'We Hunt Together' Episode 3 Review: With Freddy and Baba's pasts revealed, will she be able to control him?
Spoilers for 'We Hunt Together' Episode 3
After two full episodes of meandering through the darkest allies of Freddy Lane's (Hermoine Corfield) really twisted, violent mind, there's finally some explanation on who the femme fatale really is. Of course, it is newly appointed and unusually cheery for a cop, DI Jackson Mendy (Babou Ceesay) who makes the breakthrough, after seasoned DS Lola Franks' (Eve Myles) every shot at connecting Freddy to the recent deaths in town gets shot down.
But brewing in the other part of town is yet another tale of lies and distrust as Baba's conscience haunts him way harder than Freddy's manipulation can withstand at a time. But after Episode 3, what's left to be seen is whether it actually survives in the long run. The episode kicks off with Freddy and Baba wondering how best to dispose the body of the random stranger they had to take down as collateral damage, the night they were murdering Matt Bowers.
To their utter inconvenience, the stranger isn't dead and thus begins the painfully slow begging, where he tries Baba to free him from his bonds. But his fate isn't the only one dangling, as our cops on the other side are digging out any possible lead whatsoever in hunting down Freddy's connection with Matt. This is where Freddy's impeccable genius comes into play once again.
When not trying to manipulate Baba into thinking killing innocent men who get in their way is the right way to be, Freddy seems to have thought it all out except the minor details, obviously. When the detectives learn of Matt's personal connection with all premium customers of his hook-up site which is pretty much an escort service, they call Freddy up for another casual "chat".
This time they meet at a diner and thus arrives the confrontation scene Showtime's teaser for Episode 3 had teased us with. Freddy is too quick to explain why she had lied about not knowing Matt. Sure, it can be dismissed as nerves. But once again she tries to be too smug and suave, too vain and vile for the cops to not take notice. Freddy addresses what she insists was Matt's obsession with Simon, as a "darkness" that prevails within everyone.
She is too in tune with the world to be dismissed as a passerby in the murder of two men, both of whom are connected to her. Yet she plays a game so layered and sinister that even Lola and Jackson's boss has a hard time taking her for a suspect. Such is her brilliance. The only match for Freddy's cover-up are Baba's flashbacks.
On one hand he has this new love in his life — a love like nothing he's ever felt before. Naked in bed, trapped in sheets, Baba is mesmerized by Freddy as he watches her sleep. And even though Freddy's humor dismisses that as creepy and they all go about their day normally, Baba can't quite fight his memory constantly slamming him with hallucinations of his own past self as a child soldier.
These flashbacks, Baba's conscience stands heavy and in the way of him taking their hostage's life. Even when he digs the shallow grave to bury an innocent man, his child self digs next to him, reminding him of days when he was programmed into taking innocent lives. Baba frees the man eventually only for him to ironically get hit by a mysterious truck and die next to the road.
Freddy sees the body while returning home after her rendezvous with the detectives, but even though she tells Baba all the developments, she skips this detail about their hostage. Baba comes clean though, his conscience finally owning the better of him. He tells Freddy the purpose of love is to grow together but he can't grow if she keeps pushing him to his past.
Freddy is however too conniving; keeping the truth to herself, she lets Baba believe he let the man go free thereby not just breaking her trust, but also posing a bigger threat to them as the police are onto something. She assures Baba together they will do the child soldier justice, but at this point, Baba aching to cave into his guilt isn't her biggest worry.
The writers finally pick up the pace when it comes to the noir mystery element of the show. Lola is able to dig out the money Freddy owed Matt and Jackson can't quite invalidate his memory of Freddy preparing two cups of tea the day they had made their first visit. Running Freddy's details also reveals her seven years in juvenile detention under a different last name.
The existence of an accomplice becomes the obvious way for a girl built like Freddy to hoist and hang a man twice her size on a tree. It's interesting how they alternatively make these breakthroughs, their growing and constantly evolving dynamics more captivating than whatever is burning between the killers on the series. The philosophical tone is also subtle in this episode, although Lola and Jackson spend a good deal of time dissecting Freddy's psyche. But looks like in the end, it might be Baba betraying Freddy.
'We Hunt Together' airs on Sundays at 10 pm on Showtime.
