'NOS4A2' Season 2 Episode 5: Vic and Wayne's mother-son relationship may save their lives
Spoilers for 'NOS4A2' Season 2 Episode 5 'Bruce Wayne McQueen'
The mid-season episode of 'NOS4A2' was an intense one with Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) finally getting what he wanted - Wayne McQueen (Jason David) in his Wraith and on his way to Chirstmasland. What was interesting though, is that in the middle of this drama that included hammer injuries, gas masks and way too many bullets, the episode portrayed Vic McQueen (Ashleigh Cummings) completely the opposite of how she was portrayed in the season premiere 'Bad Mother.' While no one has ever doubted Vic's abilities to always protect her son, her priorities seemed to have wavered to alcohol in recent times which led her to run away from her son and man, Lou Carmody (Jonathan Langdon) in 'Bad Mother.' There were also scenes in the episodes that followed with both Wayne and Lou calling Vic out on her lack of family love, but in Episode 5 'Bruce Wayne McQueen' we saw how Wayne's and Vic's relationship saved Vic's life and now, hopefully, could save Wayne from the crutches of Manx's Inscape, Christmasland.
It's interesting how Manx always deems Vic a bad mother, tugging at her insecurities and always making her feel less than, when in reality Wayne possibly has the best mother he could with Manx threatening his life. Episode 5 was a perspective episode where the kidnapping of Wayne was shown from both his and his mother's perspective. In Vic's perspective, she had so many flashbacks of her son when things were alright, which one hundred percent saved her from death. If you recall that when Manx hit Vic with his Wraith she had fallen to the ground vulnerable to his ever-ready hammer and while he hit relentlessly and Vic was in shock, she didn't acquire harsh injuries that usually would be the result of being hit by a hammer. Vic's thoughts went back in time to the season premiere episode, where Wayne had caught her running away from his dad and him. At that time Wayne had told her to not forget her jacket because it had armor to protect her. Now, that metal armor on Vic's back is what saved her from Manx bludgeoning her to death. Had Wayne not have told Vic to take that jacket, he wouldn't have had a mother to save him from Christmasland. Another thing, during the same scene, was that Vic always tried to get up as Manx hit her, wanting to fight him, but he kept pushing her down telling her "You're not listening Vic." At that time, Vic has another flashback to normal playtime she had had with Wayne where he told her "play dead mom." So, Vic did and that made Manx stop giving her the opportunity to get a few hits with the hammer in herself - both at him and his Wraith.
Throughout the episode, Vic had flashbacks of her son, which seemingly allowed her to keep her strength and her head level as she hid underwater from Bing Partridge (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) who kept shooting at her. Manx may have been after Wayne, but he also wanted Vic dead and it was because of the connection she had with her son, that she was able to get out of that ordeal alive. With Wayne having helped his mother, he now knows that she will go right after him and bring him back home. While we don't know how Vic is going to enter Christmasland, Manx's Inscape, we do know that she is a very Strong Creative. As Lou said to Vic's father Chris McQueen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) "Vic is more powerful than any one of us understands." We know for a fact that she won't give up, and with memories of Wayne saving her life, it now gives her an opportunity, hopefully, the last time, to save her son from the crutches of Manx, the psychic vampire."
'NOS4A2' Season 2 episodes air Sundays at 10 pm ET on AMC.