S01.E03: Episode 3

[Scarlett45]

Quote

As Clare laments her linear lifetime and the unpredictability of her soulmate's appearances, a teenage Clare turns to Henry for help.

Air Date: May 29, 2022

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm really not a fan of Claire expositioning everything from the chair in the future. I get kind of wrapped in the story and then there's Rose Leslie in old makeup re-explaining everything we just saw.  It puts way too fine a point on everything, hitting it again and again.  It's overkill. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Scarlett45]

That mother fucker burned her. Fuck him. Yes we knew he raped her (even without reading the book) poor Claire, how terrified she must’ve been. Text messages? Read her texts? My blood is seething. 
 

Being tied up and having “rapist” written over you in sharpie is better than you deserve rape and BRANDING someone. 
 

The old age makeup on Rose looked decent. The writing on this series has been the best part. 
 

Well no- the best part is Theo James and his fine ass naked self on my screen. I wonder what his calorie plan and exercise regime was for this mini series!

[Ms Blue Jay]

This is really dark.  Did this rape/revenge storyline happen in the book?  Because I don't remember it.

Okay, I liked the end of that episode - even the exposition - and I'm so glad I didn't have to watch Henry murder someone.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Scarlett45]

10 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

This is really dark.  Did this rape/revenge storyline happen in the book?  Because I don't remember it.

Okay, I liked the end of that episode - even the exposition - and I'm so glad I didn't have to watch Henry murder someone.

I never thought Henry was going to actually murder him- but those wounds were FRESH. Claire was obviously still in shock and upset. (As any person would be after that awful ordeal)
 

Her visits from Henry were probably only a few days a part. I understood her anger, but she didn’t want him dead. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Okay, from the Wikipedia description from the book:

Spoiler

At one point, Henry helps Clare frighten and humiliate a boy who abused her. 

It's been 20 years, I probably have forgotten most of it!

[iMonrey]

I thought this was a comparatively weak entry in the series, although it ended strong. But if they are repeating scenes, like Claire's very first encounter with Henry at six years old, then maybe there isn't enough story to fill six episodes. That said, this episode accomplished what I think it set out to do, which is to show from Claire's point of view what it was like growing up and having to wait for each visit from Henry. 

It also got me thinking about the number of times she saw him over the years. Something like 150 times, I believe. And that's roughly spread out over eight years in Henry's life. And Claire's childhood isn't the only place he time travels to. So how many times a year does he spontaneously travel through time? Does it happen every day? Once a week? 

Quote

Well no- the best part is Theo James and his fine ass naked self on my screen. 

I get that he's naked by why does he also look like he's all oiled up, like a bodybuilder?

[Keywestclubkid]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I 150 times, I believe. And that's roughly spread out over eight years in Henry's life. And Claire's childhood isn't the only place he time travels to. So how many times a year does he spontaneously travel through time? Does it happen every day? Once a week? 

it was just 150 times for THAT Henry up until that point in his life 

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I get that he's naked by why does he also look like he's all oiled up, like a bodybuilder?

I think they're trying to show that that's the time travel "tunnel/portal" he travels through.  It's oily like that.  LOL.  

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I thought this was a comparatively weak entry in the series, although it ended strong. But if they are repeating scenes, like Claire's very first encounter with Henry at six years old, then maybe there isn't enough story to fill six episodes.

There definitely is!  They have really shrunk down the book so far.  

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I get that he's naked by why does he also look like he's all oiled up, like a bodybuilder?

Because it’s more aesthetically pleasing for the audience?

[wallflower75]

20 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

This is really dark.  Did this rape/revenge storyline happen in the book?  Because I don't remember it.

Okay, I liked the end of that episode - even the exposition - and I'm so glad I didn't have to watch Henry murder someone.

Spoiler

Yes and no.  The boy didn't rape her--he said she wasn't "good enough" for him to rape.  But he did beat her up and burned her breast with a cigarette, and Clare asked Henry to get revenge for her, which he did.  Clare finished it off by writing the details of her date on the duct tape, then called someone to go get the guy later.

Edited May 30, 2022 by wallflower75

[MzLiz]

This show is all kinds of messed up. I can’t stop watching, it’s that riveting but so gut wrenching…every single episode. And I guess either her father or brother is in fact the one that kills him even inadvertently. That is doubly sad.
 

