'The Third Day' Episode 6 Review: A striking story of grief and betrayal as Naomie Harris takes over from Jude Law
Spoilers for 'The Third Day' Episode 6 'Last Day - The Dark'
There we have it - the mind-bending conclusion to a series that is neither drama nor a thriller. HBO's 'The Third Day' returns for the last time for its finale episode that is, quite honestly, a lot to unravel. The roughly 61-minute episode packs a whole lot of intrigue, shock quotient and grief but most importantly, it finally gives the audience what they have wanted all along - a confrontation between Sam (Jude Law) and Helen aka Caz (Naomie Harris).
Without wasting any time, the finale episode dives right into it. When Sam tells Helen that Nathan is here, right on Osea Island, it is incredibly inconceivable an idea for her. And when she meets this young boy at the big house, she is proved right. Helen forces Sam to face the truth that it was he, who, overcome by grief and his own guilt, fled their home and nested here on this godforsaken island amidst all the lies that the locals fed him. The young boy he believes to be his son is hardly so - "Nathan was taken 10 years ago. He'd be 16 now. He's not even the right color," Helen shouts at him, but all Sam does is shake his head.
And from here, tumble out one mess after the other. Messes that Sam made with Helen trying to clean up behind them. This conversation reveals a lot about their marriage particularly following their first child's death. What makes matters worse is that amidst this grief, there is also a sense of betrayal. "You want to exonerate yourself from what you did. You lost my son," Helen tells him. As it turns out, Sam was on the phone for 23 minutes and 17 seconds supposedly ending a fling when Nathan was abducted.
And so it now makes sense that Sam, so immersed in his own grief, wants to stay back at Osea - desperate to exonerate himself from his own actions in one way or the other.
Via 'The Third Day', creator Dennis Kelly writes a story of grief, pain and love. Ever since his son's disappearance, Sam has been delusional and irrational. This leaves Helen to be the more responsible parent or a "stone", as her daughter Ellie (Nico Parker) called her. It is also the reason she is here.
Everything outside of this family threatens them. Jess's (Katherine Waterston) ambitions are suddenly clear as she wants to be the Mother of the future Mother of Osea, ordering around people to be executed to supposedly maintain peace. She even manages to turn Ellie against her mother for a hot minute there leading to another dramatic showdown.
If you recall the first three episodes of 'Summer', which were directed by Marc Munden, they stand in stark contrast with this latter half. 'Winter' is directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and depicts Osea for what it really is. The grey on your screens shed any and all beauty of this island. Written by Kit de Waal, Dean O'Loughlin, and creator Dennis Kelly, the finale episode of the HBO series shows the truth. Lowthorpe steals the focus away from Sam and puts it on Helen, telling the story of the mother who lost her son and the mother who has to now look after her daughters by herself.
A lot of 'The Third Day' is an interpretation by the viewer. Why come to Osea at all - what is it about this place? Sam came to forget his grief. Even his daughter Ellie said that she felt at home here, like she belonged here. Perhaps even she is grieving - her brother, her parents' marriage, her life at this stage.
The full limited series is streaming now via HBO Max.
