As the 3rd episode begins, Roisin (Catherine Walker) walks down the stairs and tells Michael (Emmett Scanlan) that she is nervous. He tells her she shouldn’t be before giving her a black box to open. She does and finds a dress inside and she loves it. Michael tries to help her get changes before Ruth (Shelley Conn) and her friend arrive at the door. Matthew (Dempsey Bovell) plays the piano while the others sit around and listen. Then, Roisin lets the others know that Michael has popped the question. Later that night, Matthew promises Michael that he’ll keep it together. He says it is sad for him because he always loved Michael.

Michael kisses him on the cheek before telling him that he’ll see him in the morning. Then, we jump back to the present and Ruth tracks down Matthew at a local church. Matthew leaves the boys and learns that Ruth has been suspended. She blames Michael but Matthew reminds Ruth that she pretended to be his wife. Ruth tells Matthew about Michael’s jealously as well as his relationship with his student. Ruth does her best to convince Matthew that their old friend is a narcissist and a bully but Matthew doesn’t want to hear it right now.

Next, Ophelia (Emily Reid) hangs out with Hugh (Ian McElhinney) who claims about moving back into the house before everything has been fixed. Ophelia tells him about some of the things she has been hearing. Hugh suggests that the place is haunted before mentioning the name Cloda. Hugh claims that everything was Michael’s doing and that he will never escape it. He believes this is the reason Michael is trying to sell the house. He goes on to say there is a good in Knockdara who does readings. Ophelia already knows about Cloda. Michael enters seconds later and interrupts that conversation. Hugh warns his son that the house is a death trap and they should get away from it.

Michael tells Ophelia that he is going to meet Roisin’s publisher and that Mary (Eleanor Methven) and everyone else knows about their relationship. After that, Ophelia hears a phone ringing and finds a voicemail message from Matthew. She listens to the message which was meant for Michael. Matthew warns his friend about Ruth. Then, Sean (Paul Mescal) checks on Ophelia who decides to leave and take Michael his phone. Once Ophelia leaves home, she walks past the cemetery and finds Cloda (Louisa Harland) sitting near one of the tombstones. Ophelia interrupts and finds out that Cloda has been singing to her son James who passed away at 3 months. Ophelia apologizes for the other day and pays Cloda.

Ophelia is told that Roisin will be visiting again. Ophelia leaves and Roisin’s phone calls Michael’s. She answers it and hears static and crackling. Ophelia goes to the restaurant and tries to find Roisin’s publisher but ends up causing a woman to spill her drink. Ophelia tries to get the woman another drink but gets cut by a knife when she reaches into her purse. She complains that she didn’t put the knife there before Michael walks by outside. She chases him down before he checks on her hand. After that, we jump over to the college and Porter says Dr. Callaghan is on compassionate leave. Richard (Lloyd Everitt) wants to know where he can find him. Ruth notices and follows him.

Richard tells her that he wants to talk to Michael about Annabelle Lormier who has gone missing. She was a student there. Richard claims she left last year but Ruth saw her there a few weeks ago and she was talking to Michael. Annabelle has Michael’s address in her diary so Richard wants to find out why. Meanwhile, Ophelia asks Michael about his phone and tells him about the call from Roisin. She says she feels like she is losing her mind. They use the phone to call Roisin and Mary answers because she has been using Roisin’s old phone. Then, Ophelia accuses Michael of lying to her about the meeting with the publisher. He confesses he went into the village to speak to Paul about the house sale.

Ophelia is worried about Ruth knowing about them but Michael doesn’t care. He tells Ophelia that she is strong before giving her a kiss. He promises that they’ll go back to Cambridge when he ties up everything back there. By the time they return home, everything is calm and pleasant. Ophelia goes upstairs and finds Mary standing near a dress. She explains she is trying to sort out Roisin’s things. The dress belonged to Mary and was used by Roisin too. Then, Mary checks on Ophelia and tells her that this isn’t her fault because she is naive. She encourages Ophelia to go home before Michael interrupts and brings Ophelia a drink.

During dinner, Michael tells his father and Mary that he might’ve found a buyer for the land. Hugh has no interest in selling the property though. Hugh argues with Michael until the conversation turns to Bridget. Hugh says it was 1949 when the Republic was declared and he was 7 years old. His father got a job in Liverpool to build a new school. A guy named McGinley started helping them with the garden. He brought his daughter Bridget and she introduced herself to Hugh right away. He admits he was mad about her and they played together for weeks. When his dad came home, Bridget stopped visiting. He saw her in the woods one day and her parents said she couldn’t spend time with Hugh but they could meet in secret.

