'Tell Me A Story' Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Tucker Reed's evil persona could be rooted in childhood trauma
Childhood is one of the most impactful stages of an individual's life. Whatever we do at that age, good, bad, or ugly, not only stays in our memories but also shapes our personalities when we grow up.
Our protagonist, Tucker Reed, is no different. So far, all we know about him is that he is a struggling author with no luck in his writing career. Now, to make his next novel successful, he is ready to go any length.
That is when his inner demons come out. Kidnapping a stranger and using her as an inspiration for his story is not only the most cringe-worthy behavior but also sickening for anyone who sees it from the outside.
But here's the thing. These behavioral traits do not appear out of thin air in a person. Violence is always a cause of deep-seated trauma, mostly caused during the early years of one's life.
As psychoanalysts have theorized and proved over and over, childhood trauma is a trigger for numerous negative behaviors in adult life. We learn in the course of Episode 4 that Tucker had a twin sister, Anna, who died in a freak accident when they were six years old.
Over the years, he archived the incident and locked up this memory in a deep, dark corner of his mind. He never shared this with anyone or sought help to get through the tragedy, not even with his fiancée, the woman he claims to love and wants to spend the rest of his life with.
However, this incident somewhere would have affected him in ways that Tucker himself never realized. For all we know, he might have been responsible for his sister's death. And he has been traumatized ever since.
Although he grew up to be a normal adult, his childhood memory would have haunted him all his life. Now, as he grows up and finds himself in a helpless situation, it would have triggered the deep-rooted pain. And as a means of releasing that hurt, he chooses to inflict pain on others.
It is also possible that he had a violent streak since he was a child, but it was never addressed. We cannot rule out the possibility that he could have pushed his sister from the boardwalk — the reasons for which we would still need to discover.
Perhaps if his parents had noticed and taken care of his condition when he was younger, we would not have seen Tucker in the state he is in.
While kidnapping Olivia Moon could seem like "method writing", it cannot justify his aggressive and abusive behavior. And killing two more women to fulfill his "character inspiration" is nothing but next level psychological disorder.
Tucker's condition is a clear indicator that bad memories should never be repressed, especially at a young age, and should be addressed by parents or other adults close to them.
Or they can find emotional outlets in ways like we see Tucker engaging in. 'Tell Me A Story' Season 2 airs every Thursday at 12 am only on CBS All Access.