This week’s episode of Apple TV+ thriller The Mosquito Coast finds each member of the Fox household on some kind of clandestine outing. On the run in South America after blowing up a lab and stealing safety software program, they’re all in search of a method out of their little nook of paradise.

Allie and Charlie scope out a brand new place to flee after they betray their hosts. Margot makes a stunning discovery in Richard’s cupboard. And Dina enjoys a day within the lifetime of an unusual woman.

Mosquito Coast recap: ‘Useless Totems’

Season 2, episode 8: Within the episode, entitled “Useless Totems,” Margot (performed by Melissa George) will get disgraced Nationwide Safety Company agent Raban (Matt McCoy) on the cellphone she bartered her ring for, however he’s not telling her what she desires to listen to. It’s going to take quite a bit to get full immunity for her and her kids Dina (Logan Polish) and Charlie (Gabriel Bateman). And somebody a lot larger up than Raban goes to should approve it.

She tries to inform hubby Allie (Justin Theroux) her progress, however he’s late for work. When she asks why he’s nonetheless wanted there after having arrange his skeleton key software program Sandpiper, he confesses that it wasn’t designed to do what Bautista (Daniel Raymont) desires it to do. Bautista desires it to outmaneuver native police. Allie’s previous software program can’t really do this, although. No algorithm could make that work. So in impact, Allie is stalling for time whereas he figures out a strategy to get one thing good on Bautista that can permit the Foxes to flee to a safer haven.

Margot tries to entice Richard (Ariyon Bakare) so she will be able to participate in his terrorist motion — and catch him within the act, then promote him out. He places the kibosh on that, nonetheless, explaining that he doesn’t need her concerned, as a result of it’s the type of crime you possibly can’t simply come again from. It’s one thing worse than the bombing.

Margot must revise her technique. She sneaks into Richard’s cabin whereas he’s away. And, whereas taking footage of varied incriminating paperwork, she finds one thing fairly curious certainly. A faux passport along with her image in it. She’s ready with the door open when he returns.

Gold on the Mosquito Coast

Allie blows off work to discover the Mosquito Coast, the plot of land he discovered about in Bautista’s previous paperwork. Seems it’s not uninhabited. A clandestine gold mining operation is on its shores — and it’s run by violent, machine-gun-and-machete-wielding overseers who don’t want a lot of an excuse to kill their staff. On his method again, he discovers that Charlie’s been following him and is aware of the realm fairly properly.

Dina additionally blows off her chores for the day, going with Adolfo (Alejandro Akara) into the closest city and seeing the sights. She talks rather a lot about wanting a traditional life, how she was denied a childhood and would give something to commerce locations with the individuals right here, who all appear glad. She’s having enjoyable but in addition makes positive to ask whether or not the city has an airport.

Then, when it looks like perhaps the 2 are going to return to his place to see the place the day takes them, Dina splits. She grabs his truck keys — really they’re Ridley’s (Mike Ostroski) keys, the truck is his — and tries to flee. However she will be able to’t drive stick properly sufficient to outmaneuver Adolfo. She lastly explains why she was making a break for it. And although he’s mad as hell that she virtually value him his job and perhaps extra, he agrees to assist her.

When Richard realizes Margot has footage of his life’s work, detonators for bombs but to blow up, and passports, she has him properly and really in a nook from which there is no such thing as a escaping. He agrees to take her on as a full accomplice on the job he’s pulling for Isela (Natalia Cordova-Buckley). However the query is, how quickly will it occur?

In the meantime, Charlie finds the letter Dina left for him explaining that she’s escaping and never coming again.

Allie Fox, blowhard anti-capitalist extraordinaire

The most effective stuff on this episode are the glimpses into the previous Allie, the person who made such an impression within the first season of The Mosquito Coast. When pushed right into a nook or allowed an opportunity to preach, actor Justin Theroux does fantastic issues with the character. When Allie yells at Dina about her life, or talks to Charlie about ruins within the jungle, he’s a blowhard anti-capitalist extraordinaire. It’s only a nice efficiency.

Theroux himself lampooned this type of particular person within the forgotten comedy Wanderlust 10 years in the past, however his portrayal right here stays sharp. I used to be anticipating him to achieve for some outdated reference, however the writers have finished a great job holding Allie plugged into the fashionable world he so hates, moderately than letting him think about it. It’s far more reasonable {that a} man like this could sustain with developments in expertise and conduct so he can extra precisely decry them to whoever will hear.

I additionally like Allie and Charlie speaking via the on-the-fly morality of their mission down within the jungle. Allie hasn’t been a lot of a presence in Charlie’s life since they arrived, so I preferred them lastly having a heart-to-heart. It underpins the extra plot-oriented stuff they rise up to week after week on The Mosquito Coast to know they’re nonetheless human.

★★★★☆

Watch The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+

New episodes of the second season of The Mosquito Coast arrive on Apple TV+ each Friday.

Rated: TV-MA

Watch on: Apple TV+

Scout Tafoya is a movie and TV critic, director and creator of the long-running video essay sequence The Unloved for RogerEbert.com. He has written for The Village Voice, Movie Remark, The Los Angeles Assessment of Books and Nylon Journal. He’s the creator of Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Type of Tobe Hooper, the director of 25 function movies, and the director and editor of greater than 300 video essays, which might be discovered at Patreon.com/honorszombie.