New Appreciation for Tom's Trip in 1x5
As hilarious as this episode is, re-watching it I loved how it framed the heart of Tom's story. His trip wasn't as wild and psychadelic as one might expect, and watching it a second time, I feel like even more that's the point. Tom doesn't have an interesting trip because the whole experience is about his repression. He refuses to open his eyes, which is why the episode is a series of blackouts (at least one intetionally chosen by Tom) intercut with waking moments in the mundane parts of his life.
Obviously, there's a ton of eye imagery throughout the ep--many closeups of Tom's eyes, the writing on the blackboard, the minister's words scratched into the desk, Tom peering into the car, the pictures.
Lots of focus on Tom's eyes, but not something being seen. In fact, what Tom's more haunted by through most of the ep is sounds--sounds that are eventually revealed to be the sounds of the ferry ride he took with his wife. He's even distracted by the guy at the meeting saying, "I'm ready," echoing his wife's words.
Those sounds and whatever he's refusing to see make him keep asking for Evan (who actually may be putting himself in danger). I'd originally remembered Evan as interpreting Tom's terror for his safety as Tom wanting to control him. But in fact, Evan accuses Tom of trying to show other people that he can control Evan, like it's all some toxic masculine posturing for others. Evan sounds, in the scene, a lot like Wyck, who accuses Tom of not even being able to control his son. They both see him as simply a weak man trying and failing to appear strong. (Both of them are shown striking those kinds of masculine poses more than Tom is.)
When Evan directly asks Tom why they can't leave the island, Tom again refuses to tell him the truth. He barely makes it to the toilet after that final lie. He finally throws up, not just the chili dog, but the memory that seems to have haunted and motivated him for 16 years.
Only when he allows himself to look at that memory, especially that last horrible sight of his wife, does his third eye actually open, unfortunately only to potentially look upon some eldrich horror.
One last nice touch in that scene, too, is that in the last closeup of Tom's eye in the episode, a tear is falling from it.