved or who is afraid they’re about to lose that person.
That softness? The “you’re ok,” shushing her, hand caressing her head??? Oh, wow.
..but how does Donna get a pulse back just as Boyd was demanding that she couldn’t die? And…how does she (eventually) wake up, just as Boyd’s telling Ghost!Khatri he has no idea what he’ll do if she doesn’t wake up???
But also: THANK GOD.
Whole house, and whole audience, collectively sighing.
They’re a FROMily! Look at everyone’s emotional reaction here!
“Do you know what I was thinking, Henry?” “I do notttt. But I’m near certain you are about to tell me.”
“It’s not as though murderous dolls climbed out of the lake and attacked your people.” Ghost!Khatri snarky AF.
Again, watch Perrineau’s movement. The way Boyd storms in there and then just…the weight and effort and strength in every single swing. It builds and builds, and there’s intention with every movement, every breath.
“You want me to go down in those tunnels? You want me to risk people’s lives?! Then, show. Me. The. F**KING. Door!”
“Holy sh—” indeed.
“…we’re gonna need a plan.”