“Butcher Block”‘s second episode, “Father Time,” is a stylistic vision layered over questionable substance. In all honestly, that’s a not-uncommon foible from the horror that deliberately leans into the gross-out factor. It feels particularly jarring here, though, as the writing moves between something trying to be surprisingly astute and something reaching more toward a splashy array of uncritically presented gore.

I know, I know, is there such a thing as critically presented gore? Maybe not. Still, for a season that seemed to be angling for a strong social message in its opening episode. It seems to have already fallen out of step with itself.

It might be the awkward flipping from a surprisingly well-researched and technical understanding of schizophrenia, to a near-perfect replication of inaccurate and harmful horror tropes about the same. It might be the clunky, upsetting pivot from careful social positioning to the deeply uncomfortable level of sensuality in a Black man’s violent murder.

Either way, the season so far seems painfully (and worryingly) undecided about what it wants to be. Is it aiming for a complicated examination of human behavior or an unapologetic gorefest with little regard for who the victims are and why they matter? Trying to be both undercuts the former by relying on concerning writing to mobilize the latter. No amount of perhaps inevitable but still hamfisted Hannibal references is able to bridge the gap.

It’s frustrating, then, that Channel Zero‘s otherwise polished visuals, competent scene-setting, and unsettling musical scoring have their impact stretched thin over muddled writing that doesn’t seem clear in its goal or in its emotional center. Equally, the pacing of the episode and the acting that carry it through would be impressive in their conveyance of an equal part dreamy and horrified disjointedness. That is if that disjointedness wasn’t stretched over content that lands insensitively when held up to more than a passing moment’s scrutiny.

It’s early yet in the season, and there may still be time for “Butcher’s Block” to rescue itself and set out in a more deliberate, sensitively considered direction. As is, though, I couldn’t fault viewers for calling it quits and finding another avenue through which to stream their scares.

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Channel Zero

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Solid acting
• Unsettling atmosphere

Cons

• Relies on harmful tropes for a lot of its moving parts
• Seems undecided about what kind of story it wants to be