Yes, the episode is a metaphor. It could be a metaphor, but it's like a Rorschach test. If you're "left-wing" you most likely see "Eugene, OR" as a metaphor for right-wing conspiracy groups. If you're "right-wing", you see it as a metaphor for left-wing cancel cultures. If you're the middle of the road, you probably see it as a condemnation of both sides.
Or maybe it's a metaphor for first-person shooters: the shots through Nick's helmet at the end make him look like a first-person shooter, and parallel the shots earlier when he's playing online.
Like "Port Fourchon", the episode is an exploration of a "loser" and how the supernatural gives him a way out of his miserable life. Unlike "Port Fourchon", Nick never abandons his family. In fact, he gets a new one with Shadowwatch (West even says at one point that they're Nick's "family"). Apparently, Nick ends up shooting his own mother. However, it's an "accident", rather than Toni's deliberate abandonment of her daughter in the previous episode.
Using three actors to portray the members of Shadowwatch, rather than using the static "Talking via Skype or text" method, is a nice directorial touch, presumably by Kevin Phillips. Charlie Tahan gives a good performance as the stressed-out Nick. It just seems rather repetitive of the previous episode, "Port Fourchon". They're not identical, by any means, but putting two stores in a row about people who have miserable lives probably wasn't a good idea.
Basically, both stories are about "losers" who find a release in the supernatural. Nick and Toni both find a kind of acceptance in the supernatural. That's why I don't think the story is condemning right-wing or left-wing: if people weren't stuck in crushing poverty and misfortune, they wouldn't have to seek other outlets that include abandonment and killing. Interestingly, neither story says, "Well, the reason the protagonists are in deep doo-doo is because of a conservative or a liberal American government." That's why IMO folks who read it as condemning right-wing or left-wing are projecting. Kosar doesn't come across as trying to tell some political metaphor: misinformation and conspiracy theories exist on both sides of the political spectrum.
I would have rather 'Monsterland' started out with "Eugene" and dropped "Port Fourchon" entirely. But oh well, it is what it is.
Overall, "Eugene" is an okay episode. I don't mind the lack of a conclusion. It would be nice, but that's not the story writer Scott Kosar set out to tell. There are good performances, and the concept is good. It just seems a bit repetitive of "Port Fourchon".
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Or maybe it's a metaphor for first-person shooters: the shots through Nick's helmet at the end make him look like a first-person shooter, and parallel the shots earlier when he's playing online.
Like "Port Fourchon", the episode is an exploration of a "loser" and how the supernatural gives him a way out of his miserable life. Unlike "Port Fourchon", Nick never abandons his family. In fact, he gets a new one with Shadowwatch (West even says at one point that they're Nick's "family"). Apparently, Nick ends up shooting his own mother. However, it's an "accident", rather than Toni's deliberate abandonment of her daughter in the previous episode.
Using three actors to portray the members of Shadowwatch, rather than using the static "Talking via Skype or text" method, is a nice directorial touch, presumably by Kevin Phillips. Charlie Tahan gives a good performance as the stressed-out Nick. It just seems rather repetitive of the previous episode, "Port Fourchon". They're not identical, by any means, but putting two stores in a row about people who have miserable lives probably wasn't a good idea.
Basically, both stories are about "losers" who find a release in the supernatural. Nick and Toni both find a kind of acceptance in the supernatural. That's why I don't think the story is condemning right-wing or left-wing: if people weren't stuck in crushing poverty and misfortune, they wouldn't have to seek other outlets that include abandonment and killing. Interestingly, neither story says, "Well, the reason the protagonists are in deep doo-doo is because of a conservative or a liberal American government." That's why IMO folks who read it as condemning right-wing or left-wing are projecting. Kosar doesn't come across as trying to tell some political metaphor: misinformation and conspiracy theories exist on both sides of the political spectrum.
I would have rather 'Monsterland' started out with "Eugene" and dropped "Port Fourchon" entirely. But oh well, it is what it is.
Overall, "Eugene" is an okay episode. I don't mind the lack of a conclusion. It would be nice, but that's not the story writer Scott Kosar set out to tell. There are good performances, and the concept is good. It just seems a bit repetitive of "Port Fourchon".
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?