The Third Day Review: Saturday – The Son (Season 1 Episode 2)

Decay follows Sam everywhere he goes on The Third Day Season 1 Episode 2, “Saturday – The Son.” It follows him like a shadow, and won’t let go.

There’s a correlation between decay and suffering on the show, as both infect a person and threatens to tear them apart. But for Sam, he doesn’t seem consumed by it just yet, even if there are hints from his dreams and visions, and Jess may prove to be that light in the darkness he needs.

That is, if he can survive these three days.

The blooming friendship (or relationship) between Sam and Jess is a rather interesting place to start. They’re attracted to each other, beyond the wonder of whether or not they have slept together, and they are outsiders with lives they are running from.

Their closeness is one of the show’s best attributes, as both Jude Law and Katherine Waterston are impossibly charming and have great chemistry, doubly so once the acid trip kicks in later on. There’s a rapport between them, where they are bonded by their escape and need for simplicity.

Their connection gets them to open up to each other, where we see that while Sam’s tragedy is insurmountable, Jess has her own. Both are hurt by their past and have to put on a happy face, and so finding each other may be the best thing for them at this point.

The death of Sam’s son may prove more integral than simply being Sam’s backstory.

With the caravan symbol being the same as the one in the newspaper article and his son’s coroner being Professor Mimir, Sam’s connection to Osea is becoming more than just coincidence.

The episode kind of forgets about it, but there’s also the issue of what Sam is running away from. He still has that money, and those text messages at the causeway (and likely the reason for him turning back) hint at a different story than he’s mentioned on The Third Day Season 1 Episode 1, “Friday – The Father.”

Maybe he has left it all behind and is laying low here, looking for any excuse to stick around. Going to the very source of your grief is a double-edged sword of sorts, where it could easily be the first or last place they look for you.

The talk of sacrifice is rampant throughout the episode, giving the impression we are heading toward a situation like The Wicker Man. Fire and drowning jump out the most, as Sam’s vision of the burning caravan (and finding it later on) gives the impression that he may prove to be the one “reborn” in fire or water to save the community.

They have Christianity surviving on sacrifice right there on their pub menus, after all. It’s not exactly subtle of the community.

We’re inching towards Sam being that sacrifice, or at least giving the impression of it, potentially to heal his internal wounds from the death of his son, so that he can finally be at peace.

But underwater and water as a theme is also present during the acid trip (more on that great sequence later). Underwater flora and fauna, with their bright, vibrant colors, are taking over the trees as Sam and Jess walk about, and bricks leak water when Sam touches them.

Maybe it’s all coincidence, but the fact that Sam is trapped due to the water, on top of the massive load of imagery and metaphors at play, do give the impression that everything is very much connected, much like in the story.

Now we get to the acid trip. They have gone all out with this one with the attention to detail of how logic goes out of the window in favor of color and the impossible. The way people are floating off in the distance, and trees are evolving before our very eyes, is like this community is being reborn anew.

Marc Munden directs these instances much like earlier, where the focus is still on Sam but it’s everything around him that is going off the rails. It’s a beautiful, arresting setpiece, and really stands out as a great moment on the show.

Mrs. Martin leading Sam off to be attacked could be read two different ways: have they been followed, or is this a trap? Their previous interaction in the back room of the bar sounds so much like gaslighting to the nth degree and so one way is overpowering the other, where she’s turning his grief around on him to throw him off their scent.

But the way Sam talks of it being true in the past, how his mind grasped at things that are not there due to his grief, does speak to Mrs. Martin’s favor. Maybe she is right, and everything is just coincidence.

That doesn’t feel real, though. Mrs. Martin leaves behind her husband to watch over Jess so that she can lead him off without any resistance, and she leaves him right where he will be violently ambushed. Perhaps the innocent kiss Epona gives Sam is the catalyst, the reason for his attack, but it could be that he’s asking too many questions on top.

Epona hugs and kisses Sam as though it will be the last time she sees him.

All of them could be true, and this is all a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. They want any excuse to turn on him.

There’s also the possibility that there’s more coming that we don’t know about. Epona’s father is adamant that Sam killed his child during their encounter, and maybe there’s more to Sam’s fragile memory to come. Or maybe there’s something even darker at play, where they share a link between the one who killed Sam’s child.

Either way, Sam’s head wound and capture doesn’t bode well for his future.

Some stray thoughts on the episode:

• An ominous note: Jess makes mention of “the father, the son, and the holy spirit” before giving Sam his dose of acid. With the episode titles, this doesn’t bode well for Sam as he enters the final stage.

 

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

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The Third Day airs Mondays at 9/8c on HBO.

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