Spinning Out Recap: Bonding

This recap of Netflix Series Spinning Out Season 1, Episode 3, “Proceed with Caution” contains significant spoilers.

• Read the Season 2 review.
• Read the recap of Episode 4.
• Read the recap of the previous episode (2).
• Access the archive of all the episode recaps.

Spinning Out Season 1, Episode 3 is about trust; Kat (Kaya Scodelario) and Justin are hardly a solid pair, so the consequences of the two being banded together come to fruition in “Proceed with Caution”.

Episode 2 opens up showing a pair of children skating together and Dasha nodding with approval — it’s a young Justin. In the present day, Justin is shotting alcohol and kissing a woman.

Kat rings Justin and tells him he is late. While getting ready to train, Leah expresses a “no hard feelings” approach — she advises that when Justin lifts her, to look down. Justin finally shows up and when Dasha asks why he is late; Justin tells her that Kat won’t let him lift her.

On the ice, Kat is struggling to let Justin lift her still. When Justin finally lifts Kat, she looks down as Leah advised and they both fall — Justin is hurt in the process.

Kat is shaken by what happened and heads into the changing room — she remembers her accident at the competition and then proceeds to aggressively bite her arm. Serena catches Kat and asks her sister if she is still taking the lithium. Serena tells Kat that training is going well and that Mitch believes in her. Kat notices Serena is now wearing a more revealing leotard and questions it; this infuriates Serena.

Back on the ice and Carol takes a muffin from Serena; Mitch pulls Carol aside and says they should discuss any nutrition plans in private. The mothers tell Carol that Kat fell earlier that morning.

At the restaurant, Kat breaks some glass; Marcus helps and pretends that he is going to take it off her paycheque. He asks her if they can be cool again after he made a move. Marcus encourages Kat to keep skating and not to give up.

A concerned Kat asks Dasha if Justin is going to drop her. Kat explains that when she is in the air, she freezes. The next day, Dasha tells Justin off about his attitude and punctuality. Dasha tells them both that they are not skating today and drops them both off in the middle of nowhere and asks them to figure it out. Dasha believes she has spurred on a trust exercise, but she does not know Lyft exists — Justin immediately orders one and heads to a diner he used to go to as a child.

Serena asks Jenn how you can tell if someone likes you which prompts Jenn to ask if Mitch has done something. Serena accuses Jenn of being like Kat. Leah was eavesdropping and says Mitch has been involved with a student before. Jenn does her usual and tells Leah to f–k off.

Back to the diner in Episode 3, “Proceed with Caution” and Justin asks Kat what she is afraid of; he has seen her videos and knows that Kat can skate. It is revealed at this moment that Justin and Kat have slept together before — the flashbacks in Episode 2 were Justin and Kat having sex, not Kat and Dave. When they return back to town, Marcus shows up. Justin invites Kat to his party. Marcus looks irked and asks Kat why she is hanging out with Justin. He learns that Kat is pair skating with him, so he offers to go to the party with her. Marcus does not trust Justin.

But Kat never heads to the party as Jenn demands that they need to break into Mitch’s camper van.

At the party, Justin is worried that Kat hasn’t shown up. He mistakes someone else for Kat and immediately gives in — he starts drinking.

Jenn finds a way to break into Mitch’s camper — they find divorce papers to a Rachel Hughes; he cheated on her and Kat and Jenn come to the conclusion that he slept with his ex-student. Kat takes photos of the divorce papers and they quickly scurry away as they hear Mitch approaching.

Back at the party and Justin speaks to Marcus; he asks if Kat sometimes does not show up to work. Justin suggests playing a game where they all stand in the road and wait for a vehicle to come. One by one everyone leaves the road, except Justin, who leaves it to the last second. Marcus threatens Justin, saying he will wish he stayed in the road if he ever hurts Kat.

Kat heads to her childhood home and tries to speak to Carol about Mitch; Kat tells her about the divorce papers and the cheating. Carol states that just because Mitch is getting divorced, does not mean he is a child molester; she explains that his ex-skater quit because she was anorexic. Carol tells Kat not to bring everyone else down with her just because she’s failing herself.

Serena overhears the argument between her mother and Kat and heads to Mitcher’s camper. Serena asks him if it is true about the trial period — “Am I just some hobby or something?” Mitch claims it is not like that but Serena departs upset. Meanwhile, Carol looks at photos of Mitch and Serena; she rings work and tells them that she has quit.

Nearing the end of Episode 3 “Proceed with Caution”; at the ice skating rink, Justin has not shown up. Kat walks off the ice and heads upstairs to see Justin. He says he hasn’t shown up because Kat missed his party. Kat is in disbelief over his excuses — “If you want to skate, you know where I’ll be”. A flashback shows Dasha telling Justin about his mother being involved in an accident.

Surprise, surprise; our privileged rich skater boy drinks excessively due to his mother dying while he was skating, which makes him feel guilty.

Spinning Out Season 1, Episode 3, “Proceed with Caution” closes with Justin finally heading down to the ice. Dasha tells him that he hasn’t forced for “a long time”. Justin apologizes to Kat and he finally lifts her successfully.

Additional Notes

• Kat is staying on top of her medication.
• The doctor tells Jenn that her injury is healing up.
• Carol is accidentally mixing up her medication.
• Justin introduces Kat to Gabe, Leah’s new partner
• Mitch sees Carol at a bar. Carol apologizes for crossing the line — Mitch apologizes to her as well. Brings up how his ex-student was anorexic and had to go to rehab.
• Kat thanks Jenn for being there for her and her sister.