Teenagers are locked in their own struggle, with survival being their primary concern. As a result, they cannot see much else. The only thing they previously gave space to apart from food was Shauna’s baby and now that the baby is dead, food is pretty much all they care about. It would, however, be easier to believe if they seemed really hungry. Although they periodically seem to be disturbed or have visions or lose their minds, it is hard to remember that it is because they are hungry. Some visual indicators of this would help – sallow cheeks or hunched shoulders, for example – but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Therefore, even though the acting is excellent, the show has a bit of a hard time selling that part of the story.
That said, the machinations they go through in this episode are believable, from Shauna slicing and dicing Javi, to teenage Travis (Kevin Alves) questioning teenage Van (Liv Hewson)’s motives and seeing grudgingly things his way, to teenage Natalie accepting the job of chef. It’s messed up in the best possible way, especially the way Travis comes to eat his brother.
One character is undeterred: Ben (Steven Krueger), who has found Javi’s hiding place and is trying to recruit Natalie to spend the winter there with him. Shouted in shame for letting Javi die in his place, she says no, but encourages him to get out of there and maintain his position as a good person who doesn’t eat other people. As innocent as this statement may seem, it can turn out to be far more deadly. There’s what happens at the end of the episode for the girls and Travis (no spoilers here), but given that Ben can’t even seem to start a fire on his own, he’s unlikely to survive. until spring.
The girls are about to get really monstrous. At least some of them feel bad about what happened to Javi now. Over time, however, even those who feel the worst about the situation are bound to feel numb. It’s just a matter of time.