So…gross and awful thought here. All of him time travels…his teeth, the blood, his severed feet…once he dies is his body parts going to continue popping up in places? If so, is Claire going to be subjected to it the rest of her life? Or other people? 

Seriously, Henry believed she wasn’t raped? I guess he wanted to believe it so bad, but…really? Jason had her all alone and his response to her “changing her mind” is to just beat the crap out of her, burn her, even tells Henry she likes it rough, but doesn’t rape her? 
 

The 1st two episodes were sad, this one was horrifying. 
 

Theo and Rose are killing it. Fantastic acting. If this was longer than 6 episodes, I don’t know if I could take it. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by MzLiz
Spelling

[Enigma X]

I liked the episode (though my least favorite of the three) and have no issue with how Rose Leslie is playing Clare, except in this episode. She was not a convincing old Clare for me. Not at all. It was really like a young person mimicking an older person. 

[Dminches]

Something I am confused about. If 24 year old Henry didn’t know Claire before meeting her in the library then how did he understand the tape of his Mom answering Claire’s question posed by older Henry. I would have expected 24 year old Henry to be completely confused. 

[Scarlett45]

30 minutes ago, Dminches said:

Something I am confused about. If 24 year old Henry didn’t know Claire before meeting her in the library then how did he understand the tape of his Mom answering Claire’s question posed by older Henry. I would have expected 24 year old Henry to be completely confused. 

What do you mean by Henry “understanding the tape”?

Henry decided sitting with Claire that the next time he got to have a conversation with his Mom (in the past) he was ask her Claire’s question. Older Henry went back to the past (let’s say 1986 for example), asked his mom the question, and it was on the Q&A. Older Henry knows he does this because 24yrs old him decided to do it, and he has memories of listening to the answer on the tape.

24yrs years old Henry and Claire listened to the tape for the first time together on their second date.  Did 24yrs year old Henry know THAT SPECIFIC TAPE would contain the answer to Claire’s question? No because he hadn’t listened to it yet (which he tells us at the start of the scene), but he wasn’t going to be surprised by it, as he is deciding he is going to ask his Mom Claire’s question, and he knows this tape is of a Q&A of his Mom’s. 
 

24yrs old Henry has spent the majority of his life knowing he was a time traveler- things like that aren’t going to confuse him. As he said in this episode “days are always in a shuffle”(like a shuffled deck of cards). 
 

Time is a loop in this universe- while it looked to the audience that Henry “changed history” with his decision he didn’t, he was always going to ask Claire’s question, it was always going to be recorded on that tape, and they were going to sit together on the second date and Henry was going to decide next time he was in the past to ask him Mom that question, and the loop starts again. 

[Scarlett45]

On 5/30/2022 at 10:36 AM, iMonrey said:

It also got me thinking about the number of times she saw him over the years. Something like 150 times, I believe. And that's roughly spread out over eight years in Henry's life. And Claire's childhood isn't the only place he time travels to. So how many times a year does he spontaneously travel through time? Does it happen every day? Once a week? 

If Henry time travels 3x a week on average, that’s 156 “jumps” in a year. I could see him visiting Claire’s childhood self 150x over 8yrs. 

23 hours ago, Keywestclubkid said:

it was just 150 times for THAT Henry up until that point in his life 

Well Claire’s childhood is over- we know Henry visited her during her childhood only 150ish times because that’s what she has told us. (And she kept track, because she told adult Henry, who told child Claire- TIME LOOP!)

As of 2008 she knows how many times Henry visited childhood Claire because she lived it (and childhood is over), Henry only knows what she’s told him, because for him the trips haven’t started yet, but for HER the visits are in the past. 

[Dminches]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

What do you mean by Henry “understanding the tape”?

Henry decided sitting with Claire that the next time he got to have a conversation with his Mom (in the past) he was ask her Claire’s question. Older Henry went back to the past (let’s say 1986 for example), asked his mom the question, and it was on the Q&A. Older Henry knows he does this because 24yrs old him decided to do it, and he has memories of listening to the answer on the tape.

24yrs years old Henry and Claire listened to the tape for the first time together on their second date.  Did 24yrs year old Henry know THAT SPECIFIC TAPE would contain the answer to Claire’s question? No because he hadn’t listened to it yet (which he tells us at the start of the scene), but he wasn’t going to be surprised by it, as he is deciding he is going to ask his Mom Claire’s question, and he knows this tape is of a Q&A of his Mom’s. 
 

