So, we left the various denizens of…well, wherever this carnival of horrors is – hell, the afterlife, the product of a vivid imagination, the last thoughts as we cross over – trying to make sense of where they now find themselves. All manner of explanations have been considered; none fit all of the characters we have met so far. Now, a new proposition is offered. Enter Roger, played by Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall, Fargo), and his take is that this is a next-level video game or personal post-suicide simulation. Well, it is as good as anything we have heard.
And so a conversation ensues with the wonderfully belligerent Blanca (Crissy Guerrero), who seems to be our narrator, offering a sort of exposition (if she can be trusted) or at least a voice of reason, or as close to reason as we get to in this place. She is still taken with the idea that all of this is some dream, but so far, every proposed scenario and explanation is just as likely/unlikely as any other. Take your pick!
The questions we keep returning to are, of course, fundamental to our eventual understanding of the whole concept. Where is this place, what is its purpose, and who controls everything? Is it Blanca’s dream, Roger’s simulation, Tony’s afterlife, or Theresa’s vivid imagination?
Into the mix now comes a wave of new characters. Mindy Sterling’s “Five,” one of the resident carnival hustlers, sheds some light on how things work here and suggests that Blanca is more than just another unfortunate trapped here. And then Alina Foley and Tonoccus McClain as “Highstriker” and “Tunnel of Love,” respectively, take us down a new narrative pathway, their conversational back and forth adding plenty of dark humor, something which is never far below the surface of the show as a whole.
As always, the flow of the story is punctuated by Stuart Pearson’s brooding, Waitsian-infused Americana, adding just the right sonic backdrop to the eldritch events: a musical mood enhancer and the perfect way to slip from one scene to another.
Three shows in, and whilst we know more about the mechanics of the place, we still don’t have any answers. At least not any that stand up to scrutiny; what is now clear is that this is a more complex place than it might have first seemed. A place with a strange social structure, where some people are residents, and some are from elsewhere. Some are looking for answers, while others are formulating a revolution. Some are pulling strings, others dancing to their tune. Some have accepted the situation; others are happy to suspend disbelief to try and make sense of the situation.
The more we know, the less we understand. But that is what keeps us coming back for more.
Listen to Episode 3 HERE