Caemeron Crain
The following recap contains spoilers for The Creep Tapes S1E6, “Mom (and Albert)” (written by Mark Duplass & Patrick Brice and directed by Patrick Brice)
Last week’s episode of The Creep Tapes explored the relationship between Peachfuzz (Mark Duplass) and Peachfuzz (The Wolf Mask), and I had some reservations about how it explored our protagonist’s psyche. This week, S1E6 closes out the season in a similar vein, as the episode centers around him visiting his mom (Krisha Fairchild), who calls him Wolfy (with Wolfy also being the name of a stuffed wolf toy he had as a child).
I’ll be honest: I don’t know that I wanted this. I don’t know that I wanted any backstory about Peachfuzz at all. That said, “Mom (and Albert)” is at turns funny and disturbing in a way that makes it fit with the franchise, and I enjoyed it.
The episode opens with Wolfy driving and talking to the camera about how much he loves Forrest Gump. He’s interrupted by banging and moaning coming from his trunk, which causes him to pull over and kill the guy in the trunk with an ax. It’s an amusing scene, but mostly I feel the need to mention it at the top because we circle back around to both Forrest Gump and the body in the trunk later.
When he arrives to his mom’s house, Wolfy turns off the light on his camera and sneaks up to the window in a way that made me wonder: 1) if this was really going to be his mom inside; and 2) if he was going to kill her. Those possibilities would not be mutually exclusive.
As it happens, however, Mom startles Wolfy from behind and it immediately seems like this is a running game they play with one another. She got him this time.
Inside, Wolfy refuses to eat Ritz crackers (which are very much not airplanes) and seems grumpy. Mom, though, has a surprise for him: a room decorated like his childhood room. It’s not the same room, however, because this is a new rental, and it doesn’t contain his special bed. So he falls to the floor and mopes.
Again, I’m not sure I wanted to see this character behaving like this, but thankfully the episode turns after Albert (John Craven) arrives. Initially, Wolfy storms out of the room, apparently upset that his mother had not told him anything about Albert, but he ultimately uses this opportunity to startle her and even their game.
As the three sit down to dinner, Wolfy is more like the character we have come to know (and love?) over the course of the Creep franchise. He plies Albert with questions that are at once friendly and vaguely threatening. He wants to know about the couple’s meet-cute, but then pushes to know if they’ve been fornicating in (the guest room that has been decorated as) Wolfy’s room.
He thinks it’s wonderful that they have been, but his demeanor takes a turn after Mom makes a remark about what Albert does to her breasts. Wolfy apparently feels some ownership over those breasts, even as Mom insists that she did not breastfeed him. The vibes are a bit incestuous in a way that gives me the heebie-jeebies. Of course, it’s going to get worse.
For the moment, though, Albert manages to break the tension by noting an issue with the axle of Wolfy’s car that he could fix for him if Wolfy has a jack. So, the pair heads to the car and Albert goes to open the trunk, where he supposes the jack would be. Wolfy only hesitates a moment before tossing him the keys, allowing Albert to discover the corpse within.
The way Wolfy lays out the three possibilities running through Albert’s mind, while calmly dispelling the first two (it’s not a dream and it’s not a prank), may be my favorite moment of The Creep Tapes S1E6. This is the kind of dialogue I’m here for. See also how, after he sinks an ax into the back of Albert’s head, Wolfy tells his mom that he liked Albert, too. Just hilarious stuff.
As per usual, the murder is quick and brutal, though it is preceded by a moment of Wolfy wearing his wolf mask and swiveling his hips. The more striking thing is that Mom is rather unfazed by the killing. She’s just mad because she liked Albert. Wolfy is going to have to dig this grave all by himself (and that implies that he and Mom have killed people together before).
Dig the grave he does, and as he and Mom sit beside it, he recounts a memory that is actually a scene from Forrest Gump. That movie is a problem for him, and Mom doesn’t think he should watch it. He wants to be like Forrest, who makes friends wherever he goes, which oddly fits with what we’ve seen of this character in previous installments of the Creep franchise. Yes, he’s planning to kill these people, but he’s also seeking to really connect with them.
Regardless, “Mom (and Albert)” ends with Wolfy asking to suckle at his mother’s teat and being allowed to do so. It’s somehow more disturbing than ending with him giving someone an ax to the head.
