The death of Jim has started a chain of events, splintering the Matthews family in all sorts of directions. In episode 4, as a group leaves to gather food, Boyd is left keeping an eye on Fatima, and Sara gets an unwelcome surprise as the voices return.
Magic Mushrooms From A Haunted Forest
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At the police station, Henry, Boyd, Tabitha, Jade, Donna, and Ellis discuss how to approach the discovery of the yellow suit Victor found at the end of the last episode. Henry asserts his parental authority and declares he’ll speak to Victor, despite Boyd’s suggestion they all do it together. I’m really happy to see Donna back in the know, and I wonder if Tabitha will ever get around to telling Henry about his wife’s reincarnation. Unfortunately, to the annoyance of some residents around her, she’s still questioning the information.
Boyd, acknowledging how desperate things have become, tells the remaining townspeople in the station that whatever game the monsters are playing with them, they’re losing. So, allowing Jade to take hallucinogenic mushrooms from the forest may be the only way forward. While Donna manages to keep people alive in their everyday lives, Boyd has taken over mystery hunting duties. Speaking of mystery hunting, where’s Acosta while all this is going on? Still in storage, I assume, but I’d have liked to have checked in with her.
Sophia reads through the letters from her “father’s” car in Sara’s house before Sara approaches her with details about what the town forced her to do. She doesn’t understand why Sophia would want to live with a murderer. Sophia, however, is pulling out all the stops to be a charming roommate. Closing her eyes and chatting, Sophia causes Sara to clutch her head in pain.
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Tabitha and Jade discuss Ethan and the Lake of Tears, both deciding that it isn’t a real place. Which is frankly infuriating, considering they’re in a town full of monsters that they can’t escape. Jade encourages Tabitha to allow Ethan to live in his imagination before Tabitha apologises for her outburst. Wolfing down the mushrooms, Jade prepares for his trip.
Using the radio he took from the RV, Ethan tries to contact Jim before his mother asks him about the Lake, and Tabitha, of all people, shouldn’t be asking for transparency when she won’t give her children the same in return. They need to have a major family meeting ASAP. Despite her reservations, she’s at least being supportive, taking him to the reservation.
Memories And Monsters
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Julie and Randall read through Ethan’s storybooks and find a storywalking character. Julie refuses to go to the reservation, and Tabitha makes Randall understand he needs to keep her safe. Ellis and Donna leave Colony House for the reservation, leaving Fatima behind, who checks in on Elgin and the dirt pile, now with a hose lying among the soil.
Henry finds Victor checking whether the trees have moved, annoyed at himself for not paying attention like he used to. He allows his father to help, and I think it’s safe to say that Henry is the loveliest character in the show. Desperate to take care of his son and help him after years of forced absence. Kenny comes across a drip in Colony House, which is caused by Fatima’s dirt pile and hose setup. While investigating, he finds her making boulder-shaped objects out of the wet soil.
As Jade swings on a chair in the police station, Boyd looks at a memory box containing a note from his wife (where the show reminds us that his nickname was “Mr Fish & Loaves”) and her wedding ring, which has the infinity symbol engraved on the inner band. Kenny visits the station to talk about Fatima, and Elgin visits the church to find Sara there already. Elgin, when asked, admits he no longer sees the woman in the kimono, but Sara tells him she’s heard voices again.
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They’ve asked her to simply take a glass of water in the diner, sip it, and pour the rest back into a pitcher. Confused and scared, Sara worries the voices want her to infect everyone with some kind of illness only she has. I think the Man in Yellow is just testing whether he can still control her. If she doesn’t do it, the voices have threatened someone she cares about.
Victor thinks the trees have moved and gets upset when Henry questions him about the yellow suit. He does, however, take his father to dig up some of his drawings. Drawings that show the Man in Yellow, who, according to Victor, came into town in a car like everyone else. Everyone thought he was the same as the rest of the residents, but when everyone died, and Victor went to the bottle tree to find his mother, he saw him eating her. Henry breaks down, and now we know what will become of Sophia in the town when the time comes.
