Summary
It’s a step up from episode 1, and after a past connection between Pia and Det Amir becomes apparent, Clickbait reveals whether Nick is dead or alive.
This recap of the Netflix series Clickbait episode 2, “The Detective,” contains significant spoilers.
The van doors open. It’s empty. Despite this, the case gets moved to homicide, and Sophie’s home gets searched. All members of the family hand over their phones to aid with the case; except Pia. Her phone is at her flat as it dries out from the water damage from getting dropped in the toilet.
Clickbait episode 2 recap
Pia asks Det Amir if it’s true that if you don’t find a missing person within the first 48 hours, the chances of finding them alive drop by 50%. He says it is. With the case moved to homicide, Det Amir is no longer in charge of the case but tells her that if the family request a change, that could soon change. It soon becomes apparent that Pia and Det Amir has been in contact before, with Pia saying, “I really did lose my phone, that’s why I never called”. As it turns out, they matched on a dating app but never got round to meeting up.
With every viral video comes negative comments. Nick’s sons Ethan and Kai (played by Camaron Engels and Jaylin Fletcher) can’t help but read them. Journalists, meanwhile, swamp outside the family house.
After an app gets launched to help find Nick’s body, Det Amir stumbles upon two guys looking for the body for fun. One man’s misfortune is another man’s joy indeed. As Det Amir learns that Nick’s disappearance is all the latest gossip, Sophie wonders why a ransom hasn’t been sent yet before appealing to the public and asking for whoever is holding Nick hostage to let him come home.
After Pia finally plays Nick’s voicemail to Det Amir, he has an argument with his superior Det De Luca (played by Steve Mouzakis). Det Amir is told, “You’re not a team player and you keep evidence to yourself. This case is all about climbing the ladder to you”. It’s 48 hours since Nick went missing. There’s a breakthrough, however, as a crime scene is found. At the scene are Nick’s bike and a needle. The find leads to the assumption that Nick got drugged by someone who knew his work routine.
Det Amir starts to believe that Nick and Sophie were having marital problems and wonders if Nick had an affair. There’s panic, especially for Pia, when a body gets washed up. But luckily, it’s just a hoax, and the “body” is actually a dummy as part of some sick joke. Det Amir uncovers footage of Nick fighting with an unknown individual. Whoever it is, they’re now a person of interest. Det De Luca and Det Amir agree to search a remote area, with Det Amir placing an ambulance on standby. Edging closer to water, where the body-finding app has led a group of journalists, Det Amir finds Nick’s body.
The ending
In one of Clickbait‘s most heartbreaking scenes, Det Amir tells Pia that Nick is dead. (P.S. the acting from both Zoe Kazan and Phoenix Raei is great in this scene. Possibly my favourite scene in Clickbait.) At work, Det Amir walks into a crowd of applause as he’s promoted to homicide. Episode 2 of Clickbait ends with Det Amir finding photos of Sophie with the same individual that Nick was fighting with, aka the person of interest.
