Absentia Episode 3, The Emily Show, Shines as a Classic Thriller

The Romance of Nick and Emily – a Matter of Trust

This could have been listed under melodrama, but I decided the romantic element needed its own heading. Hitchcock almost always had a romantic element running through his films. They were never simple – the theme of trust is one that often gets played out –  and they didn’t always end well.  Yes, there’s the happy relationship that stays that way in Rear Window, but then you’ve got complicated triangle in Notorious, and of course there’s Vertigo.  In the relationship between Emily and Nick, Absentia has cooked up some major complications that also deal with trust.  Those trust issues are coming to a head in Absentia episode 3, “The Emily Show.”

Nick and Emily

The first time the theme of trust comes up explicitly is in the scene where Emily can’t believe all Nick is doing for her. It’s not only that he’s all in for clearing her name.  (He even gets them burner phones to communicate.)  What then really gets to Emily is that he’s fine with her spending time alone with Flynn – especially since she knows Alice is not.  Even without Alice’s condemning words from episode 2, Emily’s own self doubt makes her nervous about taking Flynn by herself.

Emily:  “Why do you trust me, Nick?”

“I know you.”

The look in Heusinger’s eyes does a good job in revealing Nick’s love for Emily way beyond the words he’s said.  

Nick, Emily and Alice

Alice is a major complication. Last week we heard Nick talk about his guilt regarding Emily and Alice.  He feels like he’s betraying them both.  This week we get to see the nuances of this issues unfolding.   Mainly what we learn is that while Nick does feel guilty with either woman, it’s not for the same reasons.

In Absentia episode 3 it becomes clear that Nick’s heart belongs to Emily first.  The guilt he feels with Emily is about giving up his search for her and moving on.  With Alice we start to see he is painfully aware that she’s been his second choice, his second love, and that she has given so much to him.  As such, he feels beholden to that choice, but not to the point where he’ll stop helping Emily, or start keeping her from Flynn.

These things play out when Alice blames Nick for Flynn’s accident – because he let Emily take Flynn alone. This makes no sense to him as it was an accident that could have happened regardless.  Then she throws in a guilt trip: she’s mad that Nick didn’t even ask if Emily could take Flynn alone.  Well, that didn’t occur to him.  For Nick, Emily is Flynn’s mother – but he can’t say that.  He knows that Alice is also a mother to Flynn, but those memories that carried Emily through her ordeal, Nick has them as well.  Basically his son now has two moms – which certainly makes things complicated!

However, if Alice had left the issue at not being informed about what was happening, Nick wouldn’t have been put in a position to have to choose between them,  Unfortunately, (for her)  she doesn’t.  For her, Emily is the problem.

She doesn’t want Emily to be alone with Flynn ever again.  The news that he’s going back to work infuriates her – especially when she learns it’s to prove Emily’s innocence.  She angrily suggests that Emily very well could have killed Harlow.  Aside from assuring her that Emily’s alibi isn’t that he’d been with her, Nick can’t remotely deal with Alice’s feelings about any of this. Instead, he tries placating her.

Right now I have to go and do my job – and I need you to be okay with that.  …Hey, you know how much I love you.

Alice just walks away – and Nick goes to Emily.

Emily’s Alibi

The final piece of the trust issues between Emily and Nick come up later on in the episode.  Nick gets a call from Tommy telling him they’ve got Emily driving “in the vicinity of Harlow’s house” that night.  She’d told him that she’d not left after he had dropped her home.

What’s astounding is that as enraged as Nick is at Emily lying to him, he still gives her the chance to explain where she’d been.  Her explanation breaks his heart.

“I wanted to see what it was like.  Your life.  What should have been my life.”

Emily is why the dog Riggs went crazy in episode two.  She went to Nick’s house to watch Alice, Flynn and Nick together.  Her feeling that they’d all be better off if she hadn’t come back absolutely wrecks Nick.  It leads them into a space of grief over what they’d lost – and within that emotional overload they almost kiss.  They don’t because…it’s complicated.

The Wrap Up – Final Thoughts

The way Absentia episode 3 ends is dark, menacing, and visually very Hitchcockian.  We’ve now got a ton of questions about what Emily’s remembering, and Adam certainly looks guilty as hell.  There’s also the issue of Emily’s brother.  Just how much did he hate Emily….?

There is some good news though.  Emily has broken through with Flynn!  Even when they were in the hospital, his focus was on Emily – not Alice.  

Finally, I have no idea how this series will play out, or hold up, but so far so good.  As for Absentia episode 3 – it’s nothing short of perfect.