The funhouse maze that is AMCsDispatches From Elsewherecontinues with major revelations in tonights episode Clara.
Fredwynn leads the way down.
Inside, theres a bed, artwork, and supplies.
Jessica Kourkounis/AMC
Its like the murals Peter and Simone saw around Fishtown when the gamesent them therebefore.
Janice reads: My name is Clara, and I am you.
Heck, if you squint your eyes, maybe I AM you.
Peter imagines the painting of Clara is talking.
Clara refers to herself as creative, determined, and sometimes scared.
She once was swallowed up by the dark.
Enter a black and white world that takes on color as Claras backstory progresses.
Life was just tolerable enough, but Clara felt destined for more that she was special.
She didnt want to be swallowed by dark like her mother was.
So, she painted a blue window she could open to Elsewhere.
She jumped through it, thinking maybe she could fix Fishtown.
Here, the writing ends.
Peter and Simone are awestruck; Janice is skeptical.
Fredwynn says its just another clue.
He goes up into the home above the secret room.
Walking in, Fredwynn trips over a chair, cutting himself.
While Janice treats him in the bathroom, Fredwynn smells salt.
He sets a match to the wall.
The subsequent dynamite-like reaction reveals more writing.Coolest moment yet!
Claras story continues and shout out to Cecilia Balagot for her earnest and humorous narration here.
They quickly become her best friends.
One day, while hanging out in a junkyard, Clara suggests they can make Fishtown special.
But her friends just laugh.
In bed that night, Clara is frustrated by their disbelief.
The hope shed painted herself with that window is fading and she knows she must do something else.
In that moment, Clara feels Elsewhere.
She has a purpose: to show people not just tell them what she means about making Fishtown special.
She hopes it will show people life… [was] something you could reach out and touch…
The town swoons at the mural.
Claras delighted friends pick up tools off the street: a camera, ball-peen hammer, and compass.
That day, Clara and her friends became the Elsewhere Society, promising nothing would tear them apart.
The bathroom writing ends.
Peters inspired by Clara.
The group agrees to reconvene at the house after the workday to search for more writing.
Before they depart, Fredwynn suggests everyone reflect on what they found.
Peter thinks Simone might be particularly helpful because shes an art scholar.
Peter says hes the guy that needs to do something brave but ends up embarrassing himself.
This aw-shucks Peter moment is followed by will-they-wont-they subplot romantic tension between him and Simone.
Later, Simone asks a former art professor about Claras murals.
The professor says theres a long history of similar paintings in Philadelphia that hell ask a colleague about.
The professor then asks Simone about returning to art school.
She says she cant currently make a big life decision.
The professor asks why its a big decision.
Its ok to be wrong, so she should do what makes her happy now.
This reminds Simone of Claras words.
She leaves the professor, off to find her Elsewhere.
The conversation serves as a beautiful acknowledgment of Simones identity without sensationalizing it as a trope or story machine.
Meanwhile, Peter hears Claras voice at work.
She prompts him to listen to a song: Good Vibrations, by the Beach Boys.
The stunt gets Peter in trouble with his boss.
Ultimately, in the middle of the conversation, Peter both gets fired and quits.
He walks out, smiling.
She says Clara is hope and whimsy, but also maybe sadness and desperation.
Janice is afraid for Clara.
Janice insists she never sent that.
Cut to Fredwynn at Claras house alone, naturally not waiting for the others to resume investigating.
On a bedroom ceiling, he reads: The Elsewhere Society.
As Fredwynn reads, we see Clara and her friends stealing supplies from a local store.
They turn an abandoned cigar shop into their home base, then create art all over a Fishtown street.
The residents are mystified and delighted, forming a crowd that obstructs a passing limo.
The woman in the limo notices the artwork.
Sticking out in an elegant black gown, she strolls through the crowd and asks for the artist.
Matteo says its Clara.
The words on the ceiling end.
Later, Fredwynn’s joined by the others.
She begins to read.
Cut to Clara with Octavio.
The limo woman is with Jejune and has recruited Clara.
Clara notes her friends helped her with what shes done in Fishtown.
Octavio then sits her down.
He says sometimes special people like Clara have to make hard choices about who they surround themselves with.
He says with Jejune, Clara can realize her vast potential.
She belongs with the special ones.
Octavio eventually drops Clara off at home.
But in the limo, Octavio maliciously tells his female colleague you know what to do.
Clara stabs her in the eye with a paintbrush and runs out of the house toward Matteos.
But the woman seemingly catches up and Clara vanishes.
Fredwynn callously suggests Clara shouldve run faster.
Fredwynn then steps outside, leaving Peter and Simone alone.
Simone tells Peter shes proud of him for quitting his job.
Romantic tension rises but is interrupted when Simone receives an email from her professor about the murals.
He found reports of life-like murals 20 years ago.
Enclosed in the email is a photo… of the waterfall mural from Claras story.
Emotionally, Peter declares: Its real.
The story is real.
Cut to Octavio in front of the orange background.
He snaps his fingers.
