‘Creepshow’ S3, Ep. 6 – “Drug Traffic” | “A Dead Girl Named Sue” TV Recap & Review

With the release of episode six, Shudder wraps up its third season of Creepshow, an anthological series based on the 1982 film by George A. Romero and Stephen King. The third season has been mostly lackluster, but things picked up last week in episode five. The first segment of the season finale, titled “Drug Traffic,” is directed by Greg Nicotero, written by Christopher Larsen and Mattie Doe, and stars Michael Rooker, Reid Scott, Sarah Jon, and Mai Delapa.

The second segment, “A Dead Girl Named Sue,” is directed by John Harrison, written by Heather Anne Campbell and Craig Engler, and stars Cristian Gonzalez and Joshua Mikel.

“Drug Traffic”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Written by Christopher Larsen & Mattie Do

In “Drug Traffic,” Congressman Evan Miller (Scott) accompanies a busload of people to the U.S./Canada border in hopes of advancing his political gain by shining a light on the unfair hoops of both immigration and the healthcare crisis in America. While going through customs, border guard Beau (Rooker) notices a mother (Delapa) and her sickly daughter Mai (Jon). Beau pulls the mother aside and checks her bag, finding a plethora of illegal Chinese medication.

While Beau is questioning the mother politely, Congressman Miller tries to take this as an opportunity to create a political story about unfairly treated immigrants at the border, even though at this point, he’s made it clear that his public political stances are just a sham. During the interrogation, Mai continues to get sick and tries to bite another traveler. Unable to get her medicine, she succumbs to her hunger, and her head detaches from her body, flying around the station and killing everyone in sight.

During the commotion, Beau and Miller flee, leaving the mother handcuffed to the desk and worrying about her daughter. The two spot Mai’s body and begin destroying it with an axe, hoping to put a stop to the carnage. This seems to work, and the two laugh over the experience, disregarding the collateral damage. In the meantime, the mother uses a piece of glass to sever her own head, allowing her daughter’s head to take over her body and escape into America.

I really enjoyed this segment! It was great to see Michael Rooker in a larger role, and his character played out the opposite of what was expected. Delapa’s desperation to get to her daughter was heartbreaking, and her willingness to give up her life to ensure the safety of her daughter was a direct symbol of the pain that immigrants feel when having to give up their children for the chance of a better life at American borders. The story had all of the socio-political pieces to make it fit well within the overall theme of the Creepshow universe.

I loved the unique usage of the Krasue, a Southeast Asian cryptid in folklore, basically a floating head flying around Laos’s jungles. The closeup shots of the head severing from the body were gross, and the gore looked great, but the CG head floating around the station looked pretty bogus. This one wasn’t without its faults, but it still goes near the top of season three’s best segments.

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“A Dead Girl Named Sue”
Directed by John Harrison
Written by Heather Anne Campbell & Craig Engler

“A Dead Girl Named Sue” takes place during the events of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. In a small town, a group of citizens wants the head of Cliven Ridgeway (Mikel), the lowlife son of the mayor that has gotten out of everything from rape to murder, with the help of his rich father. Trying to uphold the law, Chief Evan Foster (Gonzalez) shuts down the mob. He tries to get to Ridgeway before the mob can instill justice in him. Upon finding Ridgeway, he discovers Ridgeway has killed a bitten woman and claims that it’s “open season” on the zombies.

Foster arrests Ridgeway for protection but then finds proof that Ridgeway was involved with the murder of a young girl and that he was previously cleared from charges. Foster calls members of the mob and has them meet him at the police station, where he locks Ridgeway in a cell. He gives Ridgeway the chance to admit what he’s done, but Ridgeway denies it all. Finally, the mob brings in the undead body of the little girl Ridgeway murdered and released her in the cell with him. The segment ends with the girl viciously ripping apart Ridgeway while the mob looks on.

What a creative idea this was! I love that they went black-and-white on this segment to match the original feel of Romero’s film. The period-piece aesthetics were great, and apart from some newer-age dialogue, this felt like it could have been a 15–20-minute segment of the original film. Mikel was truly as detestable as Ridgeway, and his character brought forth the socio-political problems with nepotism and favoritism within the justice system. Like the original film, there were only a few tidbits of gore here and there, but most of the intensity fell with the story being told. I also loved that the segment used Romero’s idea of the zombies remembering their old lives, as the girl recognized Ridgeway as the one to kill her.

My only real complaint was with the CG overlay of the zombie girl. It looked weirdly contrasting to the rest of the segment, and I felt they should have just put some makeup on her to match the original movie better. Regardless, it was a strong segment and an excellent way to end the season.