Now that we’re past the official midway point of the season, it’s safe for me to ask: What the hell is going on? As someone who read LaValle’s book, I can tell that the inaugural season is only going to cover a portion of the source material, as there’s no way the entire story will be wrapped up in the last four episodes — especially if the show keeps moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. Right when I thought things would speed up as Apollo embarks on his odyssey, the show returns to the slow burn that would have made it difficult to truck through the first three installments if they weren’t all dropped at once.
“Has anyone ever told you that you speak in riddles?†is what Apollo asks Cal as she gives him a tour of the mysterious island of women. This mirrors the experience of watching the show; jam-packed with foreshadowing and allusions to fairy tales and nursery rhymes, The Changeling juggles multiple themes without picking up the momentum to carry all of them to the finish line. It’s easy to imagine how hard it would be for those who haven’t read the book to keep up with everything happening at any given moment, particularly because sometimes, it seems like nothing is happening at all. It’s a different viewing experience when you know what to look for and when, or else the twists and turns appear hidden in plain sight. The slow, uphill storytelling can only keep our social-media-polluted minds occupied for so long, and this episode requires patience and a sharp eye to follow the superfluous scenes and confusing dialogue.
The first half of the episode gives us a much-needed peek inside Emma’s mind leading up to the chilling murder of “baby†Brian, whom Emma knows to be a changeling. It’s a 20-minute stretch of Emma exploring the jungle in São Paolo and meeting the mysterious photographer whose camera she used to capture the nude picture of herself that’s hanging in a Norwegian gallery. It moves glacially, giving us little new information or additional context. We already know that the woman in the lagoon is a witch and that Emma took this photograph of herself while looking like “a fucking sorceress,†as her friend said in the season premiere. Basically, it could’ve been condensed to ten minutes.
Regardless of the annoyingly slow pace, Clark Backo’s acting shines through, giving us a performance rife with authenticity and anxiety. While Emma’s perspective was sorely missing up until now, we get a tiny window into the torturous grief and desolation she felt as she began to realize something wasn’t right with her baby. As she says after eventually deciding to do the unspeakable: “I love my baby more than you can ever know. I’ll give up anything for him. I’ll give my life for him. My husband’s … and yours.†But before she realizes that Brian is a changeling, the perils of postpartum consume her, and she questions her ability to be a good mother. This is the scene that I wish could have been expanded upon — hearing Emma speak about wishing Brian had known the pre-pregnancy version of herself and noting how motherhood isn’t what she thought it would be is likely a relatable moment for many women.
While holding Brian on the rooftop of their home, Emma says, “I know I’m supposed to love you unconditionally, but I feel panic, and it’s suffocating the love. I’m trying to tell you, baby, that I wish I was a better mom for you.†The scene speaks to both her devotion to her child and the disconnect she feels toward him. Her desperation is so apparent that as she stands over the edge of the roof, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she tossed Brian overboard, giving him away to the city just like she’s shown doing with her bouquet at the wedding on that very rooftop. Then we see how Emma and Cal connected, which is, of course, through social media. Months into her sleep-deprived, postpartum stupor, Emma apprehensively turns to her online mom group to ask if anyone has ever felt like their baby isn’t theirs, as if the baby was switched at the hospital or maybe even later. Cal messages Emma instantly, offering sympathy and a solution. Emma jumps at the opportunity, mainly because Cal asks about the disappearing messages without Emma telling her and because immediately after their conversation, Emma receives another anonymous text that reads: “Don’t listen to witches. Hahahahaha!â€
The trappings of social media is yet another theme that The Changeling has been subtly stringing along. On the boat on the way to the island, William remarked, “Vampires can’t come into your house unless you invite them, Apollo. Posting online is like leaving your front door wide open and telling any creature of the night they can just come right in.†Cal calls social media a “poisonous trap†where “people hand over their babies, their private, most precious moments every day for the world to see.†Emma and Apollo both invited monsters into their home through social media; Apollo’s constant posting of new-father life attracted William, who reveals his true monstrous self by the end of the episode, and Emma’s admission in the mom group brought Cal into their lives. While William is undeniably an evil being, it’s still uncertain whether Cal is a good witch or a bad one.
