NOS4A2 Review

7/4/2019

BLURB

I got this off the Amazon website for the book. I'm not sure if AMC is going to follow the book precisely. But this blurb does tell you what the story is about. The third paragraph seems like it would be the second book of the series since the AMC series is about Manx hunting Vic.

Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.

I found this blurb for the television show:

Based on Joe Hill's New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, "NOS4A2" is a different kind of vampire story. It follows Vic McQueen, a gifted young woman who discovers she has a supernatural ability to find lost things. This ability puts her on a collision course with the evil and immortal Charlie Manx. Manx is a supernatural villain who feeds off the souls of children and then deposits what remains of them into Christmasland -- a twisted place of Manx's imagination where every day is Christmas Day and unhappiness is against the law. Vic strives to defeat Manx and rescue his victims -- without losing her mind or falling victim to him.

MAIN CHARACTERS

We follow three main characters in the AMC television series.

Charlie Manx (left), Maggie Leigh (center), Vic "The Brat" McQueen (right)

PROTAGONISTS

Victoria "The Brat" McQueen

"Starving Artist" Vic McQueen is on her last year of high school and looking to go to RISD─a prestigious art college. She helps her mother clean houses and while her mother pushes her to clean houses for a living, her father encourages her to got to art school.

Her parents are not perfect people but she loves them. However, things go even more sideways when she discovers she has the ability to find lost items. You name it, she can find it through a creepy old bridge that seems to be a figment of her imagination. But people can see the bridge but they can't go through it without her.

Maggie Leigh

The orphan librarian has abilities of her own. With the exception of Zachary Quinto's makeup job, Maggie Leigh's (played by Jahkara Smith) effect with reaching into her bag of tiles like a Hermoine's bottomless purse is both fascinating and creepy.

Maggie is a medium, which is different from "creatives" like Vic and Charlie. But she talks to tiles and they tell her things so that's a cool gift.

She is Vic's consciousness in trying to save these kidnapped children that Charlie Manx absconds with.

ANTAGONIST

Charlie Manx

Already people are asking if Charlie Manx is really a villain. He kidnaps children of abused homes and takes them to Christmas land─a place where unhappiness is against the law.

But a highly moral person would argue that he's taking these children from a bad situation and putting them into a worse predicament.

He sucks the life from these children to make himself immortal and then dumps them back out.

The makeup transformation of Zachary Quinto is amazing. The two photos on the right are the same guy.

Amazing!

REVIEW

After some research, I’ve come to the conclusion that the origin of Nosferatu was a word inspired by a talented writer who founded the word anew. This writer found the word cool and put it in with their scary story. Mr. Talented Writer named their type of vampire a Nosferatu and thus it became synonymous with vampire.

I’m not talking about the 1922 film that added “A symphony of horror” to the definition of Nosferatu either. This was way before that. So long in fact, the origin of the word can’t be found and is so different from “vampire” which makes me come to this conclusion.

Forward to 2019 and we have NOS4A2—a clever license plate and a very fitting one for a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith. It’s also fitting that the driver sucks the life out of children.

The stories mystery and fresh twist on “abilities” is spellbinding. Answers do not abound in the episodes but enough information is given to figure out the details. Do not haphazardly watch this show or suffer confusion. Only those sharp and vigilant catch the subtle clues left behind. Horror, children in peril, a reluctant hero, a determined medium and a villain that twists the circumstances to justify his actions, makes for a sophisticated story that will stand-up to an age.

Season End Update

08/28/2019

This show ended way too soon, I wanted more! And, with an "ending" like NOS4A2 it looks like we will get more!

As the season progressed, we got to see more of Charlie Manx's world. It was interesting and pulled some pieces together. It also brought a family issue to a head that also tore them apart. I had a few issues with a few things that happened in which I argue with myself, justifying the choices the writer's made. But I'm not giving spoilers so that's all I'm going to say.

All-in-all, I would watch Season 2 and anticipate the shows return. *cross your fingers*

I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO FANS OF:

HORROR

CHILDREN IN PERIL

TEENAGE SLEUTH

COMING INTO SUPER POWERS

SUPERHERO ORIGIN STORIES

MURDER/MYSTERY

VILLAIN POV

To see more reviews on shows I'd recommend, click on "WHAT I'M WATCHING" under Categories in the side bar.