Well, that was a bottle episode if I ever saw one.
Typically, for cost-efficiency, a series will pop up with an installment where characters share the screen on one set. More often than not, the episode doesn’t advance the plot, but it can serve as a free installment for character development, fun, or other creative things.
And In The Dark Season 3 Episode 8 was the very definition of that. Between a play on the series’ title with a power outage, a snowstorm, merry-go-round sexcapades or overtures, and bickering, it felt like we were watching a fanfiction.
Between a play on the series’ title with a power outage, a storm, merry-go-round sexcapades or overtures, and bickering, it felt like we were watching a fanfiction. Snowstorms, porn without plot, and antagonistic hallucinations, oh my!
Most of the hour revolved around Murphy misplacing her phone and her neurotic need to find it in the middle of a snowstorm while the power was out.
Tensions were high when Lesley begrudgingly offered Murphy, Felix, and Trey a place to crash until the storm settles. Max, of course, lives there or something now.
Felix only mentioned in passing the missing gun, and he was concerned about it, but for some reason, they all dismissed it just as quickly. We know damn well that’s going to come back to bite them in the ass.
But Murphy’s admittedly foolish decision to go out into the snowstorm to find her phone led to some downright awkward and insufferable arguing between her and Max.
They can’t convince anyone that they don’t have feelings for each other. They’re too impassioned when they argue not to care. The two of them are dead set on hurting each other however they can.
And they’re both right about each other in ways. You can’t convince me that Max hooking up with Lesley and deciding that he’s in a full-blown relationship with this woman he’s only known for about 48 hours isn’t in part to hurt Murphy or pathetically attempt to get over her.
And Murphy is controlling, reckless, and toxic.
But at this rate, their hatred for each other right now and fighting has gotten old. Everyone gets sucked into their carousel of toxicity and relationship drama, like a black hole of f*cking suck, and I want off of this ride now.
Never mind the fact that their attempts to hurt each other usually result in them utterly destroying everyone else around them who end up collateral damage on the Murphmax hot mess express.
It’s like Max gets to do whatever he wants. He has no idea how much it sucks to be me.
Murphy
It’s no love lost between Murph and Lesley, who were as catty as it gets, but while Murphy is Murphy, Lesley has been offputting since her introduction. But outside of how much she doesn’t care for Murphy because of hearsay, and how horribly she seems to treat Felix, I’m trying to wrap my head around this relationship with Max.
Have they sped up the timeline or something? Why are they acting as if these two have been seriously dating for months? And they jumped into a full-blown relationship.
Lesley barely knows Max. She knows about as much of him as she does any of the others, but somehow, she seems to think he’s exempt from all of the trouble that came to her doorstep, which is weird as hell.
She also seemed so callous and uncaring about Jess. Not a single vibe she gives off is likable or appealing, and that’s irrespective of her whatever she has going on with Max.
They walked in on them about to have sex once, and then the others had to listen to these two banging while they looked for the phone. And it all seemed so juvenile.
Lesley called Max out for using her to get over Murphy and still being hung up on his ex, and then she went ahead and slept with him loudly anyway. Where is her sense of dignity? Where’s his decency?
And as much as we can talk about Murphy’s damn near nymphomaniac ways, there’s no denying that Max isn’t any better.
EVERYONE gets hurt in this back-and-forth with these two.
And Murphy is growing in increments, but she still isn’t above using people to hurt others and damaging them in the process.
The second she heard Max and Lesley were having sex, she wanted to screw someone to get back at him, and it didn’t matter who it was and how they felt about it.
Oddly enough, it does seem as if Murphy has a connection with Trey and genuinely likes him. If she wasn’t Max-obsessed, she and Trey could probably be something real. I mean, their shower scene was steamy in more ways than one.
Initially, Trey saw right through her attempts when she tried to seduce him. And when Trey didn’t give in to what she wanted, she let her hallucination of Jess talk her into approaching Felix instead.
I just wanted to say that since we hooked up at the motel. I just… I– oh, I thought you were alone.
Felix
It’s weird how Jess is this part of her psyche that chooses chaos and enables Murphy in her ways. The real Jess would’ve never encouraged this.
For some reason, Murphy still hasn’t picked up or refuses to notice that Felix has genuine feelings for her. The second she settled on seducing Felix for sex, one’s stomach dropped because of the hurt it would cause him.
But it ended up being worse than one could imagine. Understandably, with everything going on, Felix prematurely ejaculated before they could even get their clothes off.
It was at this point in the hour where I had enough.
What is it with this series and the need to make Felix the butt of jokes? It’s like everyone gets off on humiliating him, and it’s stale.
It’s not funny anymore. It was barely amusing before, and it reached uncomfortable new heights during this installment.
Because if his embarrassing sexual encounter with Murphy wasn’t bad enough, we also had to witness him almost pouring his heart out to Murphy through the bathroom door only to catch himself in time after seeing Trey’s clothes in a heap on the floor along with Murphy’s.
He’s like the kicked puppy of the series. Sh*t on Felix hours continued when he discovered that the sentimental papers he thought his father would leave him after he died went to Lesley instead.
I actually believed that for once in my life someone chose me, but of course he didn’t. Because no one ever chooses me.
Felix
Felix’s father left those old newspapers to Lesley even though she didn’t spend time with him like Felix. It was the only thing he wanted, and he got skipped over with his sister.
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Felix tearfully wondered why he was never anyone’s choice, and it was positively gut-wrenching.
Felix can be annoying, pretentious, obnoxious, and whatever else some viewers often attribute to him, but he’s a good guy who deserves so much better than what he gets.
When Murphy called out for help, it was Felix who came running to her first. He’s the one who guides her when she needs it and makes sure that she’s alright.
Even when Murphy gets on his nerves, Felix always shows up for her. It sucked that Murphy was so careless with his feelings.
After how things went with Max, you’d think Murphy would learn her lesson about pushing people who care about her to their breaking point.
Max hates her right now, and Jess is gone. And she was still taking Felix for granted.
Murphy’s destructive with her relationships. She sets them ablaze, burning bridges to a crisp. She destroys every good relationship in her life that she has.
Utterly destroying Felix like that felt like the last straw. Worse yet, he bore his soul, and Lesley invalidated his feelings, the guys dismissed him, and Murphy didn’t even check on him until later. Although, it was sweet when they did talk to each other a bit.
Felix didn’t delve into the full extent of his hurt, opting out of talking about any of it. However, we got a rare glimpse into a vulnerable moment for Felix when he shared the sentimentality behind all the newspapers.
All of this hurt, drama, and chaos, and we discover that Trey had Murphy’s phone the entire time.
It was unbelievably dumb. I don’t think there’s any other way of describing it.
As far as moving any plots forward, Felix discovered that Jennifer Walker went missing a decade ago, and authorities suspected that her uncle killed her. We also learn that Trey’s phone is still at Josiah’s house across from the corpse of Josiah’s wife.
Yeah, goody! Bless this bunch; they’re the dumbest criminals EVER.
The season is winding down, and we’ve spent the majority of it looking for Jess. I can’t be the only one growing impatient with this storyline.
Over to you, In the Dark Fanatics. Are you tired of Murphy’s destructive ways? How did you feel about this hour? Did you feel bad for Felix? Hit the comments below!
You can watch In The Dark online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.