ean Dudley is an eternal optimist who finds himself in a moment of paralyzing crisis; a snake bite ruins his career as a surfer, and the disappearance of his father, with whom he ran his pool cleaning business, leaves him drifting aimlessly, living in the past, when all was well in his world. As fate would have it, he ends up in Lodge 49 of the Ancient and Benevolent Order of the Lynx, a social club in decline, without any entry restrictions, with certain alchemical beliefs, and a cast of outcasts haunted by the closing of the factory -and uncertain future of the subsequent real estate development- of a mysterious corporation called Orbis, which at one time concentrated the labor force of Long Beach, California; a representation of the consequences of financial capitalism at the expense of the workers, both spiritually and economically.
At the Lodge 49 he meets Ernie Fontaine, a “Shining Knight” of the Order and plumbing salesman who, like Sean, or “Dud” as he is amicably called, lives with nostalgia for the past; he is having an affair with his high school sweetheart, whom he had lost for most of his life, and his sales career is at an all-time low. As a counterpart to Dud’s unflagging optimism, there’s his twin sister Liz, who like him and Ernie, is beset by debt; their father left her a terrible bank debt for which she is forced to give up any expectation of a career and work for tips at a Shamroxx restaurant, a sort of Irish analogue of Hooters.
At the Lodge, Dud meets an endearing catalog of characters that the series will take the time to delve into. Those who struggle with the infinite vicissitudes of life on the outside world, find a sense of belonging and community at The Lodge. It is no coincidence that social networks or mobile technology are almost non-existent throughout the series; in fact most of the conversations that are done remotely are done over landlines or old, pre-smartphone cell phones. The Lodge gives a home to all the mystery of human relationships that the technological world made as obsolete as the alchemical and mythological theories that the Order’s philosophy handles.
Already from the title, the influence of author Thomas Pynchon is evident. The comparison of the Orbis Corporation, developer of mysterious technology, with the Yoyodyne of The Crying of Lot 49 is one of many other parallels that can be made. The character of Dud himself, could be compared to the “Dude” of The Big Lebowski (1998), himself a descendant of Zoyd Wheeler, from Vineland, except that unlike these others, Dud possesses optimistic characteristics closer to the general tone of the Chums of Chance from Against the Day, and it is to this novel that the subject matter of Lodge 49 is closest; alchemy, secret societies and inexhaustible hyperlinks are commonplace. Ernie’s crusade to get the contract for the rebuilding of the Orbis plant’s plumbing, behind which lies a mysterious character known only as The Captain, strikes some chords that sound very much like Inherent Vice.
The Ancient and Benevolent Order of the Lynx is a fraternal order founded by the Englishman Harwood Fritz Merrill, a polyglot who developed a whole philosophy that hails alchemy not only as a quest to turn lead into gold but as a quest to seek the transmutation of the human soul into something better, in order to find the secret harmony of the universe. Dud seems to be guided by this same premise, as well as the general theme of the series: the hidden magic in everyday life that the contemporary world seems to have abandoned.
As the episodes go by, the characters gradually uncover some of these secrets that are revealed in dribs and drabs with surrealistic overtones executed with a high level of taste, with great help from a flawless cast. It is difficult to delve into the themes without expanding on elements in the plot that may disturb the audience that prefers to remain in absolute ignorance to experience the series. The pace of the plot is in line with the general theme, the magic of life happens in the most mundane moments, and much of the scenes are dialogues of everyday life, and move at the speed of it. It is only in the second season that things seem to begin to take shape, and it is in a later rewatch of the entire series that the overall enigma of the series can be appreciated more clearly.
In interviews, creator Jim Gavin comments that the series was intended for four seasons, but the ending of the second season, which brings almost all of the character arcs to a close, leaves enough loose ends that the Pynchonian game of speculation has plenty of material to keep the audience engaged in speculation.
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