Under The Yum-Yum Tree
Episode 3 of Lisey’s Story begins with Darla and Lisey bickering over Amanda. Darla refers to the facility as the “looney bin” which certainly doesn’t help. Amanda however, continues to experience visions. This time she sees herself submerging into the water at that strange pool we saw before. As we soon come to learn, this is Boo’ya Moon. Chief Richardson shows up to see Lisey, spilling details over the man who threatened her last episode. His name is James Doolley and his last known residence was actually in Calkumet City in Tennessee. Richardson also has footage of Doolley committing the “pie of death”, which happens to be the way one of Scott’s characters killed people. Scott’s website also has a strange “Landon wall” with all of Scott’s newspaper clippings, accompanied by a video claiming Scott died too soon. In fact, he’s dead set on finding the other stories and calling himself a “camper” On the back of this, Lisey takes the plunge and starts sifting through old details surrounding Scott. Specifically she deliberates on the word “bool” and looks through old memorabilia. There, she finds a postcard for The Antlers Inn. Flashbacks reveal Scott and Lisey visited this back in the day. When they arrived, the pair were upgraded to a much more luxurious room. The pair enjoy their time up in the wilderness, admiring the snow-covered sights. Only, it goes much deeper than that. Back then, Scott spoke briefly about his childhood and how bad it was growing up. It’s only fragments but enough to see the torturous ordeal Scott had to endure at the hands of his Father. Some of this comes from being forced to watch Paul being cut repeatedly. This was all a “test” for Scott to take a literal leap of faith off the first floor of the barn to the ground. Scott reflects back on his Bool hunts, and in particular a series of clues hidden around the house. This was the best bool hunt we ever experienced as he and Paul were all alone and allowed to be kids, away from the oppressive nature of his Father. All of this led to the grand prize of an RC Cola. As the kids clink bottles and celebrate, they both make wishes. Paul’s? Hoping his father gets electrocuted and dies. Back under the tree, Lisey reflects back on moments where Scott somehow managed to transport her across to Sweetheart Hill, Boo’Ya Moon which is the darkened twilight area we’ve seen Amanda frequenting. Only, Scott gives her instructions to be quiet while they’re there. Speaking of which, Amanda finds herself flip-flopping between her two states of consciousness. One in the ward and the other at this twilit pool. After removing the bandages from her fingers, Amanda seems to be entranced as she grabs a pair of scissors and begins sobbing. Back in the present, Lisey continues to dig for clues and finds another bool label, this one telling her that “bunny will help.” Well, on her way to the psychiatric hospital she hears Darla screaming hysterically from outside. It turns out Amanda has cut herself quite badly, with the words on her arm spelling out “Help Me Lisey” That clue about bunny happens to be referencing Amanda too, and this happens to be her old nickname. This seems to help, a least a little, as Amanda talks about wanting to go home. As we cut across to Boo’ya Moon, we see the “Long Boy”, along with the veiled woman and Scott there too, all telling her to be quiet and shushing her. Whatever she’s seen has clearly affected her quite badly, as she finds herself shocked and stuck inside Boo’ya Moon. As a fire is set off out at the farm, James Doolley seizes his opportunity to sneak in to Lisey’s study and start sifting around Scott’s old things. Among those, he finds a yoyo and briefcase. He even turns the miniature lighthouse on and off too. As Lisey heads into the room, she senses something is up as the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
There are slow burns and then there’s Lisey’s Story. This show takes that idea to a completely different level, drawing out this story with lots of flashbacks to the past. Don’t get me wrong, some of these are actually quite good and learning more about Scott’s past is certainly welcome. But boy does the show test your patience in the meantime. The flashbacks to Boo-Ya Moon are still here though, albeit in short supply, while the general tone of the story seems to be following Scott’s clues for this bool hunt. However, it’s also doing so in a very laborious and slow-paced manner. Given there’s only one episode a week with this one, Lisey’s Story really doesn’t do itself many favours with the plot, taking its sweet time to tell this story. Still, there’s enough here to like nonetheless, and the ending certainly hints that we’ve got a dramatic episode to come. Let’s hope next week’s chapter is an improvement though!
