The Society season 1, episode 9 recap: New Names

It’s election season on The Society.

After Allie’s announcement, it seems like everyone is running towards the signup sheet to try and become the next mayor. It’s a little odd, considering that Allie’s job isn’t exactly one anyone should want. They all got to see her get her hands dirty as the judge and when executing Dewey. Who wants to make the tough calls like that? Well, one person on The Society has figured out a way to rule without ever having to get their hands dirty.

Yes, Campbell is the first person to write a name down on the sheet but it’s not his. He’s signing Harry up for mayor and no one seems to notice except for Kelly. She calls him out immediately, knowing that Harry is in no mental state to be launching a campaign. However, Campbell is confident he will be and we all know that Campbell always gets what he wants.

He heads over to Harry’s and gives him a motivational speech about running. It’s easy to convince Harry to join by promising to “get him back where he belongs”, something Harry has been desperate to achieve. However, it’s a little sad to see Harry get back into cahoots with Campbell. Did everyone in this town just selectively forget the part these two played in Cassandra’s death? Harry can earn forgiveness but he’s definitely not the person to run the town.

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Speaking of the town and selective memories, everyone seems to have forgotten that Campbell is a psychopath. Allie, the Guard, Will, Sam, Becca, Gordie, Bean and Kelly all know that he’s a dangerous person. Yet, no one thought to actually check in on Elle. She heads to the church for some time apart from Campbell where Helena catches on that something is wrong. Helena offers an ear of support and discovers that Campbell has cut a possessive “C” into Elle’s arm. Realizing that this is an abusive relationship, she immediately tries to get her out of that house.

The scenes between the two are some of the strongest yet for Olivia DeJonge with the exception of the weird moment where she brings up being called a thot by Helena in high school. It’s used to highlight just how much has changed on The Society but it just comes across as uncomfortable. It doesn’t take long for Campbell to track Elle down to Helena’s but he’s messed with the wrong girl. Helena doesn’t mince her words and tells him to “f*ck off” even when he menacingly hints that he would harm her too.

Naturally, Campbell takes too far and sneaks into the house to take a creepy video of Helena. He sends it to Elle, who in turn, leaves to try and protect the only person who seems to have cared since they arrived in New Ham. Helena has other issues to deal with, namely her husband signing up to run for the mayoral election. Clark signs up Luke to run for mayor and he eventually agrees because he wants to try out being in charge. Unfortunately, Allie doesn’t think it’s appropriate for members of the Guard to run for office. They’re furious and claim they’re being degraded to “dogs” or “pieces of meat”. The backslide of character development really does make them seem as bland as pieces of meat and Grizz tells them to start doing their jobs.

However, Allie does actually sit down with Elle for the first time in a while. Elle comes clean and admits that she has nowhere to run so she wants to be arrested. That way she’ll at least be protected from Campbell. Allie wants to arrest him but since it’s a he said/she said, it’s more likely Elle gets killed for the poisoning attacks. With no other options, Allie agrees to arrest her without telling anyone why as a way to protect her. It shows that Allie hasn’t become a full-fledged politician yet on The Society as she decides to put Elle’s self-interest over the election.

Campbell is naturally furious, and storms down there after having a menacing chat with Kelly over Harry’s best interests. He’s not allowed in and Allie warns him that she’s not afraid. Campbell doesn’t buy it and he promises things will be different when Harry wins.

Things don’t go well at the debates either, where Lexie storms in and gives an impassioned speech about how Allie is the worst. In reality, Lexie is and she’s joining in on Campbell’s and Harry’s coup. The Society fans seem split about a lot of people but we can all agree that Lexie is the most obnoxious character in all of New Ham. Nevertheless, the polling isn’t great and Allie begins to get worried.

Finally, the episode ends with a big cliffhanger after Kelly checks in with Becca. The two are going through old photos when  Becca shows her a photo of the bus. The man who was arguing with Harry’s mom is the driver! Looks like we have our first major breakthrough about how everyone got here.

This hour also tries to explore some of the relationships a bit more. Luke is second-guessing his engagement which terrifies Helena because she’s 100% dedicated. Sam and Grizz also reunite before his expedition, promising a brighter future for those two. However, The Society also touches upon Will’s and Allie’s relationship. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of this romance or Will as a character. His acting is perfectly fine, but Will doesn’t seem nearly as fleshed out as some of the other main characters. We also have Allie and Harry interact today which highlighted some of the natural chemistry that Allie and Will are lacking. While I’m not sold on Harry/Allie either, I definitely think Will needs to get his own story arc before jumping into another romance.

Kelly and Gordie also decide to help each other study and to open their own medical practice. It’s one of the few happy relationship moments that hints at a potential romance down the line. Gordie’s unfailing optimism and strive to become better immediately excites Kelly. Harry didn’t seem to inspire her to reach new goals and Will only seemed interested in this version of her he had on a pedestal. Hopefully, we get to see more of them interacting throughout next season.

What did you think of this episode of The Society? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!