'Dare Me' Episode 3: Fickle nature of characters' friendships eerily mirrors downfall of loyal dependency
This article contains spoilers for 'Dare Me'
'Dare Me' Episode 3 takes more than a deep dive into the turmoil in friendships caused by jealousy and the demand for loyalty. The duality in character development with Beth, Addy and Coach Collete, all mirror a sadistic nature. A grueling way to sustain friendships is to keep all friends happy, making it hard for teenage girls and their young coach to dodge their lies and save each other's backs. How do you guarantee your safety besides acquiring mutual destruction? You make sure your opponent has more to lose, be it your coach or your best friend.
In all three episodes, the trio has similar circulating themes while they all want different outcomes: they all want out, what they want out of differs. Beth, the 'top girl', wants respect and gives none, Addy wants an exit plan worth the painful exertion of training and Collete is now faced with her younger self, with a secret at the mercy of two hungry teenagers. The need for being two-faced is amplified in this episode with Addy straying farther away from her 'lover' Beth and closer to young coach Collete. In a sense, both Addy and Collete are giving up too much of themselves in return for the trusts of strangers.
Collete is cheating on her husband, and now has help from Addy who believes that this is Sergeant Wills and Collete's second chance at a fairytale. Her loyalties pull her from two directions — one sets her future in stone while the other calms her empathetic heart.
The triangle involves female empowerment with the 'tale of two sisters' and a coach to tame them in pursuit — so why does Collete only focus on Addy? Collete's husband reminds her of how much Beth reminds him of young Collette — we get it, we'd be scared to face our rambunctious younger selves too. While Addy pulls away from Beth to fuel her passion to make it in a cruel world, Beth is hell-bent on making Addy's savior Collette's life a living hell.
In such a small town, Beth may have something that could destroy more than her friendship with Addy. With Coach telling Addy that she'd like to see her 'out of the shadows' - Addy has been emotionally manipulated enough to help her coach escape to romantic getaways with Sergeant Will. Since when are teenagers responsible for keeping a secret that could not only shame a town's respected figure but also destroy a young family?
Of course, Addy has to hide her evolving relationship with her coach from Beth, she in most ways managed to fill her underage drinking and drug indulging time with private practices as a courtesy thank you for the ways in which she helps the coach keep her morality somewhat intact. Beth, still evidently in the shadows, has more up her sleeve, but is she willing to take Addy down with her or is the target her blonde haired future self? For now, while Queen Bee finds her limit for loyalty trespassing, she's left wondering "what's a girl to do without her ride-or-die?"
