Episode 3 begins by revealing that Jacs Gould (Alice Englert) attacking Benny’s (Christian Byers) with the fork was just a thought. Once this is revealed, Jacs gathers herself and leaves, much to Benny’s displeasure. When she ends up at the beach, watching the sunset, she has several flashbacks of Kel Summer (Mia Artemis). These flashbacks appear to be centered on the rave party and Raffa (Sean Keenan) but also suggest that Angus (Thomas Weatherall) was upset with Kel during this time.

The flashback inspires Jacs to apologize to Angus which she does at the public pool, apologizing for the attack as much as the kiss. Much to her surprise, he admits enjoying the kiss and although they spend the rest of the afternoon swimming and fondling each other, they never recreate that moment.

After their swim, Angus and Jacs find themselves back in the darkroom where they look at old photos. One photo in particular, with her as the subject, draws Jacs’ attention. She appears to be surprised upon learning that he took the shot and not Kel. She asks when he took it and his response is, ‘That weekend.’ She asks him if he regrets it and he tells her that Kel never knew. This is as far as the discussion goes for the moment.

Sometime later Jacs ends up back at the beach taking photos when she is approached by Mick Davids (George Mason), with the offer to shoot his friend’s wedding. She initially turns him down but after learning his name and that Kel followed him, she agrees to do the wedding.

In the next couple of scenes, it is revealed that Kathy (Essie Davis) just so happens to be attending the same wedding. As Jacs does Kathy’s hair for the event, she appears to become a bit jealous of Kathy’s doting on the ‘young, put together’ bride (Ariel Norris). Jacs tells her that some people have said that about her as well. Kathy assures her that she is not making a comparison.

While working the wedding, Kathy steals Jacs away for a dance where she encourages her to interact with some of the single young men. Jacs indulges Kathy until a randomly belligerent guy runs into the back of Kathy, nearly knocking her to the ground. It appears that Mick and several others are involved in a physical altercation. Jacs tries to involve herself as well and catches a misplaced elbow from Mick in the nose. Kathy and Barry (Daniel Frederiksen) tend to Jacs’ wound but it isn’t long before Barry is off getting the car. During their brief time together, Kathy attempts to apologize to Jacs for her reaction to Kel’s photo.

Jacs wraps up the wedding shoot and waits for Mick by his vehicle in the parking lot. He is clearly in no condition to drive and accepts her offer to chauffer him home. Their ride takes an unsettling turn when Jacs asks him what it felt like to beat the crap out of someone. He tells her that it felt good and she says that she’s only ever dreamed of doing so. Things become more unsettling later that evening when she asks him to reveal something that would make a date flip a table and leave. He’s initially hesitant but provides his response after she unveils busting her eyebrow open just to get a guy’s attention. He tells her about sleeping with an ex’s sister after she verbally assaulted him. The answer doesn’t satisfy her when she learns this happened years ago. She says the vent must have occurred within the last 6 months.

After some thoughtful consideration, he tells her about hitting an ex but that appears to be all he’s willing to share. He only becomes more agitated the harder she pushes to learn more about the episode. She eventually drops the discussion but once he leaves the room to get what appears to be cocaine, she finds a naked photo of Kel on his phone. After several lines and some slight making out, she abruptly stops him to take a picture of her. He does so and when she asks to see the photo, she uses the opportunity to pretend that she just discovered Kel’s photo.

The meeting immediately goes sour and only worsens as he claims ignorance. After a bit of heated back-and-forth confusion, he convinces her that he didn’t know Kel and that the photo came from a group chat. When she asks who sent it, he shows her his phone with Bronson’s (Thom Green) profile. This brings their evening to an end.

The episode ends with Jacs walking home when she is overcome with a flashback of Kel filming her while she’s doing her hair in the mirror.

 

Exposure Review

I felt the episode was gripping, right from the very start. I must say I was a bit disappointed to discover that the forking incident was just Jacs’ imagination. There were several things I didn’t like about the episode. The first was the entire wedding scene. Although it served an important purpose, I felt the point could have been better achieved. I didn’t like how Kathy and Barry just happened to be going to the same wedding, but I understand this is the crutch of small towns.

I found Jacs’ questioning about the table flipping rather confusing. I understand why she asked the question, but the way it was worded came off as strange to me. I did, however, think the ruse Jacs used to ‘pretend’ she accidently discovered Kel’s photo was clever. Bronson’s potential role in the story made things much more intriguing and I can’t wait to see how things develop from here. I am unsure of the significance of the ending flashback, which will probably be revealed in the following episode. Episode 3 deserves a 5.4 out of 10.

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