'Lovecraft Country': What to Expect From the Season Finale

The Hollywood Reporter offers up six predictions before the HBO drama concludes its first season.

This Sunday (Aug. 18), the first season of Lovecraft Country reaches its epic conclusion, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

With the series having significantly departed from Matt Ruff's novel of the same name over the course of the past few episodes, there's no telling what showrunner Misha Green has in store for viewers with the finale. But given Lovecraft Country's penchant for emotional devastation, genre-bending insanity, historical and contemporary significance (and, of course, bloodshed), there's no doubt that the finale will travel to hell and back — perhaps literally.

Before we make the trip, now is the perfect time to backtrack where the show has been and theorize about where it might be headed. Ahead, six final predictions before the Lovecraft finale airs.

At the center of the impending finale is Tic's (Jonathan Majors) life, which Christina (Abbey Lee) plans to sacrifice on the autumnal equinox in order to gain immortality. Ji-Ah (Jamie Chung) has had visions of Tic dying, but doesn't know how, and Tic's future son George Freeman recounts in his novel (also titled Lovecraft Country) that his father died on the autumnal equinox.

Ji-Ah's vision saw Tic unconscious and strapped to a wooden surface, presumably in the moments before his death. But, as we learned from the multiverse machine, the future is fluid and it's possible Ji-Ah saw a vision of another world in which Tic dies, a possibility of his fate rather than the final outcome.

There's also the fact that Tic has a monster of his own: a vampire, or shoggoth, that Christina doesn't know about, that could help turn the tide somehow. And of course, Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis) has returned with 200 years of multiversal knowledge, a new moniker, “Motherboard,” and a resolve to save her family that's stronger than ever. With a monster, Hippolyta, Leti, Montrose (Michael K Williams), Dee (Jada Harris), and maybe Ji-Ah at his side, Tic has quite the force behind him, while Christina stands alone, except for…well, we'll get to that. Given Tic's status as Lovecraft Country's male lead, and his journey towards becoming a hero, a family patriarch, and learning magic, it seems like a safe bet that he will survive the finale and live to fight another day.

Christina's Plan

There's no way Christina succeeds with her plan, right? For Tic to live, Christina's plan has to fail, which means she won't achieve immortality. The finale is titled “Full Circle,” and with a title like that it's hard not to wonder if Christina will face the same fate as her father, Samuel Braithwhite (Tony Goldwyn).

But much like Tic, it's doubtful that there's death in Christina's future. Lovecraft Country is as much her story as it is the Freemans', and, at least for right now, she's the most prominent living metaphor for white privilege and white ancestral evil in the show. There's still too much that remains unknown about the world of magic, and Christina, for better or worse, is the best source for that information.

The role of white women in the continued systemic oppression of Black people is an ongoing conversation, and it seems that even if Christina doesn't achieve her goal this season, she'll still be a significant part of Lovecraft Country's future.

Ji-Ah

Ji-Ah still remains something of a wild card. She traveled to Chicago in order to warn Tic, but Tic shunned her and denied any love they ever shared. Despite the undeniable connection between the two characters, it seems Tic has made his choice. And now with Leti given a more equal footing in the world of magic, and the fact that she carries Tic's child, it seems there's little room for Ji-Ah to re-enter Tic's world romantically.

While Ji-Ah's return might seem like the perfect opportunity for a love triangle, Lovecraft Country has continually pushed against expectations and television tropes. For Tic to be drawn back to Ji-Ah, of his own volition, simply doesn't feel like an honest character choice. So where does Ji-Ah go from there? Does she remain on the side of good, or is she pulled into the dark? Expect to see her show up in the finale, but for her goals to remain enigmatic as ever.

Ruby's White Side

Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku) has made some decisions in the last couple episodes, to say the least. She's a woman who wants what she wants, and hooking up with Christina certainly hasn't made her a better person. While she tentatively patched things up with Leti, expect to see the sisters at odds once more. Christina is the path to the life Ruby wants, and because of this she may be willing to stand against her entire family and side with Christina, even if that means trying to sacrifice Tic.

In the previous episode viewers saw Ruby callously cut the oxygen to Dell's (Jamie Nuemann) comatose body, and express her desire to inhabit the body of a white woman with red-hair. I predict that the end of the season will find Ruby fully aligned with Christina, and ready to kill a white woman and become the next season's big bad.

READ MORE

'Lovecraft Country': Nightmares Collide on the Way Toward the Finale

From Patriarchs to Matriarchs

In The Hollywood Reporter's recent conversation with Jonathan Majors, the actor discussed Tic's journey to becoming the patriarch of the Freemans. But at the center of Lovecraft Country's story of strength and resilience has been Black women. It's hard to argue against the fact that Leti and Hippolyta are better equipped to lead the family than Tic or Montrose. While the finale will undoubtedly leave all of the major characters significantly changed, Leti and Hippolyta might have the most to gain.

I predict it will ultimately be Leti and Hippolyta's efforts that save Tic and pave the way for the future of the Freeman family, both in terms of Leti's child, and Hippolyta becoming a science fiction hero straight out of Dee's comic books.

Dee and the Future

With the Book of Names on hand, the Freemans now have the ability to save Dee. But saving her doesn't mean she'll be safe. She's been touched by the world of magic now and there's no going back.

While Christina doesn't know it yet, Dee is Tic's half-sister, which means her blood could be just as useful to Christina's as Tic's. There's also the factor of Dee's drawings, which previously simply suggested she was a great artist and paid homage to overlooked female comic creators of the mid-20th century. But those drawings could mean something more. From the skull over Ardham, to Hippolyta growing ever closer to resembling Orithyia Blue, it's possible Dee may be a seer, with supernatural insights into the future.

Returning to The Hollywood Reporter's conversation with Jonathan Majors, blood memory was central to the discussion, and if magic exists in Tic then it must certainly exist within Dee. But that's not all. When Tic traveled to the future, or a possible future, through the multiverse machine, he said he saw white people rioting in the streets and a hooded woman with a metal arm gave him the book, Lovecraft Country by George Freeman. Viewers saw that Dee's arm was damaged by her encounter with Topsy and Bopsy. Perhaps in order for her family to save her, they'll have to remove her arm.

I predict that Dee is the hooded woman with the metal arm in the future, and that the very end of the season finale will give viewers a peak at that future world Tic visited and set the stage for season two. We'll see just how close these predictions are when season one of Lovecraft Country concludes Sunday night.