As the third episode of Marriage begins, Ian (Sean Bean) wakes up before Emma (Nicola Walker) so he decides to walk through the house. Once Emma gets up, she tells Ian that the ants are back and all over the bin. He immediately tries to get rid of them before telling Emma he slaughtered like a million of them. He is going to get some powder and offers to get her something as well. He is thinking about getting some revitalizing shower gel. As she continues getting ready, Ian tells her that the bread maker is supposed to come today. He thinks she’ll have a great time since it should be interesting. Ian asks if she remembers the conference he went to in Burnley. She changes her subject to her jacket. Before she leaves, Ian asks Emma to keep her phone on. Jamie (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) arrives at the conference and checks in. Emma catches up with him a bit later.

He tells her she’ll need to sign in with the robots. Ian goes to the store and asks a worker for help finding the revitalizing shower gel. Another worker claims it is the same stuff and they’ve just put revitalizing on it. They end up arguing  before the worker returns and tries to help Ian find the right shower gel. Jamie and Emma check out their rooms. When Ian leaves the store, he finds the worker outside so he decides to thank him for his help. He just needs that little boost. The worker says it is anything to get through the day without crying. When Ian says it has been a strange day, the worker asks if he thinks it’ll get better. He laughs and says he thinks it’ll probably get worse. At the gym, Ian goes to Maxine (Ella Augustin) to complain about his coin getting stuck in a locker. She tells him that the locker is one of the broken ones.

Another worker comes so he can get the coin back for Ian. He tells her that Maxine is otherwise engaged. They briefly talk about their days while Jamie says hello to Henry (Paul Antony-Barber) who says he is running to a meeting. They sit down for the presentation as Emma says it’ll be nice to learn more about the opportunity for growth in online legal service. She is also interested in the idea of the solicitor as an entrepreneur. Emma goes on to talk about the possibility of working from home although Jamie doesn’t seem interested in anything she is saying. Ian’s neighbor gets his package so he picks it up before going home. He sits around a bit before trying to figure out how to use the bread maker. Jamie goes to the front desk to complain about his bedroom having no bath. Emma listens from nearby as he is told there are no baths in any of the rooms. To get a bath, they’d have to book into one of the motel’s suites.

She checks all the suites only to find that they’ve all been booked. He continues complaining so she gives him a complaint form. Emma gives him advice when he fills it out until he gets rude. Ian tries to call Emma, but only gets a voicemail message. He tries multiple times. A man tries to find the toilet so he asks Jamie who won’t help him. Jamie tells him to jog on. Jamie drives to the conferences and parks next to Jamie’s car. Emma finds Jamie and apologizes for being so long. He says he was trying to call her, but her phone died. Jamie claims he is going to sack her or something before quickly saying he was joking. She tells him how they developed a digital services strategy at another firm. She was asking how they could develop something similar. Jamie tells her to stop. Emma says she hasn’t done anything. Jamie yells out for her to have some friggin’ respect.

Outside, Ian makes Jamie’s car alarm go off before contemplating leaving. Emma goes to her room and listens to a couple talk nearby. She decides to knock on Jamie’s door when the couple leaves. Ian breaks the mirrors off Jamie’s car. Before long, he gets a call from Emma. Adam (Jack Holden) wakes Jessica (Chantelle Alle) in the morning. As they go out, Jessica admits she wishes he hadn’t said anything because whatever she says now will be wrong. He welcomes her to his childhood because she is a massive b!tch and judges people quickly. They continue talking about his mother as they make it to the café. When Jessica goes to the bathroom, she is stopped by Mark (Miles Barrow) who begins asking about her guitar.

She admits he wouldn’t have heard of her because she is just building up her profile at the moment. Mark learns that she writes her own songs and only plays stuff she has written. She tells him about the gig she is going to play at The Empress. Mark shows up at The Empress after her performance is over. As they walk out, he says he thinks it is cool that she has the guts to stand up there and do it. She isn’t sure if it is good, but she hopes it is. Mark thinks it is good then. When he learns she is just going to hang out until work at three, he offers to hang out with her. They spend time together and talk about Adam among other things. They stop by a store and look at items through the window before sitting down for a drink. Mark doesn’t understand how they went from fireworks to just existing. She tells him she is adopted by white parents. Her mom is cool, but her dad is a bit different. Mark is convinced he adores her since she is her daughter.

