Episode two of Cape Fear gives much more attention to Max Cady’s backstory and gradual revenge plan against the Bowdens. The episode opens with a flashback of Cady getting attacked in prison, followed by a sequence in which he resists arrest in the present. He ends up getting treated for a fractured finger in the same hospital where Zack is getting treated for drugs and a missing toe. Anna has a tense conversation with Cady, ripe with implications about their history together, which is more ripe with secrets than was implied in the last episode. Zack vomits his severed toe, leading the doctors to conclude that he must have bitten it off in a drug-induced state. Home alone with one of her friends, Natalie discovers evidence that, when Zack went missing, he was really just in the section of the house being remodeled. This heightens Anna’s paranoia, intensifying her conflicted feelings about her job and deepening her concern for her family’s safety. Cady is interviewed, offering some backstory about his rough upbringing. The episode concludes with Tom having a run-in with Anna’s estranged father and Cady touring an expensive house, eerily confident that he will soon be able to afford it.
“Why Would I Want to Hurt You?” highlights how Max Cady’s revenge quest is the show’s most compelling anchor, with his unique methods becoming even more riveting this episode. The two highlights of his journey in this episode were his increasingly prominent role in Anna’s organization, SJLP, and Natalie’s discovery. Even if Cady ends up being revealed to have not been responsible for Zack’s abduction, Zack’s “disappearance” within his own house was an incredible reveal, and serves as an excellent way to heighten the paranoia of the Bowdens’ house. Additionally, Cady’s monologue was another high point of the episode, being both an incredible scene in isolation and a great piece of the Max Cady puzzle. Thus far, Cady’s dialogue is still a tad ordinary for his character archetype, and his visions of his dead family are also very familiar in the revenge thriller genre. Ultimately, though, the most magnetic part of watching Cady talk, think, and interact with other characters is the mystery of his specific means of revenge, which seem far more unique and specific than mere violence.
As in the previous episode, many aspects of episode two remain thin and strange. Notably, the teenagers stand out as slightly unnatural, especially with Zack’s private internet life. His manipulation by an anonymous person online, implied to be Cady, comes across as sometimes overly serious and sometimes accidentally goofy from scene to scene, notably when the audience is shown the exact phrasing of certain text messages. As for Anna and Tom’s storyline, their bubbling secrets are very interesting to explore and watch be hinted at, though it remains to be seen how well this can be sustained over eight more episodes. As for episode two, though, it is very engaging to see the normal faces they put on for the outside world and their children juxtaposed with the sparse yet captivating hints of something more complicated in their past. Overall, despite a few small issues, this episode was a clear improvement over the premiere and builds momentum for a thrilling season.
Rating: 7/10