As the 3rd episode of The Holiday begins, Kate (Jill Halfpenny) watches Izzy (Cat Simmons) walk around the meeting place while she holds Daniel’s knife in her hand. She cuts her hand and never approaches Izzy who eventually walks back to the house. Jenny and the others return as Izzy makes it back to the house. When Jenny (Liv Mjones) sees Kate, he begins calling her name. Kate goes to the bathroom, shuts the door, and begins cleaning the cut. When she finishes, she finds a pregnancy test nearby. She looks at it and finds out that whoever took the pregnancy test is pregnant. Jenny knocks on the door to check on her, but Kate insists she is fine. She refuses to go until Kate lets her in. Meanwhile, Lucy (Lara McDonnell) relaxes with Jake (Shaun O’Callaghan Wade) next to her.

Lucy’s phone beeps. Jake tells her that everything is going to be okay although Lucy isn’t eager to believe that. He gets angry and rushes away. Russ (Andrew Macklin) carries Odette (Molly McCann) to bed. Rowan (Siobhan Hewlett) wants her to get a shower. Russ reminds Rowan that she wanted to talk about something, but she isn’t ready to do that right now. She encourages him to just enjoy the holiday. Kate tells Jenny about Izzy, the possible affair, and how she confided in her about it. Jenny offers to help her if she wants to march out there and drown Sean in the pool. However, Kate admits she isn’t sure what she wants to do. She instructs Kate not to do anything that she’ll regret because she has been here and she did a lot of damage with Rowan and Michael.

Jenny believes Sean deserves the benefit of the doubt and that Kate should wait until she gets home to confront him. Alistair (Aidan McArdle) checks Jake’s phone and ends up finding a naughty video featuring Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy holds her head underwater while remembering something from her past before she finally comes up for air. When Kate knocks on the door, Lucy quickly tries to dry her hair and catch her breath so she won’t suspect anything. Kate asks her to sit down. Once she does, Kate shows her the pregnancy test and tells her where she found it, but Lucy insists it isn’t hers. She reminds her mother that Izzy’s room is downstairs and she has a new man. Alistair tells Jenny that they have a problem because Jake has a sex tape of Lucy on his phone. Her ex-boyfriend must’ve put it online so he doubts Lucy knows about it.

Alistair wonders if they should talk to Lucy first. Jenny insists she’ll tell Kate since it won’t be so creepy then. Alistair doesn’t think it is creepy since his student confides in him all the time. After Kate gets a shower, she joins the others outside where Sean (Owen McDonnell) is sitting next to Izzy. Rowan and Russ briefly argue about Odette’s dish before Izzy tries to give Sean a pair of chopsticks. He hopes she isn’t trying to improve him again. Izzy reveals she first tried this at a street cart in Bangkok leading to her being described as a woman of the world. Izzy admits she’d trade it all for what they have although they might find that strange. Sean touches her shoulder and says that isn’t strange at all. Sean mentions Kate getting one step closer to middle-aged tomorrow. She asks Russ for a drink before she gets past her prime. She chugs down the wine and asks for another.

Jake gets upset when they don’t want him to drink more. He gets up and says he’ll get himself a drink. While the others have a good time, Kate plays with her food and watches Sean and Izzy. When she spills the wine all over her clothes, Izzy rushes over to try to help. Kate screams at her to just leave it alone. Lucy sits down next to Jake inside before he complains that they think they’re so funny. She asks how many he has had since he is visibly drunk. Jake shows her the keys Russ left in the kitchen. He offers to take her for a ride, but Lucy says no. Jake gets upset. He threatens to tell mommy all about her if she tells on him. In the morning, Daniel (Aidan McCann) and Lucy try to wake up their mother to say happy birthday, but she isn’t in bed. Kate goes for a run and stops near the edge of the cliff.

Sean tells Daniel he isn’t going to make pancakes yet because Kate would be mad if she missed her birthday pancakes. When Alistair joins them, he asks Sean whether Jen has talked to Kate yet. Sean knows nothing about that so Alistair doesn’t take it any further. While Sean tries to call Kate, Alistair goes outside where he tells Lucy that Jake has issues. Then, he tells her about the video Jake had on his phone. He knows it is common for people her age to get called out and he’d like to help. However, Lucy claims she doesn’t know what he is talking about and rushes off. As everyone gathers by the pool to play a game, Lucy confronts Jake to say his dad has seen the video and just told her. She thought Jake deleted it. He must’ve forgotten about it.

Since Kate isn’t around, Izzy is invited to take her spot. As Kate returns, she sees that they’ve put up decorations for her birthday. Jake plays a bit too aggressively and angers Lucy who pushes him. He pushes her back before she climbs out of the pool and gets a towel. Sean grabs Jake to ask what he thinks he is playing at. Lucy seems shocked after a message appears on her phone and one sitting near hers. She looks at Jake who looks back at her. As Kate steps out onto the balcony, Jake and Jenny are on their phones. Jenny asks where she was. Kate tells Sean she needs him up there and promises Daniel that they’ll have pancakes later. Whatever is on the phone shocks Jenny who tries to tell Sean, but he doesn’t want to hear it right now. When Sean enters the room, Kate asks who he is screwing and throws the condoms at him. He insists they’re not his as he gets a message on his phone.

