I Know This Much Is True season 1, episode 3 recap – “Three”

By Jonathon Wilson
Published: May 26, 2020 (Last updated: last month)
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I Know This Much Is True season 1, episode 3 recap - "Three"
3.5

Summary

Mercifully, I Know This Much Is True episode 3 is less emotionally intensive, but still proves an absorbing slice of drama.

This recap of I Know This Much Is True season 1, episode 3,”Three”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.


HBO’s utterly miserable drama I Know This Much Is True returns with a merciful episode this week, though it’s still, even at its most emotionally manageable, the story of whether or not a man will crack under extreme pressure. Hardly upbeat stuff, then, but reliably well-done nonetheless, just so long as unrelenting misery is something that you can put up with for an hour.

Frankly it’s amazing how many deeply traumatic experiences one man can punish himself for. I Know This Much Is True episode 3 opens with Dominick telling the story of fellow twins Penny and Ralph, one of whom he determined to be a compulsive liar and decided to fight fire with fire which resulted in her suspension and subsequent death. There’s no wonder that, in the present day, his ability to provide the best and most appropriate defense for Thomas, whose fate will be decided in a pivotal hearing scheduled for Halloween, is under some degree of scrutiny.

As ever, we’re treated to explanatory flashbacks which go some way in justifying Dominick’s temperament and residual guilt; his desire to move away from the responsibility of Thomas but also how he feels and felt about having done so during college. By the time Dom’s security clearance has been approved so that he’s allowed to see Thomas, the time they’ve spent apart and the additional understanding we’ve gained of their relationship helps the emotional punch to land even harder. The parallels between then and now are made explicit in Dom hugging an emotional Thomas – a gesture that ripples through time.

With all this, Joy (Imogen Poots) being pregnant despite Dom having had a vasectomy (we know what that means), and a clear inability to stop dwelling on his past with Thomas and Dessa, it only seems right that I Know This Much Is True episode 3 ends with Dom having a crash. Where else was there for him to go other than head-first into something that wouldn’t budge?

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