*Spoilers for episode 3*
*CW: suicide*
Ooh, we’re getting into the thick of things now! This episode makes a lot of headway on both the Carys Howell mystery and the supernatural side of the story, including more hints of how they might be tied together. It’s cool and creepy, and we also learn a little more about shady dealings in the present that may or may not be connected.
Before I get into this episode, I have to talk about a few of the major things that happened last time. When Matilda went back to Rose’s house, she and Hal found Rose unconscious in the tub. Fortunately, they were able to revive her and call 999, but upon returning to the estate, they found out that Meredith had died. At the end of the episode, upon receiving some confusing news, Matilda broke down and wound up smashing her cello.
Okay, onto episode 4! Matilda wakes up in Nick’s bed with strange marks on her neck and no memory of the night before. She does some further research into John Dee, whose son lived at the estate centuries earlier and may have continued his father’s “angel” experiments. To find a connection to Carys, she turns to a couple of unlikely sources. Hal gets closer to Trudy as she decides to try and help Matilda, and PC Graves investigates some inconsistencies surrounding Ewan Dean’s death.
As I said, we’re making considerable progress with both the human and supernatural aspects of the mystery. Especially on the supernatural side—while there’s still plenty we don’t know, this episode gives us tangible details about what’s going on here and some of the “rules” that govern it. Meanwhile, on the human side, we get more hints about people who might have been involved, and Trudy gives Matilda some old photos in the hopes of jogging her memory. But besides that, we get more direct ties between Carys’s abduction and the supernatural stuff, so we’re starting to see how these different parts of the plot are connected.
One thing I really like here is how Matilda articulates how all of this feels internally for her. Nick, worried about her unexplained blackout, arranges for her to see a doctor. Matilda tells her, “I just feel like there’s something in me. Like it’s always been there, and I’ve just been ignoring it. But now I can’t, and I, erm, I’m scared of what I’m gonna see behind it.” It’s right up there with Steven Moffat “corner of your eye”-style creepiness, and this is an excellent scene.
Among the larger cast, there’s some interesting stuff going on. It’s clear that there’s something shady tying together several characters, and while the nature of that connection has yet to be revealed, PC Graves is starting to arrange the pieces. Nick is also mixed up in something, and it seems like it’s coming to a head for him—he’s anxious in this episode, champing at the bit to get back home to Australia, and I’m guessing he knows more than he’s telling about Matilda.
Not as much Hal/Joel Fry this time around, though he’s very good in the scenes he does have. Continuing on from the last episode, he’s a little more separate from Matilda. He’s still helping and supporting her—he listens to her wild theories with an open mind, he notices an important detail that could help solve one part of the mystery, and he stands up for her against a hotheaded Aron—but he’s starting to think more about himself too, which is probably good for him. Understandable as it is, Matilda is completely wrapped up in her own stuff right now, and she’s just not in a place where she can listen to any of Hal’s misgivings or troubles.
This is another place where Trudy comes in. Now on board with Matilda’s story, she wants to help while also recognizing that Matilda’s single-minded mission is putting the town through the ringer, and Hal along with it. When the paper reports about the ambulance taking Rose away, it includes Matilda and Hal’s presence on the scene—knowing this will turn the town even more against them, Trudy brings Hal’s breakfast up to his room at the pub so he doesn’t have to interact with anyone. She shares her thoughts with him before bringing them to Matilda, and just on the whole, she has his well-being in mind.
Hal’s interactions with Trudy remind me a little of his reaction to Sylvia praising their music in episode 2, in that he’s so unmistakably pleased when someone acknowledges him. It’s maybe a reflection of how much his friendship/partnership with Matilda is on her terms. Because, although he’s still a little wary/edgy with Trudy in moments, he just kind of quietly lights up at her interest in his well-being—you can tell he’s not really used to it. It’s interesting to see him letting down his guard around her, like in a scene where they’re in his room discussing Matilda. Overwhelmed at how complicated things have gotten, Hal lets himself fall back onto the bed and then lies there for a while as he talks to Trudy, eventually wrapping his arms across his face when everything feels like too much. I bet it takes a decent amount of trust to let someone he doesn’t know very well see him like that.
On that note, I really like Fry’s physicality in the role: how Hal uses his limbs to sort of protect himself, how his fingers fidget when he’s nervous, how he alternately stretches out his lanky frame and folds himself up to look much smaller than he is. The way he does it creates a very different effect compared to Frenchie, but to me, it feels like similar techniques deployed in a different way.
One last part I want to shout out. During his run-in with Aron, I really like Hal’s quiet resolve in defending Matilda from Aron’s accusations. This is a man who’s already gotten aggressive with Hal before—I went back to confirm, and yes, Aron was the one who shoved him at the funeral—and it would’ve been easier for Hal to just get out of this situation as quickly as he could. Matilda isn’t even in the scene, so she doesn’t necessarily need him to stand up for her in that moment. But Hal doesn’t back down, trying to express his sympathy about what happened with Rose and explain where Matilda’s coming from. Once Aron starts swinging, Hal gets jumpier, with good reason, but he keeps trying to talk the other man down even as he attempts to put some distance between them. And I love his reaction afterwards, softly holding back tears that feel like a mix of hurt, embarrassment, and frustration. Fry just embodies this character so well!
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