Expats Episode 3, titled "Mid-Levels" expanded more on how Margaret and the ones around her dealt with The Disappearance of Gus. While we saw Margaret becoming paranoid and ruining every one of her relationships, Clarke gravitated towards religion to find a way of making sense of the tragedy and maybe move on. We also discovered the underlying reasons for David and Hilary's decaying marriage and gained more insight into Mercy's mindset. Let's look at what this episode revealed about the storyline, including what really happened to Gus.
Episode 3 clearly showed the different ways Clarke and Margaret grieve. Clarke is obviously going through this process alone without letting it affect his children. He talks with a pastor to make sense of his feelings, but he does that to be there for his wife and children. We saw him even adopting a dog to make things easier for Daisy and Philip. He's about to reach the acceptance stage of grief. Meanwhile, Margaret, in no way, reaches acceptance. She becomes paranoid and looks for clues. She thinks her now-dead neighbor Christopher had something to do with Gus's disappearance.
It is true that Christopher having Gus's photo without his parents being present was strange, but it in no way meant that Christopher would be the one responsible. And there aren't really any other clues. Doing all of that shows Margaret's inability to go on with her life, which not only affects her but also her relationships with everyone around. She alienates herself from her husband, from her kids, and even her best friend, who was probably her last ally. Margaret is still in denial. It's understandable considering she was there the night her son disappeared. We'll see if it's really Gus's body that was found and whether that will help her get closure.
Mercy's Punishment: If there's one thing the visuals of Expats make sure is to show us, it's Mercy's loneliness and depression. Her storyline also proves that she's finding new ways to punish herself for what happened to Gus. Having a connection with Charly was one of the happiest we saw Mercy. The way she bonded so quickly with Charly showed her that life can go on even after something so horrible. But believing that she doesn't deserve to move on, Mercy ran away from the bar, leaving the best friend she's had in all these years.
Running away from something good was her way of punishing herself. Even when she called her mother, who ended up being emotionally abusive, it was as if she did that to punish herself even more because she knew how the call would end up and how she would be emotionally impacted. The call was also a punishment.
Episode 3 showed all the ways Mercy still cannot forgive herself and punishes herself. She believes she's cursed only to make sense of it all. I believe only a reconciliation with Margaret or a word of forgiveness from her would ease Mercy's pain and let her move on. There was a scene of them having dinner in the official Expats trailer, so I cannot wait for their confrontation.
David and Hilary's Failing Marriage: Episode 3 also introduced us to the details about why David and Hilary's marriage was about to end. I mean, I already talked about how Hilary was not listening to David and was careless about his feelings, but I didn't know about the interrogation details that we found out about in this episode. That seems to be the final straw that made David fall out of love with Hilary. Their marriage wasn't working even before Gus's disappearance since Hilary didn't want to have a baby but didn't say anything to David about it.
Hilary has a tendency to assume the worst when David is involved. She calls the bar he's drinking at "garbage" within the 2 minutes she's there, which makes it seem like she has an underlying hatred towards David or his choices. Her pause when the police asked about David's whereabouts on the night Gus was lost would also explain that she doesn't trust her husband but also cannot be without him, as she easily forgave him for cheating on her, treating it like a tiny mistake. That's also the result of her fear of being alone. I hope she can find a way to live without him. My guess would be she'll adopt a kid after divorcing David. That would be so petty.
Who Kidnapped Gus: The mystery of who killed Gus is not solved until the last moments of Expasts Episode 3. Some of you may have notion that it could be Essie, the housekeeper, while others may think it could be Christopher. The question is still unanswered, but this episode revealed that he cannot really be Christopher. After searching his house for a long time, Margaret only found a postcard that didn't end up being a clue.
To be honest, I believe "Expats" will not really show what happened to Gus. We won't find out if someone kidnapped him. The show is more about the remaining characters and how they deal with Gus's disappearance. Episode 4 could show Gus's dead body, and then the remaining episodes could focus on how Margaret and the others deal with this piece of news.
- Series Title : Expats
- Season : 1
- Total Episodes : 6
- Release Date : February 1, E3
- Language : English
- Genre : Drama
- OTT Platform : Prime Video
- Origin of Country : US
- Runtime : 59 Minutes
- Rating : 6.8 IMDb
- Cast : Nicole Kidman, Ji-young Yoo, Jack Huston, Sarayu RaoSarayu Blue, Brian Tee, Flora Chan
Read Also: Expats Episode 4 Review
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