IR TV Review: CAPE FEAR - EPISODE 5 (“Faith”) [Apple TV]

The use of different insinuations and traditions are starting to befall the telling of the new “Cape Fear”. Max Cady is definitely pushing the buttons to get people moving but where his claws are sticking and what is controlled by them is not clear. His would e daughter has some kind of disturbance going on but the way the details work is slightly off. She knows how to manipulate perception enough to get locals to react. But Cady does similar in a bar situation even though he is trying to be more subtle. The intent and how it is done (if it turns out to be voodoo or satanic rituals, it would be a bit much) though the undercurrents and location of a church seem to speak to it. The daughter even gets a cool movie theater moment which has always defined the telling (DeNiro did it last time).

But the family in Cady's crosshairs now crumbling is finally all seeing what is happening though they can’t put all of the pieces together. There are some plot points that seems egregious or extraneous (though that might be part of the play). Now whether or not Juliette Lewis’ parallel stunt casting speaks to a specific connect remains to be seen depending who the character actually is and how it connects. Scorsese is an executive producer so there is always that possibility. One scene in a hallway at a bar hints to so many different possibilities but the question is whether the story leans too much on brutality for just the dark factor. One discovery midway through the episode seems a little much, especially for a small town (even Savannah) but you never know. Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson continue the "deer in the headlights" ruse but that is what the story requires while Bardem plays it uneven, completely on purpose. B

By Tim Wassberg