Tuesday – The Daughter
Episode 5 of The Third Day is arguably the slowest of the 6 chapters but it’s one that ends on quite the cliffhanger ready for next week’s finale. Helen awakens in the middle of the night to a disconcerting moan coming from downstairs. She tells her daughters to stay put as she creeps down to investigate. That pregnancy mentioned before is actually Jess, and the island is divided between those who want to help and those who want to leave her. Taking a deep breath, Helen appears and offers up her services to help. Lou and Ellie happen to be listening from the door as their Mother organizes traffic. However, a girl called Kail arrives and calls Lou a sheep – mentioning how sheep need to be slaughtered so the rest can feed. While Lou hurries upstairs to sleep, Ellie discusses her bullying with the girl. Kail mentions an imbalance in the world, and suggests she should follow her – which Ellie agrees to do. With Jess settled for now, Mr Martins thanks Helen for what she’s done. She seizes her opportunity and asks about Sam. He has a history of erratic behaviour and he’s been gone for a year. She received a message saying that Sam was “on the island”, which explains the impromptu holiday to Osea. Showing him a picture of Sam, Mr Martins lies and tells her he’s never seen him. Only, they have bigger fish to fry when it turns out Jess has gone missing. With the crowds out searching for her, Helen speaks to The Cowboy. He calls Nathan an angel but Helen – in her impatient and frustrated state – tells him it’s not true. He was a troubled boy and Helen blames herself, calling herself a Mother but specifically missing off the “good” part. The last thing she said to him was “I wish you’d never been born.” The Cowboy pushes her, trying his best to get a reaction from Helen in a bid to have her open up and grieve so she can move on. As she backs up, she spies Janny sleeping on the sofa. He’s clearly drunk but Helen helps him up. He mentions seeing Sam and how he’s been on the island. On the back of this, Helen marches back up to the inn and speaks to Mr Martin. He asks just why he’s lying… until Mrs Martins speaks up and drops the façade. “He got all involved in things and left the island 3 months back after stirring up everything.” She admits coldly. When he left, he told them all he was going back to Helen. Now it starts to make sense why everyone there has been so hostile toward her. Helen intends to leave the island but on the way, finds Jess outside with headphones on wandering into the water. With her 2 kids, she gets Jess comfortable inside and helps deliver the baby. In the aftermath of this, Helen gets her a cup of tea. It’s here she admits that the Father is Sam and she’s glad it’s him. Helen forces a smile as Jess admits Sam is still on the island and holding out in the big house. Meanwhile, Lou is abandoned outside by Ellie, who decides to head off with Kail up the island. Together they make it to a lighthouse where she talks about Osea’s past. Bad things have apparently happened there because no one has loved the island. Ellie however, is convinced that she could be the saviour and if she loves the island, it will love her back. As Helen heads into town to find Sam, Lou admits that her Mother had a third child – Nathan. The sudden realization hits her as she grabs a knife from the kitchen. Jess is clearly not of sane mind and confronts Lou, telling her to sit down. She doesn’t do this though and manages to scramble out the window to evade this woman. Meanwhile, Helen catches a glimpse of Sam down by the docks. Standing in a white suit and with long hair, she locks eyes with him as the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
This series lives and dies by its atmosphere. The close-ups and the long, drawn out expository shots both feed into that collective idea of unsettling and uncomfortable imagery. However, the plot can sometimes suffer as a consequence of that. Here, for example, the show does a pretty poor job at advancing the plot and this is arguably one of the slowest episodes of the season. Jess gives birth and some of the truth around Osea is revealed but other than that, there isn’t a lot of advancement to be had here. However, the final scenes do leave the door open for next week’s finale, which is shaping up to be quite the thrill-ride. Quite how this one is going to end, remains to be seen.
