Recap for NOS4A2 episode 8: Parnassus

NOS4A2 is getting closer to the end of its first season, with the finale airing this Sunday. With AMC’s recent announcement of a second season set to air next year, it’s pretty obvious that the storyline is not going to be totally wrapped up.

That’s OK though, as I know from reading Joe Hill’s fantastic novel (also titled NOS4A2), there is more story to tell. For those of you who haven’t read the novel, just know that Vic’s journey to Christmasland isn’t even close to completion at this point.

But first, let’s catch up with Maggie, who is distraught over Joe’s disappearance. She picks up her phone to call Vic, but changes her mind and calls her own mother instead. When she asks if she can come home, Mom gives her three conditions: no drugs, no girls, and church every Sunday.  Maggie hangs up, and soon after, finds her discarded bag of Scrabble tiles on the door step.

She pulls tiles out of the bag, asking where Joe is, but the answer is not a good one. The tiles spell out the word DEAD. This puts Maggie in a tailspin, and she ends up at a club called Miss Trixie’s, where she flirts, dances, and makes out with a woman before stealing a bottle of pills from her.

Charlie Manx goes to a bar as well, but it’s a little scarier than Trixie’s. Parnassus is apparently the inscape for Abe, a friend of Manx’s, and it is populated by characters who look suspiciously familiar. There is a clown, and a fellow who looks very much like the bartender from The Shining. Manx and Abe chat, and Manx starts out by telling his buddy that Jolene is dead. It’s ok though, because now he has a new gal to moon over, her name is Vic McQueen (uh-oh).

NOS4A2 EP 8 – Courtesy AMC

Abe says Manx should kill Vic, but Charlie tells him he thinks he can win her over once she sees how magnificent Christmasland is. Abe thinks she’s dangerous, he saw her inscape (the Shorter Way Bridge) pop up on his magical map.

Vic gets some good news for a change, in the form of a letter informing her that she has not only been accepted to RISD, she’s also been given a full scholarship. She excitedly calls her mom, who is not enthusiastic.

Bing has been agonizing over how he can get back on Manx’s nice list, and decides that his best bet is to do away with Vic. He sneaks into her room and leaves a box containing a liquor bottle, condoms and drugs for Linda to find. Mom completely wigs out, telling Vic that she’s now proven she’s not mature enough to go to college on her own. Vic lashes out at Linda, calling her a small town loser, and runs out of the house, right into the arms of Bing, who gasses her before dragging her down to his basement.

When Vic comes to, her hands and feet are bound, and Bing starts to get really weird, even more so than usual. He tells her that he plans to kill her in order to convince Manx to trust him again, admits to killing his parents, and then tells her she smells good, and wonders if she tastes good…gross. He ends up embracing her with his head on her chest.

Thankfully, she ends up getting out of the duct tape, kicks the crap out of Bing, then drugs him with his own “gingerbread smoke.” She runs to Craig’s house, knowing that the cops won’t believe her and she might end up hospitalized again. Craig is all: “I’m gonna beat Bing up with this here baseball bat”, but Vic talks him out of it (as far as we know).

NOS4A2 EP 8 – Courtesy AMC

Maggie has asked her Scrabble tiles where Vic’s bike is, and the cryptic answer is “The Brat.” So Maggie, who has by now popped an entire bottle of pills, calls Vic from a ratty mattress outside of Trixie’s. She tells Vic that her Mom didn’t sell the bike, and Vic can tell something isn’t right by the way Maggie is slurring her words.

She tells Craig bye-bye and dashes home, where she is surprisingly gentler with her Mom. She tells her that she knows Linda’s afraid of being alone…and by the way, where did you stash my bike?

Vic finds her bike hidden in the basement and takes off for the Shorter Way Bridge. As soon as she enters the bridge, we see the words “Miss Trixie’s” painted on the wall, and that’s where she ends up. She finds Maggie’s unconscious body, and shoves her fingers down her throat to make her throw up the pills.

NOS4A2 EP 8 – Courtesy AMC

When Maggie is finished heaving, the two girls embrace and promise to stick together to kill that creep Charlie Manx. I’m looking forward to next week, because NOS4A2 is always at its best when Vic and Maggie get to share scenes.

Readers, what do you think is going to happen in next week’s finale? Will you be tuning in?  Let us know what you think in the comments section.