YMMV / Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • "The Autopsy": Is the alien truthful when it claims that its species has infiltrated deep into humanity and controlled the fall of entire nations? If that was the case, why would it hide away as a lowly itinerant worker, rather than contacting its peers and enjoying whatever it considers as luxury and safety with everything that human wealth can provide? Is it actually the only one on Earth, or is it a some sort of fugitive from its own kind?
    • Then again, the alien might have been talking about OTHER worlds' nations. He never specified his species had only ever infiltrated Earth. He might be the first of a scouting force only...
  • "The Outside":
    • Stacey's friend, Gina, throws a Secret Santa party in which she gives all of them the Alo Glo product, boasting about its power and how expensive it is. Because of how vague a lot of this segment is, this leaves a few things up for interpretation and discussion. Is it possible that Gina is working with Alo Glo to make other people interested in it? Or is she genuinely just interested in sharing a product she trusts with her friends (possibly while also gloating about her wealth)?
    • To what extent is Stacey's alleged exclusion and bullying just her own low self-esteem talking? While her coworkers are shallow and gossipy, they aren't actually shown saying or doing anything that would hurt her. It could be that they simply don't have anything in common and indeed seem almost as awkward talking to Stacey as vice versa.
    • Even further, some people wonder how much of the episode actually happened and how much was just Stacey growing delirious, likely from her allergic reaction. Did the TV really talk to her? Did she actually transform in the end? Indeed, did she even actually kill her husband? He radioed for help but the ending would require for his coworkers to have ignored this and his disappearance completely.
    • Is Keith a loving husband who tries his best to be gentle and calming to his anxiety-prone wife or a patronizing creep who treats her like a child?
    • The whole ending also raises up an important question: were Gina and the rest of Stacey's coworkers always naturally bitchy? Or did they all get corrupted by Alo Glo in the past just like Stacey?
  • "Pickman's Model": Does Pickman actually see Thurber as a friend and just can't take a hint when Thurber rejects him? Or is he deliberately stalking him as revenge for not defending him when he got kicked out of the art school? And is he deliberately driving people to cannibalistic insanity with his gallery, or just blind to the effects of his own art due to his bizarre worldview?
  • "The Viewing": Is the alien hostile? It's entirely possible that it is simply a frightened animal using whatever it has as a defense resource to protect itself when it seems to be literally surrounded by humans (which themselves would be animals it had never seen), and the gruesome deaths it inflicts are more of a case of nature just doing what it would do anyway.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Keziah Mason in "Dreams In The Witch House". After menacing the heroes for half the episode, she is suddenly and easily physically overpowered by the ghost of a child.
• Complete Monster:
  • "Lot 36": The previous owner of Lot 36 was an elderly man with a dark secret. Originally a weapons manufacturer for the Nazis who immigrated to America, the owner was also an occultist who made a pact with a demon. Using his own sister Dottie Wolmar's body as a vessel for the demon, the owner allowed the demon to carve out Dottie's face and inhabit her body, keeping her chained up inside his storage unit for several decades.
  • "The Autopsy": The "Traveler", the alien parasite contained within the body of Eddie Sykes, is a smug sadist that revels in its cruelty. Arriving on earth as a larva, the parasite infested the body of Sykes and kept him alive and conscious to enjoy his fear as it fed on his blood. Abducting and murdering numerous people, the alien soon risked discovery and triggered an explosion in a mine that killed 9 people. Preserving two victims to slowly drain them of blood, the alien prepared to be "rescued" and brought to the morgue. Upon being autopsied by mortician Carl Winters, the alien subdues him and autopsies itself, with Eddie Sykes feeling every bit of pain. Plotting to take Carl's body, the Traveler coldly vows to force Carl to experience every bit of agony as Eddie did, starting with devouring his close friend, Sheriff Nathan Craven.
• Ending Fatigue: The episode "Pickman's Model" reaches multiple natural end points in succession and keeps on going: First, the burning down of Pickman's house with the reveal of the Ghoul; then the reveal that Thurber's friend was driven insane by Pickman's paintings; then Thurber's return home with the reveal that his wife (despite her much more limited exposure to Pickman's paintings) has also been driven insane and murdered their son. Bonus points for it becoming very clear that Thurber's son is dead, but the episode dragging on while he slowly approaches the stove and very slowly opens it.
• Heartwarming Moments: The ending of "The Murmuring", overlapping with Tear Jerker, as Nancy puts the ghosts of the house to rest and, in the process, finally begins to grieve for her daughter and reconcile with her husband.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Nick in Lot 36, to some extent. Nothing he does is criminal, he's just a callous and angry bigot desperate to repay some dangerous loan sharks, one of whom just gave him a bad beating and broke his truck's windows and windshield. At least some of his bitterness is due to his experiences as a combat vet.
  • Masson of "Graveyard Rats" is a graverobber, a hypocrite, a liar, a coward, and his actions throughout the episode are hardly laudable... but thanks to being played by David Hewlett in full Rodney McKay mode, he comes across as comically pathetic rather than genuinely contemptible. It helps that he's not explicitly malevolent, just a desperate man who's ALSO trying to repay dangerous loan sharks, and is otherwise far more polite and friendly towards others than Nick.
• Tear Jerker: "The Murmuring" features a seemingly antagonistic ghost who terrorises the protagonist with an accusing scream of "What have you done?!" But then we learn that the ghost was a mother who murdered her own son in a fit of madness before committing suicide. The last time we see her, she is still tearfully wailing "What have you done?", but now it's clear who she is really talking to: herself.
• Nausea Fuel: Though it’s shot in a very matter-of-fact way, “The Autopsy” still prominently features several autopsies, all on screen.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Some fans of Lovecraft's work feel this way about the episode that adapts "Pickman's Model". To whit: Instead of keeping the slowly building, creepy atmosphere and Pickman as a somewhat creepy, yet ambiguous figure; they have Pickman rambling in a passive-aggressive manner each time he and Thurber are alone, and have a scene of him using a dismembered cat as a model; and add in a number of nightmare sequences as well as a general Go Mad from the Revelation - effect to Pickman's paintings that ends up driving both Thurber's friend and wife insane; instead of those just being unsettling and the twist ending being the reveal that the paintings are based on real photos Pickman has been taking of the Ghouls.
  • Also, instead of the Ghouls being canine-human-hybrids, as they were described in Lovecraft's work, they instead get a more amphibian/frog-like appearance - more in line with pop-cultural perception of Lovecraft's work instead of the actual short story it was based on.
  • The other Lovecraft adaptation in the series, The Dreams in the Witch House, is probably just as far removed from Lovecraft's story as Pickman's Model thanks to extraneous characters and drastic changes to the storyline, to the point of being an In Name Only adaptation with the basic premise and some character names retained but not much else.

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