Summary
Episode 2 deepens this physiological and social thriller as outside forces grow, but an internal struggle amongst the Emory family grow stronger.
This recap of Amazon’s Them season 1, episode 2, “DAY 3”, contains spoilers.
Episode 2 opens with Lucky’s screams as she asks her neighbours to stay away from her home after their dog had been killed. The episode then flits to North Carolina, 1946 — Lucky wakes up Henry — he’s shaken, so she feeds him. He seems confused and Lucky talks about a potential job opening, but for Henry, everything zones out. After dinner, he talks about his recent experiences in the war and the nerve gas he suffered from; he suddenly gets agitated because his daughter made him a pie, and he couldn’t eat it. In the middle of the night, Henry wakes up and heads on to the porch; he’s found a dog and calls him “Sergeant”.
The police turn up
Episode 2 shows how the neighbourhood is doing everything it can to get rid of the new family, but they will have to try harder.
In the present day, “DAY 3”, the police head to the family house after Lucky’s outburst. They want to know why Lucky has a gun. A cop holds a photo and asks who it is in the frame. Outside, Betty tells the police that she doesn’t feel safe. The officer explains that without action from a threat, there’s nothing much he can do. Better is furious, believing the police are useless. Lucky tries telling the police about a mark on her daughter’s neck, but it’s not there when she tries to reveal it. A lot of these moments are happening — something paranormal is inflicting on the family.
Lucky is dismayed that Henry sided with the police. As Henry drops Ruby off, his daughter asks if his mother is crazy. Henry tells Ruby that her mother got him right and that they need to work to get her right.
There’s something bad in this house
Lucky’s relationship with her daughter Gracie comes to light in episode 2.
Lucky heads down into the basement with Gracie. As she looks around, Gracie asks her mother if she can see Miss Vera and says she can smell her. Lucky asks about her smell, so Gracie describes it. Suddenly, Lucky sees something right in front of her, and she storms upstairs with Gracie. Her daughter asks if “she felt it”. Lucky tells her she felt it, but not to tell her father about it. Gracie explains there’s something bad in the house.
Later on, Lucky heads to the store and she sees some axes that absorb her. She’s still enraged by the dog dying.
Midge is moving
Betty’s persistence to remove the black family from the neighbourhood grows stronger in Them season 1, episode 2.
Betty wants to do something about the family across the road, but her friend Midge believes the men should sort it out. Better realises that Midge is moving, and she zones out; as she hears that Midge is pregnant, Betty gets angrier. When Betty talks to her husband about it, she wonders it’s because of the house value. She asks Clarke to take a stand in the neighbourhood. Clarke agrees, but only if she makes peace with Midge.
But rather than making peace with Midge, Betty puts sugar in Midge’s family new car in the fuel compartment.
Meeting the boss
A colleague named Gary tells Henry to snap out of it as he’s zoned out at work. Henry thanks him, but then his boss asks for his attention. The boss tells him they don’t have many “negroes” around here. Henry sarcastically says, “you don’t?” and Gary laughs and asks how he is. He tells his boss that the family dog died this morning, so that he’s pretty upset. After his meeting, Henry goes into the bathroom and screams into his hands.
Harassed at school
At school, Ruby is harassed by the students who make monkey sounds at her. A girl called Doris makes friends with her at the Principal’s office.
The ending
At family dinner, Gracie tells her father that she saw Miss Vera. Henry is angry and looks at his wife, Lucky. His wife slices a pie and gives him a plate aggressively. She whispers in his ear that she’s beginning to feel better already. Henry suddenly remembers his past when his daughter made him a pie, and his hands start shaking as he lifts a piece to his mouth. He keeps seeing flashes of digging into the soil.
Eventually, Henry sobs as he eats the pie, and then he looks at his wife and nods when the plate is clean. As the episode ends, the camera looks at the soil in the yard and liquid gushes from the ground. There’s an element of control in this family that has not been revealed yet.
Them season 1, episode 2 deepens this physiological and social thriller as outside forces grow, but an internal struggle amongst the Emory family grow stronger.
