Episode 2 – The Flatwoods Monster

Episode 2 of History Channel’s Project Blue Book dramatization is about another one of the most famous UFO cases: The Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia. This is the case of a group of children who saw a mysterious light crossing the sky, crashing in some woods. When they went to investigate, they saw a creature that they thought was its alien pilot in the woods.

The sound issues I described in my review of episode 1 have largely been corrected here and the sound is far less obtrusive. The chemistry between Hynek and Quinn builds a little and there are some nice flashes of dialogue between the pair that seem much more natural.

The group of children in the original case becomes two children and their mother, who are then targeted by a local militia who think they have wasted their time. Their level of anger at the family is slightly out of proportion to what has happened and I felt that this part of the story was largely unnecessary. In reality, the Flatwoods Monster has been very good for Braxton County, West Virginia, with a museum and a thriving tourist trade built off the legend.

The government conspiracy angle is developed a little more, with extra things being removed from the ‘crash site’ which are not shared with Hynek. His attempts to find out more are met with hostility. General Harding’s frustration at his questions seems a little silly, as he was the one who suggested Quinn bring Hynek into the project. Surely, he would have anticipated some level of curiosity from a scientist?

In addition to the main plot, there is also more of Mimi and her new ‘friend’ and their increasingly tedious adventures. I know what the purpose of the storyline is, but it seems so superfluous. On top of this, there is also the other party shadowing Hynek’s movements, leaving clues for him to follow or be confounded by. Look out for a Back to the Future reference in the episode too. It makes sense, given Robert Zemeckis’ involvement with the project.

Quinn and Hynek eventually find a reasonable explanation for the eyewitness accounts which is both true to the real events and also another ‘accidental’ Twin Peaks reference in itself worthy of note.

So, a decent follow up. I enjoyed this more than the first episode, primarily because I could hear what was going on. I do think the Mimi plotline needs to go somewhere fast, though. In terms of realism, this episode sticks a little more closely to fact than the first episode too. It’s interesting to note that the sketch of the ‘monster’ in the show is vastly different to the real life one. This has probably been done to make it more scary, like something from William Friedkin’s The Guardian, rather than the real sketch which looks more like something from Alice in Wonderland.

Cheers for reading,

Richard

On to episode 3.

Check out my episode 1 review here –

Project Blue Book – Season 1: Episode 1 Review