Run Review: Jump (Season 1 Episode 5)

As Run Season 1 Episode 5, “Jump,” teaches us, sometimes a leap of faith is not a good thing. Reality comes crashing down on Ruby and Billy, which really drives home not only who they are deep down, but also how far they are willing to go to keep things the same.

Fiona meeting with an accident is an interesting moment, as it feels like a possibility once they jump off the train, and like a foregone conclusion once the knife enters the fray. The threat of violence is in the air once the truth starts bubbling over, and while the full video of Billy’s book proposal is only known to us, the audience, it feels dangerously close to coming out once Fiona starts playing audio for them both as a threat.

But it does not look like the show is ready for that breach of trust yet. Billy’s more flippant about it during this fuller version of the video, as though it’s all for show and not based on any feelings he may have for Ruby. Sending it at the start of the show feels like an act of desperation, but with that video out there, any authenticity comes into question once Ruby finds out it exists.

As for Fiona, though, we don’t exactly know what happens to her. The way she fights with Billy at the window and his reaction after certainly gives the impression of an accident, but is it? Billy’s on the edge and his life is essentially over, so it stands to reason that doing something so horrific is possible, and what we see after is his guilt eating away at him.

But it could also just as easily be an accident, as we are led to believe. Billy, as we know him, isn’t capable of doing something like this, but at the same time, Run has been testing our perception of both characters and what they’re capable of. The show is slowly turning up the heat on them, and each time they respond with rash decisions that will likely hurt down the line, and so Billy under pressure is capable of anything.

The more fascinating angle comes from Ruby, whose complete one-eighty looks to be one of damage control. She looks at Billy over and over after Fiona’s fall as though he’s a liability or like he’s cracked, where that dream life of running away is shattered and her previous one is now the more ideal. It’s self-preservation rather than selfishness, as Billy effectively has a murder charge forever hanging over his head.

Or perhaps she has questions, too, and is seeing him in a different light. Her conversation with Laurence is such an important moment because we see Ruby’s thought process slowly realizing one door is closing while the door that’s always open is still there. The only problem is that Laurence knows she’s lying, so she may not be going home to something much better.

Fiona’s phone won’t help their efforts, with the many calls and taunts to Billy throughout the first few episodes. There’s also the sex audio and the phone call to Laurence, which links Ruby to the entire situation. Her move to distance from Billy won’t exactly work when she’s just as involved, along with her phone potentially missing at the house or in Laurel’s backseat.

Plus there’s the random man who may have witnessed the entire thing at a skewed angle, basically seeing what looks like a murder. He runs away pretty quick so that we don’t get a good look at him, but it’s likely he will pop up again if they have to return to the house or to Laurel’s place.

Billy, meanwhile, is in a near catatonic state and isn’t remotely capable of processing this sudden tragedy. His obsession with his coat is likely a coping mechanism, the only thing of normalcy he is able to grasp onto for the moment. But it says a lot about him that Ruby potentially getting caught up with her missing phone wakes him from that somewhat, as he’s the one to suggest going back.

It shows that while Ruby’s fantasy bubble may have burst, Billy is all in on keeping this going, more out of protecting the both of them than seeing a happy ending at the end of the day.

There’s also Laurel, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character. It’s such a random, strange role as a taxidermist just hanging out on the side of the road admiring a dead badger, but it helps to add to the dream-like oddities that has taken over their lives at this point. They are deeper into fantasy, and not the good kind.

Laurel is kind enough to help, but it’s another witness to their increasingly public crime. She doesn’t understand how they got so far out there, and their bizarre behavior doesn’t do them much in the way of favors.

Where does Ruby leave her phone, though? We last see her using it outside of the house talking with Laurence, and a great patch of time passes before they run into Laurel on the side of the road. Could it have been dropped on the walk through the woods, or is it still at the house? Maybe the man that has run off has it now.

Update: As an eagle-eyed reader mentions in the comments, Ruby leaves her phone on the porch, and so an out-in-the-open location like that makes the phone much more likely to disappear.

The trouble comes from having to go back and potentially run into that man again, or Laurel maybe finding out if she’s still around. There’s also Laurence, who is shown to have access to her phone now, which means he can likely see her GPS location. Will he make for her location once Friday arrives, whether she tells him or not? Or will he show up to the house and find what’s left behind?

Another possibility is they head back and Fiona is no longer there. It’s very unlikely, but could be a wild outcome.

Run Season 1 Episode 5, “Jump,” makes for a fascinating turn. While there has been darker elements underneath the comedy before, this episode completely blows up Ruby and Billy’s lives forever. They will never be the same, even if they go back to the lives they took for granted before.

The episode makes for more of a character study, placing extreme pressure on them and seeing what they will do. The comedy is going further in the direction of being reactionary, where their response is the source of comedy over the show itself. Now that real life has fractured their journey, the instinct to run is beaten down by the instinct to cover up.

This episode remarkably turns the show on its head while still keeping to the spirit that’s come before. Merritt Wever’s calm, collected performance and Domhnall Gleeson’s more somber, subtle one both combine to tell the story of what people do when they’re faced with terror, and how we can surprise not only others but ourselves when the time to react strikes.

 

What did you think of this episode of Run? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Run airs Sundays at 10:30/9:30c on HBO.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

25 Binge-Worthy TV Dramas on Hulu