Jim Dandy
Episode 4 of Lisey’s Story begins with Lisey creeping around her attic. Turning on the tape recorder, she plays the audio from Jim and curses. Only… he suddenly shows up behind her with a plastic bag and chokes her out. When Lisey awakens, she finds Jim standing over her. After some small talk about yo-yos, Lisey reminds Jim that she and Scott were in love. His tone immediately changes, as she mentions Scott’s “extra special” work and how much it touched him personally. Reading out the screenplay for Coaster’s Daughter, Jim eventually strikes Lisey when she tries to stand up and confront him. “The world deserves to see these.” Jim says, as he claims he and Scott had an agreement. Lisey is confused, as Jim continues to rattle off about the “hidden” documents and what she’s keeping from him. After several more blows to the face, Jim decides to play some music, a track called “Battle Flags.” With the juxtaposition of this orchestral score against the brutality of Jim’s beatings, he tells her to bring the documents to the Professor by 10am the next day or the beatings will get worse. Her screams can be heard all the way in Boo’Ya Moon too, as Amanda is shocked and calls out, “Oh no…” When Jim leaves, Lisey is left with a note from her oppressor, telling her to patch herself up and not tell anyone what’s happened. If she does then he’ll kill her sisters – and then kill her. As she looks in the mirror, Lisey notices all the cuts and bruises across her chest and face. Just to add insult to injury, she learns that there’s a police officer stationed outside for the night. Lisey heads outside and sits by the pool. As she wonders what to do about Amanda and Doolley, Scott suddenly appears and calls her Babyluv again. He soon disappears from view though, replaced by a singer during an overlong musical segment. When Lisey eventually awakens, she reflects back on moments where she visited Amanda. Lisey believes, in a round about way, that she has the power to keep Scott tethered to this world. Through more flashbacks, we learn a little more about Boo’Ya Moon. Apparently this place is real; an alternate world that can be conjured forth. Scott promised to take Lisey there again after being in an entranced state. His brother, Paul, was buried at Sweetheart Hill. And just like that, Lisey is able to pull herself to Boo’Ya Moon again where Scott guides her through the world. The broken cries of different people manifest itself in a strange rock golem called Long Boy. Scott soon manages to thwart the threat and help pull Lisey back to the present. These joined worlds have anchors and doubles. It seems like Scott and Lisey are both anchors and the pool can heal. Scott can pull himself and others into this world with the intent of using water to heal wounds. How? No idea. But it seems to also attract the Long Boy too. Water seems to connect the worlds, and Lisey is the key that holds everything together. With this knowledge, the episode ends with Lisey turning the taps on and preparing for what may come next.
The Episode Review
Lisey’s Story returns this week with a tense episode of two halves. The first shows Jim Doolley and his maniacal intent on getting Scott’s manuscripts, including the “hidden” ones. The second half however, changes tact slightly to bring the focus closer to this mystery surrounding Boo’Ya Moon that’s been encapsulating the series. It’s taken a while to teach this point but it seems like water is what connects everything together, with Lisey and Scott are entwined together as anchors and doubles. Quite how Amanda fits in all this however, remains to be seen. This is one slow burn though and after last week’s very slow episode, Lisey’s Story adopts the same pacing but backs that up with some solid answers. Or at least some breadcrumbs anyway.
