BrainDead: Season 1, Episode 10, “The Path to War Part Two…”

“You didn’t fit in the story I was telling.”

It’s a bit of a throwaway line and it doesn’t come until the very end of the episode, but there’s something about Laurel (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) telling this to Gareth (Aaron Tveit) that feels a little more nuanced than usual. You have to wonder if it was a shot by BrainDead’s brain trust, letting us know that despite our gravest reservations, they indeed do have a plan, and they indeed do know what they’re doing. Perhaps the entire thing has been built around a slow burn, and perhaps, after weeks of ups and downs, this series has — gasp! — finally found that elusive groove.

“The Path to War Part Two: The Impact of Propaganda on Congressional War Votes” might be the best episode of this series to date and here’s why: the focus has now shifted to ambiguity, and that’s the best shot BrainDead has at working. This isn’t a series that works to its fullest potential by grossing us out with head explosions; rather, it’s a narrative that succeeds when it takes a page from something like Roman Polanski’s 1965 brilliant psychological mind-fuck Repulsion, which feeds more off what you don’t know than what you do. And right now, we’re beginning to wonder about the things we don’t know.

As in, who, actually, is infected by these alien ants?

We know Laurel’s father Dean (Zach Grenier) is infected. We know about Red (Tony Shalhoub) and Ella (Jan Maxwell). Of course, there’s a parade of past characters who drank the ant Kool-Aid. But now lines are getting blurred and now things are becoming interesting.

Case in point: we meet four characters this week whose status is neither confirmed nor denied. There’s Ben Valderrama (Michael Zegen), a documentary filmmaker who’s so obsessed with certain aspects of the democratic agenda that his enthusiasm could be mistaken for the Alien Ant Plan. There’s the Healy doctor, whose ring tone is that pesky Cars song, “You Might Think”. There’s Luke’s (Danny Pino) wife, Germaine (Lily Cowles), who puts her newborn baby to sleep with the help of said Cars song. Then there’s the actual newborn baby, who apparently went all kung-fu inside Germaine whenever the voice of Donald Trump pierced through her mother’s belly.

In fact, you could even make the case that one of the main players in the Battle Against Team Ant, Rochelle (Nikki M. James) half-suggested that she may be bitten as well. Her response to Laurel’s reservations about the doctor — who again, we don’t know what his deal is — seemed a little too mechanic for comfort. If it turns out that the doctor knew Germaine was carrying around a tiny alien baby, and Rochelle knew this, too … well, goodness gracious, we’re running out of actual regular human beings, now, aren’t we?

And then — and then! — to spin it forward, if Germaine was pregnant with an alien baby, and that alien baby is actually Luke’s baby … well, Luke must be infected as well, right? Unless, of course, she was cheating on him with … oh, that list could go on and on and on.

See what I mean? Ambiguity! Yay!

All right. Back to the plot. Film director Ben is commissioned by Luke’s camp to craft a “documentary” (although for as short as it always seems to run, I’m going to go with “political ad”) and naturally, Ben and Laurel know each other from their respective careers as documentary makers. Ben’s a Big Shot now; Laurel’s intimidated. Turns out, the dude allows his political views to take over the filmmaking process, and Laurel takes liberties with the end product, making it infinitely better, and watching the video go viral all while he takes the credit for it.

Because, you know. Women. And men. And society. And all that.

Also this week, we revisit the notion that Luke is a complete dog. He tries to go around to all of his mistresses (who knew he had so many?!) to break things off, but it doesn’t go so well, and really, the guy looks worse and worse each time this scene plays itself out. I mean, come on, man. You just had a kid and you need to run out for a quick boinking? Settle down, dude, if just for a day.

Gareth and Laurel, in case you were wondering, still appear to be very much in love, but this week, it’s Gareth who gives Laurel The Speech about why they can’t be together. All is redeemed toward the end of the hour, when Gareth calls Laurel to tell her that he knows Laurel was the one who deserved the credit for the Super Popular Propaganda Video, and they share yet another cute moment (No. 62 for the series, if my calculations are correct).

This is also the part where Laurel says what I quoted at the beginning: “You didn’t fit in the story I was telling.” Ben interviewed Gareth for his gotcha documentary, Gareth didn’t look all that great, Laurel ultimately cut his moments out of the finished product. Her reasoning was as such — Gareth simply didn’t fit into the story she was telling.

And with three episodes left, BrainDead‘s story is slowly becoming one worth not only telling, but also paying attention to. Things are getting curious. The lines between horror and thriller are blurring with a significant level of success. Laurel’s growing more and more paranoid and that’s only helping create a climate of identity for the series; the more uneasy she gets, the more likely it is for the viewer to feel just as suspicious.

Yeah, the show isn’t as funny as it wants to be. And sure, this season has been far too spotty to truly bestow praise on the series as a whole. For this week, at least, BrainDead more than makes up for its shortcomings with the promise of intrigue. At this point, it appears as though these guys know what story they’re trying to tell. Now more than ever, it feels like they know what fits.

Yet perhaps most importantly, they also seem to know what doesn’t.

You Might Think

Absolutely not acceptable to have two consecutive episodes without Gustav (Johnny Ray Gill). What the hell, man?

That said … chances Gustav comes back and is somehow infected? Better yet, chances Gustav comes back and it takes a few weeks to reveal that he’s been infected? Don’t dismiss it.

Totally thought Ben would be Laurel’s new love interest moving forward, didn’t you?

Do we really think that this means there will absolutely be no war in Syria now? Not a chance, right? So, Luke gets his votes and the outcome can be attributed to Laurel’s video, but that’s not the end of that conversation, is it? There’s no way; it’s just not how this series works. Something will happen next week with Red and Ella that will get the whole “Let’s Go To War!” story back on track. I hope I’m wrong — honestly, I’ve had about enough of this whole “Do We Go To War?” struggle — but we know the pattern by now: strong moments/episodes typically lead to sub-par follow-up weeks. We’ll see.

Told you they wouldn’t expand the story revolving around that Special Prosecutor’s murderous death. Told you, told you, told you.

The only thing that is certain? This will get uglier.” Indeed, Fake Rachel Maddow. Indeed.

Some of those shots of Red and Ella talking in Laurel’s version of the final video were gold. Tony Shalhoub is just becoming The Best. You almost get the sense that the minds behind the show said, “Just go for it, man” and he’s taking full advantage of that opportunity.

According to Wikipedia, the bearer of all things Internet, we have only two more weeks of this, yet we also have three episodes. That’s right, the final airdate, September 11, is scheduled to feature two back-to-back hours. The final episode’s title? “The End of All We Hold Dear: What Happens When Democracies Fail: A Brief Synopsis”. That begs the question: was this series even designed to go further than a mere single season?

Things I’m interested in: Gustav. Ben and Laurel’s past. Whose baby Germaine was carrying. Luke’s inability to end affairs. The software Laurel was using to edit video (honestly, is this 2002?). Why the baby kicked at the sound of Trump. Rochelle’s deal. The Healys’ doctor. SRB-54. And holy hell, Gustav, again.

Things I’m not interested in: A war with Syria. The scope of Luke’s affairs. The one percent. “Burning the government to the ground”. The One-Wayers. The No-Wayers. Luke’s White House prospects. Gareth and Laurel not being together (enough already). Ella (what does she even do anymore?). Big banking.