Since it is getting close to three, he says they should drink these and he’ll walk her to work. When asked about her biological parents, Jessica says she isn’t interested. It appears she doesn’t go to work or they hang out after since it is getting dark. They stop at a restaurant for something to eat. Before the night ends, Mark tells her that he really likes her. She admits she likes him too and it could be something more than friends. She has some stuff to do though since she has been with Adam for eight months and she is living with him. Mark says he’d marry her and he isn’t even joking. She can’t give him her number because Adam checks her phone. Mark doesn’t think he should do that. He tells her that she can find him at work. Mark doesn’t think they should kiss. She tells him she is glad they met before leaving. Jessica tries to call her mother but gets Ian instead.

When Emma makes it home, she tells Ian that the conference was good. She has the afternoon off to make up for the conference. Although she texted him, Ian hasn’t been able to find his phone. They talk about the bread maker before Emma says it was really good. Ian asks if she managed to talk to anyone about her website. She says yes and that she has made some good contacts. Emma tells Ian about Lola who specializes in building websites for legal firms. When asked about Jamie, Emma will only say that he was good. Ian follows her upstairs to learn more about last night and Emma’s chat with Lola from McMahon’s. Jamie was there for some of it but went to bed quite early. Once Ian asks what she did, we see a flashback of Emma visiting Jamie’s room to make sure everything is okay. She was worried he thought she was looking for another job, but he says he couldn’t care less.

He laughs about not having a bath. Emma mentions that one of the guys didn’t have any shower gel. He tells her to come in and have a look. Emma doesn’t want to. Jamie nearly shuts the door in her face so she stops it and comes inside. He keeps pushing until she looks. Emma suggests they’re trying to cram more rooms into their limited space, but they should’ve thought down the line to the people who pay to stay here. Jamie offers her a glass of wine. Jamie gets comfortable on the bed before they share a drink. Emma says it was interesting to talk to them as Jamie tries to get her to sit on the bed. He gets up and heads to the bathroom while asking if she knows Henry. Jamie thinks Henry slept with his mom because they always went on holiday together. He goes on to say she would’ve slept with anything apart from his father. Emma begins telling him about Lola and some of her interesting ideas. Jamie interrupts to offer her some blow.

He asks if she is okay with him doing so. Emma wants to know why he brought cocaine, but Jamie thinks it would be best to just shut up about it. He looks at her sometimes and thinks it is amazing that a brain box like her could be so beautiful too. Jamie says she is so unique since she isn’t skin deep like it is with a teenager. She has physical wisdom like her body has felt things. Jamie knows most men wouldn’t notice, but he isn’t like most men. If you’ve been waiting for something for a long time and the opportunity comes, you’ve got to reach out and get it. She tells him not to have another because he’ll get sick. In the present, Ian asks Emma if Jamie came into her room. Emma insists nothing happened. Emma goes downstairs where she finds Ian crying. They get into a brief spat before Ian quickly apologizes. Emma says this is weird because it isn’t him. She reminds him that she didn’t do anything wrong so he is up to his tits in self-pity.

Emma tells him that he needs to let her help him because it was Ian who got her through Nicholas. Ian made her get out of the bed every morning, shower, and eat. She didn’t know someone could be so wonderful. It was Ian who got them Jessica too. Emma also mentions what Ian does with her father and what he was like with her crazy mother. In the morning, Ian tells Emma that Jessica called his mobile phone last night and they had a nice chat. She has met someone who isn’t Adam. Ian tells her more about what Jessica said about Mark and how she called him sweet. They spent the whole day together talking and he wouldn’t even kiss her. Emma is shocked to learn that Jessica admitted she thought she could marry him.

 

Marriage Review

The third episode of Marriage was predictable and nothing viewers haven’t seen before. It was pretty clear that Jamie was going to be a bad guy and that Adam would get dropped at some point. We’ve seen this happen to the same types of characters in so many other projects. It is odd that they decided to take things so far with Jamie by throwing cocaine into the mix and never mention to the damage done to his vehicle.

Unfortunately, the characters are being turned into shallow caricatures with each passing minute. None of the characters have been particularly likable making it very difficult to cheer for anything. Ian hasn’t stopped harassing people at work since the series started while Emma has become a punching bag for Jamie and others. Jessica was written as a hypocrite who has flipped and flopped in every episode.

It is hard to imagine what they were trying to do with some of the characters, especially Ian and Adam. There is no doubt that Maxine hated seeing Ian back at the gym because the first encounter was so oddly creepy. As for Adam, he has gone through a transformation from being a nice guy to a raving madman and now a controlling boyfriend. While life and marriage can be boring at times, there are also many moments of magic and none of the magic has been captured by Marriage.

It has taken everything bad about people, relationships, bosses, and marriage and combined all of these things to create an aimless series that is truly empty and void of emotion. It really feels like a lost opportunity since it didn’t cover the money factor which is one of the biggest problems in most relationships. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Marriage can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.