‘NOS4A2’ Season 1 Episode 5 ‘The Wraith’ Recap: Threats and Negotiations

We’re midway into the NOS4A2 horror fest. Unfortunately, this week’s episode seems to have lost the momentum from last week’s episode. It steps a little off beat from the build-up of the previous episodes. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s a weak point of the season. In fact, with the highlights of this episode, it’s hard to tell what’s next for NOS4A2. 

In contrast to last week’s fucked-up run down memory lane on NOS4A2, “The Wraith” is more about a relatable albeit a little naive battle of wills. Vic (Ashleigh Cummings) is much much more traumatized than she’s showing. But, finding Sharon’s body has pushed her to acknowledge who she is and what she must do. Along with that, however, is the ugly realization that she’s never felt more alone in her life. And Manx (Zachary Quinto) plays on this weakness to negotiate his terms with Vic. Unfortunately, the answers are left in the air when another person close to Vic gets hurt among the strangest of circumstances. 

What They Don’t Understand, You Hide

After discovering Sharon’s body, sleep won’t come to Vic. She seeks Maggie’s (Jahkara Smith) comfort. But, they’re in the same boat. The only thing Maggie can tell her is to get her story straight for the police because they’ll be after the holes she left out in the story. Finding no solace, Vic charges the garage and spends the whole night painting, carving, imprinting. By morning, her dad and his girlfriend discover her in a garage full of terrifying artworks. And to say the least, they weren’t exactly pleased.

Zach Dilgard/AMC

Later on, Chris (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) gives his daughter a talk where he shares his own traumatic experience of losing a friend at war. He never talked about it and it poisoned him. He didn’t want the same for Vic so he encourages her to talk. But, she brushes it off. While they’re picking up Vic’s bike from her mom’s house, Detective Tabitha Hutter (Ashley Romans) drops by for some questions. 

As Maggie predicted, she’d ask about all the loopholes Vic so generously left the police. In the end, all Detective Hutter could gather was a very strange story that insinuated more wrongs than rights. Vic escaped Bing (Olafur Darri Olafsson), stumbled on some crows on a field, dug up Sharon’s body, and assumed that Bing killed and dumped her there. One would understand why her story was hard to believe. 

When Vic gets back to Tifanny’s (Jamie Neumann) house, she finds the woman cleaning up the mess she made. And Tiffany blurts out the truth in her mind. “I didn’t sign up for this.” And it seems that Chris was thinking along the same lines. When Vic asked him if he thought she should really go live with her mom, he couldn’t even look her in the eye. 

The Next Steps to Making or Breaking a Relationship

Meanwhile, Manx pays Bing a visit. And instead of throwing him off the car like he did his last henchman, he was a little bit more sympathetic towards Bing. If he just wasn’t a psychopath, he would actually win the best employer of the year award. Instead of running, he tells Bing to go to the police. And what he does there would make or break the future of their relationship. 

Being the obedient follower, Bing heads to the police station. His story is that he went to work then went home to watch Monster Trucks all night long. He also put in the bit about Vic paying him a visit to trade comic books. Though Vic denied it, Bing cheerily says they’re friends. Detective Hutter, on the other hand, thinks they’re much more. But, Bing firmly denies it. Then, Hutter moves on to question him about his time in the youth facility. At this point, Bing seems to have hardwired and kept repeating his cover story. 

In art class, Craig (Dalton Harrod) is keeping Vic busy with surprisingly direct confessions of his feelings towards her. Sadly, Vic isn’t giving any back. When he decides to skip class, Vic glimpses Bing passing the door. She follows him outside and the janitor hands her Manx’ official invitation for their little chat. The only rule he gave is to come alone. 

YOLO Before Meeting a Monster

After getting Manx’s name from Vic, Maggie did a lot of research on her own. The only problem is she has no evidence to connect the cases she found to Manx. And to find the kids, Vic has to discover what his inscape is. To get the most out of the meet-up between Manx and Vic, Maggie proposes tagging along so she can take the wraith’s license and work up to solid evidence to take to the police  

With a sudden change of heart, Vic forgoes resting in exchange for partying at Willa’s (Paulina Singer) and she drags Maggie along with her. And this might be Vic’s best decision ever. There’s nothing you’ll love more than the sassy and sarcastic Maggie in a room full of drunk teenagers.

The first thing Vic does when they arrive is to uncharacteristically down two shots of alcohol. Then, she leaves Maggie to the kids as she seeks out Drew (Rarmian Newton).In their little corner, Vic indirectly tells Drew the truth about her. And Drew tells her he believes her. Soon enough and as cliche, as it seems, the two are kissing. Then, he drags her to the dance floor. In one night, Vic has conquered a lot of firsts. 

Maggie, on the other hand, isn’t having it with entitled brats like Willa. She goes on a sarcastic roll to every single one of Willa’s attempts at conversation. And to top it all off, she busts out her tiles with no fucks given to what people might see. Maggie plucks out Willa’s nickname from her mom. And after the little magic trick, Maggie picks up Vic and they both head back to the motel to crash for the night. 

Temptations Against Will

The next morning, Vic heads to the bus station per Manx’ request early without Maggie. And Manx is there, prompt, welcoming, and ready. As it turns out, Vic wasn’t the only one dreaming. Manx dreamed about her as well. There seems to be some connection solely between them. And that’s not the only piece of information Manx is ready to offer Vic. 

Zach Dilgard/AMC

Manx actually cautions Vic to be careful of the bats in her inscape. And he informs her that most strong creatives don’t reach their full potential before the toll of their inscape cripples them. Unlike them, he has found a way to refill what his inscape takes. And he offers to teach Vic purring like an old man offering a child candy.  He even offers her a place beside him in Christmasland as the mother of the children he takes. And he knows just the right words to remind Vic how misplaced she feels and how she would belong should she accept his offer. Fortunately, though the offer is tempting, Vic’s resolve is strong. So, Manx threatens to take measures if she doesn’t behave. 

At that point, Maggie has already tailed Vic to the bus stop. And she found the wraith with the vanity license plate NOS4A2. Instead of just taking the license plate and zooming off, she tries to open the car and Manx senses it disrupting his negotiation with Vic. At Maggie’s touch, the car comes alive on its own and starts to run after her. Just as Vic comes out, it hits Maggies and throws her off the curb.  

At the hospital, Detective Hutter comes knocking again. And this time, Vic tells her everything about Maggie’s incident. This lands her in a psychiatric hospital. And though it’s against her will, her dad forces her to sign the conditional voluntary commitment. Though this episode leaves things at that, there’s this ominous feeling that NOS4A2’s gearing up for something far more sinister and dark. 

NOS4A2 continues Sunday, July 7th with “The Dark Tunnels” at 10/9c on AMC.