As the second episode of The Gathering begins, Jessica (Sadie Soverall) calls Adam because something has gone wrong. Natalie (Vinette Robinson) stops and tells her she’s in so much trouble. Natalie hides the wounds on Jessica’s face when a police car drives by. One month before, Natalie gets a call from the coach while running. It appears Paul (Warren Brown) is released from jail. Natalie returns home to tell Jessica that the coach wants her in after lunch to start on a new tumble. She also asked if Jessica’s passport was up to date. Natalie claims not to know what happened to Kelly (Eva Morgan) or whether she’s kicked off the team for good. Natalie suggests Debbie (Jodie McNee) probably thought she needed to give Kelly the first crack because of her circumstances.

Natalie urges Jessica to take her chance and not to call Kelly just to salve her conscience. Jess insists she hasn’t done anything wrong. When Kelly and Tate get up, they learn that Paul is back home. Adam (Sonny Walker) messages Jessica to apologize for not being in touch. She says the other night was intense. They discuss the possibility of seeing one another. Jess isn’t sure about seeing him for real because that will get complicated. Adam invites her to the club night on Thursday. Jules (Richard Coyle) tells a friend that Paul shouldn’t be in charge of a dog or kids. His friend is only trying to tell him how the CPS might view the situation. Jules tells Howie it happened during a kids’ football match, but no witnesses want to come forward. Howie asks about Carrie and the kids. They admit they don’t see Charlie much these days.

Howie asks Jules if he heard about Oliver Clarence’s brother. No one expects to drop a kid off at a sleepover and never see them alive again. Someone was pushing ketamine to these kids. Howie says every rat on a mountain bike thinks he’s a dealer these days. Jules is told he’ll need a witness or the case will likely be dropped. Saul tries to contact Natalie but she refuses to answer. Debbie complains about Maisie taking a day off. Then, she reminds Evie not to accept food when someone offers it. One girl calls Jessica a grass. They believe she sent Debbie the video of Kelly and her mates. Natalie has sex with a man. Jessica can’t land the jump so Debbie makes it try over and over. Debbie wonders if she’s really up for it before asking Millie to go next. Later, Debbie confronts her to make sure she really wants this for herself.

When Jess says she really wants it, Debbie recommends having her mother book an appointment with their sports psychologist. Kelly hangs out with Bazi at a restaurant where she used to visit with her mom. She tells Bazi more about her family and Adam. She explains that Adam used to live with them, but she won’t tell him why. Kelly asks why he doesn’t post any of his clips. Bazi says he doesn’t need to stroke himself in public. Kelly gives him gym chalk for his hands. They agree to go back to Bazi’s place. A man keeps watching them. The man follows Bazi into the bathroom. He tells him it’s okay because he’s with his wife too. Bazi chokes him and takes money from his wallet. Jessica continues practicing at home but still can’t land the jump. She goes inside, breaks a vase, and nearly collapses to the floor.

Natalie rushes in to check on her. Bazi takes Kelly back to his place. He tells her it’s only for now. Bazi admits he doesn’t want to hurt her. Kelly tells him not to them before they kiss. She soon learns that something is going on although Bazi insists there’s no one else. Natalie calls Saul to get him to check on Jessica. Saul thinks her asthma might be triggered by anxiety. He offers to prescribe a short source of oral steroids to calm the inflammation. Natalie apologizes for not getting back to Saul and offers to arrange something later. Saul says goodnight and leaves. When they’re alone, Jess learns that her mom filmed Kelly and got her suspended. Natalie claims she has done her best to shield Jess from all the stuff she had to go through as a kid.

She says the world won’t sit around and wait for women like them. Natalie says she’s on her own next time. Jess hugs her mom. Jules visits Helen who says she keeps putting Rupert’s shirts out in the morning. He admits it could’ve been any of them. Jules asks if she remembers when he was attacked. Helen remembers the dog and believes it was the same dog that bit Bobby Southfield. She explains that the dog was running wild. After the attack, Bobby had to go to the hospital. Jules says the son of the guy who attacked him will be starting at the school. Helen asks if the lowlife is involved in drugs. She thinks they should speak to the school immediately. Jules explains they’ve already given him a spot. They waved him through as economically disadvantaged.

He thinks they can only try to get the thug off the streets for a very long time. Outside, Jules calls Howie to tell him that Helen has agreed to ID Paul. Howie agrees to check into the dog. As for Jules, he is going to speak to Bobby Southfield. Regardless, he thinks Paul Deacon is toast. Natalie contacts her daughter to see how she’s feeling. When Jess says she’s feeling better, Natalie says she’ll let the coach know she’ll be back. Jess leaves the house and goes to a party. She orders a vodka shot before Adam shows her where he is. Adam wonders if she’s taken something because she seems keyed up. Natalie returns home and doesn’t find Jessica in bed. She looks through her daughter’s pictures and learns about Adam. Jess asks Adam if he wants to go again. He tells her she should’ve said it was her first time.

