Glitch Season 3 Episode 1 Recap

As the episode begins, a man and young girl are brought back to life. The man is Chinese and doesn’t seem to understand English too well. They manage to cover themselves up before the girl says something about sleep walking. They have no idea what is going on. They find out that they’re in Yoorana and the girl, Belle (Jessica Faulkner), remember her name. She lives close to the cemetery so they decide to go there. While they walk, we spot John Doe (Rodger Corser) attempting to dig up a grave with his bare hand. Meanwhile, James Hayes (Patrick Brammall) has visited his parents and seems to be having a hard time coping.

His parents, Dawn (Kris McQuade) and Mike (Roger Oakley), have no clue what is really going on. They believe that Sarah has left James and might be dealing with postnatal depression. Meanwhile, the man and Belle try to communicate with one another. He speaks Cantonese and we learn that he smoked opium back in the day. Belle tells him that he cannot come to her house if he is a drug addict. They encounter a spot where Belle used to come with her fellowship. The man has a memory and recalls that his name is Chi (Harry Tseng). It appears that he was brought over as a slave and was forced to dig for gold.

He teams up with another man who promises to help get him money to buy a gold license so he can mine his own gold. Belle has a flashback of her own. She calls climbing up the ancient steps of sorts and crashing down to the ground. When she comes back to reality, Chi tells her his name and explains that he needs money. Belle promises that he can have the money from her piggy bank. With that, they decide to go to Belle’s house. The couple stops near the water to remove the dirt from their skin. When they do, Kate Willis (Emma Booth) and Owen (Luke Arnold) pull up in a vehicle. Kate is able to cross the bridge so they decide to head to Adelaide.

Dawn tries to convince her son to chill out a little. Mike offers to take him for a drink and James accepts that offer. Chi and Belle make it to her house. There, they’re able to get clothing before Belle sneaks inside on her own. She goes into her room and her brother Luke (Reef Ireland) catches her. He is much older than he was back in the day so they do not recognize one another. Her father, Duncan (Simon Maiden), and mother are called into the room. Duncan begins praying. Luke cannot believe it either. Belle’s mother, Anne (Susan Prior), touches her to make sure she is real. Judith (Taylor Ferguson) arrives with a baby and learns that Belle has returned.

Luke is told to lock the gate. When he goes outside, he runs into Chi and scares him away. James and his father head to Lightbridge. James notices that the GPS has a glitch. During their drink, James goes to the bathroom. He slips, cracks his head on the sink, and wakes up on the floor a second later. It appears that he might’ve transformed at this point. He returns to his father and tells him that he needs to return to Yoorana as soon as possible. Belle’s family drugs her. They tell her that she was in a coma and they’re going to save her. Meanwhile, Nicola (Pernilla August) puts Phil (Rob Collins) through testing.

With help from Dr. Goldman, they manipulate his brain in an attempt to recover some of his memories. Phil tells them about the oil rig explosion and returning to Yoorana with a mission. Belle wakes up and finds herself locked in her room. Her mother tells her that they need to pay for her immortal soul. Belle does as her mother asks. Later, Belle recalls flipping through her old photo album which contains pictures of celebrities. She remembers playing with herself and getting caught by her mother. In the present, her mother tells her that she has sinned and they’re going to help her.

The family takes her out to the old church and ties her up. Luke tells her parents that they should kill her right now but they do not. They have something else in mind. Next, we catch up with Charlie (Sean Keenan) and Kirstie (Hannah Monson). They’re on a bus headed away from Yoorana. Kirstie wants to take Charlie to a club called The Blade so he can get laid. Chi walks through the streets of Yoorana. He recalls being introduced to a young Paddy (Rhys Mitchell). He is going to work for Paddy singing and dancing. When he returns to reality, he enters a Chinese restaurant. The man running the establishment gives him food but is unable to tell him anything about a Chinese camp.

Chi has another flashback. He remembers dancing and performing for Paddy. The performance was a part of The Hungry Ghost Festival. Chi becomes convinced that he is a hungry ghost. He believes Belle is too and storms out of the restaurant. Nicola gets in touch with Mark Clayton-Stone (Dustin Clare). He is told to track down those that have returned from the dead. Phil speaks with her a second later. He learns that she is trying to bring her two children back to life. She tells him about the Jerusalem Stone and her desire to get it. Phil chokes her to death and hides her body. He escapes the facility a short time later. Judith wakes up Belle and tells her that Anne lied to her.

 

She was never in a coma at all. She tries to help Belle escape but they’re caught in the act. The family reveals that they believe Belle has been possessed by a demon. Judith suggests that she might be the prophet before being slapped by her mother. Belle tries to make a run for it but is locked up once again. She recalls the spiritual ritual that her parents put her through before she died. During the chaos, we learn that Belle was dead for 15 years before she came back. We see that her parents actually choked her to death during the ritual and Judith watched from a distance. In the present, Belle asks her mother why she did that to her.

The barn catches on fire and they attempt to leave Belle behind. Chi emerges and helps Belle escape while the family prays together outside. Chi shows her the lighter he used to start the fire. She confesses that she believes she died and Chi says the same. Chi says that they’re not demons. They’re hungry ghosts. A police car pulls up next to them and Chris Rennox (John Leary) gets out. He tells them that there are people here who might want to hurt them. He promises to keep them safe if they come with him. Belle decides to go with Chris so Chio does too. James says sorry and goodbye to his parents. He leaves Nia with them and heads for Yoorana. As he drives away, it appears that his eyes have changed leading me to believe he has been transformed.

 

Glitch Review

I felt the first season of Glitch was better than the second. So far, I think the third could be better than both. This episode was fantastic. The writing here is brilliant. It was smart to start off with two fresh characters since the others were becoming slightly boring near the end of season two. I also love the fact that they brought Paddy back in a unique way. The casting there was perfect. Rhys Mitchell indeed looks like a younger Paddy.

If you can’t tell, I loved the episode. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the season. The episode scores a good 8.5 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Glitch right now!