Tidelands season 1, episode 4 recap: Don’t Trust Humans

Episode 4 of Netflix series Tidelands heightens the action as someone attempts to drown Augie. Also, someone else gets their eyes removed. Great!

Tidelands is well-established as a show about conflicts. These exist between mythical Sirens called “Tidelanders” and regular people, but also between Tidelanders and Tidelanders. Of course, normal humans also can get into fights, and kill each other (big surprise, I know). To a large degree, that’s what “Don’t Trust Humans” is about.

The episode begins with Cal (Charlotte Best) getting attacked by the Tidelander Leandra (Jet Tranter). In fact, Leandra even hisses at her! Fortunately for Cal, her brother Augie (Aaron Jakubenko) steps in and threatens to shoot the assailant. The dust doesn’t really settle much, though, as Adrielle Cuthbert (Elsa Pataky) tells Augie not to come back without her money. Of course, Augie has another problem: A gangster named Stolin (Jacek Koman) is muscling in on new turf, trying to take over their drug operation.

It’s a problem for Adrielle, too, as de facto leader of the Tidelanders. After interrogation, they learn that Stolin may be aware of the Tidelander’s territory. In the process, we are reminded that Tidelanders can magically fill people’s lungs up with their own blood (among other unique talents). This leads to questions. How did Stolin find out about Augie?

More from Show Snob

• The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
• Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
• Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
• Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”

How much does he know about the Tidelanders? Adrielle has been ruthless in the past, and one can safely bet she’ll have something in store for Stolin. On that note, Violca Roux (Madeleine Madden) notes that Dylan (Marco Pigossi) disobeyed Adrielle’s order to kill her the other day. It’s an awkward conversation to have, but possibly necessary. The question is, why are the Tidelanders generally so ruthless?

Massacre

We get some insight into the ruthless character of the Tidelanders.  Adrielle tells Cal that, historically, they were feared and hunted by humans. Indeed, sometimes people are known to massacre each other, sometimes to the point of extermination. Of course, there’s still that old adage, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Indeed, we can easily ask what Adrielle’s excuse is for getting psychic advice from a woman she’s imprisoned in her basement, named Genoveva (Cate Feldmann).

After Adrielle consults with her in this episode, Genoveva even dares to ask her, “Is this how you govern? Rule by fickle visions?” Of course, maybe the idea of ruling anyone or anything is its own “fickle visions” (Newsflash: People tend to eventually reject the idea of constantly being trodden upon). In any case, Tidelands reminds us that harsh histories tend to create harsh people, and all intelligent beings are never far from hypocrisy and disgrace.

More eye removal

Tidelands has been quick to show us people with plucked out eyes. This episode doesn’t shy away from it, either. One of Stolin’s henchmen gets displayed on a car top with his eyes removed. It seems to be a definite warning – not just to Stolin but to all humans. To deal with the murder, Stolin’s guy, Lev Neyland (Alex Tsitsopoulos), meets constable Welch (Mattias Inwood).

Meanwhile, although Augie and Colton (Richard Davies) agree to do business with Stolin, Augie privately confesses plans to kill all of them. Given the boldness of his talk, one gets the idea that he may seek the aid of Tidelanders. After all, people’s eyes don’t tend to remove themselves! Soon after that, on a separate occasion, Sgt. Paul Murdoch (Alex Dimitriades) threatens to straight up kill officer Welch if he mentions bringing in “the feds” again. Perhaps to unleash some tension, Welch and Cal eventually have sex (proving again that Tidelands is equal parts eye-plucking and side-boob action).

Drowning Augie, etc.

“Drowning Augie” sounds almost like a 1980s goth rock band, but it has more relevance to Tidelands.  Indeed, a man named Jared (Hunter Page-Lochard) actually tries to drown Augie by locking him in a boat, then filling the section up with water! Fortunately for him, Cal is done with Officer Welch, arriving in time to save her brother by magically removing the water. Understandably, Augie confronts Jared about it. After revealing Stolin’s involvement, Augie shoots him out of revenge (despite Cal’s objections).

This episode also reveals that Lamar Cloutier (Dalip Sondhi) may be in trouble with Adrielle. Also,
Adrielle once again bought something. While we don’t quite know what it is, it’s apparently something she needs to attain more power or to at least retain the power she has. We can guess it’s not just for decorative purposes.

What are your thoughts on Tidelands? Let us know in the comments!