From S2E8

Previously on From 

Now: Episode 8 "Forest for the Trees"

Kenny returns home and Tian Chen seems to be in better spirits. That is, until the phone rings and he reluctantly answers since the phone isn't known to ring. It is hard to heard so I had to turn on the captions due to all the static in the background on the other end of the call but the voice says "They touch, they break, they steal. No one here is free. Here they come, they come for three, unless you stop the melody." and then the line repeats on loop. He sees the pot his mom has on and inside is creepy crawlies which one lands on him.  

SIKE issa nightmare while he crashed out on the couch. Yes, all a nightmare. That is until he sits up and sees a bruise where one of the crawlies latched on to him in said nightmares. Oof.

Randall asks Jim what is the end goal here if what he says is true about this place being one big experiment? Jim theorizes that this place tests people's limits until they break. Everyone has different limits so it has to make a good case study, eh? 

After some tinkering, the drone is ready for liftoff but comes to an immediate halt but the drone obviously has it's limits due to the weight. While they are doing some more tinkering, Randall is proceeding to put some more seeds of doubt in his head of like who's in on this theoretical experiment.

Is everyone here that is dead in on it? People tend to conveniently be at certain places with disturbingly great timing, is that part of the plan too? Does anyone actually WITNESS the point of death to these people? Randall goes as far to say that Sarah isn't as broken as Jim thinks she is.

Speaking of Sarah, she prances in sheriffs office to tell Boyd that she wants to go back in the forest. 

Speaking of the forest, heh, is where Tabitha leads Jade to the site where she saw the symbol and the creepy dead children. This is also is the place where the monsters come from too. He brings up the Chaos Theory and assures that they need more infomation to see how all these fucky things are connected. Jade gets miffed when he comes to conclusion that Victor knew exactly what the symbols were yet acted like he didn't know.

Speaking of Victor (I'll stop I promise), he knocks on the door to see Ethan. She takes this time to thank Victor for saving her life on that day when the monsters infiltrated Colony House. Humble ass Victor only says "Okay." Okay.

He asks for Ethan to try on a jacket that he once worn as a child, why? He's a sweet man and wants to pass it forward. Ethan tries to hand him a drawing but he doesn't want to accept it due to emotional reason but Ethan plays hardball and says he has to take it or else he don't want the coat. He drives a hard bargain. 

Boyd is concerned with Ellis tip tapping around the place instead of resting. After that, he has a chat with Donna about Sarah potentially staying there which she isn't thrilled about but there's bigger fish to fry. Isn't there always?

After Donna makes lets slip a comment about Elgin, he goes to check on him next. Which is totally cool. 

I think this may be the first time they both have a one on one talk. They only briefly chat about Elgin nearly drowning in his sleep but Boyd busts out that vial of bile and says that the current plan is see how they can inject that liquid into the monsters. The liquid may just be the poison to the monsters. Elgen says that he has a gun, right? Boyd looks almost annoyed but what Elgin is getting at is to make bullet containing the bile! Ooooh Elgin is a genius!

Julie, Ethan and Victor are at the Diner to help out Tian Chen in Sarah's absence. Ethan looks in his jacket and finds a figurine. Victor goes emotional because that figurine toy was what his mom gave him as a kid right before the massacre.

Emotional moment goes busted when in Jade barges in with Tabitha. He accosts Victor and heads out of the diner. Jade is being hella aggressive towards him and Tabitha is trying her best to deescalate the situation. Jade is just getting angrier and angrier. Victor shuts down and doesn't want to say anymore and says that he doesn't want to go home but THIS is his home. 

Sarah is chilling in the church when in walks Jim and Randall. Since they think she is the key understanding but they do have to talk about that day at the barn. Jim tries to tread carefully with his wording but Randall just spits it out asking if her brother is still alive? Sarah is like wut??? 

Before he can elablorate, Donna walks in with a basket of clothes. Randall thinks out there that this is what he is talking about. An "in on it" person that has impeccable timing to appear right when they are starting to ask the right questions. Donna is like "WTF are you talking about?" Aye but her reason for being at the church is as a favor to Boyd. To help Sarah's boredom, she asks to stitch some clothes. She tells the guys to fuck out of here.

Randall doesn't take too kindly to those words and mouths off just his way of verbally slamming the door on his way out.

On their way out of there, Jim tells him to slow his roll because obviously Sarah doesn't know anything and tells him to stop jump to conclusions. He also comes up with his next plan of action: figure what the monsters do when they don't think they are being watched. Tonight, actually. Sneak out of the RV just before dark so he can ninja his way and catch some sights or whateva.

