The gloves are off with our coverage of The Institute.
If the first review was about setting the facts straight, we’re going to have a good time from now on, picking the pieces apart of this maddening series.
Because, yes, I have never wanted to see a group of people get their comeuppance more than I do the wackadoodles who work at the Institute. Just behind them are the Dennison townsfolk (what there are of them) themselves.
There’s not a lot going on with “Graduation,” and yet it’s still ripe for discussion. Stephen King adaptations have a way of doing that to you, so we’re going to run wild.
The first thing that comes to mind is how incredibly awful the Institute is to the kids they kidnap. Hey, I’m not an idiot. Yes, the kids are being kidnapped for goodness’ sake. Why would those in charge of them treat them well?
Well, I can think of a couple of reasons off the top of my head, the first and foremost being that you get more with sugar than you do vinegar.
Like, why do they give them access to alcohol and cigarettes instead of TV and a little kindness? Alcohol may make you compliant when you are drunk, but when you’re hungover, you can get belligerent.
Now that I think of it, you can be very belligerent when you’re drunk, too.
When writing The Institute Series Premiere review, I considered that the kids are killed off relatively quickly, maybe even on their way to the Back Half. Who knows if there even is a Back Half at this point?
But that’s changed. We got our first impression of how they may be utilizing these kids, and it’s not saving the world as they portray. And no, I didn’t really buy what they were selling. We’re still talking about the kids.
Luke, for as smart as he is, still seems to believe there is a way out through the Back Half unless he was merely placating Sha during her graduation. She’s not one step closer to going home. She’s likely one step closer to death. No thanks!
The Institute employees are animals. They’re the base of humanity, without regard for one another, let alone the kids. But the way Tony sneers and drags the kids? What is his problem?
Oh, I forgot. I’ve determined that he’s fueled by jealousy. Even though he knows the fate of these kids, I think it irks him that they even exist. Why can’t he have special powers? I’m sure he imagines what he could do with them if he did.
Why else would he be such a prick?
The way Hendricks was jamming that shot gun into Luke’s arm was so unnecessary. And can we talk about how idiotic it is that they’d rather slap and stun the kid if he didn’t keep his head straight when they could get a chair that holds their heads in place?
Who hasn’t seen a sci-fi movie or show that utilizes one of those? Nobody wants to look straight ahead when they place them in front of a screen, hoping to do damage to them. So, you hold their head down with a special chair. I mean, DUH.
These kids are, for all intents and purposes, needed. They aren’t kidnapped for the hell of it but for a specific purpose. They go to great lengths to snatch them, usually leaving their families unharmed, and hoodwinking them into thinking they are in their own bedrooms.
They know just enough about human behavior to understand that these things may help the kids to cooperate, but then they smash the hell out of that theory with rude, aggressive, and psychotic behavior towards them.
Really, what a waste of time.
And can we please talk about another incredibly stupid decision on their part? Yes, yes, we can. They’ve got cameras everywhere. Yay.
But they’re so arrogant that they think these brilliant and aware kids cannot be bothered to plan their own escape, leaving them free to talk outside without anyone listening.
I can’t believe they didn’t just make it easy on themselves and equip those incredibly large earpieces with a microphone and a camera. Are we to believe they’re just tracking devices or something?
Sure, maybe we haven’t seen their full capabilities yet. But if they’re using CCTV to monitor them, then I think they’ve missed that opportunity.
And when you’re talking about a kid as powerful as Avery, wouldn’t they want to know everything he knows? Why would they let him travel around the compound telepathically?
It’s great for the kids that they did. But the adults are dimwits to allow it. I just can’t stand the idea that people who are that unaware could be in charge of this operation.
Then again, Sir, whoever he is, sits there drinking scotch while issuing commands. Whoever they are, they don’t appear to be taking this as seriously as you would imagine.
They’re putting on a production that nobody believes. The kids aren’t placated by being called champ, given tokens, a pretend bedroom, or a Back Half graduation party. They’re scared and angry.
But, wherever they go, they must be controlled by people far greater than the morons on the Front Half, or else they wouldn’t be coerced into something like killing a senator by making someone see numbers that don’t exist, which can then be called pilot error.
So, onto the town of Dennison. That place is deserted. We see a face or two every once in a while, but overall, it’s a ghost town.
It appears to have the sum total of one homeless person, one hotel, one bar with one bartender, one reporter, one bakery, one service station, three police officers, and a nightknocker. OK, I’m might be exaggerating just a little, but it’s really stark.
Granted, we see most of it through Tim’s eyes, and he’s working at night. But you’d think there would be more than two of them in the bar. What else do they do in Dennison?
It’s possible every person there works in some fashion for the Institute. You wouldn’t think the police chief would do a background check on Tim and urge him to file an honest police report about what happened at the convenience store.
Perhaps the police are exempt from the Institute’s activities to maintain a level of propriety in town. Stackhouse did make a big deal, though, about recruiting Kate. Maybe everyone just keeps their cool so they don’t end up like Annie.
They took my Annie!! Dammit.
I guess it was necessary to kick some sense into Tim or at least shake him out of his stupor. Annie predicted the small plane crash, leaving Tim to ponder if she’s got more going on than he thought.
Tim is a kind guy, but he’s also a little naive. While he wants to stay on the downlow, he had no problem sharing his improbable discussion with Kate.
Kate gave him a song and dance about the Institute amounting to a whole lot of nothing, but then he found Annie dead, set up to make it look like she drank and drugged herself to death.
Well, she had just shared that she hadn’t had a drink since 2003. She was no more concerned about things when last they met than she had been the previous time, so he should have no reason to believe she’d fall off the wagon so quickly.
This is the first time we heard of the hum. It was prevalent at the Institute, but also in town by those like Annie would could witness it.
She had an idea about chemtrails interfering with the younger crowd’s inability to hear them, and since I love that kooky stuff, we get another YAY!
Did she offer enough for Tim to chew on now that she’s gone? He can’t possibly believe the lies Kate fed him, can he?
I mean, she’s reporting on bread baking and once-a-year festival traffic jams. Why would anything she said be noteworthy?
If she were a true reporter, she’d get the hell out of Dennison.
Is the Hum related to a being or to the mind control they’re doing at the Institute? Is it a reference to the real-life hum that people hear? Since Annie mentions chemtrails, Capurnicus and the Unibomber, too, I’m leaning toward the real hum being used in exaggerated form for the story.
So, where do things stand now?
Avery’s arrival gave the kids a leg up. His powers are impressive, but he’s also too transparent. By the end of the episode, it seemed he realized he can’t just blurt out what he’s thinking. If he were to continue in that vein, I think he’d disappear pretty quickly.
They made mention of the keyhole again, and it seems there is more than one, as it had a specific name I failed to jot down.
They must use the kids’ ability to see dots in conjunction with the keyholes to manipulate people as they did with the pilot flying the senator’s plane.
I don’t see how they can circle around to the idea they’re doing things for the greater good, given the team of buffoons running the Institute. I’m imagining mustache-twirling dastardly doers pulling the strings.
That’s not a great outlook for the show, but we do have Tim. Can he save the show’s future from becoming something sluggish? Let’s have faith in the Ben Barnes of it all.
As we wait for more of this story to unfold, drop me a comment below with your thoughts. Am I on target with my reading of “Graduation”? Did I miss anything pertinent?
And if you’ve read the book, please let me know how it compares to the adaptation. I got the audio book in 2019 but never listened beyond the first hour or so. Oops!
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