Jess believes real gets complicated. She steps out of the room. Adam gets a picture of Jess asking him to play with himself. They sext while Adam masturbates. Natalie looks outside and notices Jess still practicing. The next day, Kelly asks Adam about seeing Jessica. She insists that isn’t the reason they fell out though. Kelly believes Jess sent her coach the video clips. Adam thinks she should drop the gymnastics stuff and do what she wants. Kelly says she’s good and she can’t let her dad down. Adam why she’s hanging around with the refugee. Adam tells Kye that his mom needs him back. He tells Kelly to go fight for her spot. Later, Kelly contacts Debbie who watches her training video. Dessie asks Kelly if she and Bazi are a thing now. She takes a call from Debbie. Natalie learns more about the steroids her daughter is taking.

Soon, she finds out that Kelly is back on the team. Natalie interrupts Jess who is busy talking to Adam and his friends. She overhears her daughter talking to Adam about last night. Police visit the Deacon house and ask about the dog. They want to seize the dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act. Kelly shuts the door so Rocky can flee, but the dog gets caught out back. Tate and Kelly yell for the police to stop. Natalie drops her daughter off. Jess doesn’t want to take the steroids and claims her chest is better now. Natalie admits she was wrong to interfere before telling Jess that Kelly is coming along anyway. Paul complains to Diane about the police taking the dog. He insists the dog has never attacked alone. Paul punches a hole in the wall. Diane warns him they have a witness who can testify about him being in the park that morning. On the bus, the kids wait for Kelly.

Jess overhears two girls talking about Kelly and Adam. She looks at the picture and believes that Adam has a son. Natalie visits Adam and introduces herself as Jessica’s mother. She offers him 500 pounds to stay away from Jessica. Adam takes the money before asking for a lift home. As they drive, Adam claims they had sex and they did not use protection. Paul tells Kelly to hurry because she can still make the bus. Kelly leaves Jess a message asking her not to let the bus leave. When Debbie asks Jess, she claims she hasn’t heard from Kelly. Natalie asks where Adam is taking her. Once they arrive, Adam thanks her for the lift. He gives her the money back and enters a large house nearby. Paul and Kelly learn that the bus has already left. He says they can get a taxi and catch them on the motorway. Kelly believes it’s over so she begins walking home.

Jess takes more steroids. Three weeks later, Natalie comforts Jess who says they have to go now. At home, Natalie notices blood on Jessica’s clothes when she puts them in the washer. Jess showers and ignores an incoming call from Adam.

 

The Gathering Review

The second episode of The Gathering was decent although the sporadic storytelling may become a nuisance over six episodes. The series is fairly formulaic in the sense that it follows the same path as so many other shows. There’s lots of background information that may not matter in the long run. Then, the opening and ending tend to have interesting scenes that pertain to the attack on Kelly.

The scenes related to the attack are more interesting and authentic than the past scenes because there are so many coincidences, clichés, and so on. In a way, it’s like the writers collected many ideas from other shows and movies before throwing them all together to create a sense of suspense. There are moments when viewers may have to bend reality to truly accept what is going on.

For instance, this is twice that Paul has just found himself being the bringing of grief for his kids without really doing anything. First, he showed up at the school and had to flee from Jules. Now, the police are knocking at the door at the very minute Kelly has to be on the bus. Natalie’s behavior seems a little unbalanced as well. She’s an overbearing tiger mom of sorts, yet her solution is to pay off Adam to stop him from seeing Jessica. There are also silly things like Jessica not having a password on her computer which would’ve had a screensaver most likely.

It’s also strange that Kelly would call Jessica when she thinks Jessica squealed on her by sending the free-running video to the coach. Surely, she’d be able to contact anyone else on the bus. Another stupid thing is the fact that Tate still got accepted into Thornton Grange despite fleeing with his father. Did he even get to speak to anyone there? It’s great that Natalie just dated a doctor once and he’s already making house calls despite being ghosted.

It’s still early in the story, but I am more invested in the story than any of the characters. On the other hand, the Scouse accents add some authenticity to the series and most of the performances are very strong. There are so many characters, so many backstories, and so many time jumps though. With all the stories, it’s becoming like Skins or Heartbreak High with a violent attack loosely tying everything together.

If viewers develop a relationship with the characters, they’ll probably love The Gathering a lot more. If they’re watching for the crime, they’re barking up the wrong tree. Personally, I am not fully invested after two episodes because I don’t really care about any of the characters. They just don’t seem fully developed yet with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the story.

This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Gathering can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.