Take a trip down The Night Road with Episode 3 of NOS4A2

Episode 3 of NOS4A2 managed to make us feel some sympathy for Millie Manx, took us down The Night Road and briefly featured a special guest star.

This episode of NOS4A2 opened with Manx leaving Christmasland in the Wraith, Millie looking after him disbelievingly. The hurt on her face is evident, and she wanders a bit off property, coming across a house she hadn’t noticed before. She goes inside, and looks around, hearing a noise now and then.

Soon enough, she finds out what has been making the noise, it’s her mother, whose face shows the marks Millie herself inflicted when Charlie brought her to Christmasland for the first time. Millie is shocked and frightened into fleeing, and it’s the first time I have felt any pity towards her. I have to say, NOS4A2 has really stepped up its character development game this season, and I like that we are learning more about Manx and Millie’s relationship.

Meanwhile, Vic has gone back home (via the Shorter Way, of course), and shows up at Dad’s front door. The next morning, she finds out that not only has he quit drinking, he also took the liquor out of her coat pocket and tossed it, so Vic hops on over to her Mom’s house. Linda is kind to her, but tells her she needs to call Lou and let him know she’s ok.

Speaking of Lou, he has a little run-in with Bing, who shows up asking for help with the bike strapped to the back of his truck. While Bing keeps Lou busy, Wayne wanders off and sees Manx and the Wraith further down the road. Manx tries to entice Wayne into the back seat by using Christmas gifts as bait, but when he doesn’t know the secret password, the kid smartly takes off running through the woods.

Lou is pretty smart too, as he figures out who Bing is when he spots a gas cannister and gas mask in the truck. He fights the crazy man, and takes off running, managing to save Wayne as well.

Manx walks into every psychopath’s favorite dive, Parnassus and there sits Tom Savini at the bar! As he and Manx exchange not-so-pleasant pleasantries, his face changes into something pretty scary, he looks very similar to the vampire he played in From Dusk ‘til Dawn.

Manx and Abe chat a bit, Abe tells him he knew he wasn’t really dead. Manx reminds him that he owes a debt, and now he wants to meet with The Hourglass. The phone rings, and it’s Millie, wanting to know when Daddy is coming home. She tells him she found the house on Candy Mountain, and he asks her if she has been naughty, and reminds her to take care of the children.

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Vic takes the Shorter Way again, and pulls up in front of Parnassus, gas can in hand. Before she can douse the Wraith, Charlie walks out. He says he underestimated her, but she’s now underestimated him, because she is on The Night Road, an inscape “formed by the collective unconscience of people like us.” If she is able to be there, it means that she has a darkness in her soul.

Manx threatens Wayne, Vic takes a run at the Wraith, but isn’t able to set it on fire, so she takes off and goes back home. Linda thinks she’s drunk, and tells her to get her s*** together and go home to her son. Everyone makes bad decisions, and you can’t run from them, especially if you are a Mother. Vic surprisingly takes her Mom’s advice, and heads for Maggie and Tabitha’s place, which is where Lou and Wayne are staying. Both of them are wary, with Wayne giving her the cold shoulder, and Lou asking if she is there to visit or to stay.

Millie decides to visit the house again, and brings the gift of a reindeer head, leaving it at the front door, knocking, and running to hide. Her mom opens the door.

Then we see someone we don’t know, a well dressed man who appears to be bleeding from the ear. He takes a phone call from Wayne, and says he would be honored to meet Manx. He pauses, listens, then asks, “Who is Vic McQueen?”

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am loving the way the third season of NOS4A2 is moving along, with plenty of suspense and an engrossing storyline. I’m looking forward to what’s up for next week!

Are you watching NOS4A2’s second season on AMC? What do you think about it so far? Let us know in the comments section.