'Teacup' Episode 4 unravels masked man's identity, and here's why he could be the star of show
Contains spoilers for 'Teacup'
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 'Teacup' Episodes 3 and 4, released on Thursday, October 17, unpeels the mysteries introduced in premiere episodes. The Peacock series opened to multiple thrills all at once. We had a dead woman in the woods, Arlo (Caleb Dolden) was possessed by some spirit, and a masked man appeared near the ranch, issuing a warning about a deadly blue line.
In Episode 3, we discover what Arlo has been trying to tell his family through his cryptic messages. It turns out that an alien called Harbinger has arrived on Earth and now lives in Arlo's head. This creature is hiding from another alien whom he refers to as Assassin. Further, in Episode 4, we learn who the masked man is, and what could be his intentions for roaming around the ranch and drawing up a line that kills anyone who crosses it.
Masked man aka McNab's character in 'Teacup' explained
Arlo takes Meryl (Émilie Bierre) and Nicholas (Luciano Leroux) into the woods, pointing at the crater where his spaceship had landed. He collects a liquid from the crater and tells that it is poison but it could also be their ultimate savior. If taken in apt quantity, they'll be able to cross the line, and in all other scenarios, they'll be dead.
While returning home, they run into the masked man, who instructs them to not cross the line and asks them to hand over the jar containing the poison. When the trio refuses, this man jumps the line and tries to snatch it. Nicholas stabs him with the knife and that's when we learn who this mysterious man is!
His name is McNab, played by Rob Morgan. Earlier it seemed that he was wearing the mask to protect himself from some toxic gas, but turns out that he can breathe just fine without the mask too. For now, we can only assume that he either didn't want his identity known or didn't want to get into close contact with the alien.
Interestingly, McNab already knows about the alien, but he isn't the Assassin, as we had earlier assumed. It turns out that he had helped the alien when he was residing in Carmen's body. But when Carmen ran away, he lost track and had been looking for the alien since then, aiming to protect him.
Why McNab could take over the narrative in 'Teacup'
In the four episodes released so far, we have only got a few glimpses of McNab. Despite his limited screen time so far, we expect that his role will gain prominence up ahead. Episode 4 has established that he isn't the villain of the story. In fact, the assassin was in Lieutenant Olson's body, who then moved into Arlo's grandmother.
In the upcoming episodes, we expect that McNab will help Arlo and his family get to a safer place while the assassin chases them.
'Teacup' Episodes 1 to 4 are available to stream on Peacock