S01E03: Nothing to See
The next stretch of the roadtrip! There are long stretches of road that are just nothing. Only sprawling fields of monoculture crops alternated by cattle pastures. No landmarks, no scenery, nothing to see. How long have you been driving for? How long do you still need to go? Did you hear something in the back? Did you check for anything before you left? How long until your destination? Perhaps there is… Something to see
[[MORE]]I’m watching some gay video about Wizard of Oz and its connection to queer culture while I’m writing this btw. I’ve said ‘We’re not not in Kansas anymore’ a lot and I must admit at this point, I am unsure whether it truly is a Wizard of Oz reference or not. At least after this episode of AID I know one thing: there is nothing to see in Kansas, apart from the metal windmills that may be there!
I think this episode paints a beautiful picture of how eerie an abundance of mundanity can be. A long, boring stretch of road in itself is inoccuous, but at what point does its length become concerning? How can there be so much space without anything of note in it? When does the absence of recognizable features cross into the uncanny valley? And yet, these areas of seeming nothingness may contain nodes where people intersect, like a fastfood restaurant, or a shopping center, I personally find carpool parking lots in the middle of nowhere particularly uncanny tho
In sharp contrast to the uncanniness of the mundane, is the sudden interruption of a routine interupted. It’s always quite upsetting to hear something in the back of a car while driving, not being able to safely check whether everything is alright. Imagine how loud something must be to be able to hear it in a truck from the trailer? I’d think twice about checking whether something is there or not, whatever is making such noise can be dealt with in the distribution center or whatever.
Of course, the source of the noise is the Thistle Man toying with Keisha. Building up the fear by causing a racket but not showing himself immediately, then still kinda catching her off-guard. I think it’s interesting there wasn’t really anything regarding the Thisle Man in the second episode, it allowed him to slip from memory for a bit, then suddenly he’s back. What may be even more frightful than a threatening supernatural creature, is the police. I remember around the time this episode came out I became… more aware of police violence. When I heard the police sirens in the episode the first time I was wondering where it was gonna go, kind of afraid that it would turn out worse for Keisha. But the way the officer is portrayed kind of incompetent in this episode… that also tracks imo.
This episode ends on such a banger
“I can’t go home. Home isn’t a place, home was a person. I can’t go home!”
Always hits… home? Made me think a lot about what feeling at home means to me, what I even consider to be my “home.” The soundtrack of the episode lends itself to ruminating on this, can recommend it during an evening walk
Also, this is the only episode that mentions piss!
