MILD SPOILERS this show has an inexplicable charm that makes it a very entertaining watch. all 4 episodes so far have been really good and they all offer very intricate character development. each character has been incredibly well developed in such a short span of episodes. David takes the central stage this episode from early on in the episode, when Keith asks him a really important question: ''Do you hate yourself that much?'' this question echoes in David's mind throughout the episode, and we see it manifest in his visions of the dead gangster Paco, and through his own subconsciousness he manages to improve himself and be more accepting of himself in this episode. This character development is extraordinary for an episode that lasts less than 50 minutes. we go from seeing an insecure david that hides his homosexuality, to a confident one that proudly displays his relationship with keith at the bowling alley. as i've already mentioned, david's upbringing played a major role in how he expresses his sexuality. in this episode brenda brings up the grim feeling emanated by the funeral home. this exact feeling, along with the private sort of affection that ruth and nathaniel displayed, leads to davids sheltered feelings and the desire to keep his true self hidden. working at a funeral home is a very difficult job, and it leads to david also being desensitized to people's feelings. this makes the final scene all the more powerful: david (and the rest of the family) being invited to paco's prayer circle and david tearing up. it's a very powerful moment, and it leads to him and keith reconciling and a glimpse of his new and improved self at the bowling alley. nate also continues to display small hints of a tragic character. brenda tells him that he channels people pain, and that it's no wonder he ran away from home. this contrasts david's problems with empathy (and his rehearsed sympathy at the funerals). nate ran away to stand out and he succeeded in standing out from the rest of his family by having real human empathy. an important scene that proves this is when nate sits down to talk to claire and ask her if she's okay. he is relaxed, he stretches his arms out and he asks out of affection and worry, and claire answers back with a sarcastic comment and walks away. this 'channeling' of others people pain doesn't seem to work in his own family, who are too far from the norm for him to be able to genuinely help. this leads me to brenda, who so far has been an alright character, but in this episode she finally begins to be more interesting as we get another clue on her obsessive tendencies in relationships, this time in the form of the plot twist that she set the fire from last episode. i didn't expect this show to have these kinds of plot twists, but it worked very well and really surprised me. it made me very curious to see how her obsessiveness is going to tie in to the season later on. i'd also like to mention the dream sequences again, because they remind me so much of the sopranos in that they are very off the wall and strange and offer so much insight and interpretation into each character. the way they are included doesn't feel forced and the visions of Paco's ghost this episode served as david's subconscious giving him advice, showing how he won't even listen to himself and needs these figments of his imagination to make him see his mistakes. the dream sequences also add some excitement to a show that is primarily composed of conversations, so this more supernatural element offers a deeper look into each character that isn't as two-dimensional as simply letting the viewer hear their thoughts. this also feels like a good point to mention the intro theme. it's very simple and catchy and the sudden piano thuds create a very dramatic effect that is also found within each character in the show. it is up there with other perfect intro songs such as succession's theme and the better call saul intro. mid 4/5