As the third episode of Insomnia begins, a young Emma calls for Phoebe before going downstairs. She watches her mom sleepwalk as she takes someone invisible upstairs. Then, Emma watches her choking her sister. DI Hildreth (Michelle Bonnard) tells Emma (Vicky McClure) about the evidence they found. Emma insists she didn’t notice anything unusual or any change in her mother’s condition. DI Hildreth and DS Caine (Ian Conningham) leave a short time later. When they’re alone, Robert Averill (Tom Cullen) asks Emma about going to see her mom instead of going to the office. Emma claims she thought something happened to Phoebe. She insists her mom means absolutely nothing to her.

Chloe (India Fowler) complains their family is messed up because she had a grandma she knew nothing about. Robert asks Emma if there is anything else she needs to tell him. Emma promises there is nothing else. When she’s alone, Emma rushes to clean up the candle wax on the mantle. Then, she tells Phoebe (Leanne Best) she might want to get a solicitor. Emma asks why Phoebe would tell them she was there that morning. Phoebe questions why she would lie about it. They argue about Emma not telling Robert for so long. Emma complains Phoebe has opened the door to all this crap and pushed her through it since she’s been back. The teacher asks Robert if Will (Smylie Bradwell) saw something scary at home. Robert is shown Will’s notebook which is full of eerie drawings.

Rosemary (Lara Lemon) tells Emma that Caroline Mitchell (Lyndsey Marshal) is there to see her. Emma asks Rosemary to arrange an appointment with Pete Stockwell for tomorrow because she needs to face the music. Caroline tells Emma she needs her with her mother. She wants to sort out the power of attorney, but she’s concerned it might be a little too late because of mental health issues. Caroline admits she kept putting it off. Emma thinks they can do something out of hours. Carolina offers to throw in some wine. At home, Will tells Robert he only sees the scary lady at night. Robert reminds him that nightmares are not real even though they sometimes seem like it. Chloe enters and speaks to Robert in private. He apologizes for the way they handled things this morning. Robert just wants Chloe to know she can talk to him about it if she’s going to be using drugs.

He wants them to be honest with each other. Chloe says they told her that Emma’s mom died years ago. Robert admits he didn’t know about Emma’s mother. Chloe thinks that’s very bad. Once Emma makes it home, Robert tells her about Will’s notebook. Will said the drawings had to do with his nightmares. They haven’t heard Will calling out for them at night. Emma agrees she should speak to Chloe. She tells Chloe she doesn’t want to fight with her. Emma’s mother was nothing like her grandma. She was insane. Chloe thinks she should’ve said mental health issues and she would’ve liked to have at least met her. Emma just wants Chloe to respect that she doesn’t want to talk about it. Amy messages Chloe saying she hopes that cheered her up. Emma tells Chloe not to bring drugs into their house again.

Robert thinks Chloe deserves to know about what happened between Emma and her mother. He understands why Emma didn’t tell him back in the day, but they’ve been married for twenty years. He’s struggling with the fact that it’s many small lies and how easily she can tell them. In the middle of the night, Will gets up and sees Emma sleepwalking. She goes the same thing her mother did until Will makes her up. Emma says this is her secret hiding spot and he doesn’t need to be scared. Once Will goes upstairs, Emma blows out the candles. She unplugs the bathtub. She decides to purchase eight security cameras with motion detection. In the morning, Emma tells Robert she has a late start today. Robert is going to meet Julian. Will joins them moments later. On the way out, Robert tells Emma not to be late for the show. Her package arrives.

Emma sets up the cameras around her home. She opens a small box before going to the bar. Julian (Dominic Tighe) greets her when she enters. Emma says she saw the box in his car and found it in Chloe’s bedroom. Julian claims he’s not following. Emma asks if he is Amy. She says Chloe has become distant and secretive ever since she worked for him. Julian can’t believe she’s accusing him of this. He says she’s 18 and it’s her business. Julian insists he’s not a part of this. Emma admits she’s not sleeping, but says that isn’t what this is. She claims she must’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Emma meets Pete (Marcus Onilude) who thinks Amanda set him up. In his gut, he knows he’s right. Emma knows she should’ve told him straight away, but she didn’t want to let him down. She got him a great, new solicitor. Emma makes it to the show where Robert is working the door. Michelle saved a seat for her.

