This review will contain mild spoilers for the Prime Video/MGM+ series From, specifically the gay bits.
The queer medics of From have their work cut out for them as season three increases the danger in the dark, dark forest, in the dark, dark town where dark, dark things lurk in the dark, dark night.
Ever since the Matthews family arrived in this strange town where new people show up periodically but nobody can leave, things have taken a turn for the terrifying. Their desperation to get out shook up the resigned nature of its previous residents, but the more they try to escape, the more the creatures try to stop them.
In fact, the creatures are more active than ever this season. They’re not just tapping on windows and knocking on doors anymore. They have started to use more complex thinking, planning sabotage and strategically letting some people go for maximum torment. They’re proving they’re not just feral creatures who will do anything for a taste of human flesh. Their goals aren’t food-motivated. Their goals seem to be rooted in fear and pain.
Of course, more danger and trauma in the town means more work for our medic girlfriends. To refresh: Kristi (Chloe Van Landschoot), the former med student, was running the clinic alone until the fiancée she left behind showed up in town. Said fiancée, Marielle (Kaelen Ohm), was a pediatric nurse before she got on the bus to rehab for her opioid addiction that relapsed in the aftermath of her fiancée disappearing out of nowhere
When we pick up in season three, Marielle has recovered from her withdrawal, and the creepy possession-esque situation that happened to her, Julie Matthews, and a guy named Randall last season. Kristi and Marielle are running the clinic to the best of their ability, considering their supplies are limited to what they’ve collected from newcomers over the years, and their clinic is actually a repurposed post office. And, this season, they have their work cut out for them. Kristi has to act as mortician to get a beloved member of the community looking presentable for the funeral after being mauled by the creatures, Marielle has to stitch up a survivor of a creature attack and make sure he doesn’t get infected, Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) is experiencing some very strange and disturbing symptoms, and Kristi even ends up with an injury of her own.
What I’ve been enjoying most about Kristi and Mari’s story this season so far, is that actually they’re two separate storylines. While I would, of course, love to see more of them together, it’s really nice that they aren’t chained to each other. Mari is developing her own dynamics with other people in town, and Kristi is going off to help her old friends whenever she can. I’m so used to queer characters’ only stories being their relationship that at first, it made me nervous to see them talking to other people. Mari and Fatima were talking alone at one point, and since Fatima is queer, even though she’s married to someone else, I got nervous that they were flirting. Then I realized Marielle is probably just making her own friends and forging her own relationships. I am also always background-worried about Kristi and Kenny, but I’m hoping they just have a really special friendship.
In general, I just like seeing the queer characters folded into the fabric of the town with everyone else, doing their best to survive. And with two of the queer characters being medically trained, they’re vital to keeping the community afloat. It’s nice that they’re so important to the town and to the story.
That’s not to say I don’t also enjoy their relationship WITH each other. I’d love to see more of them in quiet moments, but this season has fewer and fewer of them as it goes on. In the fifth episode, Kristi and Mari have a sweet scene where it’s almost like they’re fighting but actually they’re just worried about each other; they’re very much in love, they just have a lot on their minds in this fast-moving, scary world they live in.
Believe me, there’s plenty of things to worry about going on in town. Crops are rotting, animals are being slaughtered, food is scarce and new people keep showing up. Every answer to a mystery seems to expose three more, and not everyone is working toward the same goal. And even when they are, they might have very different ways of wanting to go about it. Let’s just say, some people in this town are…smarter than others, so some attempts have disastrous consequences.
This show continues to explore how different types of people react to being stuck. Some people are more focused on surviving than escaping, some people care about the wellbeing of the whole town while some are more selfishly motivated, some want to solve the mysteries while some just want it to end. Some are more scared than others; some are in denial. It’s fascinating to see how different people react to the same scenario, and I find it especially intriguing when the scenario isn’t something I myself am ever likely to encounter. Would I be dedicated to finding a way to escape, solving puzzles and exploring the forest, or would I be more focused on surviving day to day, accepting the fact that I may never get to leave? It’s also interesting to watch the evolution of some of these characters and the way they’re handling it. For a long time Boyd was in the camp of people just trying to keep the town together, but now he’s committed to finding answers. Kristi was just trying to survive and help others do the same, rarely seen outside the clinic, but this season she’s venturing out to the forest with her peers.
In a world where so many TV shows have their queer characters die, or disappear into the parking lot of no return, it’s a hopeful metaphor to see the queer characters in this show fighting tooth and nail to survive.
The third season of From is now airing on Prime Video/MGM+.
Mari is still my ‘they could never make me like you’ character, but I guess I’ll show up for S3.
I really liked that Mari wasn’t demonized for her addiction last season. Hers and Kristi’s dynamic is sweet and realistic. But given the entire of the show I still didn’t expect much. Glad to know that they’re both vital and doing their best to survive. Gives me hope that if either of them does die, they’ll get a good ending.
I really liked it and appreciate the the role