The Obsession
The two strangers strike again as episode 3 begins, cornering Marcus’ bride-to-be Michaela and mentioning her ex boyfriend David who put up a revenge porn video of her. Only, it turns out David wasn’t the one who put the video up… it was actually Marcus. With an envelope of damning evidence to prove this, the stranger implores her to take it but she refuses. For now, Corinne isn’t under arrest and Adam remains adamant she didn’t take the money as he says goodnight to Bob and the officer. Inside the house, he talks to Tripp and admits that Corinne has now gone. However, Tripp receives an urgent message and rushes out to the station while Daisy remains spooked about the strange man she saw in the woods. Katz speaks to Johanna at the station about her plans and it’s here he learns that Heidi is actually her friend. As he leaves, trying to remain calm, Johanna and Wesley talk to Mike about the alpaca and his drug use the evening of the party. Showing him photos in the interrogation room, Mike flashes back to that night, including an incident that saw him push Dante. He eventually goes on to tell the police that Dante wasn’t well liked. As the duo continue their investigation after concluding the interview, they head to Dante’s house and look in his room for clues. Once there, they begin sifting through the videos on his laptop and find out that he was obsessed with Corinne, especially given the number of videos he’s taken of her. At school, Daisy admits to Tom and Mike that she spiked the drinks at the party because nude pictures were put up online. Keeping this between themselves for now, Adam stakes out Suzanne’s house and waits for her husband to leave. After talking to his Father regarding the housing situation, he follows Suzanne as she drives to the bar, watching from a distance as she entertains the other Mums. Eventually he corners her at the bar and asks about Corinne. It’s here he learns Suzanne was being blackmailed but before he can find out what the suspects look like, she realizes her husband knows she’s missing and leaves, prompting Adam to visit Killane and ask him for help again, this time in finding his wife. At the football club he speaks to Max who manages to remember the registration plate for the gray Honda housing the two strangers. With this valuable information, he returns to Killane and manages to track down the location of the blonde lady in the car. Adam and Killane trace the address and, lo-and-behold, they find Michaela who tells him the duo were there but have gone now. Back home, Tom senses his Father isn’t being honest and tries to get him to tell the truth. Adam shrugs it off though, much to the disdain of his son, as he tries to track Corinne through her phone bill. Upstairs, Tom and Ryan work together and download a phone app with the intention of tracing Corinne’s location. The kids learn she’s 2 miles away in town, while Johanna heads over to Heidi’s cafe and breaks in, subsequently finding her friend shot through the head. With more lies and deceit piling up, The Stranger rests a lot of its subsequent character drama on people not telling the truth to one another. While it’s understandable that Adam wants to protect his boys from what’s happening, they’re smart and resourceful and given how long Corinne has gone missing, it just seems wise to actually tell them the truth. It’s a recurring theme here that unfortunately threatens to undermine some of the good work done with the mystery and subsequent thrills involving the strangers. Still, there’s plenty of plot left in this one and The Stranger is shaping up to be a really engrossing watch, even if there are a couple of illogical situations showing up in the narrative.
