Episode three begins with what appears to be Simon Henderson’s (Jason Watkins) frantic attempts to go on the run. He leaves several messages with Beth Henderson (Claire Skinner) to encourage her to hurry home. She later arrives in a completely calm state and gets him to realize that his reaction is completely irrational, plus they are flat broke. She further calms him and tells him to go pick up Sophie Bamford (Matilda Firth) from school while she visits and goes to work to check on Jordan Franklin’s (Joe Barber) state.
Much to Beth’s surprise Jordan is awake but appears to be unresponsive according to Dr. Vikash (Sagar Arya). Vikash can’t be sure without an MRI, but as he explains to Anna (Adrenn Reti) and Paul Franklin (Jonas Armstrong), he’s hesitant to move Jordan. Beth conveys her discovery to Simon just as he arrives to collect Sophie.
Simon’s return home with Sophie is waylaid when he receives an unexpected call from DS Kelly Evans (Kayla Meikle) that he does not answer. His destination is soon revealed to be his former employer where he storms into Jimmy’s (David Mumeni) office and demands an early payout on his redundancy pay. Jimmy’s refusals lead to Simon raising his voice and making threats of a class action lawsuit. Jimmy appears startled by the threat as Simon storms out of the office.
Much to his surprise, Simon arrives home to find both Beth and DS Evans awaiting his arrival. Although she plays her presence off as a casual visit, it doesn’t take long before she brings up Simon’s call. His awkward attempts to convince her that the call isn’t related to what happened to Jordan only make her more suspicious and pushy, to the point where Simon becomes visibly upset.
Jordan’s condition only continues to improve to the point where he can now string together some short sentences. Paul wastes little time asking him about the attack. Although his response isn’t shown, it is later revealed that he doesn’t remember.
Beth demeans Simon over his response to Evans’s questioning but nearly loses it when she learns about his impromptu visit with Jimmy. Sophie soon interrupts with the announcement of Paul’s arrival. This is where Simon and Beth learn that Jordan has woken but can’t provide any information about the attack. It is Beth’s quick thinking and encouragement to not push Jordan that buys Simon a few days when Paul asks him to speak with Jordan in hopes of shaking loose a memory from the attack.
Seemingly several days later, Jordan’s condition has improved to the point where he can be interrogated. With Jordan’s limited memory and Paul’s incessant interruptions, DS Evans’s visit is practically a waste of time. According to Jordan all he can remember from that night was visiting a friend and grabbing a burger.
Elsewhere, Simon becomes upset when he learns that Jimmy has filed assault charges against him. Simon’s tantrum is interrupted by Paul who wants him to make good on his promise to speak with Jordan. Despite some resistance, Simon ends up at the hospital where he has an awkward meeting with Jordan. Jordan appears to have no memory of him until Paul steps away to answer a call. Jordan uses the time to let Simon know that he remembers everything and now owns him.
When Paul makes good on his promise of treating Simon to dinner, they bond over their shared complications with their children. As it turns out Sophie was something of a miracle child who was not only conceived through IVF, but Simon and Beth’s final attempt. Paul reveals that he and Anna had another child named Danny who showed incredible intelligence, but developed leukemia before his ninth birthday and succumbed after a hard two years. Before the evening ends, Paul even offers to speak with Jimmy on Simon’s behalf. Although Simon turns down the offer, Paul takes the initiative to intervene.
Simon later returns home to share his evening with Beth. Despite her appearing startled for the first time, it isn’t until the morning that they make plans to spend some time with Simon’s sister, Kath, in Florida. This plan is made after Jimmy calls with an apology and promises to put a rush on Simon’s redundancy pay.
While most of the town focuses their attention on Jordan’s release from the hospital and subsequent welcome home party announcement, DS Evans questions Mason Cartwright (Kwadwo Kwateng) again. She apparently has some leverage this time with Mason’s recent arrest for dealing pills. She casually offers to speak to the judge on his behalf if he is willing to provide information on Jordan Franklin.
Jordan is surprised to learn that Paul isn’t going to let him return home and pick back up where he left off. Paul practically has an entirely different future all mapped out for him. Jordan attempts to put up a slight resistance but almost immediately apologizes and falls in line. His later text to Simon, requesting he meet him at one of the local parks with a cheeseburger suggests that he was merely telling Paul what he wanted to hear.
Judging from Evans’s and PC Reynolds’s (Darren Strange) short conversation, Mason turned out to be quite chatty. He not only told her that Jordan was doing some low-level dealing, but he gave her to address to one of his crew’s popular hangout spots, the Trading Post. The address leads to the discovery of a surveillance camera that reveals Simon and Jordan’s initial meeting.
Jordan tests Simon’s limits at their park meeting when he ungratefully throws the cheeseburger away and says he feels like a pizza instead. Simon refuses to play along but that only leads to threats of Jordan telling Paul the truth. After a bit of intimidation and back-and-forth, their meeting ends with Jordan’s demand for 50,000 pounds
Simon and Beth attend Jordan’s party where they are quickly introduced to several of Paul’s associates. Paul later orders one of those associates, Mark (Craige Els) to keep a close watch on Jordan. Simon later confronts Jordan outside, where he claims all he can give him is 3,000 pounds every month for a year. Despite Jordan’s threats and intimidation tactics, Simon doesn’t waver but demands payments start tomorrow.
The following day, Simon meets with Jordan to make the first payment. Much to both of their surprise, Mark not only witnesses the exchange but intervenes. Jordan shows fear for the first time as he fumbles with several attempts to explain away the situation. Mark practically kidnaps them and takes them to what appears to be a metal mobile office trailer, commonly found on construction sites. Jordan continues with his clumsy excuses before asking to speak with Mark alone outside the trailer. Jordan tells him the truth about everything and offers to share the bribe money with him. He refuses and when they return to the trailer, Simon is gone.
Simon calls Beth while he flees to what appears to be the concrete hull of an apartment complex. Once Beth gets close to the site, she calls Simon, which gives away his hiding spot. A foot chase ensues and the episode ends with Beth running over Mark to save Simon, although she frantically claims she didn’t see him.
Coma Review
I am continually surprised by the way this show seems to hook me in. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times when I feel that things are just slogging along, but for the most part, I find myself intrigued. That was especially the case with episode 3, likely because the next episode is the finale. Along with that, I have been pleasantly surprised by the acting. I felt that Jordan even did a remarkable job in this episode. I started out glad that he was in a coma, but now I feel as if I would have liked to see more from him. Paul and Simon were equally good again. For this, I’d give the episode a 6 and cannot wait to see how it all ties together.
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