'The Time Traveler's Wife' Episode 3 Review: Things get complex as HBO series puts Clare in focus
Contains spoilers for 'The Time Traveler's Wife' Episode 3
Much of the focus finally moves to Clare (Rose Leslie) after the first couple of episodes focused on Theo James' Henry DeTamble. 'The Time Traveler's Wife' Episode 3 is finally about the wife who was forced to adapt to the life of the man who could travel through time and appear at different stages of her life. It is a one-of-a-kind love story, that borders between earnest and creepy at the same time. It just feels unnatural for a man to meet younger versions of the woman he is supposed to marry, all the while influencing her in a way that her life solely revolved around her lover who met her 152 times.
There are also elements of rape in the third episode when Clare, then 16, decides to explore life outside of Henry. She goes to a party, meets a jock named Jason, and whether she just wanted to have normal sex or "liked it rough" as the teen puts it, she ends up with bruises and burns on her body. An enraged Henry finally spills the beans saying he's her husband before disappearing again, and that sets the tone for what will probably be one of the more complicated love stories.
RELATED ARTICLES
'The Time Traveller's Wife': HBO drama gets thumbs up from fans despite critics panning show
What makes 'The Time Traveler's Wife' a show worth tuning into is the writing. The series gets, despite the multiple timelines a breezy watch, and that's one of the things that work in the show's favor. Then comes the plotline where Clare realizes that she loves Henry. She starts realizing it as early as 13, and by the time she's 16, call it the raging hormones, but she wants to get to know the time traveler up close. But such is the phase of a teen that things can get pretty complicated pretty quickly and that's Episode 3.
The HBO series continues to be a breeze, and the spotlight is rightly on Clare. If the first two episodes were all from the point of view of Henry, the third finally sheds light on how Clare felt in her growing-up years pining for a man who had been with her for the longest time. Their complex relationship, further made worse perhaps by getting married will be the next storyline.
'The Time Traveler's Wife' airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO.