From – The Light of Day

By: Mariah Thomas

Donna (Elizabeth Saunders) and Boyd (Harold Perrineau) bring Randall (A.J. Simmons) in after his attack and Mari (Kaelen Ohm) attempts to help him. Randall is understandably aggressive and angry at Boyd. When he was left, he saw that Boyd made a decision to do so and cried out for him to help. Kristi (Chloe Van Landschoot), Kenny (Ricky He) and Jade (David Alplay) return. The only brightside is that they successfully brought food back. This is the second time this season Kenny has returned to the town to see mass chaos has occurred. Boyd catches them up on what happened the previous night. Back at Colony House, Donna helps Henry (Robert Joy) get settled in. Donna shows Henry Victor’s (Scott McCord) room, and he is emotional seeing where his son has been all these years. He held onto the hope that his family would come home someday and used to envision they would show up any moment. He says it became easier to imagine they were dead instead of hoping to see them at every corner.  After their emotional night, Victor and Sarah (Avery Konrad) walk into the aftermath of colony house. Donna approaches Victor softly and tries to get him alone to tell him about his dad. Victor walks away from the house after learning this news. Victor, now an older man, has been in this town since he was a young boy. In many ways, he is still that young, scared child fending for himself. His reaction is very much a reminder of that.

Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is reunited with her kids. They have spent so much time wondering if she was even alive, so it acts as a sweet moment in the chaos. Jade walks in happily to see Tabitha and immediately has so many questions for her. Jim (Eion Bailey), just having got his wife back, goes into protective husband mode. Tabitha knows Jade means no harm, so he lets him ask what he needs. He asks her about the trees and soon is determined to go to the tree she left out of.

Kenny tells Boyd there is something different out there at night. While seeking cover in the woods, the trio heard an odd sound that was clearly not the usual creatures they see. In conversation, it is wondered why the creatures would leave Randall alive. It is theorized because they go on pretending that they are safe during the day, with Randall walking around they can’t pretend anymore. During the day, there are jobs people hold, there is a sense of normalcy they keep up to maintain their sanity. With that shattered, they will begin to lose hope of going home someday. Mari tends to Kristi’s foot and tells her about her night. Kristi soothes her over the death and reassures her she did the best she could. Kristi was once the sole medical provider, so has been in this situation many times herself. In the medical center Boyd watches Randall from a distance and feels immense guilt.

Everyone gathers in the diner for a town meeting to go over Tabitha’s experience. People question. She recounts her experience of being able to leave but doesn’t get the chance to fully explain herself. People wonder if Tabitha contacted the police on the outside and she shares, “I really wanted to.” The others begin to argue and blame her but Henry steps in and defends her saying he didn’t believe at first. Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) chimes in and says, “But you eventually did.” The police officer chimes in to defend her too with their experience of Tabitha trying to warn them on the ambulance. Everyone is so certain if they had gotten out, there was more they could have done. However, realistically if Tabitha had gone to the police, she would have been hospitalized with the assumption she was having a mental health breakdown. From there, they would question where her missing family was and most likely blame her. The only reason Henry believed her was his personal connection and her knowledge of Victor. The anger from everyone continues and Jim poses a question to all “what would you have done?” Tabitha quickly adds, “Someone believed me and look where he is.” Flustered by the anger from everyone, Tabitha leaves the diner. She and Jade plan to revisit the tree for possible clues. Boyd attempts to further calm people down. Not understanding how intricate and intentional the town is, people want to try and go through the tree themselves. Boyd quickly gives his own experience of going through and being trapped in a well, but everyone has grown sick of Boyd’s self-appointed leadership.

During the meeting Julie (Hannah Cheramy) and Elgin (Nathan D. Simmons) have been at colony house getting into some fun of their own. Julie dug into Fatima’s weed stash she knew of, and the pair get high. It seems as if a possible romance is beginning or even a deeper friendship. The two go into the basement where they find an old camera and “dress up clothes” to have a photoshoot.

Victor is scared to see his dad because he has aged. His dad has been waiting in hopes his little boy would come back, not a grown man. Sarah followed him to attempt to provide comfort. She tells him, “You are a good person and here that is something to be proud of.” Victor and his father finally come face to face in a beautifully sad moment. They slowly walk closer, and his dad holds his cheek and pulls him in for a hug. Erasing any fear Victor had. “I didn’t know how to get home” is what Victor whispers to him. It is clear he is still his little boy.

Boyd is overwhelmed with how bad things got and how quickly. In the meeting his son and Fatima questioned him along with the crowd and made the situation more tense. Outside Ellis (Corteon Moore) says “maybe we need to start taking chances.” Boyd angrily spins him around and says, “Those life are you willing to take a chance on?” The pair watch the crowd for a moment as this thought process Boyd often faces sinks in for his son. Boyd is so angry he walks off mid conversation. He ends up in the police station and the officer who came on the ambulance attempts to offer advice. She says that during a storm her captain was able to distract people by giving them a task under the guise of helping the issue at hand. Although sound advice, Boyd is still too angry to hear her. He takes offense and insults her and throws what she did back in her face. It is clear he immediately regrets this. In an attempt to calm down, Boyd walks onto the bus and the former bus driver follows him. She approaches him with kindness and says next time she will have his back when things get rowdy.

Fatima returns to the rot pile and satiates her hunger. As she is kneeling by her hidden bucker, Ellis confronts her and wants to help. The two argue for a moment and she finally tells him about the rotting vegetables.

Jade and Tabitha have made it to the tree. They take bottles down and look at the papers inside. All notes contain 4 numbers. “It looks like chaos until you understand the pattern.” Tabitha doesn’t see the purpose in this, but Jade reminds her the tree was made with intent. Someone from the town walks up to them and is happy to see the tree. After the town meeting many express interest in wanting to find the tree and “do better” than Tabitha at alerting the authorities. Tabitha and Jade try to stop him and talk sense into him, but he quickly goes through the tree and is gone. Back in town, screaming can be heard. Everyone runs to the deserted pool and sees him stuck in the concrete. It is clear the town has a sick sense of humor. Boyd approaches him and prepares to shoot him to put him out of his misery, but he dies from his injuries and the impact. Boyd uses this moment as a teaching lesson and to reclaim his authority. He asks, “Do you think I want to be the one to do this? I am trying to keep you alive.”