As the 3rd episode of The North Water begins, we join Captain Brownlee (Stephen Graham) and his men in a rowboat as approach another vessel. Once they arrive, Brownlee tells Morwood that he will be next if everything goes well and Baxter told him. Baxter believes the whaling business is finished so he wants to buy a modest manufactory. Brownlee doesn’t agree since the waters are still full of fishes but Morwood admits he’d place his money on Baxter. When asked, Brownlee insists he’ll be ready when the time comes but there is still time to kill a few more whales. Morwood explains whales are small change and they won’t get many opportunities to sink her nicely. He stresses the importance of making it look right since the underwriters will begin questioning it otherwise. The Captain insists there is plenty of ice so it won’t be hard.

Morwood encourages him to do it sooner rather than later. Brownlee intends to tell the crew to head north to Lancaster since it would be a good place to get her nipped. He tells Morwood not to worry about him and make sure he is there when they need him. They laugh at the idea of getting help from Cavendish (Sam Spruell) but Brownlee doesn’t want to get Henry Drax (Colin Farrell) involved. Baxter insists they can rely on him but Brownlee is contemplating leaving the carpenter where he is. Morwood admits accidents happen and a man like him likely wouldn’t be missed. The conversation turns to the cabin boy and Brownlee complains about the evil times they live in. Next, Henry approaches Patrick Sumner (Jack O’Connell) to tell him things are about to change but he refuses to explain himself.

He asks why Patrick cares so much about the cabin boy. Patrick insists it is because the boy was murdered but Drax doesn’t believe him because Patrick has likely seen his fair share of butchery. Patrick says he doesn’t want to see an innocent man punished. Henry insists it isn’t up to him to say whether McKendrick killed the boy before admitting the dead cabin boy is the least of their worries. Later that night, Patrick writes in his journal admits he’d like to forget and feel about McKendrick’s guilt like the others do. Then, he says the two bodies of McKendrick and Hannah should fit like a puzzle but he can’t rest because he can’t make them whole. He visits the accused and asks about his health. McKendrick admits he is healthy and believes he’ll live until they decide to hang him. Patrick tries to get him to be optimistic but McKendrick knows a person like him won’t find any friends in an English court of law.

He insists he isn’t an honest fellow but he knows he has done things that will be held against him. He says he isn’t a murderer but they’ll punish him for the other things he has done. Then, Patrick realizes something is wrong with his thumb and learns it was hit by a lump hammer a few years ago. Patrick checks it and asks him to grip his wrist but he can’t do it well. Sumner leaves and takes his new evidence to the Captain who insists Hannah could’ve been strangled with one hand. Patrick remembers seeing twin thumb marks on Hannah’s neck and he has sketches to prove it. Brownlee tells Patrick he can make his argument to a magistrate when they make it to England but McKendrick is staying where he is until then. Patrick is worried that will allow the real killer to escape and it can’t be smart to let the culprit freely roam the ship. He insists it is likely Drax and asks for permission to inspect him so Brownlee agrees.

Drax obeys and pulls down his pants. Although he has crabs, there are no signs of infection or abrasions. Then, Patrick finds a healed wound on his hand and confirms he has full control over all of his fingers. Drax is asked to remove his shirt. He does so while asking Patrick if he doubts what he said about seeing McKendrick and Hannah by the deckhouse. He goes on to say McKendrick is a sodomite so his word shouldn’t count for much. He tells Patrick he is an honorable man and only does his duty. Then, he tells Patrick about him searching those his belongings with Cavendish. Patrick insists he has his credentials but Drax says he has his paper and he has his. Drax asks what evidence he has against him and believes it is his word against Patrick’s.

Patrick accuses him of lying but Henry insists he doesn’t have any evidence. When Brownlee asks about the evidence, Patrick admits he doesn’t have any. As Henry tries to get dressed, they notice a mark on his arm which he claims is only a scratch. Brownlee realizes it is swollen and insists he won’t be any good for him if he can’t hurl a harpoon. Patrick is given a minute to inspect it. He suggests it needs to be lanced and drained before telling Henry to come to his cabin so he can do it. Moments later, Patrick works on Henry’s arm and believes there is something lodged inside. Henry claims he did it with a harpoon but Patrick soon pulls a tooth from the wound. Patrick believes that is enough evidence to see Henry hang but he isn’t going to go down without a fight. Brownlee calls for Cavendish before he is attacked by Drax. The chaos continues until Jones (Kieran Urquhart) holds Drax at gunpoint.