Bridget would sneak out and they meet would meet in the summer house. One night in February, Bridge didn’t come. The following morning, he looked out of the window and saw her. When Hugh went after her, she ran off. She ran into the graveyard and hid behind one of the tombstones. He looks there but she was gone. The tombstone was small like it was meant for a child and it was old and grown over. The tombstone said, “Here lies Bridget McGinley. Born May 1938. Died March 1945.” She died four years before Hugh met her. He founds the key to the summer house on the grass beneath the gravestone. Hugh asked his mother about Bridget. He was told that when the McGinley family came to Knockdara, they had a daughter but she died a few months later.

Hugh goes on to say that Michael was too clever and didn’t want to believe his story. Hugh mentions Cloda and her visiting their house. Mary scolds Ophelia for having her over but Ophelia said she was scared and has seen things. She doesn’t understand why Mary believes in the holy water but not everything else. Michael doesn’t believe there are any ghosts. Hugh tells him that he will not be forgiven. He says Roisin did it to herself because of Michael. Hugh gets upset so Michael tries to calm him down. Later that night, Michael brings tea to Ophelia while she relaxes in bed. She doesn’t want it and says it is nasty and is sick of it.

Ophelia wants to know more about the girl Cloda was talking about. Michael believes Cloda is messed up because of what happened to her son. A bit later, Ophelia gets up in the middle of the night and notices the summer house light switching on and off. In the morning, Michael checks on his father but finds out that he is gone. He calls for Mary and tells her what has happened. Ophelia enters seconds later and learns for herself. A funeral is held and Michael can’t get over the last words his father said to him. Sean arrives and apologizes for not coming sooner. Sean checks on Michael. Sean suggests building the house back up. After that, Sean checks on Ophelia and asks why she is hiding away from everyone.

She agrees to say goodbye to Hugh with Sean by her side. Mary interrupts just before Ophelia can touch Hugh’s face. Ophelia is left alone with Hugh and she hears wood creaking so she approaches Hugh’s coffin. She hears laughing and other things before waking up in bed. Dr. Lenihan checks on her. Ophelia is given pills to help her sleep. Michael prepares to leave for the church before Ophelia tells him to say goodbye to Hugh for her. Then, Ophelia has a dream of a little girl walking near the summer house. She runs to the graveyard and hides behind Roisin’s gravestone. Then, she sees Michael standing behind it with a mean look on his face. Ophelia gets up and takes more medication.

She looks at the bottle of Diazepam belonging to Roisin. She looks at the pills and they look like the ones Michael gave her. She calls Dr. Lenihan’s office but learns that they don’t have a doctor by that name. When the call ends, Richard arrives outside. Richard tells Ophelia about Annabelle who has been missing. In a flashback, we see Michael arguing with Annabelle at the school. Ophelia is given a chance to look at Annabelle’s diary. Ophelia looks through the book and finds a quote from Thomas Hardy. Ophelia apologizes for not being able to help before shutting the door. Then, we jump to the cemetery and Michael thanks James for helping. Michael says Ophelia was in a bad state so he needed to calm her down.

Richard arrives and asks Michael for a chat. Michael says Annabelle was one of his stand-ins last year. She wasn’t one of her regular students. Michael says his wife was a better novelist than he is. Annabelle asked him about getting into writing so he put her in touch with Roisin. There was a session booked but Annabelle never showed up. Michael wonders if she just went away somewhere. Richard tells Michael that he spoke with Ophelia while Ophelia heads to the summer house. She goes inside and begins looking through Michael’s novel. At the start of chapter two, the same Thomas Hardy quote is listed.

Ophelia remembers talking to Michael about Hardy. Richard doesn’t believe his sister took off somewhere with one tiny rucksack. That rucksack was the only thing missing from her room. Ophelia finds a bag in the summer house under Michael’s books. Michael tells Richard that his sister will show up before leaving in his vehicle. Ophelia looks through the bag and finds out that it belongs to Annabelle. Michael gets upset as he drives along. Ophelia finds “The Run” which was written by Annabelle. Chapter two has the same Hardy quote. Michael arrives outside so Ophelia hides. Mary unlocks the door in her home and appears to be taking someone a drink.

We see a young girl sitting on the bed drinking. Ophelia hides while Michael walks around outside.

 

The Deceived Review

I’ve enjoyed The Deceived but it isn’t the best thing I’ve watched. I like the paranormal elements of The Deceived although I wonder if that stuff will make a difference in the long run. The acting has been pretty decent across the board. I don’t have many complaints but I wish the show would move the story along a bit quicker.

Still, there isn’t much else on to watch right now so I think The Deceived is worth checking out. This episode scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of The Deceived can be found on Reel Mockery!