This is the first episode of Wolverine: The Long Night that felt like a transition. A lot’s been set up for Episode #6.
Dinah Moses (voiced by Kumiko Konishi), the victim of the latest “bear” attack is still in a coma.
The bar waitress, Mallory, seemingly planted a bomb at her other job, the sawmill.
We find out that not only was Logan (voiced by Richard Armitage) released after being arrested for the bar fight where he defended Mallory, but the arrest wasn’t filed. On top of that, the Langrock’s tried to hire Logan as muscle – for a LOT of money.
Which brings us to Brent Langrock (voiced by Lannon Killea), Papa Langrock’s (voiced by Bob Balaban) pride an joy, who’s part of the grizzly bear hunt taking place through the entire episode.
Brent ends up immobilizing the bear with hidden traps and ferociously kills it by the end of the episode, leaving onlookers “afraid,” according to Agent Tad Marshall (voiced by Ato Essandoh). I expect that’s where things will pick up in episode 6.
I’ll tell you right now, there’s no doubt in my mind that Brent is the one who attacked these women. Marshall and Agent Sally Pierce (voiced by Celia Keenan-Bolger) may not be on that trail yet, but I think he has to be the leader in the clubhouse at this juncture.
Their other suspects are Logan – but we know it’s not him – and someone from the Aurora cult, who I thought would be the problem through the first few episodes of the show. Now, the Aurora cult could still have a hand in it. But given the Langrock’s likely involvement, and how Papa Langrock feels about Nicholas Prophet (voiced by Brian Stokes Mitchell) and the cult, it seems very unlikely.
Plus, Brent sounds like a monster. As Marshall explains the story of Brent killing the bear, you can hear the grizzly moaning in pain as it’s caught in the traps. I’m no bear expert, but I feel like that’s not how an incensed, violent animal would react. And it wouldn’t have been so easy for Brent to finish off either.
Furthermore, he was relentless with the manner in which he killed the bear, stabbing it over and over. This was fun for Brent. He liked killing the creature.
That’s why the spectators reacted the way they did. They know he’s a little, VERY off.
“There was a crowd of people along the edge of the canyon watching, but none of them were cheering. None of them looked relieved. They looked . . . afraid.” – Agent Tad Marshall.
That story was another strong visual. And while Logan’s moments in this chapter were done well, the bomb explosion at the sawmill was insane. James Hindman voiced the sawmill manager, who was hit hardest by the explosion, seemingly losing his eyesight. His performance was very convincing, in another scene that would seem to be hard to capture without a visual. This is not the first challenging scene the cast and crew have attempted and thrived in. However, I’ve felt the sound effects and Benjamin Percy’s writing carried previous scenes of this difficult ilk. In this instance, it was all Hindman’s acting.