Night Sky Season 1 Episode 2 Recap

La Capilla – As the second episode Night Sky begins, Franklin (J.K. Simmons) is awoken by Irene (Sissy Spacek) who has fallen in the yard. Once he rushes outside, Irene tells him that someone is in the shed. At first, Franklin worries that the man is going to be a threat. However, he finds that he is injured and blood is coming from somewhere. Irene and Franklin manage to take him inside where they put him in bed. Irene says she found him on the other side of the door although Franklin did not. Frank doesn’t think that is possible and suggests the man could be dangerous. He is covered in someone else’s blood. When the doorbell rings, Franklin admits he called the police.

They answer the door and tell Thomas (Tim Griffin) that they’re fine. Franklin lies by saying the guy just ran off when he approached him. Thomas thinks it’d be a good idea to check the house. He tells them how his parents won’t stop moving and they’ve moved to Florida now. As he looks around the house, he reveals he wanted his first R-rated movie in that room with Mike. The conversation turns to Denise who Franklin says is getting her MBA at 22 years old, but Irene says she is 24. Irene asks Thomas if she could speak to him privately. In private, Irene tells him that Franklin is confused and starting to see things. She looked out the window at the same time as Franklin and there was no one there.

Thomas is glad nobody is creeping around although he feels bad for Mr. York. Once he leaves, Irene claims she told him she couldn’t stand for anyone to go into Michael’s room. Moments later, a mother in Argentina wakes her daughter. Stella (Julieta Zylberberg) and Toni (Rocio Hernandez) leave the house and talk about the marmalade fur. They agree it is time to give the alpacas haircuts. Toni complains that she is going to be late, but her mother thinks they have enough time. They stop to pray while Toni checks her phone. As they ride along in a truck, Stella suggests they do the sheering this weekend and put the movie off until later. Once they reach the school, they express their love for one another. Matias (Martin Lopez Lacci) approaches Toni with another friend. The friend talks to Toni about her drawings until Matias tells him to leave her alone.

Once he leaves, Matias wants to know if he can ask Toni something. Later that night, Toni helps her mother cook. Toni tells her mother she has a paper due so she is going to stay in her room. She sneaks out of her room to meet with Matias who is surprised she lives so far out. Toni knows her place is weird, but her family has lived here for hundreds of years. Her mom refuses to leave. Matias leads them into the church nearby. They sit down and he wants to tell her something. Toni quickly kisses him. She asks whether she is doing it wrong before Matias breaks the news that it was a dare. He goes on to say the guys promised to give him a thousand pesos if he went inside the haunted house. Matias explains that everyone has heard the stories about her grandpa.

He asks if this is where he did the cult stuff, but Toni thought he liked her. Matias offers to split the money with her before Stella storms in to see what is going on. Toni tells her mother she is ruining her life. Once Stella is alone, she enters a hidden door and goes downstairs where she finds a strange spaceship door too. She pulls out some strange shiny object before putting it back and leaving. Franklin and Irene look through the man’s old field pack. Frank remains convinced that he is just a drifter. Irene finds a bar and what looks like gold coins that Frank believes he stole. Frank knows she believes he came from the other side of the door, but he doesn’t think that would be possible without a spacesuit. They hear a thud before finding the man trying to get out of bed.

He is shaking like a leaf and burning up so Frank suggests calling an ambulance. Irene remembers she was sick like that last year and Dr. Mareese prescribed something for her. Franklin believes it was Tamiflu. Since they’re out, Irene wants Frank to visit the pharmacy to get more although he isn’t sure he can do it. Irene says it is only a little white lie and Warren is always at the register. Before Franklin leaves, he instructs his wife to call him if anything happens and not go in there alone. Byron (Adam Bartley) tries to get people to sign so he can get on the ballot for town council.

It doesn’t go well for him. When Franklin shows up, he keeps telling Byron not now and continues walking. Franklin learns that Warren retired to Arizona so Hugo (John Lu) is working at the pharmacy now. He can’t remember what to say until Hugo notices the box in his pocket. Hugo decides to call Dr. Mareese to authorize the prescription. Frank learns that Dr. Mareese wants to talk to him so he takes the phone. He seems surprised by what she says. Back outside, a man tries to convince Byron to say “you know the vibes” while taking a picture together. Byron refuses and doesn’t get the man’s signature. He goes after Franklin who doesn’t want to talk to him either. Frank says it isn’t personal. He just doesn’t like Byron.

Once Franklin leaves, Byron forges his signature on his paperwork. While looking through the man’s stuff, Irene finds a picture in a book. The picture has the name Gabriel at the bottom of it. When she hears him coughing, she decides to make him a drink that will help. She gives it to him moments later and explains her grandmother used to make it for her when she was little. She begins reading his book to him. When Stella finishes praying, she tries to check on Toni only to find that she is no longer in her room. She finds her walking down the road because she is going to the movies. Stella asks her daughter not to be mad at her. They go into town for ice cream while Stella says she knows it is hard living how they do by themselves in the middle of nowhere.

