This week’s Creepshow offering, which is also the last of the season, features one segment about a prevailing problem that affects millions of Americans today. The other turns the color all the way down and tells a novel story coinciding with events from a classic horror movie.
The finale opens with Greg Nicotero’s “Drug Traffic”. Michael Rooker’s character, a U.S. customs agent and avowed communist named Beau, assists an American congressman, Evan Miller (Reid Scott), and his busload of constituents and colleagues after their return from Canada. The congressman is tackling healthcare issues at the moment; hence this trip across the border. Among the passengers is a mother and her sick daughter Mai (Mai Delape and Sarah Jon), whose withdrawal-like behavior grabs Beau’s attention. Meanwhile, Evan hopes to exploit this opportunity for his own political gain.
Mattie Do (director of The Long Walk) and Christopher Larsen’s story has all to do with the state of healthcare in the U.S. today. Between Mai’s desperate medical measures to the scathing portrait of a callous congressman who only covers the topic because it helps his career, “Drug Traffic” puts the American government on full blast. While the political commentary is blatant — Rooker and Reid’s characters literally sit down and talk about immigration and healthcare over beer — the writing concerning Mai and her mother is better handled. The episode’s strengths, aside from Nicotero’s impressive special effects for the menacing penanggalan monster seen here, exist in the quieter moments where silence and action say more than words.
In the next story, “A Dead Girl Named Sue”, a small town faces its own problems as a growing pandemic ensues everywhere. The year is 1968, and the undead have risen from their graves. The police of Monroeville County are doing their best to maintain order, but when a vigilante group puts a target on the mayor’s son’s head, Police Chief Foster (Christian Gonzalez) tells them to stand down. The man in question, Cliven Ridgeway (Josh Mikel), has wronged many of the town’s residents and gotten away with his crimes because of his family name. Foster initially protects Cliven because that is what he swore to do when he took the job. Yet the sight of something upsetting one night changes both the chief’s mind and the way this town now operates.
John Harrison and Heather Anne Campbell’s segment takes place in the world of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Rather than repeating what the movie did, the story takes a look at how society has been affected during the zombie outbreak. Most other places have suspended all rules in light of everything going on, but Chief Foster insists his town is better than that. Of course his integrity is dissolved when he realizes the cold hard truth about justice in regards to people like Cliven; they see themselves above the law because of their privileges. From there Foster and the townspeople rebuild their community in accordance to this new outlook. “A Dead Girl Named Sue” aptly explores how society would react when the natural order of everything is forever upset.
Creepshow’s third season concludes with two cogent segments about dark secrets coming out. One is a barefaced tale about the consequences of government prioritizing money and self-interest over people’s health. The other speculates what might happen when the rules no longer apply and the idea of justice is redefined.
The entirety of Creepshow Season 3 can now be streamed on Shudder.
