'The Third Day' Episode 3 Review: Sam embraces his unavoidable fate and stays back at Osea Island
Spoilers for 'The Third Day' Season 1 Episode 3 'Sunday - The Ghost'
First impressions of HBO drama 'The Third Day' are not anywhere close to what the show really entails in itself and the story it tells. Three weeks ago when the show aired its first episode, we'd have never guessed that the story will take such a turn. And now, after three surprising, genre-bending, mind-boggling episodes later, it can be safely said that the first chapter of the show titled 'Summer' changed the whole game.
Sam (Jude Law) arrives at Osea, grieving the loss of his dead son who was killed on the mainland. When he gets here, it is to help himself find solace and slowly and steadily come to terms with the death. Only this time that he arrives, he doesn't know he will never get to leave.
While he spends the first episode battling with the loss of his son and his traumatic past, and the second episode lost among bizarre events, the third episode is him desperately trying to leave the island. "Osea is the soul of the Earth," the islanders tell him more than once through the episode, adding that he is the father of the island. Sam had little idea of his fate when he got here but now he cannot escape it — there were sacrifices put in the way for him to get here.
Sam's destiny is actually much larger than his understanding of it. As it turns out, he is the heir of this cult on the island — the grandson of the island's founder, Frederick Nicholas Charrington. When his grandfather — who he always believed to be stationed at Osea during the war — manages to flee the island, he upends the hierarchy and leaves things in a mess. That is until the islanders decide to take matters into their own hands and try and make Sam the rightful successor. They even had a backup plan. If Sam refused to take over, his son would.
This could be a third week in a row where audiences can hardly tell what is going on in the show. The end of Sam's chapter begs the question. Despite the fact that the islanders reveal the secrets of the island, the people and their beliefs to Sam, and by extension the audience, it still leaves you in a blurred daze.
That said, 'The Third Day' is a well-directed show by Marc Munden. As Sam's desperation to leave the island heightens, so does the anxiety of the audience, who are rooting for him. For a third episode in the row, the show utilizes a haunting soundtrack and visuals to present an awe-inspiring story.
Episode 3, however, is filled with cliches. No matter what methods he incorporates to leave the island, as viewers, we know that he is not going anywhere. How then can this three-hour investment redeem itself? Perhaps in the second half of the show, which will have a different protagonist played by Naomie Harris.
'The Third Day' airs 9-10 pm EST on HBO. The episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max following the airing.