Cal has taken a tentative liking to Apollo and frees him from his cage to give him a tour of the island, allowing him a second chance but warning him there won’t be a third. She explains that they’re not actually on North Brother Island, as they transformed the land into a commune for women who also had to kill the changeling that replaced their baby. It’s so female dominated that Apollo hilariously calls it “Estrogen Island.†These women come to the island for refuge, often bringing their other children, allowing their families (minus the men) to hide from the outside world. Cal describes it as one of the rare places people actually believe women, a simple gift few women receive. Cal claims to know where Emma is but tells Apollo that no boat, car, plane, or train can take him there. She says that there are “things†that must be understood before he can go to where Emma is.
Unsurprisingly, we don’t get any more information about where Emma is or what Apollo needs to understand to get there. However, thanks to Cal, it’s solidified that the story from To The Waters and the Wild isn’t merely a story but a prophecy. Cal notes how interesting it is that Apollo loved that particular fairy tale so much, considering where he has found himself in the present day. She tells him that on this island, the world’s rules are not the same as the ones he once knew. What these rules are? We still don’t know, and the slow-moving storyline instead focuses on Apollo’s deep desire to be a loving and attentive father as we watch him interact with some of the children on the island.
Trying to reason with Apollo, Cal says that Emma must have willed him there, and nothing “short of a god†could’ve found the location. No one knows (yet) why Apollo’s father read him the “baby is a dream made real†story, but Cal insists that Emma and Apollo have “crossed the waters†into a twisted fairy tale, and ignoring it won’t help. She warns Apollo about William, saying that the bloodied man in the cage next to him “consorts with monsters.†Apollo admits that he didn’t believe Emma when she was circling the drain from the mysterious text messages and her monster baby that bites her, but now that he’s come this far, he’s ready to see the truth.
Even after Cal’s advice about William, Apollo still sticks up for his friend. Before Cal gives Apollo a tour of the island, she has a heated interaction with William in which she reveals that he’s the one who killed his child. William calls her a sorceress and a liar, screaming in Norwegian as Cal takes Apollo away. After the tour, Apollo asks Cal if William can be released as he did the same thing the other women on the island did. Cal rebukes the idea of there being a similarity between William’s infanticide and the women’s sacrifice and tells Apollo that if he wants to speak to William’s wife, Gretta, he can speak to her later in the day as she’s summoned her to the island.
Gretta confirms Cal’s story and adds additional details. Apparently, William completely defaced the copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, scrawling the name Agnes (that’s their daughter’s name) in red ink on every page. She also says he wiped out her bank account, presumably to purchase the book, as she cites the same amount of money he gave to Apollo. Apollo races back to where William is imprisoned, only to find someone who no longer looks like the man Apollo sold the book to. The man says his name isn’t even William, and for a while, he didn’t know his real name or identity. He rambles about “finding his people†and taking off William Wheeler’s face, which is when he received his true name. Not William speaks in a menacing voice, his face partially covered in shadows, looking nothing like the man we knew him to be. He tells Apollo that Apollo already knows his name, repeating some of the posts from Brian’s tribute page. Apollo connects the dots, realizing he’s come face-to-face with Kinder Garten.
Apollo’s Breadcrumbs
• It dawned on me as I watched that I had no idea what the Norwegian language sounds like. When William/Kinder Garten started yelling in his native tongue, it was so frighteningly good that it sounded like he was casting a spell.
• I need more of Cal’s back story because who is this woman named Pearl that William was referring to? Is it Cal’s past life? And what does shoplifting have to do with anything?
• The only thing that got me through the slowly paced Brazil scenes was the gorgeous camera work. The whole show is visually pleasing, but this was top-tier.