Although it is a sacrifice, God takes notes. Toni says it isn’t about God. Instead, it is about living in a stupid house and having no friends. She complains about looking after the old chapel too. Stella says she made a promise like her father and his father did. She claims the people in their family are the guardians of something very special. Toni will find out at the right moment as is God’s will. Stella gets an alert on her phone saying motion has been detected. They leave in a hurry as an alarm goes off in the chapel’s hidden room. When Jude (Chai Hansen) finally gets up, Irene tells him he is in Farnsworth, Illinois. Jude isn’t sure where he is from. He remembers walking somewhere cold with mountains when it started raining before he fell. Everything went black and somebody was carrying him.

Irene believes that was her husband, Franklin. Although he can’t remember how he got here, Irene is confident it’ll come back to him since memories usually do. Franklin returns with the medicine as Irene has to sit down because she gets woozy. Frank says she is as pale as a ghost. Once he takes her away to get something to eat, he locks Jude in the room. Byron returns home to Jeanine (Cass Bugge) and shows her his campaign signs. He tells her he only needs one more signature and he’ll be official. She signs it before telling him about the police car outside the York house this morning. Jeanine called a neighbor down the block who said something about a prowler. He promises it wasn’t him because he isn’t a peeping tom.

Denise (Kiah McKirnan) is shown in class. Cliff (Connor McNamara) offers her coffee because he believes she is falling asleep. At a bar later, Denise denies that she was falling asleep. She admits she was tired because yesterday was draining. She had to visit her grandparents. Cliff says his grandma got so bad that she ended up peeing in the dishwasher. He wonders if her dad should be dealing with this, but Denise says he is busy traveling for work. He is a consultant with his own firm that focuses mainly on nonprofits. Denise claims they’re close and stay connected. Franklin and Irene argue about her not watching to eat although she says she isn’t hungry. Frank believes this guy is trouble regardless. If he is telling the truth, they’ve basically kidnapped him and needs help from professionals.

It is even worse if he is lying. Frank asks whether she thinks the most logical explanation is that he is some kind of an alien. Irene doesn’t think he is an alien. Regardless, Frank argues it wasn’t a good idea to roll out the red carpet for him. He says it is dangerous having him around especially now. When she says what that means, he asks when she was going to tell him what Dr. Mareese said. She told him enough. She didn’t want to worry him. Franklin believes she needs to be taking care of herself instead of him, but she says he is taking care of her. Irene wants to see where all this leads and she wants him to be there. She’ll do the exercises, treatments, and whatever else the doctor tells her.

Stella pulls a gun from the glovebox and tells her daughter to stay in the truck when they get back home. She enters the house warning those inside that she has a gun. A man (Piotr Adamczyk) says “ad majorem Dei gloriam” before hitting the table. Stella responds by saying, “ad majorem mundi sine peccatum”. He says it has been a while. When Toni enters, he comments about how grown up she is now. Stella is asked if she is training her daughter. She wants to know why he is there. Once Stella sits down with him, the man tells her she is going to need that gun. Irene says it has been a long day so they could all use a good night’s sleep. They give Jude a pair of pajamas and food in case he gets hungry. After he receives another pill, Franklin tells Irene to go on up because he wants to talk to Jude alone.

Franklin asks him about the blood, but Jude insists he can’t remember anything about that. He says this was their son Michael’s room although he died a little over 20 years ago. Time doesn’t take that pain away and Irene has never really gotten over it. Although Irene is the smartest person he has ever met, she is headstrong believing she always knows best. Nobody is right every time. Franklin confesses he just doesn’t trust Jude and he doesn’t want him there, but Irene believes he is special. Frank is going to let him stay. He warns him that he’ll regret it if he does anything that puts Irene in danger. Once Jude says he can remember that, Frank goes to bed. Cliff walks Denise to her place. He offers to take her to his place around the corner if she doesn’t want to go home yet.

Denise admits she lied about everything she said about her family and dad. Her dad killed himself when he was five. She leaves in a hurry after telling him that. In a flashback, Irene (Lily Cardone) complains about Franklin (Lowrey Brown) cursing too much now that she is doing it in front of her students. He says Mr. Groth has never seen someone take to carpentry so quickly. Irene reveals she is pregnant. Jude gets up in the middle of the night and manages to escape his bedroom. He grabs a knife from the kitchen before going to the bathroom where he tears a hand towel. He cuts his leg open and pulls out a small object. Jude hits it until it stops glowing. He puts it in the sink. Then, he walks toward the shed outside.

 

Night Sky Review

Thanks to the dynamic duo of JK Simmons and Sissy Spacek, Night Sky has the potential to become a powerfully emotional drama. Viewers will likely agree that the sympathetic couple is the most compelling aspect of the series. On the flip side, the episode introduced a whole bunch of new characters that may unnecessarily complicate matters. Stella and Toni may be integral to the main story at some point, but that side of the story pales in comparison.

Through two episodes, this feels very formulaic with each episode ending with a big cliffhanger. I am concerned that eight episodes are going to be a bit excessive considering how uneventful the first two have been. There needs to be more meat on the bone and more focus on the characters this was built around which would be Franklin and Irene.

I would agree with those who’ve complained about the show’s slow pace so we can only hope that this will pay off in the long run. Time will tell. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Night Sky can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.