'I Know This Much Is True' Episode 3 Preview: Will Thomas Birdsey make it out of Hatch?
Spoilers for 'I Know This Much Is True'
The series has made a lasting impression on viewers with its past two episodes establishing a dependant yet strong bond between the Birdseytwin brothers, Thomas and Dominick, both played by the impeccable Mark Ruffalo. So far the narrative has shown us the escalating concern of Thomas' health as he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and how Dominick struggles to cope with it. While as an adult, Dominick is able to take care of his brother, we are shown how, as a child, Dominick would always get the shorter end of the stick. Always having to be responsible for his brother and be there for him, Dominick also took the brunt of unnecessary bullying that came with it. In the upcoming episode, we can expect a deeper dive into the lives of the twins growing up — their teenage years and when they were in college. We're hoping we get to see Thomas, but we know that his case has to be presented to the review board, so that should be enlightening.
The first episode dove a bit into the family dynamics showing us the death of ma, (Melissa Leo) the boys' mother, the temper of their stepfather Ray Birdsey (John Procaccino), and Dominick's complicated relationship with his wife Dessa Constantine (Kathryn Hahn). The second episode, however, brought adult Dominick to the forefront showcasing the parts of his life that broke him: the loss of his baby, the abuse from his stepfather and growing up with a brother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. We are taken into the depth of his character and how after 40 years of taking care of his brother, he finally broke calling Thomas his "anchor" pulling him down.
He was now focusing on getting his brother out of a prison-like maximum-security facility called Hatch Forensic Institute, but is being forced to follow strict rules placed on inmates and hence, can't see his brother. His reaction instills in us the thought that though Thomas can't be apart from Dominick, Dominick can't help not caring for Thomas — it's all he knows. His brother was put in Hatch after cutting his own hand during a violent outburst, and even with that, Dominick says, "I am more violent than he is," showing us that there is only one person that knows Thomas best. This may be a co-dependent relationship.
In the last episode, we met social worker Lisa Sheffer (Rosie O'Donnell) and Thomas's psychiatrist, Dr Patel (Archie Panjabi), both of whom had a hard time with Dominick. Sheffer seemed to have calmed Dominick down getting him to trust the process by telling him she's an advocate for Thomas. Dr Patel grasped the brother's past with Thomas making claims that his mother was raped by his stepfather and worse things, but Dominick insisting that his brother was exaggerating. The scene was presented in a way where we don't know which brother was telling the truth. We're hoping that that narrative is brought up as we are shown more flashbacks of the twins' life in the upcoming episode.
There are also other narratives that could resurface such as Thomas's breakdown in a violet library that saw him cut his hand off gaining media attention. Will Thomas get out of that facility? We are also shown that Dominicks' relationship with his girlfriend, Joy Hanks (Imogen Poots) is toxic as she feels as though Dominick doesn't take care of her as much as he does his brother. They seemed to have broken up in the last episode — we can speculate that we can see more on that, or will he go see his ex-wife, with whom he shared an unwelcome kiss in the first episode. The trailer shows us that we get to see how Dominick and Dessa met, along with what looked to be haunting memories of the past.
'I Know This Much Is True' is based on the bestselling novel by Wally Lamb and written and directed by Derek Cianfrance, and so far has done justice to the hype. We're waiting for more!
You can watch the preview released by HBO here. The synopsis reads, "Lisa Sheffer preps Dominick for a hearing with Hatch's review board that could decide Thomas' fate, an encounter with an old classmate brings painful childhood memories to the surface; Dominick reflects on his and Thomas's time together at college."
'I Know This Much Is True' airs on Sundays at 9 pm EST on HBO.