Moments later, we watch a ship run into ice. Patrick checks on Brownlee and tells Jones the situation is usually hopeless once the skull has been breached. Jones says he looks terrified. The Captain wails as Patrick says he would’ve lost his bearings. Patrick insists it is better to die than to live like this before Cavendish suggests he take over. He holds a meeting and tells everyone that Henry is locked away and won’t see daylight until they’ve finished. He also talks about the rumor that the ship is cursed but insists it is not. Cavendish wants to continue as normal, but he is told that no whale has ever been caught this far north during this time of the year. Jones continues arguing with Cavendish who isn’t going to listen to him. Jones warns him that he is putting them all at risk. Cavendish argues you have to take risks from time to time but Jones says it is foolishness.

Cavendish reminds him he is in charge now and he’ll call the shots. Their argument finally stops when Brownlee screams in agony. Brownlee passes away and the crew members hold a ceremony for him. Once that ends, Cavendish says they’re going to push further north. Otto (Roland Moller) says he has seen in his dreams that all of them are going to die but Patrick will survive. Patrick tries to put his mind at ease by saying dreams are a way to clean the mind. Otto says Patrick will be swallowed whole when the rest of them are dead but he is adamant that Patrick will survive. Patrick believes they’re safe out there since the Hastings are nearby before encouraging them not to worry about Henry Drax. Next, we hear Corbyn (Jonathan Aris) tell Sumner to go with O’Dowd, Wilkie, and Price and to arm themselves. He remembers finding diamonds with the men and believing they’re rich before everyone is killed. Then, Patrick returns to Corbyn who says the others are dead.

Patrick admits they were caught unaware in the house and the treasure is real. Corbyn insists it is a serious thing for a surgeon to leave his post and he might be charged for it. Corbyn insists he can’t help Patrick but Patrick reminds him he sent them on the mission to steal the loot. Corbyn insists he shouldn’t make a bad situation worse by bringing his name into it. He encourages him to accept the consequences even though Patrick says that will destroy him. Corbyn promises to make sure he has a ready supply of laudanum so he can deal with his paint. Patrick throws it against the wall before Corbyn says “homo homini lupus” twice. He is awoken by chaos on the deck and quickly joins up the others there. Jones tells him that the boat has nipped the ice. She is sinking and they’ll be in big trouble if the wind shifts. Patrick gets dressed and grabs the medicine. Once he leaves the boat, he tells Bannon (Simon Rubaudo) about the medicine chest and the importance of not losing it.

By morning, most of the supplies are removed from the ship and tents are set up nearby. Cavendish looks through the monocular and finds another ship in the distance. He tells Jones they’ll raise the ensign and alert the Hastings. He believes they’ll give them refuge but Jones wonders if Morwood will agree. Cavendish tells him to go over in the first wave of men and leave enough to gather what is left. He wants Sumner to stay behind with him. When asked about Henry Drax, Cavendish says he’ll take care of him. He goes down into the boat before Drax tells him that the ship bent but didn’t break. He believes McKendrick can fix it with a caulking iron and insists the ship isn’t sinking. Drax says they’re safe on the fast ice and Morwood can warp back easy if a lead opens up.

He believes the rest of them think she is stoved in already so they won’t be making any trouble. Cavendish wonders how he knew so Drax says he knows they didn’t come up here to catch fish. Cavendish doesn’t think the ship can survive this one but Drax believes she will unless he knocks a plank or two out of her. He asks for an ax and ten minutes. Cavendish doesn’t think that is wise since he killed Brownlee with a walking stick. Then, the conversation turns to the reason Drax killed the cabin boy before Drax asks for the ax. Jones tells Patrick that his medicine chest has been transferred to the other ship and he’ll see it soon enough. Sumner doesn’t like the fact Cavendish wants him to stay but Jones believes Otto will make sure he is safe. Patrick admits he is worried mostly about the medicine chest before Jones leaves. Cavendish checks the ship and confirms that Drax has been telling the truth. He has the ax in his hand.

