Summary
Ramping up Alice’s personality, “The Bond” delves into her temptation to feel young again, abandoning her responsibilities to explore her newfound friendship with Sophie.
This recap of Apple TV+ series Losing Alice season 1, episode 3, “The Bond” contains spoilers.
“The Bond” opens with the following text:
“If something is going to happen to me, I want to be there.” — Albert Camus, ‘The Stranger’.
And then it flits to Alice parking up; for some reason she takes a photo of her car before she walks off. She’s meeting the production crew for the film. They discuss different interiors for sets that are based in a hotel. Alice talks about a hotel that she once knew and starts describing it, but she cannot remember the name. Suddenly, one of the crew members finds photos of a hotel, and Alice is excited, stating that this is what she imagined and wants a location scout. Afterward, an assistant asks Alice if it’s true that David is dropping from the project, but she denies that is the case. Early on in “The Bond”, there are hints of a fractured marriage due to this film.
Alice is spat in the face, and she tells her husband about Hilik’s possible cause of death
On the way back to the car, a woman shouts at Alice, calling her the devil — she’s then spat at, and the woman walks away. She rings David and leaves him a voicemail stating it looks like Hilik committed suicide; apparently, he owed money to loan sharks. There’s no explanation as to why the woman spat at Alice, and the lead character seems to brush it off quickly. That’s a theme; extreme events seem to faze Alice, but only for a short while.
Alice heads to Sophie’s apartment
“The Bond” gives us a sense of Sophie’s personal life. Alice heads to Sophie’s apartment, and she can hear an intense argument. When Sophie answers the door, it’s evident she’s emotional; Sophie’s voice is wavering as she lets Alice in. As Alice checks out the apartment, Sophie continues to argue with a man. Alice looks across the road at another balcony, and a woman viciously shakes her head at her — it’s horror-like in the way she did it. Quickly forgetting what happened (briefly fazed again), Alice looks through Sophie’s notes to see where her inspiration comes from. There are scribbles about Alice’s classes.
Alice wants to make changes to the script by Sophie disagrees
Sophie is not all sweet and open when it comes to the script. Alice asks Sophie if the man she was arguing with is her boyfriend, but she quickly brushes it off as “complicated”. Alice asks Sophie if she was a student of hers, but she denies she ever was as she “wasn’t suitable for that”. Both women sit down and talk about making minor changes to the script; Sophie is irritated that Alice wants to make changes to the story — she states she’s looking to shock and not make an identification of characters and completely shuts down the conversation.
Sophie takes Alice to Gaga dancing
Due to a bitter conversation of the script, Alice wants to leave, but Sophie tells her to stay and that she wants to take her to a unique experience — a Gaga dancing class. Alice scoffs at the idea, but Sophie begs her. If you’ve never seen Gaga dancing, it’s definitely an experience, and “The Bond” brings an atmospheric class; the dancing is highly sensual as the dancers connect with the movement language. The teacher entices them all to improvise their movements based on his descriptions. Alice slowly gets into the class, and you can tell she’s coming to the idea of opening up. Sophie and Alice slowly put their back against each other as the teacher instructs them; there’s a growing sensuality as their bodies move together. They are both into the sequence, rubbing their backs into each other, lost in the moment. Alice looks freer in this scene; she’s completely let go, and the class consumes her.
Afterward, David rings Alice asking if she will be home for dinner. Alice explains she ended up at Gaga dancing. David seems annoyed but tries everything he can not to fight with her. His mother is helping the children and doesn’t seem impressed.
Despite the strange undertones to the scene, this feeling of freedom and release felt empowering. Losing Alice season 1, episode 3 sees Alice having an enthralling, purposeful experience.
Sophie convinces Alice to go on a night cruise
While enjoying a chat next to the sea, Sophie sees an old friend named Dalit. The friend wants to take Alice and Sophie on a night cruise. Alice insists that she has to go home, but Sophie is highly persuasive and convinces her to join her on a yacht. Sophie and Dalit smoke weed on the boat, but Alice takes in the waves and refuses a pull. She keeps checking her phone, increasingly getting worried that she has no reception. Her face says it all — have you ever been at a party that you did not want to be at? Not based on the fact that you do not want to have fun, but your anxiety gets in the way? That’s Alice in this scene.
Sophie strips off completely naked and jumps in the sea. Dalit tells Alice not to be so tight, and to drink a few shots and dive in. Dalit manages to convince Alice to dive in after a few drinks and to enjoy herself like a “little girl” — even the mention of “little girl” is important, as there’s a slight hint that Alice is feeling younger around Sophie. Alice strips off her clothes and joins Sophie in the sea. On the way home, she leaves David a voicemail stating she had no reception and that she’s on her way back.
The police pull Alice over
Alice’s brief freedom is hindered in “The Bond” as her small window of wildness has undesirable outcomes. While driving home, Alice is stopped by the police and she has to blow into a breathalyzer. It’s a random police check. She fails the test and is asked to try and follow a straight line. She seems to feel freer at this moment despite being in trouble. Sophie ends up driving her home; on the way back, she asks Alice if anything has happened between her and Tamir, but she denies it. Alice talks about fantasies that do not materialize when you are in a marriage. Sophie then says she doesn’t have a driver’s license, and both women start laughing. There’s a strange, unyielding friendship brewing between both of them, but it seems to encourage Alice to tap into her insecurities and find her youth, relieving her of insecurities.
A moody David
Alice gets home, and she’s giggly because she got into trouble. She explains to David what happened, including getting her license suspended for a month. David seems bothered that Sophie took her home when he could have picked her up. Alice tries to lighten the mood, but David isn’t impressed and says he’s sleeping in the living room, but Alice tells him that Sophie is asleep there. David asks Alice if she’d pick him for the movie if he weren’t part of the package. She tells him it’s her dream to work with him and calls him a brilliant actor.
The ending
Sophie isn’t ready to fall asleep yet. She notices the house across the road and a light in the window turning on. She kisses the window and smiles — it’s almost like she knows that Alice purposefully stands in the window for Tamir. Sophie then goes upstairs and watches David and Alice sleeping in bed together. David wakes up, and Sophie tells him that she’s cold. He gets her a blanket. She asks if there’s a chance he will not be in the movie because of Alice. David tells her it has nothing to do with Alice. Sophie tells him to do the role while slowly rubbing her feet over his face — “or is it too daring for you”. David sucks her toes and Alice looks at him and tells him he should do the role. He returns to bed, understandably confused.
Ramping up Alice’s personality, Losing Alice season 1, episode 3 delves into her temptation to feel young again, abandoning her responsibilities to explore her newfound friendship with Sophie. As the series closes the first three episodes, it’s clear that Sophie is the initiator of the themes of the story as it taps into a marriage that has many unspoken words. There’s more to Alice wanting to direct this film — it’s not just a career move, it’s a statement.
Additional points
- David goes to the cinema to watch a film that he stars in and starts mimicking his own scenes.