Alistair approaches Lucy who is busy texting on her phone while Kate tries to get Sean’s phone so she can see the message. They hear Lucy yelling for someone to stay away from her. They rush into the room before Sean punches Alistair. Lucy storms out with Izzy and Kate following her. Izzy tells Kate she has it. Kate tries to call her daughter, but she doesn’t answer. Rowan walks over to give her Sean’s ring back since Odette found it. She says Alistair was only just trying to ask Lucy something about Jack and it was a misunderstanding. Rowan pleads with Kate to come inside. Lucy tells Izzy that she is scared because she doesn’t know what he is going to do next. She begins telling Izzy about Jack who is shown elsewhere smoking marijuana and crying. Daniel and Odette walk further away from the home than they likely should while Daniel plays with a lighter.

He hurts himself and drops the lighter to the ground where he leaves it. The others tell Kate happy birthday when she enters the room. Russ is told to get the kids so they can celebrate together. As Jake cries nearby, Daniel counts down because he is playing hide-and-seek with Odette. Jake drops the joint to the ground. Alistair tells Kate that he still hasn’t heard an apology. He complains that Jenny should’ve said something and that leads to an argument between them. Before he leaves, he screams that he is giving up. Jenny apologizes and walks away too. Rowan changes the subject by giving Kate the first gift. Daniel begins looking for Odette while Jack’s actions create a fire nearby. Kate receives a picture of herself and the girls that Sean took. Then, she gets an expensive bracelet from Jenny. Sean decides to step out to see where the kids have gone.

Rowan tries to help Kate put on the bracelet but stops when she begins crying. Izzy tells Lucy that her mother is good in a crisis and only wants what is best for her before Daniel surprises them. Jake joins them soon and claims he is screwed. Lucy agrees to hang out with Daniel while Izzy walks with Jake. Lucy gets a call from Sean checking on Daniel and Odette. Daniel admits Odette is there somewhere. Lucy promises to bring them back although she doesn’t know where Odette is. They begin searching for her immediately after the call ends. Back at the house, Rowan tells Lucy that she is pregnant. She is worried that it won’t be viable because she doesn’t think she can do that again.

Kate admits she thought it was Lucy’s test, but Rowan explains she didn’t want Russ to find it yet. Jenny approaches Alistair outside to explain she didn’t want to talk about Jake and Lucy in front of everyone. She complains that he is acting like a stupid teenager although he says that is the only way he can get a little attention. Alistair was hoping they would be able to find a way through all this. She says he doesn’t understand what she does for this family, but she believes he will thank her one day. Jenny hears something. When she looks over, she sees Jake and Izzy in a scuffle. She pushes him away and begins walking off. Sean gets a call while Kate encourages Rowan to tell Russ. Jenny goes after Jake. Izzy tells Sean they need to talk to Kate. He grabs her to stop her from going in though.

Alistair relaxes in the pool while the area nearby begins burning. Kate encounters Russ so she tells him that Rowan wants a word with him. While he comforts Rowan, Kate checks her phone and discovered a missed call from Izzy. Alistair notices the smoke in the air and realizes something is wrong. Kate walks outside where she hears Izzy telling Sean that she needs to know the truth. When Izzy sees her, she tells Kate she needs to talk to her. Alistair alerts them to the fire. Before Sean and Kate run toward the fire, Kate tells Izzy to stay away from her family. Kate runs into Jenny who says she can’t find Jake. Daniel catches up with his father although he hasn’t been able to find Odette. As Sean carries Daniel out of the smoke, Russ joins the search for Lucy and Odette. Alistair struggles to breathe in the smoke as he and Jenny frantically search for Jake.

Izzy runs up to Daniel and asks about his sister before running past Sean. Then, Sean asks his son if he can make it back to the villa on his own. He says yes so Sean continues searching for the others. When Kate runs into Lucy, her daughter refuses to go back to the house and instead returns to the search for Odette. Izzy finds Odette and tells her to stay where she is. We hear Izzy asking what someone is doing before she screams. Odette runs into Russ’s arms. Kate walks over to the edge of the cliff and looks down. She sees Izzy’s dead body below her.

 

The Holiday Review

With such low scores elsewhere, I feel like I am crazy for moderately enjoying The Holiday. The series has many flaws and flawed characters with most of them being unlikeable. Some are even intolerable sometimes. It is a bit slow so it likely could’ve been cut in half and it would’ve still achieved the same purpose. Regardless, I am at least interested in seeing what is going to happen in the end since there are three or four possible scenarios.

The series is pretty simple making it a quick, pain-free show to enjoy that doesn’t require the viewer to think about much. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Catch up with recaps of The Holiday on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.