Warning: This article contains spoilers for Channel Zero.

The penultimate episode of “Butcher’s Block” sees Alice and Zoe switch narrative positions. Alice is now thoroughly under the Peach family’s sway, while Zoe struggles to pull her back to herself as the sister she knows. This shift (with hindsight) has been in the works perhaps since the season’s inception, but remains a compelling about-face. It allows for the growth of a new dynamic between these two lead actors.

A little frustratingly, though, this feels out of step with the rest of the episode’s somewhat disjointed elements. There are some jarring visual leaps, especially in a show that has been so tight and competent in its cinematography. It threw me for a loop to be led through not one but several abrupt lighting and color scheme changes in quick succession, as though whole sequences of moving from one room to the next had been cut.

Elsewhere, there are lore elements that remain not just unexplained but almost unremarked upon, like the meat figure that has appeared in several scenes. It is a choice that feels decidedly odd, this close to the end of the season. Maybe I should just roll with it, after all, it’s clear that part of this season’s draw is its unrepentant gross-out factor. However, reusing an element that has no particular narrative salience feels more like they are showing off for no reason, and it’s not to Channel Zero‘s benefit.

Similarly, it nearly feels as though the writing room forgot that Izzy, the child introduced in the first episode, and incidentally the child that kicked off all the horror to follow, exists. That is, until they needed a vehicle to introduce the deity the Peaches seemingly serve. She was also used to introduce its growing displeasure with the family.

That’s not to say I’m not intrigued by this aspect; if you look at it from the right angle, it’s an interesting addition to the evident allegory for unfettered wealth, power and the toll it has on one’s fundamental humanity. Still, it’s a little disorienting that Izzy hasn’t been more present in her own story. I have to wonder if viewers would find it easier to invest in her as much as Zoe (and, previously, Alice) if Izzy had simply gotten more screen-time.

Outside the Peach residence, Louise and Luke are forging a tentative, mistrustful alliance with Luke’s father. In the process, they come head-to-head with the remaining Peach sons. It’s a conflict that lands them resolutely on the outside of the house, and leaves only Joseph as Peach patriarch and the women and children of the house behind.

What feels a little like a stumble in the dark here is that these two storylines seem to have stopped influencing each other. The family members inside the house are so wrapped up in Alice and Zoe that they seem to have forgotten their siblings exist. I have to wonder if there’s going to be enough time in the final episode to weave it all back together again meaningfully.

For all these criticisms, though, this is far from the weakest episode of “Butcher’s Block.” It strikes most of the right notes, and poses some significant questions and tensions that the finale will hopefully resolve. What remains to be seen is how well that final episode will be able to pull that off, and whether this slightly muddled, mildly underwhelming second to last episode will bear fruit.

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Channel Zero

0.00

6.7

Score

6.7/10

Pros

• Interesting acting dynamics
• Raises some compelling ideas
• Effectively unnerving soundtrack

Cons

• Still leaves some story elements unexplained
• Subplots feel somewhat disconnected
• Some filming choices feel jarring and abrupt