An excellent 5th episode. It started off pretty much getting straight into things, with tension very expertly created by having the 2012 versions of Rust and Marty describe events (falsely) before they happened as we saw it. There's basically anxiety throughout the whole episode because it's treated like the case is over, when we know it definitely isn't. Reggie Ledoux was certainly an unsettling character for the few minutes of screen time he had, his partner as well. Ledoux's ramblings were creepy and fairly nonsensical, but he did bring up Carcosa and I think he and Rust probably aren't too philosophically dissimilar. There's a lot that pins Rust on the same side as these terrible men. The flash forward to 2002 slowed things down and took a look into how much these characters have changed. 2002 Rust seems to be happier and there's a part of me that kinda didn't want to see that lmao. I've got it in my head that the happier he is, the more dictated by his "programming" he is, as depressing as that sounds. For someone who is self-aware in that sense, I definitely prefer 1995 Rust to the other two. He seemed to be the most "resistant" to his programming. Marty showed that he's the same short-tempered man he used to be, and it seems his 2012 self is by far the most mature. Speaking of that timeline, there were developments there too which was needed considering until now it has essentially been a narrative tool. The two younger detectives are suspicious of Rust, but during their accusations, his 2002 self comes across a bunch of the same stick figures like the ones in the 1995 case, in a really chilling reveal. That reveal was honestly stunningly done. This was yet another top tier episode
High 8
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