Despite Eli’s objections in the previous episode, Noah was sent to a high-security psychiatric ward where he was monitored 24/7. Eli continues to work with him, but with each interaction the strange connection between them becomes more apparent and their sessions become more and more challenging. When Noah spoke, Eli could sometimes hear his own voice saying the same thing at the same time. He is also haunted by visions of Noah stabbing him in the neck with a pen. He even begins to see reflections of himself in Noah’s toy, a statue of a man – a toy that the boy claims “hurts people.” Eli needs a moment away from Noah, overwhelmed and terrified by the impact of what he’s been through. He stepped out briefly—just long enough for Noah to slip away and grab a pen he’d been using. Given that the use of items such as pens is strictly prohibited in psychiatric wards for safety reasons, this is a serious issue, especially since Noah has harmed others with pens in the past.
Eli immediately started looking for the boy, not losing his cool but clearly a little worried about what the kid might do. Thankfully, he soon discovered he was hiding in the linen closet. He calmed the child with his usual gentleness, coaxing him out of his hiding place. He didn’t scold him, but he did press him about the pen’s whereabouts. That’s when Noah made an observation that surprised him: Eli was scared. The psychiatrist immediately denied it, but was scolded by a female voice that only he could hear, whispering “liar.”
Now, Eli is more desperate than ever to uncover what happened to Noah and how it connects to him and, somehow, to his late wife, Lynn. He begins to wonder if Lynn knew Noah, or if they crossed paths before her death. How else could Noah draw an exact replica of the cabin based on the photos in Lynn’s office? Eli persisted in the hope of finding a logical explanation, although painfully, it turned out to be none. This fact only deepened when water started dripping from the living room ceiling – a clogged drain that flooded the upstairs bathroom, the room where Lynn died. In the sewer, he found strands of her hair.
With the help of his assistant Cleo, Eli finds the abandoned church where Noah was a baby. He hopes to get some information about the boy’s biological parents. When he visits a church, he unexpectedly takes his granddaughter Sophie with him – he forgets that he is supposed to be looking at her, making her his unconscious companion for the day. As they explore the church’s quiet, echoing halls, he overhears a woman praying in Dutch, the very language Noah mysteriously used during a strange fit. coincide?
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| Front, pictured: Jacobi Jupe and Billy Crystal. AppleTV+ ©2024 AppleTV+. all rights reserved |
When Eli stumbles across one of Lynn’s old to-do lists, he realizes there are parts of her life he never really understood. As he read her emails, he was surprised to find that his friend Jackson seemed to understand certain aspects of her life better than he, her own husband, did. He wanted to get answers from Jackson, but the party at Jackson’s house was in full swing and it wasn’t easy to get private information. Forced to mingle—a personal nightmare—Eli scanned the crowd and was startled when he spotted Lynn among another party guest. She spoke to him and invited him to dance. He felt dizzy and overwhelmed by what he believed to be hallucinations and the many people around him.
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| Previously, pictured: Judith Wright. AppleTV+ ©2024 AppleTV+. all rights reserved |
When Jackson handed over Lynn’s sketch, Eli was surprised to see the exact same symbols that Noah had drawn. Yet even as the mystery surrounding him deepens, he stubbornly clings to his belief that nothing exists outside the realm of science. These experiences were absolutely terrifying for Eli and made him even more isolated as he had no one to talk to.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, a doctor tries to convince Noah to hand over the pen he took from Eli. However, what they thought was a writing instrument turned out to be a toy – a small figurine. Noah suddenly saw a terrible sight again. A creature grabbed the doctor’s throat with its tentacles. The boy saw that the room was covered with a layer of ice and it started to snow. He whispered Eli’s name, then suddenly screamed.
While Before continues to receive mostly reserved reviews, I find myself really enjoying the show. It may not be the best television I’ve ever seen, but it’s entertaining and has a great cast. As already mentioned in last week’s review, the biggest flaw for me is that the show seems to ignore the potential of its talented female cast. Judith Light is a strong actor who brings extraordinary depth to every role and is consistently engaging, but her character remains underdeveloped, which leaves her with limited screen time , and the audience wanted more. The same goes for Rosie Perez’s role as Noah’s adoptive mother. So far, I think it’s been a missed opportunity as it’s been a compelling narrative, and I hope that future episodes will give these characters, and the actresses behind them, the depth they deserve.
