The Creep Tapes Recap #6: Mom (and Albert)

In keeping with the Creep traditions, the season finale of The Creep Tapes broke our brains. Our killer goes home yearning for a Forrest Gump moment, and we meet the woman who raised him. We also get the most jaw-dropping moment of the season. Let’s dive right into the messy family dynamics, double meanings, mayhem, and what the fuckery of this episode! 

The Creep Tapes – Season 1, Episode 6: “Mom (and Albert)”

We open our favorite creep as he is driving. He’s parked the camera in the passenger seat so he can explain his love of Forrest Gump. While he is trying to paint the scene, a thumping noise from the trunk forces him to pull over. He finishes killing his victim, and we have to assume his name is not Albert. 

The Creep Tapes loves playing with its formula. This is the second tape (in a row) we open with the creep instead of the prey. This episode also finds him taking a victim to a second location, so it feels like he is taking us backstage. As the franchise grows (it would be silly to end here) this opens up the world for more mind games. It also assists us in our futile efforts to get into the creep’s head because we get more alone time with him. While I love every installment in this franchise, these last few episodes have been some of the juiciest. So, I was happy to see them milk this weird finale for all it is worth. 

There Is No Place Like Home

We discover that the creep is heading home for some time with his mom and to act out his ideal Forrest Gump moment. We soon realize that Mom (Krisha Fairchild) and her son, whom she calls Wolfie, have a relationship that is even stranger than we assumed. She immediately scares him and then takes the camera. We find out that his camera is the one she lent him. This is one of the earliest signs that Mom may know what her Wolfie gets up to with the men he meets online. We also find out this childhood home is a rental when Wolfie has a meltdown about his special bed not being in his room. As the two begin to make up, Albert (John Craven) enters. Wolfie instantly makes it known that he does not like his mom having a man in the house.

This episode proves that Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice have realized we enjoy seeing the creep/Wolfie/Josef/etc. have his weird little meltdowns. Each tantrum is a uniquely bizarre experience that is funny, stressful, and a little bit frightening. We never know what he is going to do next, but we know on the other side of his fit, there will be a murder. It is a feeling similar to hearing the intro to your favorite song. Duplass delivers plenty of these moments throughout this episode of The Creep Tapes as his character reminds his mother that he is her only special boy.

I Would Like To Know Less

Albert tries to win Wolfie over. Wolfie and his mom reveal more than we would like to know about their relationship. They watched 9½ Weeks together in his youth, and he believes he was breastfed until he was six. Wolfie accuses his mother of making him addicted to her breasts, and she tells him she never breastfed him. This all comes up when he gets upset that Albert might be playing with the breasts he feels are reserved for him. I think we all screamed a few times during this conversation but were somehow still surprised by the ending of this episode. That’s our fault for believing Brice and Duplass cannot make this character any weirder. 

I love that The Creep Tapes is ending its first season with the woman who raised this creep. We find out his love of films is one of the things they share. We confirm that someone living knows what he does for fun. However, we also get glimpses of what would be a fun sitcom in an alternate (and less deadly) timeline. Mom and Wolfie could easily be one of our favorite sitcom duos in a late 90s NBC lineup. This episode where he overreacts to feeling like a third wheel is definitely familiar territory for that television era. 

But There Is More!

As suspected, Albert is this week’s sacrifice to Peachfuzz. While trying to get them away from the awkward family dinner, he volunteers to fix Wolfie’s car. When he goes for the jack in the trunk of the car, he finds the body of the victim Wolfie drove down with. Wolfie claims he will let him live if he does not tell Mom. However, he also puts on the Peachfuzz mask and preps the axe. That’s right! Wolfie brought the party favors, and we get another axe to the head this season. The Creep Tapes is really the gift that keeps on giving. Where most creatives would wrap it up about here, Brice and Duplass are not done with us yet. We watch Wolfie carry Albert’s body to the hole he pre-dug as he and his mom continue to reconnect. 

As Wolfie and Mom sit at Albert’s makeshift grave, we find out Wolfie misremembers things. His mom tells him the memory he is sharing is actually a scene from Forrest Gump. He then asks her if it is too late for them, and she thinks he is talking about their murder habit. However, he means for him and her boobs. There are no words to convey how far my jaw dropped as he suckled at his mother’s teat, and they hummed together. This is the image The Creep Tapes leaves us with. It is almost daring us to come back for more. It also knows we will be back because they have already done so much to us. We are all in too deep to quit now.

It was brilliant to save this episode with the backstory for the end. Where most shows would give us that in the middle of the season, The Creep Tapes really built a natural arc for this character. We may not know the exact timeline. Or even if we watched these tapes in order. However, they carve out a clear path toward figuring out why this creep is the way he is. We may never understand him. We also know that we can never fully believe anything he says. However, we can take notes every time the facade slips a bit. This episode is also enlightening because our parents are usually the windows to most of our problems. I think Mom has some explaining to do, and I hope we get more time with her in whatever medium we meet our creep in next time.

The Peachfuzz Rundown: 

Peachfuzz Alias: Wolfie

Deadly Double Meaning: “Pretty high turnover rate in my profession.”

Passing Strays: 

• He was bringing a victim to his mom’s house. Do they tag team his prey often? Or was this just part of the breakdown?
• The fascination with wolves started in his childhood.
  • His mom calls him Wolfie.
  • He had a stuffed wolf that he ripped the head off.
• He uses the word special a lot in this episode. This made me remember his conversations with Elliot in the second episode. It sheds extra light on the breakdown that took place when he thought Brandt stood him up in the last episode.
• Wolfie and his mom talk about it being just the two of them, like old times. This adds more fuel to the theory that his sister, who tried to warn Aaron in Creep, may not exist.
  • Wolfie is so possessive of his mom that being an only child would be the safest option.
• We have always known our favorite creep is an unreliable narrator. However, confusing scenes from Forrest Gump with childhood memories is a new layer of this delululemon. 
• I would like to know how many of the mom’s boyfriends have met a similar demise. Do we also think this might be what happened to Wolfie’s dad?
• Where the hell do we go from here? The show can clearly get as weird as it wants on Shudder. More importantly, a serial format fits nicely. Will we watch him suckle his mother’s teat again in a second season? Or will this be a big-screen event?

All 6 episodes of The Creep Tapes are available to stream on Shudder.

Did you miss Sharai’s last recap? Then read it here! Want to hear Sharai talk about the entire season? Then listen to this recent episode of Girl, That’s Scary.