If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Kevin and Nora travel to Australia, where she continues to track down the masterminds of an elaborate con, while he catches a glimpse of an unexpected face from the past, forcing him to confront the traumatic events of three years earlier. (HBO)
Writers: Tamara P. Carter and Haley Harris
Director: Daniel Sackheim
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 55mins
A new episode means a new opening theme song. I personally didn’t like this one as much which was one of the few negatives for the episode.
As mentioned, Kevin and Nora are now in Australia. Nora was there to expose the supposed con artists who were taking advantage of people wanting to reconnect with their departed loved ones. She was doing it on her own since she had no jurisdiction in Australia. Over their long airplane ride, Kevin finally read Matt’s book about him, forcing him to reminisce the bad things that had happened in his life.
Once they got to their hotel, Nora got a call with a place for her to go but Kevin wanted to go with her. Nora wanted to do it on her own so they each went their separate ways. There was plenty of drama to be had with both for sure with each of them facing their own specific challenges.
With Nora gone, Kevin was having problems with the TV in his hotel room. What didn’t help was that he thought he saw Evie Murphy in the background of a live Australian morning show. The show also talked about the missing Australian police chief named Kevin and also Kevin Sr. who was wanted for questioning and missing for a month. He frantically made his way to where it was shot and found someone who looked like Evie walking away. When he caught up to her, the woman looked like Evie but she denied being Evie and wanted to start a new life for herself. As a result, Kevin got beat up by a nearby man who trying to protect the woman.
That didn’t end there as Kevin called Laurie for help but she was just indulging his psychotic break. Kevin was still not okay with his traumatic experiences back in his memory after reading Matt’s book. The woman who he thought was Evie wasn’t actually Evie because he was perhaps projecting Evie on the face of that stranger due to the fact that could relate to her wanting to escape. When Laurie asked if he and Nora were okay, Kevin was defensive.
Nora, on the other hand, didn’t want to believe that this elaborate con was real, half wanting to expose them and half wanting to see her family again. Now at some dilapidated warehouse, she met a few of the doctors responsible for the project. She was obviously skeptical, doing whatever they asked while asking questions at every turn and offering to pay them her money on multiple occasions but they never seemed interested in the money, lending credence to the fact that this may not be a scam after all, but after asking her a few questions, they determined that they would not go any further with her which set her over the edge. She thought that this was also part of their con but they drove away before she could catch up with them. She was now determined to destroy them at all costs.
The best part of the episode, by far, was the final scene between Kevin and Nora. They had returned to their hotel room and talked about each other’s days. While their subplots were a showcase for Justin Theroux and Carrie Coon, this was just the icing on the cake. Nora noticed that Kevin wasn’t okay, but when she asked what it was, Kevin said he couldn’t because the last time didn’t end well for him. She claimed that she just didn’t know how to handle him. She was upset that he told Laurie and not her. She brought it back to the book which set Kevin over the edge and destroying the book before setting it on fire. Things got heated when they told each other what they really thought, ending with Kevin telling Nora that she should be with her own family before taking his bag and leaving.
The episode ended with Kevin walking out of the hotel and learning that the flights out of Australia were grounded. He also ran into Kevin Sr. and Grace and told them that he was alone and went with them, meanwhile, Nora was sitting in their hotel room being sprayed by the sprinkler.
Overall, this was another amazing episode, focusing on Kevin and Nora and their emotionally gripping subplots, forcing them to relive their pasts in very compelling ways. Theroux and Coon were both incredible here with extremely emotional performances, individually when Kevin finally realized that the woman wasn’t Evie and when Nora was rejected by the scientists and together during their confrontation near the end of the episode. With 6 days left until the supposed apocalypse and 4 episodes left, I can’t wait to see how this will end.
Score: 9.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
