'Back to Life' Episode 3: Miri has a fun day at the fair and finally tells Billy how she ended up in prison
‘Back to Life’ is one of those rare shows that makes you feel both sad and hopeful at the same time. It makes you feel pain and it puts a smile on your face. And Episode 3 is more like that than anything else.
Miri Matteson (Daisy Haggard) deals with life out of prison one day at a time. Despite being the victim of a random assault — someone threw a brick at Miri at the fish and chips store she works at — and being constantly provoked, she fights to smile and enjoy her life.
After the assault that caused Miri to get injured and the fish and chip shop's glass to break, her boss Nathan (Liam Williams) gives her the day off. To add insult to injury (literally), someone plasters photocopies of news clippings all across the town.
The clippings document how a teenage girl had murdered her friend, the daughter of a policeman. They all bear photos of a young Miri. Not wanting to be alone with her thoughts, Miri asks her neighbor's caretaker Billy (Adeel Akhtar) to spend the day with her.
It is a fun day in the fair, riding carousels and eating snacks. It is visible that Miri likes Billy's company as much as the latter likes her company. They talk about Billy's unnatural fear of giraffes and his childhood dreams of becoming a sailor.
But the happy day is marred by an ominous-looking gentleman who follows Miri. When Billy leaves for the bathroom, he accosts her and identifies himself as an "investigator".
He keeps asking Miri questions about the night when she "murdered" her friend. Thankfully, Billy comes to her rescue. However, it seems that Miri is not going to be rid of this man anytime soon.
From the fair, they go to a local supermarket, where all the employees stare at Miri, no doubt aware of who she is and the crime she has allegedly committed. She runs into her ex-best friend Mandy (Christine Bottomley), who she no longer wants to talk to. Mandy, however, confronts Miri and tells her how much she misses her.
She also tells Miri that she should not deceive Billy. He needs to know her truth and she does not deserve to be with someone who does not know the real her. Mandy also confesses why she never visited Miri.
She said that she felt guilty because on the day of the crime, had she reached there on time, none of this would have happened. A helpless Miri forgives her but now she faces a new dilemma — to tell Billy her truth or not. After all, she isn't the only one keeping secrets.
At a doctor's appointment, Miri's aged father Oscar (Richard Durden) finds out that he has chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection. He realizes that the only way he could have contracted it is through his wife Caroline (Geraldine James).
Caroline, who has been having an affair with Miri's ex, Dom (Jamie Michie), meanwhile tells him that they have to end the affair. Back at home, a grumpy Oscar keeps muttering "she did it again", making it clear that this isn't the first time Caroline had been unfaithful to him.
When she arrives home, however, he does not say anything to her. And on the topic of secrets, Billy too has a massive one.
Miri's elderly and visibly-deranged neighbor, who Billy is supposed to be caring for, is more than his employer. When Miri comes to tell Billy about her past, Billy also opens up to her and tells her that the neighbor isn't his employer — she was his wife.
Miri is shocked and revulsed. But it is nothing compared to how Billy reacts to Miri's confession. He has a panic attack and calls Miri a "psycho killer" before asking her to "f**k off".
Miri, however, stays and explains why she told him her truth, after which he calms down a little, but not enough to let Miri near him. Miri tells him that her friend had died. But it was not a murder. It was an accident.
Miri's good day comes to a crashing end. However, it had a silver lining. Earlier, when Miri goes to the clinic to get her head treated, she is sent away because she does not have any documentation.
At that time, Miri, being herself, could not manage to tell the truth of her past. But now, a braver Miri walks right back into the clinic with her prison papers.
She tells the clerk with confidence that she needs an appointment that very day and the clerk, perhaps not wanting to mess with an ex-convict, schedules her for a slot in the following hour.
As Miri sits down to wait, she has a satisfied smile on her face. 'Back to Life' airs every Sunday at 10 pm ET on Showtime.
