My Love and I
The episode starts with Suzanne at the hospital, questioning why Dani didn’t get in touch. Well, given how Suzanne has been blowing her off all season long, that’s perhaps hardly surprising! Mae and Peter both show up too but they soon learn that Jules has gone missing. As we know, she’s off with that shady boy.
Noah, a shady guy who drives with Jules up the road, suddenly slams on the brakes and urges her to step out of the car. He takes her out to the middle of nowhere and encourages her to look up at the stars.
Just before he takes her back home, he marks her forearm with an A, the same A that was on the back of Suzanne’s car. And as we soon learn from Mae later that even, he’s actually part of this cult and is Mae’s brother!
Lopez begins his investigation by trying to piece together what the connection is between the Dodd’s, the rituals and cults. He finds that they are building some sort of accelerant, which could tie in with the fire listed in Enoch’s file and also with Peter’s fire up at Windemere. A witness to the original fire happens to be a guy called James Dressler, who Lopez deduces could well be a key part of this.
Lopez goes to speak to Priest Dressler about the fire that started back in the old days. Priest Dressler doesn’t seem to know who started the fire, and Lopez is left frustrated.
Jules eventually shows up late at night, but this brings back painful memories for Suzanne. We see flashes to her past, where we learn that the cop trying to get her down from the tree wasn’t actually part of a cult after all. He was Suzanne’s stepfather, Dennis. As Suzanne heads to mandated therapy and reveals all, we learn he was a monster at home, abusing Suzanne’s mother and that eventually led to Suzanne leaving. ..
The episode ended with Suzanne’s mother coming to comfort her, and it was revealed that she had been letting the abuse go on for a while. This showed how much Dennis had manipulated her and how she had been too afraid to tell anyone.
Dr Daniels believes that Suzanne should come back for another session, as she has shown an interest in exploring her trauma and may be able to benefit from it. Suzanne refuses, citing her past experience with therapy and feeling that this will not help.
The Financial fraud unit is investigating a possible insurance claim made by Peter. If they find evidence of fraud, it could point to him trying to make a fraudulent claim in order to recoup his losses. Given the lowball offer from Cheryl and the bank demanding he repay the debts, it doesn’t look good.
Peter looks worried over this development too. However, he believes Mae is more worried, and he confronts her about the burnt property that afternoon. She drops to her knees and begins praying, mumbling to Peter. He pries free from her grip in disgust and heads back inside.
Peter has started to realize that Mae may be responsible for starting the fire. That night, he speaks to Suzanne about this and tells her that Mae needs to leave, given how disruptive she’s being to the whole family.
That night, Mae makes dinner for everyone but Suzanne shows up late. The mood is very different to earlier in the season, with Jules standoffish with Mae and awkwardness all around. Jules also refuses to eat the butternut squash soup Mae has made for everyone. Peter has Jules’ bowl instead, and it’s immediately clear that it’s laced with something as he comes over dizzy and sleepy whilst talking to Suzanne.
Mae follows Jules out after dinner and brings up that Noah is a bad guy and he didn’t protect her growing up in the cult. No one knows better than Jules about siblings that aren’t always there for each other. Mae urges Jules not to go down this path, thankfully she listens and doesn’t show up to see Noah, driving off just as he arrives at the meeting spot.
Noah tells his dad that he met Jules and it didn’t go well. His dad points out that Mae is their most valuable offering and without her, Mae has shown her weakness. Noah is tasked with exploiting that. ..
The Episode Review
As we approach the business end of this season, the various subplots are all now starting to collide together into the final chapters. Mae’s part to play in all this has already been made clear, however the familial ties that bind everything together, and quite how Jules plays into this, is something that will hopefully be explored in more detail.
The family drama around this has largely felt like a busywork problem for much of the run-time and there isn’t really all that much substance to it either. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just not as exciting as the cultist mystery.
The show has a lot of potential but it’s not perfect. The mystery is intriguing enough that you’ll be compelled to find out what happens next. Keep watching for the next episode! ..