Jim reunites with his kids at the diner and pulls Julie aside to warn him of where he will be tonight. She gives him a big hug and tells him to be careful. As Jim comes out of the diner, Donna confronts him asking WTF good it will do asking Sarah about her brother, Nathan?

This is where it gets interesting. He is starting to see Donna in a different light. You can totally tell in his facial expression! The way Donna is disparaging Randall's character and he is not one to be trusted. Even the way she is bringing up the voice on the radio as if it unspeakable that he doesn't want to let it go.

Victor is having trouble coping as he is getting emotional flashbacks to the last time he saw his mom. She urging him to staying that in underground bunker promising him to not come out until morning (I mean....there's no windows so how the hell will he know??) After handing him that toy figurine she rushes out of that bunker to a stunned mini Victor.

Tabitha comes knocking on his door and Victor is much more nicer to her as he doesn't need a reason to ever be mad at her. In her best motherly voice she can bust out, she asks him why he didn't tell Jade about the tunnels and the symbol. All Victor can muster out is that it's not good to go looking for answers and bad things will happen. (You know what I'm thinking, right?!?) Tabitha retorts back that bad things happen regardless especially in this town.

The more she tries to gently prod for answers, specifically on what his mom said, the more he wants to shut down so she drops it. Only when she drops it that Victor points her in the right direction that the pictures might clue her in. 

Welp, a lot of his pictures were in their house and that house collapsed into nothingness. Victor corrects her and says the more important ones, the ones that strike dead ass fear in his heart he put them under special protection. I think it was that night when he saved, Julie, right? Huh...

A few houses away in town Boyd knocks on Kenny's door to relay Elgin's bright idea. 

When they reach the clinic (formerly hospital as I once called it) they come to the visual of Kristi consoling Mari saying she heard something in the boiler room. The 2 men go inspect Mr. Smiley to see what's up. They both hear moving sounds underneath the sheet. Boyd cautiously lifts it up only to reveal dozens of weird ass bugs just like in Kenny's dream.

Once they meet up with the woman, Kenny doesn't hesitate to tell them that is what he saw in his dream. Okay, they are called cicadas. Those are the bugs. Mari starts freaking out. What do you know? Donna walks in asking wassagoingon.

Giving no other choice, Boyd himself escorts Donna to show Mr. Smiley. Donna is shocked and appalled. Him too but for different reasons because all the cicadas are gone. Donna is like BURN THAT MF'R RIGHT NOW.

Well, they sure do listen to her now. 

As per Jim's plan, Randall does indeed sneak off as the glow of the setting sun approaches and what great timing that he himself has because he witnesses they loading the body and Donna loudly telling them the plans to burn the body where no one can see. Convenient in itself?

Victor takes Tabitha to the same car junkyard as he took Jade. She implores them to please help. They end up opening the trunk to his family's old car and holy shit there's the drawings but that's not all. Victor is rummaging through the drawings as he is trying to find a specific drawing and here is the another even more holy shit moment when it is revealed that Victor has a younger SISTER! Expanding on the flashback is his mother saying her farewells to her too. However, his sister runs after her as she didn't want to leave her side. Except she never came back which is why he is all alone.

Victor starts breaking down and crying while Tabitha is consoling him.

Randall catches up with Donna to apologize for his fuckery. All she can say is ok. I'm pretty sure he just wants his "enemy" closer.

Boyd and Kenny gas, light and set to Mr. Smiley's corpse. Kenny thinks out loud that as if having to deal with the monsters IRL isn't bad enough but in their dreams, too? Yeah. That's pretty suckish.

Among looking at the now scattered colored drawings on the ground, one in particular catcher Tabitha's eye. Victor says his sister drew that because that's where their mom went that night to save children from the tower. 

As darkness is starting to set, Tian Chen locks up the diner. Julie and Ethan come across Boyd and Kenny arriving back in town. (HEY! What happened to Boyd being the bell ringer?!?!?!?)  Right in the middle of their conversation, they heard a multitude of cicada's chirping. At the same exact time, a man comes running out of Sarah old house. He's bleeding and pleading for help.

Meanwhile, Jim is at the RV but something is amiss. Donna's van is there and there is blood in the open back. He cautiously approaches when he hears Donna call out for him. Holy fuck. Randall got her tied up to a tree bleeding a little bit on forehead with a manical look on Randall's face. 

Son of a biscuit, Randall!!! I was starting to like youuuuu!

Episode 8 is next.