Drax insists she won’t sink unless he makes her. Cavendish hands him the ax but says he can’t release him since he killed Brownlee. Henry only wants him to stand out of the way if the time ever comes and he tries to escape. Cavendish hits the ship with the ax a few times and water begins gushing in. Moments later, the men step out of the tents and join Cavendish and Henry in time to watch the sink go down. Cavendish says they need to take shelter since the storm will be there soon and they’ll trek to Hastings once it passes. Once they step into the tent, McKendrick says he doesn’t want Drax in there before asking them to take him out. Cavendish wants every man where he can see them and insists they’ll be drinking rum on the Hastings soon enough. Drax sits next to Patrick and tells him not to be afraid but Sumner insists he isn’t. Henry says the arm has healed quickly but he can’t understand how the tooth got in there.

Patrick wonders if he has a conscience while Henry asks he thought he was going to kill him like he did Brownlee. Henry says they’ll hang him if they want to and men ask questions to make themselves feel cleaner. He believes all men are capable of doing what he has done but Patrick doesn’t want to accept that. Henry suggests he only accepts what suits him. Then, Henry asks him why he kept the gold ring instead of selling it. Patrick says he keeps it for remembrance. Henry believes he is scared of himself because of what happened over there and because of what he did or didn’t do. Patrick argues he doesn’t know him but Henry says he isn’t as complicated as he thinks and he knows him well enough. Otto wakes up Sumner in the middle of the night because the storm is out of control. Patrick escapes the tent before it burns. Patrick ends up sleeping in one of the boats before getting up and joining Cavendish.

Patrick asks where the ship went since he can’t believe a ship would unmoor in the middle of a storm. Otto joins them and insists the captain has to do whatever it takes to save the ship. Sumner is worried about the medicine chest being sunk but Cavendish doesn’t think so and argues it is the least of their worries. Cavendish admits it is going to be bad if they can’t find the ship because they’re a long way from anything else. Cavendish has trouble controlling his men until he pulls a rifle and shoots one of them. Henry laughs while Cavendish orders them to deal with the shot man. Patrick begins struggling without his laudanum as they push forward in the rowboats. Otto cares for him and tells him he needs to rest. In a flashback, we hear Patrick talk about looking for work at hospitals but his diploma meaning nothing now. Ward admits he can’t help him and suggests England might not be the best place for him anymore.

He argues going to America or Brazil since they’ll forgive a man’s mistakes in Brazil but not England. Patrick blames everything on Corbyn and Ward believes him but he isn’t sure others will. Even if they do, they wouldn’t risk helping him. Patrick is told to start again. Later, he runs into Corbyn and punches him in the face. He is asked who he is but he claims he is no one. When he is hit in the stomach, he goes down and is promptly told the Hastings is gone because it sunk in the storm. As the men continue their journey, Cavendish claims they’ll winter over and it has been done before but Henry says it hasn’t. He says it can’t be done unless you have a ship to take shelter in and ten times the provisions they have now. Cavendish says they’ll survive long enough to see him hanged in England before Henry admits he’d rather hang than starve to death. He reminds Michael Cavendish to be ready in case the time ever comes.

Sumner’s struggles continue through the night. Then, we see a man frozen to death. It looks like Jones but I can’t be positive.

 

The North Water Review

The North Water is indeed very ambitious with the beautiful boat scenes. The story is a bit slow but interesting enough to keep me engaged throughout each episode. I really have trouble seeing some of the characters’ faces during those incredibly dark scenes like there at the end. It looked like Jones laying on the ice but I couldn’t guarantee it and likely won’t know for certain until the next episode.

I could always adjust the settings to increase the brightness and find out what is going on but I am not sure viewers should have to do that. I am not sure that this is a big deal since I’ll find out what is going on soon enough but it is slightly annoying since I can’t be certain the recap above is accurate due to this. I guess I’ll change it accordingly or hopefully someone will chime in and let me know.

Either way, I have enjoyed each episode of The North Water including this one but I felt it was a bit slower than the previous one. On the other hand, I am glad the story is progressing well and can’t wait to see what Drax tries to do. The episode was good but likely not as intense as the last episode so I’ll give it a 7.5 out of 10. More recaps of The North Water can be found on Reel Mockery here.