IR TV Review: TWO SENTENCE HORROR STORIES - EPISODE 8 (“El Muerto”) [CW-S2]

The idea of perception has been a big theme this season within "Two Sentence Horror Stories": how one sees things versus the structure of what they actually are. Episode 8 of Season 2 ("El Muerto") starts off interestingly enough with the daughter of a would-be medical examiner living in the back room while her mother works inside a morgue. The structure points to something darker (though the subject is still dark) but the eventual resolution actually plays out more hopefully. This series is a mix because it is not as much morality tales (like "The Twilight Zone" used to do) but it mixes that with "Amazing Stories" and a little bit of horror (plus places it on the CW versus a streamer). This gives these episodes a narrow path to walk on (in terms of content and narrative) but for that reason makes them many times all the better. The creators can't go too extreme but they can also push the boundary here which is challenging in its own way. Here it becomes a mother/daughter story but also a story of connection and regret. While the reveal becomes apparent in a way, it doesn't begin at that point which makes it that much more effective, despite some minimal plot point idiosyncrasies, which are forgivable . B+

By Tim Wassberg