The Third Day Review: Last Day – The Dark (Season 1 Episode 6)
How quickly a moment can change perspective.
On The Third Day Season 1 Episode 6, “Last Day – The Dark,” we want to believe in Sam and believe in Nathan’s survival, but the moment Nathan turns around and greets Helen, the illusion is broken.
Everything we know up to this point is a lie. Or at the very least, needs proper context, which Helen provides.
Sam’s perspective over the first three episodes is one of grief and anger, trying to survive while seeing his faults come out, one by one, to cast doubt. By the end of them, we see a chance for happiness and choose to accept it, because the alternative is too crushing.
Here, we’re given that alternative, and it casts so much light onto everything that’s come before. It’s ironic, given the impossible amount of light pouring in on both Sam and Helen as they ascend those stairs. Nathan is gone, and it’s a stark moment for the show.
One of the more fascinating parts of the confrontation is that Sam, when confronted with the truth, looks away, staring off into the distance. Is this what he looks like when he has those flashes and visions from those three episodes, but now we’re seeing it from Helen’s point of view?
Sam refuses to accept responsibility in his son’s death, because it’s too much to bear. This version is better for him.
But as we finally hear what he’s done in the aftermath, essentially destroying the lives of those closest to him before hightailing it to Osea, there’s a sea change.
We don’t see Sam the same way anymore.
The cold war brewing since he’s taken over, and Jess’ need for power, feels like we have missed so much. Jess has shown an interest in the island, but not to this extent. This hostile takeover shows a side of her, a need for dominance, which casts even more doubt on the Jess we see during Sam’s episodes.
Perhaps that’s another casualty of Sam’s perspective: an idealized version of everyone.
The literal casualties come quick to both sides, with the Martins on Sam’s side and Jason, Larry, and his cohort on Jess’. Sam’s anger has been touched on, certainly, but once Helen hands him the knife in the hotel, he becomes violent unlike ever before.
You can almost see it, when he accepts the knife and looks up, a moment Jude Law plays perfectly. He is accepting responsibility.
Perhaps it’s a need to make things right, which he alludes to absentmindedly before leading Helen to the church, or perhaps this is who he is, another layer peeled off for us to see. Jude Law is wonderfully ethereal throughout the episode, where Sam is both present and completely on another plane at the same time.
As Helen and her daughters escape, we’re left to wonder the fate of Osea. Jess has the numbers on her side, while Sam looks more lost than ever as the church doors slowly close. Perhaps that’s the way of things, with Osea forever tearing itself apart.
Or perhaps it’s the sign of a new beginning, at least for Helen, Ellie, and Talulah. Naomie Harris plays the absolute desperation of Helen to save her daughters with such conviction and heartbreak, especially as she realizes she may be losing Ellie in the process to Jess’ emotional poisoning.
That struggle back to the mainland and risking hypothermia is her valiant act of protection, a redemption of her own guilt and the lies she’s told to get her family there.
Harris portrays that deeply, and while looking back and seeing the real Nathan may be on the nose, it fits as she sees her girls as a form of a second chance.
The quick moment of grabbing up the money, and at first it looks like Nathan’s shirt, is as symbolic as The Third Day gets. It’s holding something of security as tightly as Helen can, and while it may be his shirt in her shock, it’s the money in reality, the thing to save them all.
But there’s more to the ending than simply escape. It’s brief, but Ellie chooses to look out the window, back to Osea, as Talulah warms Helen up. She’s still drawn to the place, despite the horrors she’s witnessed and endured. Will she end up back there one day, or is it just out of curiosity?
While we come out of the finale without a clearer picture of Osea, we do come out with the answers we need emotionally. The Third Day is certainly a unique and fascinating series, one bound to emotion and showing how grief affects people in different ways.
With two powerful performances from Law and Harris at its core, The Third Day ends as quietly as it begins, but with a sea of difference between those frames.
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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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.