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'Counterpart' Season 2: As Howard Alpha enters Echo, Emily Prime tracks down her alter reality in Episode 3

Things are getting uncomfortable for both Prime and Alpha, and now it is time to find out who comes top in the battle of supremacy.

'Counterpart' season 2 is only getting more intense with every passing episode, and we can tell you that if anything, the third episode will leave you wondering if reality exists at all in the Justin Marks-created STARZ show.

Starring JK Simmons as Howard Silk (Prime and Alpha), Olivia Williams as Emily Burton Silk (both Prime and Alpha), Harry Lloyd as Peter Quayle, Nazanin Boniadi as Clare, and Sara Serraiocco as Baldwin, the third episode of the second season will come up with revelations that can be complete game-changers for the show, and by doing so it has given the Alpha and the Prime characters something to base their alliances on. 

Following the incidents of the second episode, which saw Emily Prime meeting Howard Alpha for the first time, and realizing that they are not just two versions of the same individual but the differences between the Alpha-self and the Prime-self is as distinct as the fingerprints of two different individuals, the third episode will see her stumble upon some uncomfortable realities about her own Alpha-self.

Emily Prime had already discovered that Emily Alpha had been commuting in and out of the Prime world for over 10 years, and as the reason continues to remain a mystery even when Emily Prime manages to find out who her Alpha-self's nearest acquaintance was in the Prime world. 

On the other hand, Emily Alpha is paid an unexpected visit, an encounter which helps her unravel some extremely inviolable information which not only changes everything about the terrorist cell, Indigo, but also brings forward a significant weakness of the Management. As both the Emilys begin to unravel secrets about themselves and about the world around them, they almost seem to be one person with a past that no one knows about. That is where the charm of Episode 3 lies, it puts the Prime and the Alpha characters on a parallel level from where only one can emerge as the truthful identity. 

While the two Emilys are busy ransacking their memories about a past common to both, the two Howards are leading completely opposite versions of their lives that they had led in the first season. Howard Silk Alpha who has been in prison since the first episode of the second season will soon be transferred to a mysterious place called Echo, and no it is not like any other prison. Echo will not only see Howard being subjected to strange tests, but he will come across people whose versions he had met in the Alpha world. The whole scene revolving around Echo subtly reflects how an individual can be completely opposite to what they are when placed under contradicting situations. 

As Howard Silk Alpha gradually begins to get a grip of life in Echo, Howard Silk Prime realizes that it is almost a stupid idea to let an assassin escape, especially when it is someone like Baldwin who is yet to clean up the mess in the Alpha world's Berlin.

The two are about to encounter each other under some extremely unsuitable conditions and this time, probably, Baldwin would like to keep it in mind that she is no longer protected by Indigo. As for her acquaintance, Clare, it seems that things are gradually falling apart for the Indigo sleeper cell member who never knew anything beyond being a terrorist. 

In the third episode for the first time we see a different version of Clare, but if Peter Quayle will accept her as a changed person or will continue to treat her as a mere resource to reach Indigo is gradually unfolded in the final scenes of the episode.

The third episode is by far the most thought-provoking one among the first three of the second season, and we can expect that here onward the audience might find it a little uncomfortable to be exposed to so many facets of the characters. More than anything, the third episode heavily relies on the fact that when two versions of one thing face each other, one version is bound to destroy the other in order to survive. 

Throughout the first season, it looked like the Primes were the stronger ones, who were physically capable of bringing down the Alphas, but the table has turned in the second season, and this time the Primes are left baffled by the secrets that the Alphas have been hiding for so long.

If the Prime will overtake the Alpha, or if the Alpha will fend off the Prime, we do not know, but it can be assumed that one has to come to an end for the other to become the dominant factor in 'Counterpart'. The third episode is set to air on STARZ on December 23, and it is not going to be like anything that you have seen before.