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"...Somethin's buildin' kid. I can feel it..."
Directed by: John Patterson
Written by: Toni Graphia
Summary
Brother Justin stands in front of his altar, handing out the Eucharist, but instead of the holy wafer, he places a razor blade on each worshiper's tongue. "Body of Christ," he says, as blood drips from their mouths and they swallow. Ben Hawkins reaches the front of the line, but when Justin offers the blade, he seizes the minister's arm. "Body of Christ," Justin says as the two struggle. "No, it ain't," Ben says..
And then, Ben awakes. Ruthie comes in and says it's almost sundown; the exhausted boy has slept all day. When she reaches out to him, he pulls back. "I never should have come in here," he says. "It's a sin. Don't touch me!" He leaves, with Ruthie upset and crying.
In Management's trailer, Lodz finishes laying out a plan. "We both know it's the only way to reach the boy," he says to the unseen person behind the curtain. Lodz tell Lia they must go to town on business.
Nearby, Libby and Sophie are passing the time drinking the local mescal. They talk about magic and Sophie's mother, and a certain sexual tension develops between them. As their hands touch around the bottle, Sophie has a vision of the
two of them in bed together, marred by a bloody gash across her hand. "Have the last sip," Libby offers. But when Sophie thinks she sees the mescal's worm wiggling, she says she's going to be sick.
In town, Ben is encounters the fiesta of El Dia de Los Muertos. "What are they celebratin'?" he asks a barkeeper
"The return of the souls," the man replies.
Outside, a little boy bumps into Ben, looking scared. He is painted with a tree, much like the tattooed man in Ben's dreams. The little boy takes off, as a group of farmers with machetes chases after him. Soon, Hawkins is surrounded by
wailing children, whom he mistakes for beggars. "They are weeping," a woman tells him. "For your loss." Looking sorrowful, she hands him a special bread. "Even the dead must eat."
Ben wanders into the town's church and finds himself in the confessional. Emotional, he recounts his sins, though he's never confessed before. Finally, he chokes out. "My mother..I let her die."
The priest replies, "Your mother chose to die," and as Ben looks closer, he realizes that the priest is Scudder. He jumps up, but the box next to his is empty.
In Mintern, Balthus tells Iris about seeing the blood on Justin's forehead during the baptism and says he's worried that Brother Justin has come under the influence of something dangerous. Balthus says that the Bible talks of demons
entering a person, and he suggests a catholic style exorcism. As Iris tells him that he's crazy, Justin comes in the front door and overhears.
At the carnival, Lila irritates the carnies with a new air of authority and tells the group around the breakfast table that "things are changing with Samson sleeping in the truck." Sophie accuses her mother of putting the disturbing mescal vision in her mind. She asks her about the "so-called rape" that led to her conception.
Rita Sue, meanwhile, is highly critical of the new cootch dancer. And right after she and Jones share a starry-eyed moment, she bumps into Sophie, who thanks her for setting her straight about what a good guy Jonesy is. She tells Rita Sue how she made advances to Jones, but that he wanted to take it slow.
"He already hurt me once," Sophie says. "You've been around. Can I trust him?" Rita Sue tells her she can.
Trust is also on Ben's mind. He decides to take a chance with Samson, but when he tells him that he sees Scudder everywhere, in dreams and in daylight, he is disappointed by Samson's lack on information. "All I know is, it was no accident
we picked you up in Milfay," he says.
Sophie tells Jones she wants to try their romance again, and Jones seems emotionally torn by the opportunity. But it is clear as Sophie walks away that there is something undeniable between them.
In a coffee shop, Tommy Dolan talks to Reverend Balthus, filling him in on Brother Justin's stay in the asylum. The radio man also says that he dug up an unsubmitted police report that notes a car matching Justin's parked at the ministry the night of the fire there. Balthus gets up to leave, but Tommy reminds him of the baptism they both saw in the church. "Something strange is happening here," Dolan says. "You saw something too."
Soon Balthus is asking Iris about the asylum and the night of the fire. He warns that Tommy Dolan will likely bring the police into the matter, and that the reverend will have no choice but go to the bishop with the whole mess.
Jonesy tells Rita Sue that he owes it to himself to try it with Sophie. "She's the one for me," he says. Rita Sue is upset and tries to talk him out of it, but Jonesy is firm. "Please, Rita Sue, you gave something to me," he says. "But it's goin'
nowhere. It's over, You're still the yellow gimp you always were" Rita Sue lashes out viciously as he walks away.
In town with Lila, Lodes finds his way to a shack selling exotic animals. Walking past cages of monkeys, poison lizards and leopards, he asks the proprietor for "una culebra" and the man produces a writhing black snake.
Rita Sue continues to feud with the new dancer, Catalina, and undermines her stage debut. Afterward, when Catalina tries to pull Stumpy aside for some private time, he demurs, saying he's now being pulled by two strong women. Catalina drags him to Sophie's tent to get some spiritual direction. But Stumpy's reading
has a nasty surprise-Rita Sue has a lover that has been visting her often. Stumpy then leaves. And when he demands to know who it is, Sophie's eyes tear up and kicks him out. "You're a liar," she says to her mother.
Over at Ruthie's trailer, there is a knock, and her mended dresses are left in a bag. But when she opens the parcel and is immediate attacked by the snake. Fatally bitten she sinks to the floor.
In Mintern, Iris talks to Brother Justin about Tommy Dolan's accusations, but he is unimpressed. She presses him, saying he'll be ruined by a one-sided radio broadcast and that Dolan has stirred up Reverend Balthus. "We have nothing to
hide," Justin tells her. "Yes. we do," Iris says, looking long at her brother. Realizing what she is saying, Justin is shocked and trembling. "I did it for you," she says. Now that they have Templeton's check and money for a new church,
nothing will be able to stop them. Justin shakes with emotion, and suddenly grabs Iris by the throat-and kisses her passionately. He throws her to the couch as she looks up at him expectantly.
By the time Gabriel finds Ruthie, she is almost gone. "Get Ben," she says. Ben puts her in the truck and drives off as far and as fast as he can. Finally pulling over, he sets her down and lays his hands on her. "Please," he says. "Come
on..." But Ruthie does not move. Close to tears he leans in. "Please..."
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Carnival Fact
Because of Boston's strict moral code known as the Blue Laws, any sanitized or cleaned-up burlesque or Vaudeville act was referred to as "the Boston Version".
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