Summary
“Turning Point” leans on flashbacks to try and contextualize its big twist, but that twists raises more questions than it answers, and not all of them seem intentional.
This recap of Amazon Original series Breathe: Into The Shadows episode 6, “Turning Point” contains spoilers.
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It’s flashback time! No show seems able to suffice without them, and Breathe: Into the Shadows episode 6 enthusiastically leaps backward in time in order to contextualize the big revelation that capped off its previous episode. Thus, “Turning Point” introduces us to young Avinash, orphaned in the wake of an accident, and sent off to boarding school.
Of course, boarding school isn’t fun for Avinash, since it never seems to be for anyone. He’s welcomed by Professor Krishnan but relentlessly bullied by the other kids, which leads to the manifestation of some psychological issues including, unsurprisingly, multiple personality disorder. Of course, all the usual conceits are in full effect here. When the second personality is in control the primary has no idea what they’re up to, which means that Avinash is totally unwise to the machinations of his mysterious alter-ego, “J”, but J is aware of Avinash. He’s kind of like his secret protector, there to defend him from others and himself; a stronger personality less inclined to fear and depression.
We catch back up to the present day with this bit of business explained. Abha lets Avinash know she idiotically sent a video message to the police. Both still have business to attend to in the form of Natasha, who they handcuff to a car which is promptly pushed off a cliff. This is, for the most part, the only present-day progression we get in “Turning Point”, as we return once again to Avinash’s traumatic past to better understand his prior relationship with Natasha.
With so much of its runtime devoted to flashbacks, Breathe: Into the Shadows episode 6 is a puzzling installment which I think raises more questions than it provides answers to – not all them seem intentional, either. While the show seems quite pleased with itself about this multiple personality twist, I’m not sure how well it stands up to even cursory scrutiny, and I can’t imagine it’ll get any more watertight as things go on. I guess we’ll see.