Damnation: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

Damnation: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground | Season 1, Episode 9 | Rating: 10/11 |

Come Home to Roost:

It’s time to shit or get off the pot and Creeley finally decides what side he’s on; Seth’s … at least for now. While everyone in the town square watches, Creeley takes out half the Black Legion and saves Sam Jr. and Seth from being hanged. Then he and the rest of the farmers hole up at the Riley farm and prepare for war. This pulls almost all of our characters, and their lingering issues together. Martha and Sam Jr. are forced to work with Creeley even though he killed Sam Sr. and framed Sam Jr. When Victor shows up with his family and a secret arsenal of weapons, they’re forced to forgive him even though he broke the strike and got Wendell killed a few episodes back. And in a stunning turn of events, Connie finally has a chance to talk to Seth and he tells her that he didn’t have a chance to retaliate against the strikebreaker who killed Amelia’s husband. Now I’m wondering if Amelia took revenge all on her own. She’s no shrinking violet.

As fully evidenced by her own adventures with D.L. Sullivan. The two of them return to Holden to find that the Black Legion has taken over. They’re stopped on the way into town and their newspaper and list of Black Legion members are discovered by Stubbs and Tanner. The two of them are tied up and D.L. tells her about his book that he’s going to dedicate to her, his “secretum ingenio” (secret genius). Oh D.L. let’s not count our chapters before they’re published.

God’s Body:

While everyone else is rallying at the Riley farm, Sheriff Berryman manages to get Bessie and the other women from the whorehouse to safety. His nephew/deputy arrives hideout, as well, after admitting to giving Sam Jr. over to the Black Legion. But the real moment of truth comes when Berryman tells Bessie about her mother. Bessie had assumed her mother was a whore that her father knocked up but she was actually a singer named Pearl that her father fell in love with right before he was supposed to get married. Between her mother being on the road and Berryman’s wife, the only option they saw was putting her in an orphanage. It’s a touching story that ends with him playing one of her mother’s records where she sings “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.”

Creeley & Seth (Photo by: Chris Large/USA Network)

This segues us right into the standoff at the Riley farm and its lost souls. The farmers, Seth, and Creeley are clearly outnumbered and outgunned but, luckily, racists are dumb. Using Victor’s bombs, they’re able to take out a bunch of the Black Legion and while that’s happening D.L. and Amelia attempt to make an escape. Those sharpshooting skills D.L. displayed back at the carnival come into play (according to him he was taught by Annie Oakley) but he’s stopped by Stubbs. After a come-to-Jesus moment, Connie reconciles with the fact that she may have been on the wrong side and joins the fight to protect the Rileys and the other women and children in the house. Even Sam Jr. puts aside his grudge and covers Creeley, so by the time they take out the machine gun Tanner is using you almost believe they’ve won. Then a lone horse rides up pulling D.L.’s body and a note telling Seth to give up or the Black Legion will kill Amelia.

Creely & the farmers (Photo by: Chris Large/USA Network)

Odds & Ends: 

• We finally get the full story of Cynthia’s death and how Creeley was framed. Their father killed Cynthia and Seth killed everyone else in grief and then framed his brother because he couldn’t kill him. It’s tragic, but hopefully their truce can last.
• When Berryman shows Bessie the news story about the murders in Colton Creek, she notices something. This story seems to have more twists and turns than ever.
• The election for sheriff is supposed to happen the morning after this assault on the Riley farm, but with the Black Legion taking over town – even if Stubbs is outted as a member – will anyone vote against him?

Next week is the finale and I’m not ready to say good-bye to these characters. Kudos to everyone involved in this production for this beautifully crafted story.