'Lovecraft Country' Episode 5 Review: It's Ruby's world, Atticus and Leti are just swimming in circles in it
Spoilers for 'Lovecraft Country' Episode 5 'Strange Case'
HBO's 'Lovecraft Country' has never been shy when it comes to showing the brutal parallels between the two races during a Jim Crows era America, where normal, peaceful life was just a dream for the Black community. We have seen it in Letitia Lewis's (Jurnee Smollett) struggles to first establish herself as a property owner in a predominantly white neighborhood, and later, be also subjected to being left stranded by people of her own community when the Whites start hounding them. In all of this, the only constant in Leti's life has been her sister, Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku), who, although sick and tired of her sister's flippant spendthrift nature, doesn't hold back calling her out rightfully so for meddling with the whites, and more.
So when Ruby was wooed under the blues by the charming Braithwaite male heir William, they raunchy romp raised more reason for worry. Was she going to be used like Atticus (Jonathan Majors) as a sacrificial lamb? More importantly, how could Ruby let herself get wayed by a White man? The answers are here, and Ruby gets all she is promised in a fashion so bittersweet, sweet vengeance is the only cathartic way out of this ordeal compared to which Tic and Leti's love story and forced chemistry in Episode 5 seem pointless and unnecessary.
The episode kicks off with the aftermath of Ruby's raunchy staircase sex with William that sees her wake up from a sound sleep, and in the body of a White woman. It's obviously magic that William has used on her, and magic that will allow her to have her own fair share of the only fun the crooked world can offer. Ruby now Dell, freaks out at first, but the simple pleasures of just being White are too many. True there's that gory aspect of shedding her White skin disgustingly every time, as the spell lasts briefly, but the way Ruby is entranced by what William has to offer is way more intriguing than any other shock value inducing blood or gore in the story.
Contrasted with the dark parallels of William agreeing to give Ruby the spell only if she promises to do a favor for him and Christina, Ruby's day out is a thrill. Mosaku does a brilliant job at painting the young woman's delight at being able to have ice cream, walk into her stores of choice, and even sit in the park without being harassed. She also learns about the only resident Black girl on their staff Tamara, and how she is being sexually assaulted by their White boss. So she uses the 'only currency' she needs and seduces the boss before tying him up and ramming the stem of a high-heel shoe up his butt while she sheds her White woman skin on top of him.
Things get even creepier when Ruby goes to confront William, even though her newfound confidence and power is sheer side character to main character promotion. Turns out William is actually Christina using the same magic to manipulate Ruby into carrying out her wishes. Christina plays the woman card in a game dominated by White men, but Ruby assures her there's nothing that could even compare her life as a Black woman with Christina's. It's a booming, developmental arc and we're finally happy that Ruby is still that b*tch, even if her sister Leti is trying to force chemistry with a man she is supposed to love on the script, but nothing about them is convincing so far.
Tic's problems start with Montrose killing Yahima, leaving them with no one to translate the Book of Dawn. Majors is red and menacing as Tic erupts and beats Montrose down to a pulp after realizing he murdered the two-spirit person. When Let is terrified, dialogues induce vulnerability in the form of Tic telling her “Please don’t be scared of me." They have sex and for perhaps a little too long, almost as if trying to convince us that yes, they make a great pair. Unfortunately, none of it strikes as real or raw. It seems like a ritual they are setting up for ahead of their next adventure - one that's less convincing that the nuanced affair between Montrose and Sammy.
White Leti takes a back seat applying herself only as a human decoder in this episode, Montrose comes a long way with who he is - another side character emerging to become a main. His lighthearted, free-spirited time with Sammy gives hope for loosened tension between his family; perhaps the closeted life is the reason he left Tic's childhood so scarred? Who knows. Tic does discover something huge and rush to his Korean female counterpart that we've been seeing since day one. Their conversation is too titillating, but once again the narrative is too haphazard to actually allow information to come out in the right place, at the right time. The episode ends with Tic asking the Korean woman "What are you?" leading us to believe magic isn't only restricted to Ardham or descendants pf Titus. Swimming in circles with no conclusive answers this episode, Leti and Tic now seem like fish in a giant pond that is Ruby's emergence.
'Lovecraft Country' airs on Sundays at 9 pm on HBO.