[Review] The Dead Lands episode 5 Grants My Wish

Seems like it’s been a week since I wrote about Shudder’s Maori fantasy horror series The Dead Lands, which means it’s time to talk about episode five, “Generational Warfare.”

I got my wish after last week because Waka and Mehe return to her tribe (and Jordi Webber’s Rangi spends much more time on the screen, thank you very much), victorious from their intelligence mission exorcising the boy. Turns out the god of the forest is warring with the god of the underworld, which can’t be good for anyone. To make things even worse, though, the underworld god commanded Waka’s father to break the world.

I think.

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I got all the characters or relationships down. I feel a little like viewers of Game of Thrones who didn’t read the books. I’m a little confused by the fantasy names and customs. It doesn’t put me off, although I wouldn’t be surprised if casual viewers had more trouble with the concepts. This is also something that might be easier on a series re-watch, which I can see myself enjoying. There’s only three episodes left so unless it takes a huge nosedive, I think we have a winner here.

Waka and Mehe are forced to put the world-ending issues on hold when they return to find Mehe’s tribe in shambles. A horde of the dead have attacked from the tunnels, killed several tribe members, and taken all the children away. So what did everyone do while Mehe was gone? They freed her evil Shaman uncle and put him in charge again.

Oh boy.

The tribal dynamics piss me off. Which is a testament to how much I enjoy the series and characters and feel connected with it all. It’s effective because the characters are making mistakes and I hate seeing them take steps backwards. For example, Mehe’s mentor drives me crazy. Going back to my Game of Thrones comparison, I don’t know all their names in the same way casual fans call Daenerys Stormborn “That dragon lady.” She’s Mehe’s mentor to me, and I’ve liked her since episode one. The actress delivers pathos and strength.

But here, she's distraught that the children have been taken – and presumably murdered – and notes they have few childbearing women left so Mehe must protect herself. That all tracks and feels genuine, and when Mehe wants to risk her life searching for the children, she warns Mehe, "You'll die for a dream." She also tells her not to look to the past…but they turn to the Evil Shaman Uncle who led them to ruin in the first place!

The title of “Generational Warfare” is so apropos of this episode and modern US politics. Maybe I’m hypersensitive to it all because of the primaries, but I couldn’t help but draw strong parallels that probably aren’t there. Or, these general politics issues are present in New Zealand.

Okay, so here’s the deal: I don’t want to get bogged down in Republican vs. Democrat politics, especially since they don’t relate to this non-American series. But what the show represents is a tribe that is struggling against a godly disaster (Global Warming springs to mind but it could be representative of a few other issues) and so they’re quick to look to new leadership, in this case Mehe. She took over the tribe two episodes ago and imprisoned Evil Shaman Uncle who had led them in the status quo.

Mehe’s gone for like two days, comes back, and as soon as there’s an issue (the dead attacked!) they put Evil Shaman Uncle back in charge! It’s this cyclical idea of something bad happens, should we try a new idea? That’s scary, let’s just keep the old guy in charge.

And I like the character and I’m invested in their world and I’m rooting for them. But when I see them making these giant blunders that are analogous to real-world political leanings, I get even more gray strands in my hair. Sure, it’s distinguished, but stressful.

Anyway, I tried not to spoil too much, all of that really only covers the first half of the episode. And it seems like I was wrong with my assessment that the series is comprised of 4 two-parters because this feels like a standalone story. It’s part of the whole, but Waka and Mehe return to the tribe and deal with an issue. Next week, I assume we will lean into the overall arc of dealing with Waka’s father.

I can’t wait.