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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Why are you running? The eighth episode of HBO’s Lovecraft Country Season 1 is titled “Jig-A-Bobo”, written by series creator Misha Green, along with Ihuoma Ofordire, and directed by Green in her directorial debut.
Some spoilers ahead for those who have not yet seen this episode or the previous episodes of the season. If you have not yet done so, get to that now, then return to this article!
Misha Green’s debut on this week’s episode proves what I have believed for the past some episodes of this series: She needs to work her magic on an adaptation of Stephen King’s It. Yes, Andy Muschietti has done well with his 2017 and 2019 film duology, but a third time could not hurt. In fact, Green has recently stated that she would like to take a crack at adapting the iconic King novel.
I 🖤🖤🖤 all things Stephen King. But if I had my choice I'd do an IT limited series. It's one of my all time fav horror novels. 🤡🤡🤡#LovecraftCountry #LovecraftCountryEp8 https://t.co/mqyiGjnTww
— Misha Green (@MishaGreen) October 5, 2020
Warner Brothers and HBO, please allow this talented woman to give her all and you shall not regret it. In this review, I shall continue to discuss what she has done right for the literary horror genre.
“Jig-a-Bobo” foregrounds the young Diana Freeman (Jada Harris) as she and the Black community of Chicago are faced with yet another loss, one who has become a prominent piece of history: Emmett Till’s murder at the hands of white supremacists. As the community begins to rally against the corrupt Western system of violence, Diana’s cousin Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his partner Letitia “Leti” Lewis (Jurnee Smollett), and his father Montrose Freeman (Michael K. Williams) prepare for the imminent loss that awaits them: Tic’s death. Meanwhile, Ruby Baptiste (Wunmi Mosaku) seeks solace in the Freemans’ distant cousin, Christina Braithwhite (Abbey Lee), who provides different solutions to what Baptiste so much desires. With these intersecting stories, the entire episode centers on the theme of protection against the worst of all evils.
With Hippolyta Freeman (Aunjanue Ellis) still trapped somewhere in the confines of time, Tic and Leti discuss her whereabouts and decide it is best to keep this a secret from Diana for the meantime. Tic is given an incantation from his cousin, who wants to achieve immortality. Braithwhite tells him that he needs “energy, intent, and a body” in order for the incantation to be successful; in exchange, he gives her the key to the orrery. He and Leti then find Ji-Ah (Jamie Chung) in the Winthrop home, who warns Tic about his death. After she explains to them her powers as a kumiho — that is, how she takes men’s life forces while they are at a climax during sex — Leti is distraught that Tic had an affair and has not made this known before since his return home. He kicks the Korean woman out of the house, denying his love for her along with his possible death. In contrast, Leti blames him for the deaths of those since he had returned from the Korean War. Tic assures her he knows the stakes of their mission and says, “We’re surrounded by monsters, Leti. I don’t have a choice.”
Later, Montrose tells Tic he had never cheated while his wife was alive. He admits to having desires that were not acted upon, and that he and his wife both wanted to start a family. He says to his son, “I chose a life over a damn asylum, or a jail cell, being found dead in a bathroom of some public park … [F]amilial love is the strongest kind.” Tic reveals to his father that he was given a book titled Lovecraft Country (written by his future son George Freeman) while Hippolyta was taken into time by the portal, suggesting that Leti shall be pregnant soon. The father and son discuss making sacrifices, and with the incantation, Tic is given monstrous protection against the bullets of the police force.
After Ruby Baptiste and Christina Braithwhite have sex as the white human vessels Hillary Davenport (Jamie Neumann) and William (Jordan Patrick Smith), Baptiste pleads to Braithwhite to show some emotional support for the lives of Black individuals. She says:
I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to feel what I feel right now. Heartbroken, scared, furious, tired. So fucking tired of feeling this way over and over. And I want you to feel alone and shameful, ’cause I’m here, feeling this, and you will never understand it. I want you to feel guilty ’cause — for feeling safe next to you and your privilege.
