Half The Sky
A Big Secret
Episode 3 of Away begins with Lex continuing to try and guide Matt through his rehab. He’s determined to get back to 100% health again. With 3 weeks of school missed already, Lex contemplates missing another week to look after her Dad. Back on the ship, the group learn that Mei is being replaced by Jack in Mission Command. Lu remains silent in the wake of this news and takes her leave. This brings her into messaging Mission Control herself and asking to speak to Mei directly. Sadly they aren’t able to do this and worse, can’t disclose where Mei has been transferred to. Instead, she finds Misha and asks him for help in re-engineering her feed so it’s no longer public but a private feed. Unfortunately Misha refuses to do this and admits that everyone knows about her sordid relationship. Now, as we soon learn Jack isn’t the most trustworthy guy and plays Poker with the boys. While he does, he’s the one who spills the big secret with Lu and now everyone on the ship knows the truth.
Lu’s Past
Two years earlier we see Lu studying. Things are made even harder by the fact the mission is all in English. Mei, as it turns out, is the woman who helped her study English. As we soon learn though, it goes deeper than that. Mei and Lu spent lots of time together and gained a deeper respect for one another. This respect soon grew into something more as the pair start singing karaoke and becoming fluent in English. 2 years later we see that Lu can almost speak English perfectly. The ring she’s been fingering all this time happens to be Mei’s.
Food
Lexi returns to school and heads in with Cassie. It doesn’t take long for her to get back into the swing of things. Of course, Emma is right there to phone home and make sure Lex is okay. While drama on the ship spills over, back down on Earth Lex struggles to focus. On top of that, Matt has his own problems when he learns he may not walk out the hospital. Thankfully, Lex returns to brighten him up. Only, she instead bursts into tears. Well, so much for that plan. She tells her Father she feels like she should be present in case something happens to him and remains fixed on helping her Dad. Back on the ship, Emma tries to speak to Lu about what happened. She apologises for her earlier outburst with the crew and Jack, promising to do better.
LU Phone Home
In her quarters Emma mulls over the situation. Eventually she decides to switch over to a private line. There, she speaks to Jack about what they can do. Together, they agree upon a private phone call between Mei and Lu which will be strictly off the records. Eventually Emma gives the green-light for her to do just this. Lu gets the good news. She has precisely 1 hour to speak to Mei without anyone listening in. It’s a pretty heartwarming chat and the two finally open up and confirm their feelings for one another. As they say their goodbyes, Emma and Matt both talk too. The latter reveals that he may never walk away.
The Episode Review
After the Misha-heavy episode last time, now the focus shifts to Lu. Her love story with Mei is told really well and naturally develops over the course of the episode. Instead of external or physical problems with the ship, this time it’s all about the characters. Of course, because of that there’s also a lot more emphasis on issues down on Earth. The syrupy melodrama should, by now, be obviously the focus of this series. This is not a sci-fi drama as such but instead, a melodramatic character-driven play. Still, there’s enough here to enjoy and entice you back in to find out what happens next.
