'Room 104' Season 4 Episode 3: Dave Bautista is an ex-wrestler on the path of healing, but what's haunting him?
In 'Room 104' Season 4, Episode 3 sees Dave Bautista portray the role of a retired pro-wrestler who wants to prove that he is not a violent man. We see him go through various steps with the help of a therapist trying to figure out the crux of his problem and therein lies his connection to Room 104. Speaking of a pro-wrestler, one wouldn't expect the tender performance that Bautista pulled off, but that is exactly what this episode is about.
What it is not about is all the glamorous throws, punches, jabs and kicks that are a part of the wrestling community. Sure, there is that signature suplex of "Raw Dawg Avalanche" (Bautista) that we see on two different occasions. However, that is just a part of Dawg's personality that needed to be decoded to help the little boy who is stuck in a locked hotel room from years ago. If he wants to open the door and walk out, he needs to accept and face the trauma head-on.
It is about a little boy who had once visited and stayed in Room 104 with his father. What occurred that night is completely alluded to, and the only clue we get is when Dawg says that whatever happened could have got both him and his altruistic father, also a doctor, into trouble. The thing that 'Room 104' successfully does is throw one surprise at the end of the episode, a twist that one would know is coming but something that we would enjoy despite it not being a surprise.
This episode comes in the form of an older, slower, more resigned version of Dawg walking into Room 104 with the help of a cane. It is after he walks in that we learn that his trauma is connected to his father. We also see how the little boy that we had seen Dawg showcase his suplex earlier in the episode is none other than himself and the entire conflict that he had taken to the doctor was something that was made by him in an attempt to heal himself.
Not just that, we also learn that the therapist that Dawg goes to, portrayed by Natalie Woolams-Torres, was a figment of the same imagination that pushed him to take a step towards healing and all of this is packed into a short 30 minutes, making it a fascinating watching experience.
'Room 104' episodes can be streamed on HBO.