As the third episode of The Lovers begins, Frankie (Alice Eve) catches Janet (Roisin Gallagher) on top of Seamus (Johnny Flynn). Janet and Seamus pretend that Janet is his cousin. Frankie believes it. She reveals that she rented them a cottage in the countryside although she is only staying the night. A panicked Seamus packs his bags before returning to Janet and Frankie. He is surprised to learn that Janet is coming with them. Janet says it is kind of them, but she doesn’t want to impose. Frankie keeps pushing until Janet finally agrees to come with them. Seamus and Janet try to come up with a story to explain how they figured out they were related.

Frankie asks Janet what she knows about Seamus’s dad since they’ve been looking for him for years. Janet claims he is dead although she doesn’t know anything else. When Frankie goes into a store, Seamus questions why Janet had to say she knew his father. Seamus apologizes for not stopping Frankie from dragging her along before calling it too stressful. Once Frankie returns, she asks Janet if they could speak to someone in her family about Seamus’s father. Seamus doesn’t want to talk about it because he is really nervous about the interview with the Foreign Secretary tomorrow.

Frankie tells him not to worry because she studied Nisha Anand so she could create a strategy for his interview. She goes on to say he should push Nisha on the Free Trade Agreement with China. Frankie drives them out to the cottage she rented. Once they go inside, Frankie claims there is a higher power at work here because this was meant to be. She promised the owner they’d put a photo up on Instagram. After Janet takes the picture for them, Seamus believes he is ready for bed. However, he ends up following them outside where Janet tells Frankie about her job.

Seamus doesn’t think they should talk too much about Janet’s husband. Janet asks if they’ve ever done wife-swapping. She explains that she and Jimmy went to a swingers party. They saw a big woman who was a dominatrix and took a shine to Jimmy. He went off with her while Janet went with her husband who was nice. Janet didn’t feel comfortable so she went to look for Jimmy. She asks them if they know what pegging is. Janet confirms the woman was pegging her husband who had a big smile on his face. He wasn’t breathing so it was like he was frozen in some sort of sexual ecstasy.

Janet realized at that moment that the woman had screwed him to death. As they begin laughing, Frankie calls her a monster. Janet confesses he couldn’t resist. Then, she tells Frankie that her husband left her for another woman. Frankie thinks it is good she can laugh about it like Seamus’s mother with the aborted abortion. Janet knows nothing about that. Frankie explains that his dad was a catholic while his mom was a protestant. When his mom was pregnant with him, she was sent to London for an abortion although she didn’t go through with it. She took everything she had, rented a bedsit in Walthamstow, and raised him there alone.

Frankie says she had a hard life but was able to laugh about it. Janet reminds her of Seamus’s mother. When they finally go to bed, Janet tosses and turns. Seamus tells Frankie he forgot his pajamas. She tells him to sleep naked. Seamus admits he can’t stop thinking about his father. Frankie tells him that she is really horny. Janet covers her ears when she hears moaning. Seamus lies next to Frankie while looking at his phone. He sneaks out in the middle of the night and finds Janet trying to get a taxi so she can leave. Janet worries she’ll break Frankie’s perfect face if she stays there. She thinks she heard them having sex, but Seamus says she was pleasing herself.

Seamus pleads with her to stay, but Janet says she can’t. He says screw it and follows Janet. As they walk together, Janet says she has decided to call off the affair after meeting Frankie. They talk about Frankie and how nice she is. They also discuss Janet’s husband and Game of Thrones. Although Seamus hates ghosts, Janet admits she believes in them even though she hasn’t seen one personally. She asks him about being a protestant because Seamus O’Hannigan is a really Catholic name. He admits it isn’t his real name. When he was trying to be a journalist, he thought it might connect him to his Irish roots.

There was a famous journalist with the same name so he had to change it. When he claims his name is John Snow, Janet starts laughing even though she said she wouldn’t. She admits her phone has run out of battery so Seamus recommends coming back to the cottage. She says she can’t. Seamus says they can see if there is an early train. They reach the station and sit together. Seamus makes it clear he isn’t going to leave her alone. Janet asks if he expected sex when he came looking for her earlier. Seamus admits he liked their kiss on the street earlier. They kiss again.

Janet stops abruptly and calls him a dickhead. She argues that he has a woman like Frankie, yet he is trying to screw a loser like her. Seamus confesses he couldn’t stop thinking about her after just one night together. He couldn’t stop wondering why this brilliant, beautiful, hilarious woman would want to destroy herself. He isn’t here out of pity. Seamus wants the affair to continue. He tells Janet that he’ll be back in Belfast next week and Frankie won’t be around. Janet says they might as well go back to the cottage if they’re going to have the affair. As they walk back, Janet argues that they are having problems because they don’t know the rules of having an affair.

Frankie isn’t up yet. They sit down and go over the rules. First, they have to make sure they don’t fall in love. The affair can only take place in Belfast. After five weeks, they will call it quits. If Frankie becomes suspicious, they have to call it off because Janet doesn’t want to be the other woman. Finally, Janet says Seamus can never leave Frankie for her because she can’t make him happy. Once they agree to the rules, they go inside. Frankie tells Seamus that she loves him.

 

The Lovers Review

The third episode of The Lovers felt a little like a filler episode since it was mostly a side trip away from the core story. Nevertheless, there were some humorous scenes with Janet and Frankie. Plus, it gave Janet the chance to meet Frankie and question her decision to have an affair with Seamus.

Seamus and Janet make a great couple and things should only pick up from here. The couple set rules for their affair although there is a good chance that they’ll break those rules sooner or later. It also creates a time frame for Seamus and Janet to make a decision about their relationship.

Although this episode was a little weaker than the two before it, I am really looking forward to the remaining episodes. This one scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Lovers are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent work by following this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.