Boyd visits Fatima, who is still making her dirt boulders, and explains she’s making a monster. She talks about her childhood and how her father would tell her stories about Golems, a giant made of clay to protect people. A symbol of hope. Worried but without anything else to do, he suggests giving her some space. Later on, Jade suggests Boyd ask Fatima not why she’s making the monster, but why she’s making it now. Kenny and Boyd go to see Fatima and ask her the question. She says she still feels connected to Smiley, that they both sense each other’s feelings. Building the Golem makes her feel strong, and it’s her way of fighting back.
Creating Bookmarks In Time
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Julie and Randall read about the storywalker in Ethan’s book, where the character was able to return to a specific place in the story/timeline by making a “bookmark”. Randall isn’t convinced, but like with every other task Julie has taken on, he’s offered to help her anyway. Julie cuts her hair so it can’t be grabbed, and now she looks like the Julie we saw come up against the Man in Yellow. It’s a flimsy reason to get her to look distinctive enough from “other” Julie, but it’s a plot point I can ignore. To create the bookmark, she has to draw a symbol on a piece of paper and drop it wherever she lands in the past.
On the walk to the reservation, Tabitha and Donna talk about Tabitha’s next step without Jim and memories that don’t belong to her. She’s scared about the cost if she delves into them, but also what happens if she doesn’t. Donna won’t allow Tabitha to do anything alone or risk her life; she’s determined to do anything dangerous herself for her new family. I don’t see this boding well for her. The group comes across an injured bird, one that isn’t a crow. Ethan makes them take it with them.
Kristi and Mari watch Sophia from the diner as Sara prepares to do as the voices ask. The new person running the diner offers her her old job back, and Sara makes the decision to go against the voices. I’m desperate for Sara to become part of the community again; it hurts seeing her ostracized and taking on the heavy burdens so others don’t have to.
Suddenly, everyone runs to Sophia, who has fallen into the empty pool, claiming something pushed her. Sara rushes back into the diner and fulfills the voice’s request. At the clinic, Sophia tells the story of Abraham. A man with a deep devotion to God, who was told by God to kill his own son. As she tells the story, Sara watches the pitcher of water as it’s poured away.
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At the reservation, Ethan and Tabitha go to find the Lake of Tears, and Julie goes to the ruins with Randall to leave a bookmark. Randall is very uncomfortable helping Jiulie, but I think he’s well aware she’s not bluffing about doing it all alone. Crossing into the ruins, Julie ends up in the middle of town, surrounded by dead residents. She then spots the Man in Yellow, eating from someone’s body. He senses her and turns around. Julie drops her bookmark and is pulled from the past, but the bookmark didn’t work. But is it because the Man in Yellow saw it?
As Boyd is leaving Colony House, a wedding ring with the same infinity symbol drops from nowhere. As he rushes back to the police station, he finds his wife’s ring safe in the box. When he goes to pick up the new one, it’s gone. At the reservation, Ellis is farming while Donna, Tabitha, and Ethan put water from the lake onto the bird. As soon as they do this, a rope is dug from the ground by one of the residents near Ellis. When it’s pulled, something begins to rise from the water.
A new episode of From releases every Sunday on MGM+
From Season 4, Episode 4 – “Of Myths and Monsters”:
I was disappointed that Jade’s trip didn’t go anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it won’t in the next episode. I find what Fatima is doing, hiding her real feelings from those who enjoy the fear, really empowering, and while I know why Sara is being targeted, I’m left wondering why the town seems to affect Boyd in such a different way than everyone else. The episodes aren’t full, the pace feeling slower than past seasons, still enjoyable but I feel that the writers could be packing more in.
– emily-serwadczak
von 10
2026-05-10T18:56:20+00:00
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