Then Comes A Baby In A Baby Carriage – As this episode of The Changeling begins, the narrator talks about the oldest lullaby. Emma (Clark Backo) receives a visit from her sister who says there should be a six-month check for her and Brian. When they go out, Emma admits she stopped checking her phone about a month ago. When she walks out in front of a car, it manages to stop before hitting her. Emma tells her that Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield) takes the baby to the park every morning and isn’t sleeping much either. They visit a woman and Emma says Cal sent her. Emma is given a heavy bag of chains.

Six months earlier, Apollo’s mom and her sister visit. Lillian (Adina Porter) tells Emma that she didn’t have her mother with her either so she was flying with her eyes closed. She insists it just takes time. Lillian says her breasts are wrong before Apollo takes her elsewhere. Apollo receives a message from Patrice telling him about the estate sale today. He asks Lillian if she came to run everyone’s day. Apollo’s sister, Kim Valentine (Amirah Vann), and Emma talk about the baby under the sheets. Kim tells her that she is his perfect mom. A flashback shows Emma with her mother who is combing her hair. Apollo has a nightmare one night.

After weeks without sleep, a person may suffer panic attacks. Lillian comes over again and holds the baby. Lillian says one can’t be saved from the dark creatures of the world unless one is born of water and spirit. While she watches Brian, Apollo and Emma go to dinner. Emma talks about dying by jumping off George Washington Bridge. Apollo is glad they went out because it feels like they turned a corner. Later, Apollo takes Brian to the park where he meets up with Shoji and Imogen. The baby turns two months old. Apollo tells Emma that a new father suggests they should use avocado when starting Brian on solids. Emma says he is just so little that he needs her.

Once Apollo takes Brian out, Emma sends a text saying he is missing him already. Emma goes to the library which appears to be empty. She soon finds out that the others have thrown her a surprise party. Emma shows the women pictures of her baby. Apollo catches up with Patrice Green (Malcolm Barrett) for the estate sale. Patrice says he didn’t check the basement because he wanted to leave something for Apollo. They joke around a little until Patrice says he is starting to understand why Apollo’s father abandoned him. Apollo goes into the basement and looks through the books there. He tells Brian about his father, Brian West. When Apollo was 12, Brian left a box by his door.

The box contained a pair of tickets to his first date with Lillian, movies, and a children’s book called To The Waters And The Wild. While working at the library, Emma gets another picture of Apollo and Brian at the park. She looks for it again but it is gone. Apollo is excited when he returns home. Emma is happy when Brian latches. Apollo shows her that he found the true first edition of To Kill A Mocking Bird. He suspects the book can get them around $10,000. Apollo reveals that the book was actually signed by Harper Lee with a message to Truman Capote. The following day, Apollo meets Patrice and they go into the library together. He has to change Brian’s diaper in front of everyone.

Apollo tells Patrice he and Dana should try having a kid. A woman interrupts to tell Apollo that Brian is too young for the carrier and it could cause hip dysplasia. Apollo and Patrice tell her to back off before she leaves. Emma realizes she is forgetting stuff. She is told it is mommy brain. She checks Apollo’s social media before receiving a picture of him outside a vehicle. The picture disappears. At home, Apollo finds Emma blacking out the windows. She asks why he laid Brian down on the driveway. She thinks he sent him a picture and deleted it, but Apollo insists he didn’t. Apollo suggests her phone might be broken.

Emma claims Brian bit him even though he doesn’t have teeth. She wonders if she just imagined the picture since she is so tired. Later, Emma and Apollo cuddle in bed. Emma remembers the lady in Salvador who put the string around her wrist. She gets up in the middle of the night to check the baby and receives another picture. Emma quickly tries to show Apollo, but it disappears before she can. This continues for a while. The narrator says mania, delusion, and rapid weight loss come after six months of inability to sleep. Emma takes Brian to the doctor and explains that he wouldn’t latch initially. Now, he is ravenous. She just wants to make sure he is normal.

Emma is asked about her mood. Although she says it’s been fine, a flashback shows otherwise. She is asked if she has had any thoughts about hurting herself. As Emma leaves, she tells Brian that something is going to have to change. She remains angry when she gets home and Apollo takes Brian. Emma receives a photo of herself. Apollo tells her Dr. Calero (Sonia Dhillon Tully) calls about Brian’s recent visit. He is worried about her so he thinks she should see a doctor. Emma asks if they can afford it if they prescribe her something. Apollo believes they can work it out. Emma says she just needs to find her way back to herself.

Apollo promises to support her always. Emma picks up the chains with Kim. As they walk, they talk about April 14, 1990. There was a fire with their mom and dad being stuck in the house. Kim is going to tell her what really happened. Their mom agreed to let them stay home from school that day. Kim says she knew that day was all wrong. Their dad wakes them up later to tell them the house is on fire. Kim reveals that their mother set the fire. She doesn’t want to leave them orphans so she says they should all go together. Emma told her mom to let her go before she was pulled out of the house by her father. Her father goes back in and dies in the fire. Emma and Kim were taken to the hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.

Kim is telling her now because she has the same look on her face that their mom did that morning. Emma admits he sometimes looks at Brian and doesn’t think he is her son. By the end of month six, hallucinations and panic attacks become more pronounced. Later, Emma tells Apollo that she’d like to get the baby baptized. She already made an appointment with Father Hagen for today. Apollo isn’t happy that she didn’t include him. He finds out that she threw her phone in the garbage because of the photo she received last night. Apollo doubts it ever happened and recommends getting an exorcism instead of a baptism.

He calls Emma the problem before telling her to go take another pill or something. Emma tells him he doesn’t see but he will. She leaves. Apollo tells Brian he’ll always be with him. Later, Emma asks God to forgive her before bursting through the door.

 

The Changeling Review

The second episode of The Changeling followed the story from the first without focusing on the past as much. Again, the performances are mostly good so that isn’t really an issue. The camerawork and cinematography are good enough without being too stylish. Despite these pluses, the story just doesn’t seem all that compelling through two episodes.

The opening episode was more intriguing because it had a sense of something bigger such as a supernatural force causing chaos. This episode didn’t because it primarily focused on Emma’s postpartum depression. Although this could get exciting, it wasn’t in this episode. The personal drama just isn’t alluring enough to maintain viewer interest through eight episodes.

At times, it feels like the series has been thrown together haphazardly because characters are introduced with no background information. Since we don’t know who these characters are, it is genuinely difficult to care. On top of that, it hasn’t been easy to connect with Apollo or Emma. The story needs to get moving soon since many viewers aren’t going to have the patience to stick with this through eight episodes.

The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Changeling can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.