NOS4A2 Episode 4 shows us the troubled youth of Bing Partridge. Bing was bullied by his father, a Vietnam veteran who made no secret of his disdain at having a son like Bing. On the other hand, Bing’s mother was a doting woman who tells Bing, “I love you more than anything, Bing Partridge.” As a teen, Bing is hanging Christmas lights outside the house when his father begins verbally abusing Bing again. Having had enough, Bing turns the nail gun on his father and puts a nail through his head. Bing drags the body into the garage, where his mother finds Bing sobbing over the corpse. She tells Bing that everything is going to be alright. Bing acts on his Oedipal urge, then kills his mother with a mail tot he head.
In his basement, Bing keeps Sharon, Haley’s mother, captive. She demands to know what Bing’s done with her daughter. Bing gasses her with the sevoflurane to make her compliant. Bing has her tell him, “I love you more than anything, Bing Partridge” before he will allow her to eat the Christmas cookies he baked.
The Brat
Realizing that she is the only one who can find Haley and Sharon, Vic rides across the Shroter Way in search of the pair. Painted on the inside of the bridge is “House of Sleep:. Vic comes out the other side in Bing’s yard. Bing meets Vic and asks if she’s lost. Vic agrees that she must be and crosses back. Vic tells Maggie that the bridge made a mistake. Vic knows Bing. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Maggie says that Inscapes don’t lie. Maggie urges Vic to trust her gift.
St. Nick Parkway
Haley resists Manx’s charms and tricks at first, refusing to give up the name of the owner of the Shorter Way. However, the longer she is in the car with Manx, the more her resolve fades. Manx looks healthier while Haley looks worse. Haley’s teeth fall out, making room for a mouthful of needle-like fangs. Manx tricks Haley into revealing that the owner of the bridge is a girl, but can’t get Haley to giv eup her name.
Maggie calls the sheriff back home in Iowa and convinces him to issue a nationwide Amber Alert regarding Haley. While Manx is stocking up on pine scented air fresheners at a convenience store, a woman recognizes the car and Haley in the back seat from the description in the alert. The woman tries to free Haley, but Haley pulls her into the back seat of the Wraith and kills the woman.
Manx and Haley arrive outside the gates of Christmasland. Manx tells Haley that she’ll never be lonely and always be loved among the rest of the kids in Christmasland, but that secrets are not permitted inside. Haley tells Manx that Vic is the owner of the Shorter Way. Danny awaits Haley inside the gates with a gift — a pair of scissors for the game of Scissors for the Drifter inside of Christmasland. Manx is not going in with her. Now that he knows Vic’s name, he’s going to find her and stop her from interfering with his plans.
The House of Sleep
Vic returns to her mother’s house, sick and weary from her ride. Vic awakens and hears her mother arguing with her father, begging him to try and get through to Vic since Vic likes him better. Vic asks her mother when he started beating her and why she never left him. Vic says that she only recently learned that her father abused her mother, but had some idea of it all along. Vic never faced the truth because she needed to believe that her father is a good person. Vic’s mother says he is a good person and he is a bad person. We all are. All Vic ever saw was the good.
With that in mind, Vic revisits the House of Sleep. There, she lies her way into Bing’s house and down to his basement. While trapped in the basement with Bing blocking her escape, the phone rings. It is Manx, who asks to speak with Vic. Manx says it’s time the two of them meet face-to-face. Vic agrees. Manx will let her know when and where. With Bing distracted, Vic escapes the house and rides out to a field where she finds Sharon buried in a shallow grave. Bing sees the discovery on the evening news and panics.
Tell us what you thought of NOS4A2 Episode 4 in the comments below!