She explains that she took Braithwhite’s potion not because she enjoys being a white woman, but because she does not want to feel like herself (a Black woman), who endures the pains of being in her own racial identity. Unfortunately, Braithwhite refuses to share any sympathy or empathy to the movement and would rather indulge in her actions as a white woman. She takes negatives of the Freemans’ and Braithwhites’ ancestor Titus’s missing pages of the Book of Names — the final piece to her immortality — from Leti. Christina Braithwhite’s goals as a white woman are different from her father and the cult, the Sons of Adams’. She tells Leti, “Most men with god complexes wanna live in Heaven, but not Hell, failing to understand that God is both.” Using the key and the final pages of the Book, she pays two men to mortally beat, shoot, and drown her, which works, meaning she has finally achieved immortality.
Like Smollett’s and the other women actors’ performances in this and previous episodes of the series, Harris’s performance as Diana Freeman is definitely potent. After berating a pair of girls for laughing at her close friend Till’s death, two police officers accost her in an alleyway about her mother’s whereabouts. The girl is put into a chokehold and is spit on, which casts a curse that allows her to see two demonic girls. As it turns out, Diana is the only person in town who can see these entities. (For example, first, when she is the only person at the train station to see the two demons.) Her uncle, Montrose, gives her the strength to stand her ground against danger. He says:
[W]hite folks, they just keep coming. More vicious and evil than the last time. No matter what you do or how well you do it, they always take it from us [Black folks]. It doesn’t mean you have to give it to ’em easy … [If] they come for you, you damn sure make ’em work for it!
Diana confronts Police Captain Seamus Lancaster (Mac Brandt), who reveals what the curse does. He asks for the orrery in exchange for the curse to be lifted. Instead, the girl embraces the demons and attacks them head-on.
This eighth episode establishes new dynamics between its characters. Diana and Montrose develop their familial relationship, as the latter tries to become a father figure who inspires her to take on adversity. Leti and Ji-Ah are introduced to one another and realize that they have been similarly affected by Tic.
Let’s discuss the characters’ protection from harm. Montrose’s spell on his son conjures a monster that brutally kills the police officers trying to shoot through the windows of the Winthrop house, the incantation of which prevents Lancaster from entering. Braithwhite gains immortality after getting her way, but only after granting Leti and her unborn child invulnerability. With the white woman’s help, Baptiste is convinced she shall be able to create some sort of space about her to avoid incoming trouble. While Lancaster knows magic as well, he is killed by Tic’s monster. More unfortunate is Diana, who refuses to give away her family’s treasure and instead permits herself to be attacked by the demons.
When Diana is choked by the policemen, she says, “I can’t breathe.” Due to the fact that this episode takes place in the mid-1950s and that this very line is still spoken by oppressed minorities — and is made viral in May of 2020 by the late George Floyd — this indicates that matters regarding police brutality and Black Lives are still going on and have not been resolved. Christina Braithwhite’s comment on “[white] men with god complexes” written into the teleplay can take aim at the current occupant of the White House and his followers, that such men have not experienced the worst of their lives and therefore are anything but god.
With “Jig-a-Bobo,” it seems Green has delivered fans the Nightmare on Elm Street homage she has been teasing. With Diana being the only child in the roster of main characters, none of the others can see the demons except for herself. Additionally, a trio of little white girls playing jump rope is seen in the background as Diana is walking to the Winthrop house: an iconic symbol of the Elm Street franchise. This supernatural element as well as the episode’s blatant yet repugnant integration of racism are crucial to Green’s work on an It adaptation if ever given the chance. Diana’s courage to stand her ground against spiritual (demonic) and physical (human racist/discriminative) monstrosities is the very type of faith needed to perfect an It adaptation, and the scares-and-drama combination — such as when Diana is looking through a car at the Winthrop home property — is the very essence of what would help make this come true. Also, let’s not forget to mention the drastic change in Uncle Tom’s Cabin‘s book cover, which goes from featuring a pair of normal-looking children to then showcasing terrifying-looking beings.
For her proper use of historicity and popular cultural homage throughout the Lovecraft Country series, Green is worthy of bringing this Stephen King story to life a third time, as she proves by testing the waters with this episode.
10/10
What do you think of the series so far? Have you seen the show yet? Let us know! For more horror, drama, HBO, and Lovecraft Country-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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