‘Lovecraft Country’ Season 1 Finale: 5 Things You May Have Missed in “Full Circle”

Lovecraft Country Episode 10 opened with the revelation that Tic’s ancestor Hanna created a sort of “ancestral space” for magic users in the bloodline when she opened the Book of Names. But who was Hanna again?

Hanna was Titus Braithwhite’s slave at his Ardham mansion. He raped and impregnated her, not realizing that he was passing on his own magical bloodline to her. Hanna used the magic in Titus’s own Book of Names to give herself and her descendants the Mark of Cain, as a means of protection. This is how she was able to escape the burning house after Titus’s attempt to open a pathway to the Garden of Eden was unsuccessful. Her spirit helped guide Tic out of the new Braithwhite manor more than a century later.

We also learned that hell-bent on revenge, Hanna developed a her own spell to finally get back at the Braithwhites. However, it would take an intense amount of magic and Tic’s willing sacrifice of himself. The upshot is now all white people are banned from using magic. The downside? Tic is dead.

Hanna is played by Joaquina Kalukango, an actress who will be next seen in Regina King’s upcoming film, One Night in Miami. 

One of the most courageous things Leti has done all season was move into an all-white neighborhood in 1950s Chicago. Of course, she was met with virulent racism, non-stop harassment, and even threats upon her life. However, it seems that her fight was not in vain. As the finale shows, Leti has new neighbors: a Black family moving in across the street.

While Lovecraft Country is fully concerned with the ins and outs of magic, moments like these highlight the true struggle of the period. Leti’s force of will helped her not only stay in the Winthrop House when it seemed all were against her, but it paved the way for other Black families to make the leap to the Northside.

The final scene of the Lovecraft Country Season 1 finale reveals that Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis) used the orrery to take Dee somewhere where her shriveled arm could be replaced…with a mechanical one. Not only does Diana use her new appendage to kill Christina Braithwhite, but it seems she has a bigger role to play in the future.

Atticus told Montrose (Michael K. Williams) that when he traveled to the future, a hooded figure with a mechanical arm shoved his son’s paperback novel into his hands and sent him back to the 1950s. We now know this figure must have been Diana, bringing things…full circle?

Lovecraft Country the show is obviously a different beast than Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, but the HBO series made some wild changes that could affect what happens next.

First of all, Tic doesn’t die at the end of Matt Ruff’s novel. Nor does Ruby. In fact, Ruby aids her friends and family in the guise of “Hillary,” never revealing the full truth about her entanglement with Caleb Braithwhite (aka Christina’s analogue in the book). The epilogue sees Ruby choosing to live her life as Hillary and going for her dream job.

The book is also way more open-ended in terms of what might happen next for the heroes. That’s because Caleb is the only person they ban from magic — and they ban him from the Chicago city limits. That means there’s a lot more that could happen with Tic, Leti, and the Sons of Adam beyond the scope of Matt Ruff’s book.

However, HBO’s show seemingly burned these narrative bridges by killing Tic and banning all white people from magic. Or did it?

Uh, so, yeah…what’s the future of Lovecraft Country? Simple answer: we don’t know. That’s because HBO has yet to renew the series for a second season. The network’s hesitation might be due to COVID hampering productions or they could be waiting to look at the overall ratings. Either way, just because Tic’s story is over, that doesn’t mean showrunner Misha Green is done with Lovecraft Country yet.

In an interview with Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall, Green said that she has “20 seasons” of Lovecraft Country in her head, noting that the original novel is all about placing Black characters in genre spaces they were hitherto blocked from. As for Lovecraft Country Season 2? Well, it’s likely happening…

Green told Rolling Stone: “We’re in talks with HBO. I just finished the finishing touches of Season One three weeks ago. But I’m excited about exploring Season Two and what we have in mind. Nothing’s official.”

Green also teased that even though Tic is dead, Jonathan Majors could return, thanks to the ancestral space introduced in the Lovecraft Country Season 1 finale.

Where to stream Lovecraft Country