Main cast: Tim Blake Nelson (Nick Appleton), Sebastian Roché (Roland), Elpidia Carrillo (Emilia), and Demetrius Grosse (Eddie)
Director: Guillermo Navarro
As expected from Guillermo del Toro, the opening credits of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities are exquisite to look upon, and the production value of this opening episode, Lot 36, is super solid. For a while, I wonder whom that fatty pretending to be Alfred Hitchcock is in the opening narration segment, until it dawns on me that it’s Mr del Toro himself. This show is going to be from him, about him, on him, and under him, isn’t it?
Just don’t be entirely fooled by claims that this anthology series is based on stories that he has personally curated, because the story of this one is from a story by you know who, one that is never published in any form. Therefore, when he talks about curating the best stories he can get his hands on for this show, he’s also including his own stories in that lot.
I probably shouldn’t expect less from the Tim Burton of the current generation. I do wish his career trajectory won’t follow Mr Burton’s, though!
Oh yes, Lot 36. As per everything from present day Hollywood, Mr del Toro wants to scold everyone for giving room to undocumented immigrants in America as well as anything else they want, because they deserve to be in the country to pursue their dreams too, etc.
I’m sure the dozens of these people that Mr del Toro no doubt houses in his many, many large homes will approve the PSA.
Take away the eye-rolling virtue signaling from hypocritical, out-of-touch Hollywood types that get off on lecturing normal people while never practicing even a bit of what they preach, however, and this is a pretty standard episode.
Nick Appleton, the racist in question, is an ex-military naturally, because soldiers and cops are now evil and racist and wah-wah-wah; they should all be gotten rid off. Just don’t touch the armed security personnel hired by these rich Hollywood types, though, because these minions are unnecessary to keep their gated communities free from the taint of common people.
Our lovely guy purchases a storage room lot that belonged to an old man that died of a heart attack. Due to some miscommunication between the person running the sale and Emilia, a Mexican living in the country, however, her things end up getting sold along with the lot to Nick.
Emilia asks just for the chance to look around and collect her things, such as her children’s pictures and such. Nick being Nick, however, refuses unless she pays him a thousand bucks. He then mockingly passes her a padlock.
The bulk of this episode revolves around Nick being the talking, walking caricature of a racist right-wing ex-military person as envisioned by progressives, and for a long time I can only wonder whether anything will happen aside from Mr del Toro apparently having scrapped the feeds of progressive blue check marks on Twitter to assemble into a script.
Oh, then late into the episode, something finally happens, and then it is over.
What is that all about? Shouldn’t there be more spooky stuff and less of Mr Del Toro swatting at the right-wing boogeymen in his head? I may not feel so unsatisfied if the episode had presented some thought-provoking look into racism and what not, but this one is just an exercise in making the most tired caricatures of people that happen to be unaligned with these annoying Hollywood type.
Also, this episode suggests that those people deserve to die, and here I am thinking that these people claim that their side is the one that is all about tolerance and inclusion. Well, so much for that!
Well, that or maybe this show is a front to launder money to the DNC or something, I don’t know.
All I can say is that this episode does a great job in sinking my expectation for the rest of this series. Dear god, let this be an anomalous rear end gas burst, because I really don’t have the stomach to sit through more rounds of lectures from smug Hollywood hypocrites.