Michelle (Jade Harrison) tells Emma that Julian is being so shady. Today is their anniversary and she only got an air fryer. Julian arrives just before the show begins. Phoebe speaks to Chloe in the car. Phoebe says dating is tricky and it’ll be ten times worse if he was already in a relationship. She experiences an ache and claims she twisted something earlier. Phoebe is glad he said he needed some time because that’ll give Chloe time to decide whether she wants to go out with a guy who’s dating two women. Phoebe asks Chloe to give her mom a break because she’s going through a crappy time as well. She soon finds out that Chloe’s boyfriend may be inside the school. Chloe goes inside and learns she missed the entire thing. Emma pulls her aside to speak to her in private. She quickly finds out that Julian is Amy. Chloe insists it’s none of her business.

Emma says Michelle is one of her best friends and Robert will kill him. Chloe asks why she always has to focus on the negatives. Chloe claims it’s normal that she fell in love, but Emma wouldn’t understand normal because half of her life is a lie. The others hear yelling. They continue arguing until Emma slaps her daughter for asking whether she’ll end up just as messed up as her mother. Phoebe finds blood coming from her privates. Emma and Chloe apologize to one another once they get home. Chloe asks if she’s going to tell dad about Julian. Emma admits she has to. Chloe pleads with her not to because he’ll never understand. She says it’s over now anyway. Phoebe unfolds a canvas and tears the artwork apart. It appears someone is watching her from outside. Emma tells Robert that Chloe got dumped and she took it out on her.

He wants to know what’s going on with Emma because they do not hit their kids. Robert argues that Chloe is a teenager so she’s going to lash out with whatever will hurt. He knows she has a lot going on, but he asks her not to take it out on the kids. The cameras record as Emma goes to bed and Robert wakes up in the morning. He receives a notification on the tablet and learns about the cameras. He watches Emma walk around in the middle of the night before lighting candles in the house. Emma gets up and notices that the bottom of her pants legs are wet. Robert is distraught by what he sees on the videos. Emma catches him watching them. He watches a video of Emma grabbing a pillow next to Will’s bed. She walks closer as if she’s going to smother him. Robert checks on him and ensures he’s okay.

He shows her the pictures Will drew. Robert believes Will has been drawing Emma all this time and he’s scared of her. Emma admits it’s been going on for a week or so. Robert asks if her mother’s condition is hereditary. That’s what Emma is trying to find out. Robert says she needs help before she hurts someone. Emma gets into her vehicle and sobs. In a flashback, the girls watch their mother who scares them.

 

Insomnia Review

The third episode of Insomnia had some good points, but it mainly focused on the family dramas. There isn’t much new here since almost everything has been done before in other shows. Nevertheless, the good parts were Emma setting up the cameras to find out what she has been doing at night and Robert finding out what she nearly did to Will.

When the series focuses on this story, it’s intriguing even if it isn’t very original. The episode did a better job of making Emma sympathetic although some of her actions may not sit well with some viewers. I do not enjoy the personal drama aspect of the series as much as everything else.

It just seems like there is too much going on there and again we’ve seen all of this before. It’s also difficult to sympathize with the way Robert and Emma are handling their daughter’s behavior as parents. At times, it feels a little self-righteous, especially the whole slapping conversation.

Neither really seems to mind that their daughter has been using hard drugs as long as it isn’t brought into the house. Plus, Emma hid the fact that Julian has been sleeping with her daughter. Not only that, she hid the fact and let Robert belittle her relentlessly. That whole conversation about not hitting kids felt a little like it was preaching to the audience.

Otherwise, this was a better episode than the others. It’s just a shame that the whole series wasn’t released at once because the weekly release schedule really hinders the story’s progression. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Insomnia can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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