IR TV Review: THE TERROR - DEVIL IN SILVER - EPISODE 2 (“Disturbed”) [AMC+-S3]
With the 2nd episode of "Devil In Silver" entitled "Disturbed", the reality of what Pepper (Dan Stevens) has been dragged into starts to really sink in. But the personalities of some of the inmates also begin to show themselves and the time they have spent. Again this specific series is about mood but also strategy in the face of a place built to keep people under control. Coffee, Pepper's roommate, knows more than he is letting on but the fact that he keeps a diary and continues to make moves for the outside world is credible. Yet there is some specific details of delusion which point to the fact or what might be real or not. There is also the connection of family which interestingly paints Pepper in an unlikely corner (perhaps out of trauma). Dory (Judith Light) though has one of the best scenes with Stevens as the lucidity peaks through and then pulls back. There is also a switch in literary personification with Stephen Root's therapist bringing up "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" where all the patients suggest that in that the people were more crazy and not the place making them so. The whole meta reverberation is an interesting play specifically because of the way the genre works.
A great addition here is the actor who played Benny, the cab driver, in the original "Total Recall". He is older but the chicanery is still there. He would be a great addition to the "John Wick" universe in a way, now that Lance Reddick (RIP) is gone but he holds a disdain and a regalness at the same time in this space. Pepper does have reason to be there since he does have unchecked issues but the question is what does the place see in him. The keys, which are a thought throughout the episode are used as a metaphor for the mind of course with one door likely signaling the point of no return. The only question is that of the nurse and orderly in terms of how much they really know or if they can even escape. Rosalina (one of the other nurses) seems trapped in a different way but it hasn't all come together yet. Whether Pepper is another in a long string of victims or just cannon fodder remains to be seen but it is likely it feeds off of rage, though the doctor is still yet to fully call. B
By Tim Wassberg
