Spoilers

A tough night in the diner as the residents and newcomers wait for sunrise.

Episode 2 is tense. There’s a lot of good action and some pretty gnarly horror to engage with. Yet we learn nothing and the story is best described as treading water.

I don’t quite know if it’s working. We have the classic horror tropes of ratcheting the suffering up for the characters but in a movie there is catharsis – there is resolution and in that climax we are released and refreshed as observers.

From does not deliver any catharsis. All it provides is whispered ideas in the dark. Each time we reach what might be the peak we are presented with yet another mountain of mystery to climb.

And that is quite tedious at this point.

Either way, a lot of people die this episode and none of them die nicely.

Furthermore, it feels pretty clear who gets to live now and as such, some of the stakes are being undermined.

I come back to the idea that horror can play with expectations because it’s over and done with by the end of the third act. From is showing no such ideas of reaching a conclusion so gives us horror only to then step back from visiting that on its main characters. In other words we have a core ensemble and a wider cast, the latter of who are very much vulnerable to suffering while the former are very much powerless to help.

You could even argue the flaws in From’s approach are what necessitated introducing an entire bus of new characters – because in order to maintain a veneer of terror you have to keep killing people but if your main characters are safe what can you actually do?

Verdict: The show remains as frustrating as ever no matter how well done the horror is put together. 7/10

Stewart Hotston