The Third Day Review: Sunday – The Ghost (Season 1 Episode 3)

A great flood threatens Osea on The Third Day Season 1 Episode 3, “Sunday – The Ghost,” but it’s the flood of information that proves to be Sam’s saving grace.

The opening sequences hit on fears of mine personally, especially in the case of drowning, and so it’s infinitely tense for Sam to nearly experience it with the threat of it and then to experience it for real at the causeway.

These moments connect back to the theme of floods and death, and how they may be one and the same. Sam’s means of escape always leave him lesser than he is before, to the point that fighting it is nearly impossible.

It’s what makes that walk on the pier at the end of the episode almost like a death march, where Sam realizes he has nowhere to go but back. He knows death is coming, but perhaps not in the way he is expecting.

Once Jess comes to Sam’s rescue at the causeway, the show tips its hand a little in terms of how she may fit into all of this. She won’t let him escape, even when he’s so close.

He may be struggling and nearly pulled under, but the fact that she brings him all the way back rather than helping him the rest of the way does put a lot of suspicion on her so early on.

The two blond girls at the “big house” are her daughters, or it’s assumed they are, the way they run to her on the pier. It appears as though the cult family she’s escaped from have ties to Osea, which gives the impression of a larger story of similar communities who may be going through the same sort of thing.

If we believe Jess and Mrs. Martin, and it’s likely we can, these three episodes have been about preserving a certain way of life, no matter the cost. Osea feels like the end has come, and a new “father” will help usher in a new wave of affluence.

But there are still questions, like whether or not Mrs. Martin has something to do with Epona’s death. She does bring Sam out to the church on The Third Day Season 1 Episode 2, “Saturday – The Son,” and she makes mention on this episode that the church is to be avoided, as though she knows no one should disturb (or discover) Epona’s body.

When Sam disparages their beliefs at the greenhouse-type location, Mrs. Martin looks the most offended, almost shocked by the idea that Sam can’t believe. Maybe the following episodes will shed more light on Mrs. Martin, but she may be far more than she lets on, perhaps more than even Mr. Martin with his scheme to steal Nathan.

Which comes to a larger point of the episode: the two massive revelations may be too much for some. Sam’s lineage to the island’s history, along with Nathan being alive, are two rather big bombshells for the show to drop during a single episode, though they do end up working to the show’s advantage emotionally.

They give Sam’s draw to the island purpose, and they help settle his reasoning for staying. There’s an unseen force, and maybe it’s the connection itself, that keeps him coming back every chance he gets to escape. The fact that his visions of a child are real also help settle some of his other delusions, which may be chalked up to stress after all.

His fate is tied to Osea, whether he will accept it or not, and the ending, accepting his son in his arms and potentially taking on the mantle of “father,” may be that acceptance we have been waiting for.

The end shot, of the locusts consuming everything in view, could signify one of the two things Jess mentions: a great flood, or death. Is Sam accepting his son a sign of a coming flood, or does it mean that he’s accepting death?

Maybe it’s the death of Osea, allowing Sam to live when everything has been telling them to put him down. He escapes death multiple times, after all.

It’s an unnerving happy ending, one where it feels like the rug will be pulled out from under us at any moment. Sam’s walk through the townsfolk, half of whom we are told want him dead, feels like a simple, slight movement can steal away his happiness.

But the fact that he collects Nathan and is able to go inside is actually the most surprising ending we could hope for. Sam has gone through hell and back to get here but still has managed to get the very thing he wants most.

We don’t get closure on the life he’s run from or the deal he may have ripped off, but it’s an emotional closure that means far more than a story closure.

Besides, with three episodes to go (and a UK-based theatre special), and a new perspective to boot, perhaps the second story will connect up in some way, or allow us a glimpse of Sam now in his destined role in the “big house.”

For this set of three episodes, The Third Day has been an astounding journey into a man’s soul. Jude Law’s Sam is a complicated figure, and Law has done fantastic work to keep him ambiguous but still someone to care about and fear for.

The core cast around him have been just as great, and it’s great to know they will continue on as Naomie Harris’ character comes to town.

Hopefully the show can keep this same level of intrigue and weirdness, unless it’s a completely different change in atmosphere, which could be just as intriguing.

Dennis Kelly and Felix Barrett, along with Marc Munden’s direction, have created something riveting here, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the next story builds on that.

Some stray thoughts on the episode:

• The effect of the locusts consuming so much of the screen they’re bouncing and clashing against the camera is a fantastic way to show the absolute domination they have.
• The dinner scene where Sam is hallucinating and struggling with his restraints has a similar unnerving and terrifying feel like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or the video game Resident Evil 7. It’s not overwhelming in its terror, but your mind is filling in the blanks to create that terror.

 

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

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

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

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

15 Reasons to Watch ‘Yellowstone’