Lovecraft Country S1.07 — Name yourself
Alright. Tonight’s episode of Lovecraft Country was also an almost entirely separate story again, which is a bit wild to me since they only have 3 episodes left and a lot of pieces to connect.
As promised, this was a Hippolyta episode and even though I am worried for the fate of the show being rushed at the end, I did enjoy it. Before jumping into her whole storyline, let’s just talk about what else happened. Leti wakes up from a very similar dream to the one that Tic had — Hanna, Tic’s great ancestor, is standing by the door of the burning lodge and Leti is following her. She feels her stomach and realizes she is very pregnant. Then, she bursts into flames.
Are they setting the stage to reveal that Tic and Leti are actually both related to Hanna? Similarly, Ruby demands answers from Christina and finds out that the magic “has something to do with her (Ruby’s) family.” Coincidence? Also, turns out that William and Dell are dead and Christina is using their blood for the potion.
Tic & Leti decide to drop in on Montrose to ask a couple questions about Tic’s mom’s side of the family. Unfortunately, they arrive at the worst possible time and catch Sammy walking out, Montrose grabbing his wrist to get him to stay. Immediately, Tic realizes that the rumors are true. He is visibly upset and goes downstairs to kick a rocking chair. Meanwhile, Leti finds out that Tic’s mother wasn’t the only one who survived the massacre in Tulsa, she had a cousin there, too.
They want to borrow Woody but Hippolyta is using it (and she’s pissed at them for lying about George’s death). Ruby is babysitting Dee and Leti stays to talk with her. She apologizes, and Ruby forgives her, especially since she knows the money wasn’t actually from their mom (but she doesn’t tell Leti that). Leti gets a stomachache (because she is pregnant?!?) and retires to Hippolyta’s room where she sees the orrery. She calls Tic at his mom’s cousin’s friend’s house to tell him.
Ok — on to Hippolyta! First, we see her and Dee at the burnt down lodge, where Hippolyta is looking for answers about George’s death. She finds a piece of Dee’s comic book, so she knows she’s on the right track. When she returns home, she starts trying to decipher the orrery that she took from the Winthrop House when she was there for Leti’s party.
Apparently, she is a math genius and figures it out fairly quickly. The orrery releases a key and shows a set of coordinates for Mayfield. That’s where she’s going when she needs to use Woody. Once Leti tells Tic, he immediately heads over there. In the meantime, Hippolyta arrives at an observatory and does some simple math (just kidding, it is a long scene of math equations floating in front of her as she figures everything out) to get that orrery to work. I know I’m bad at math, but I would probably be a little better if equations were floating in front of me.
As it starts running, 2 of Captain Lancaster’s police offers arrive. They hold Hippolyta at gunpoint, but then Tic shows up and so does a tear in space. Tic throws one of the cops through it and Hippolyta shoots the other. Then, both Hippolyta and Tic are sucked into the tear as well. We only follow Hippolyta’s journey moving forward.
She starts on a planet with a futuristic space ship or station on it. She is greeted by 2 tall aliens/people in cool suits and then wakes up naked with purple implants in her wrists on a table in a white room. She puts on a jumpsuit and then a tall Black woman with an afro shows up to tell her she is not in a prison and asks her where she wants to be and tells her to name herself. She tries to run out, but she is blocked by forcefields (seems somewhat prison-y to me). She starts to take apart the bed and uses it to open the door, but the woman stops her. She once again asks her who she is and where she wants to be. So, she says she wants to be dancing on stage in Paris with Josephine Baker.
And that’s where she goes! She doesn’t know any of the steps and the other dancers are mean to her at first, but eventually she gets the hang of it and loosens up. She and Josephine become friends. Now is when we start to understand Hippolyta’s character. She explains that she realizes she has become the type of Black woman that white people wanted and forced her to be. “I feel like they just found a smart way to lynch me without me noticing a noose.”
I’m glad they go through this because it didn’t really make sense that she was this perfect housewife character when really she is a math/science genius who loves to explore. Once she finishes talking to Josephine, she is brought to the battlefield. She trains with other Black women until she is granted a leadership role in their army. Then, they go to battle with White Confederate soldiers. She explains later that this is because of the many-worlds theory — she can be anywhere or anything as long as she names it. (Basically, there are multiple universes). She and her soldiers crush the White men. She tells them that their anger and violence had meaning and was right. It was a beautiful speech and so relevant especially with all of the dumb conservatives arguing that violent protests and looting don’t have purpose. She travels once more, this time naming herself as George’s wife.
She arrives in the bed with George, just like we saw them in their first scene. She is happy to see him but when he brings up how nice it was for her to call herself his wife in this space, she realizes that he was part of the world that shrunk her. He apologizes, but she knows she needs to do more. Taking him with her, she names herself a discoverer and they return to outer space.
Floating, she reconnects with the alien who spoke with her in the beginning. Hippolyta learns that there is space for her in their community if she wants it. But, she chooses to return because Dee needs her. I am not sure if she will return with some supernatural powers or just return better and more courageous, but either way, it was a good story. It felt like a love letter to Black women, affirming their value and depth so that they can continue to grow rather than shrink. The emphasis on naming was also a beautiful connection to #SayTheirNames and the fact that Black men and women often lose their identities and names.
We don’t actually see her come back from the rip in space, but Tic does and he is holding a copy of the book Lovecraft Country. Interesting! How will this connect to the bigger story? I’m not sure but I’m hoping they can pull it off!
Originally published at http://lizziekreitman.wordpress.com on September 28, 2020.