Summary
Episode 3 is the best chapter so far in this series as we are given context to the manor where Rose and Anna reside.
This recap of Netflix’s Black Summer season 2, episode 3, “Card Game,” contains major spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous chapter.
This is way better — the tension is unbearable in episode 3 after a lackluster opening two chapters.
The title screen, “The Manor,” pops up, and it shows Freddy and the group in the manor. Freddy’s mother talks about children and what it feels like to have a baby. Suddenly, Anna (played by Zoe Marlett) knocks on the front door screaming. Freddy lets Rose and Anna in, and they are offered to sit next to the fire to get warm. There’s a little tension in the room as they all figure each other out — of course, trust is an issue in this world. Rose answers questions as she warms herself up. The vocal mother of the group asks Rose if she has cream, and she’s irked that there’s nothing in this house.
The debate over the supply run
There is frustration in the group as they talk about communication to the plane. There are few answers to when the next plane is coming, but this group is massively underprepared. Discussions turn back to supplies, and Mark ponders whether to go out. Rose tells him to go. Sonny questions the boxes filled with supplies in the woods and believes Mark is up to something funny. Anna cuts the tension and asks where the bathroom is. While Anna uses the bathroom, the camera pans to an office, and a man is hiding, breathing as silently as possible.
Sonny insists that Rose helps Mark, but she keeps declining. Mark doesn’t want her help, claiming she will slow her down. So Mark heads out, and he’s immediately chased by a zombie, so he hides in the garage. He gets on a snowmobile and rides away.
Nighttime
Tensions continue to peak in episode 3 as Rose and Anna are amongst an incredibly dumb family.
The title screen, “Up a Tree,” pops up, and it returns to the manor, with Anna and Rose playing cards. Sonny is still paranoid, pointing his gun at one woman who is making a sweater. The woman passes around snacks, and the vocal mother is wondering where Mark is. Rose speaks up and wonders why they believe Mark isn’t coming back when he’s left his group behind, which irks Sonny.
The plane and the ax
Suddenly, they hear a plane overhead, so Sonny demands that they call them and break the rules. The woman (Rhonda) who is acquainted with Mark gives in and says she will call. She uses the radio, but there’s no luck. Rhonda tells Freddy that it can’t be easy for him and his brother Sonny. On the way back down, Rhonda tells Sonny and Freddy that the ax she left in the hallway has gone.
Getting the wood
The previous two episodes are starting to connect with precision in episode 3.
When they head downstairs, the mother of Freddy and Sonny suggests that Anna goes outside to get wood for the fire, but Rose stays firm and tells them that Sonny and Fred are strong adult men, and they should go. The mother tells Freddy to go. Freddy heads outside on his mother’s orders — he grabs logs from the garage, but then he falls over. A zombie is in the distance, but Sonny will not let him in until he gets the wood. The zombie chases him, so Freddy climbs up a tree to get away from it.
Turning on each other
The next few scenes are when it dawns on Rose and Anna that the family they are dealing with lack intelligence and are reckless.
The title screen, “Feedback Loop,” pops up. Sonny gets angry and asks everyone where the ax is. His mother calls him and his brother useless and kisses Sonny on the forehead. Suddenly, the radio starts playing up, and Sonny believes Rhonda was talking to someone; Rhonda tells him she wasn’t talking to anyone and that she is trying to survive. She picks up a pistol, but Sonny beats her to it and shotguns her. Rhonda turns into a zombie. Rose is the most resourceful; she kills the zombie and the woman it bit with a gun.
Rose and Anna work together
The title screen, “The River,” pops up. All is quiet in the manor again. Anna is refusing to eat as she continues to play cards with Rose. They eye each other up, and they are hinting at each other via their playing cards. Suddenly, Sonny’s mother accuses Rose of doing something to the others, and tensions escalate; Anna and Rose shoot both Sonny and his mother simultaneously. They knew it was time. Rose tells her daughter not to look at the dead man, but she says she is fine.
The ending of Black Summer season 2, episode 3
The title screen, “The Axe,” pops up. The man that was hidden upstairs starts making his way around the house. He sees Rose and Anna in a room asleep, and the credits roll.
Episode 3 is the best chapter so far in this series as we are given context to the manor where Rose and Anna reside.
Additional points
- While playing cards with Rose and Anna, Freddy asks why Rose smells so good before walking off.
