What Is It You See When You’re Asleep?
We begin episode 3 of Equinox in the past with Lene talking to Astrid about her nightmares and the horrible images she’s been seeing. She claims that the monsters want to lock her up like Ida and the others. After promising to tell her Mother everything she sees, Lene begins singing My Bonnie as Astrid winds up back in that strange orange-glowing wood we’ve been seeing fragments of across the season so far. Dennis and Lene continue to argue, this time surrounding Astrid and whether to get a psychologist involved to help her work through her problems. Lene however, doesn’t see this as the solution. A bit further back than that, more flashbacks showcase Jakob and Ida’s relationship in more detail. Although Lene claims Jakob took advantage of her, they seem happy together. They even “sort of” agree to become a couple. In the morning, the group prepare to head off on their road trip to the island. On the way, they stop and hear more from Jakob’s ominous warnings from his book, including 6 different statements chosen by rolling a die. Ida rolls a 1 which tells her she’ll be sacrificed. This certainly rattles the girl, who struggles to concentrate in the wake of seeing the island they’re due to travel across to. With a rowing boat, they head across and immediately get wrapped up in what’s going on. Back home, Astrid is hypnotized by Lene’s friend Jutta who tries to guide her through the labyrinth of the orange forest. She encourages the young girl to walk on until she suddenly begins breathing heavily. “He’s here,” She panics, as she sees a frightening silhouette of a faun stalking toward her. Dennis races in the room and snatches up Astrid mid-trance, taking her daughter away. Lene is convinced Astrid has seen Ida and that she’s still alive. On the island, Jakob leads the others through the woods until they find the cult operating in the distance. Both Falke and Ida are hesitant to begin with but Jakob eventually convinces them to join in. Back in the present, Astrid begins looking up iconography, in particular the symbol on the gravestones and where it originates from. It turns out this symbol has roots back to ancient pagan times from a cult that have roots in Denmark. The circle represents life. That life points back to Spring Equinox. There’s also hints of Equinox stones and apparently children conceived on this day are born with super powers. However, it’s hard to distinguish what’s fantasy and what’s real. One thing’s for sure – this cult looks like it could have a hand in Ida’s disappearance. Back home, Astrid questions Dennis over who Ida’s teacher was. Given he doesn’t exist in the school records, Dennis’ vague answers do absolutely nothing to help either. Thankfully, Lene is more open. She claims Henrik was nasty and in charge of everything. He was the one pulling the strings and when the trio of survivors popped up, Henrik went off the grid and ran away. Astrid continues her search, following the country lanes to a secluded, quaint cottage where Henrik lives. Henrik is wary at her arrival but agrees to hear her out for now. Henrik admits he was close to Jakob but didn’t know about his funeral. He outright confirms he’s not involved in what happened as Astrid continues to press him for information. Getting nowhere, Astrid is left with more questions than answers. That night the pair sit at a camp-fire where Henrik tells her she’s asking the wrong questions. He doesn’t elaborate much more than that but does confirm that she needs to continue her journey and investigate further. In the morning, Astrid once again sees that strange man who’s been popping up all over town. Once again though, Astrid’s search is fruitless. Back on the bus though, she finds a package on the seat she was sitting at. “Meet me at Bakken on Friday at 2pm” it reads. Alongside that is a tape player. A tape player holding the same music Jakob and Falke were listening to in the past. As the episode closes out, we cut back to the island one final time as Ida is brought forward and handed an egg. The other girls are given one too as the leader claims “Ostara has been found”. Ida’s egg stands up on its end and she’s shown a menacing hooded figure that looks like a cross between Scarecrow and that faun we’ve been seeing.
The Episode Review
So it seems likely now that Ida was sacrificed for a higher purpose, possibly as a sacrifice to a devil or God of some kind. There’s fragments of the truth slowly starting to trickle out and so far Equinox has done a pretty good job blending the past and present timelines together. And what of that shifty guy who’s been popping up all over town? Clearly he’s involved in some way but right now that’s still a mystery. While not the most absorbing mystery of the year, there’s enough within Equinox to enjoy nonetheless. The show has done a decent job building up an eerie atmosphere and the storyline is gripping enough to stick with for the most part. It’s not perfect but there’s certainly enough intrigue to keep you wanting to find out what happens next.
