Episode 3 puts Pippa in one of the most intense situations she’s been in so far. Ravi takes a day off work to be by her side when she is about to testify against Max, giving her the emotional support she needs so desperately. Before they enter the courtroom, the tension between them finally becomes unbearable, and Pippa confesses her feelings for him.
At the hearing, Pippa confidently accuses Max and explains he confessed to her on the phone. She also references Becca’s statement about being drugged and raped. But the defence immediately seeks to destroy her credibility. She is depicted as confused, fixated on Max and unable to distinguish fact from emotion.
Pippa mentions the recorded phone call, but the judge tells the jury to ignore it. It is a frustrating moment, because the evidence feels important, but the legal system keeps cutting the wings off of what can actually be used against Max.
Max is still cocky and invulnerable outside the courtroom. At last Pippa manages to shake him off by threatening to tell his mother about the recording. For the first time, Max looks genuinely nervous.
Jamie’s Vanishing Takes a Chilling Turn
As the episode progresses, the search for Jamie’s disappearance takes a darker turn. Pippa, Ravi and Connor attempt to figure out why Jamie broke into the Greens’ house and stole Flora’s bracelet, which seems far too cheap to be worth stealing.
Things get even more harrowing when Connor’s mother finds a bloodstained sweatshirt hidden in Jamie’s room. She says Jamie was wearing it just before he disappeared, the same night Pippa dined with the family. Pippa goes through photos from that night and notices a knife missing from the kitchen block, another disturbing clue.
The episode does a good job of building anxiety, because every new piece of information points to violence, but there is still no confirmation of what actually happened to Jamie.
Suspicious Leads and Lethal Secrets
Pippa’s investigation leads the group to Howie Bowers, a local drug dealer recently let out of prison. Connor feigns interest in buying drugs and meanwhile discreetly interrogates Howie about Jamie. The meeting quickly turns sour as Howie senses something is wrong.
As Howie leaves, he tells her about another secret issue, that Cara owes him money for MDMA. The discovery sparks a big argument between Pippa and Cara.
Pippa rummages through Cara’s things and finds drugs and Jamie’s charger. Cara says she took it at the Calamity party, but kept it to herself. The confrontation between them is emotional and painful as both the girls are right in their own ways. Cara is emotionally distraught, feeling abandoned, and Pippa is terrified that Jamie may already be dead.
Their friendship continues to fall apart as the investigation takes over everything around them.
Max Begins to Lose Control
And yet Max’s situation begins to slip away from his hands. Max’s mother overhears a conversation between Max and Robin, and starts to wonder if her son might be guilty, after all.
Robin is tasked with stealing Pippa’s phone and recovering the voice recording, but is visibly uneasy with the job. His unsuccessful attempts add tension as well as demonstrating how desperate Max has become.
Meanwhile, Max freaks out when he discovers that the drugs he had hidden in his room are gone, and even worse, his mom is missing. The episode contains a subtle hint that the walls may be finally closing in around him.
The Mystery of “Layla”
Pippa is still using her podcast to gather information, and is sent videos of the Calamity party in which Jamie was last seen. She watches the footage with Connor, Lauren and Robin and sees that Jamie keeps looking for a girl called Layla.
Pippa confronts a girl called Ruby and discovers a twist. Someone was catfishing Jamie online using Ruby’s pictures, so he thought she was Layla.
This revelation takes the investigation in a whole different direction.
Ravi and Connor and Pippa create a fake dating profile so they can investigate further and find Jamie’s account. They find out that he lied about his age and job on the app, hinting that he was hiding much more than anyone could have imagined.
It gets weirder when Pippa sees their teacher, Mr. Clark, liking and commenting on Layla’s social media posts. As they’re still processing the discovery, Layla is finally texted back, warning Pippa in a cold voice that she’s getting too close to the truth.
The episode ends on a really disturbing note, which raises even more questions.
Episode Summary
This episode does a good job of balancing the courtroom drama with the mounting mystery of Jamie’s disappearance. The best part of the story is how uncertain everything still feels. Technically, the absence of a body should provide hope, but it just ratchets up the tension further as no one knows what Jamie’s fate really is.
Cara and Pippa’s fight is also surprisingly well-done. Never does either character come across as entirely in the wrong, making their falling out all the more believable and tragic.
Robin is one of the more sympathetic characters in the episode. It’s almost painful to watch his clumsy attempts to steal Pippa’s phone, clearly torn between loyalty to Max and his own conscience.
The greatest mystery at present concerns Layla. The revelation of Jamie being catfished opens up a whole new realm of possibilities, and the episode plays it smart in making just about everyone seem suspect. The Greens still appear untrustworthy, and Layla’s true identity could easily be someone already linked to the group.
Episode 3 increases the mystery and emotional stakes for just about every character and is one of the strongest episodes of the season so far