24yrs old Henry has spent the majority of his life knowing he was a time traveler- things like that aren’t going to confuse him. As he said in this episode “days are always in a shuffle”(like a shuffled deck of cards). 
 

Time is a loop in this universe- while it looked to the audience that Henry “changed history” with his decision he didn’t, he was always going to ask Claire’s question, it was always going to be recorded on that tape, and they were going to sit together on the second date and Henry was going to decide next time he was in the past to ask him Mom that question, and the loop starts again. 

24 yo Henry asked Claire if he wanted to meet his mom and ask her a question.  How did 24 yo Henry know there was a question “from Claire” on the tape if he never heard it before?  Lucky guess? A couple days ago he didn’t even know Claire.

Are we to assume that in that period between dates he traveled and met up with older Henry who told him what happened that night?

I guess that’s the point.  Anything goes.

[Scarlett45]

45 minutes ago, Dminches said:

How did 24 yo Henry know there was a question “from Claire” on the tape if he never heard it before?

He didn’t know, he just suspected because that was a Q&A tape he had yet to listen to, but before he pressed play he decided to ask his Mom the question. 
 

That’s how I understood it.

[nomodrama]

Henry not only possess the ability to time travel but also the ability to memorize 152 dates perfectly and consequentially, and I can barely keep the dates of one week of my life together! 

Seeing Claire's home life it's not surprising that she was so open minded about Henry but clung to him so completely from the start. 

I had forgotten about Jason. 

I liked all of the actresses playing Claire, they all captured her spirit. 

[Whimsy]

8 hours ago, nomodrama said:

Henry not only possess the ability to time travel but also the ability to memorize 152 dates perfectly and consequentially, and I can barely keep the dates of one week of my life together! 

Seeing Claire's home life it's not surprising that she was so open minded about Henry but clung to him so completely from the start. 

I had forgotten about Jason. 

I liked all of the actresses playing Claire, they all captured her spirit. 

I was thinking the same thing!  Honestly, I don't believe for one minute he'd remember all 152 dates....

[Bill1978]

Wow, I was not expecting this show's brief detour into becoming How to Get Away With Murder and thank goodness it didn't go down that eventual path. I'm tuning in for the soppy love story and Theo's time jumping (oil and everything) and I wasn't prepared for the deep philosophical and moral questioning a murder would have presented.

I have really enjoyed the scenes between the different Henrys and the young Clares. The show (especially Theo) have gone to great lengths to show that Older Henry is just being a friend to Clare at this age although from his line about being naked in the presence of Clare-16 it was getting a little bit more difficult to keep it all platonic (which I guess is understandable when the teenager is starting to resemble the wife you know).

Speaking of husband and wife, I may have let out a gasp when he yelled at Jason that he was Clare's husband especially after he had worked so had to keep that info from her. I wasn't expecting it to be that moment that he revealed the truth to Clare.

I admit for a while at the start I was watching the wrong recording as I was sitting there thinking haven't I seen this scene already and it kept going like it wasn't a recap. Only thing convincing me was Oldest Clare's narration to the camera which I thought was maybe to a child but Henry said they don't have children so not totally sure who is re-watching them since Henry is dead.

And speaking of dead Henry, it does seem like the show is setting up that either Dad or Douchebag Brother is going to be responsible for Henry's death.

After two very heavy episodes, I hope the next one gives us some breathing space and is a bit more light hearted being we have to deal with Henry's death.

[LadyIrony]

I know the whole premise is implausible but it still expects a lot of suspension of disbelief. If Henry's jumps are random than it seems odd to me that Claire is in woods area so often when he appears. Or did she keep going there every day and it's just by chance? Even so, there is still the time factor. 

I didn't think Claire would go through with having Henry kill the guy when she made him go back for his inhaler. It seemed a silly thing to worry about. So they stick him to the tree and write on him but then what? He is asthmatic and she is worried about that, so does she hang around to ensure she can give him the inhaler when required?

Not a great ep for me. Not as dark as I thought it would be but dark enough. And I do wonder if Claire has or had at 16 some masochistic streak where she thought she deserved to be punished. She seems to be a very angry woman in general but especially at 16.

[lovett1979]

On 6/4/2022 at 6:37 PM, LadyIrony said:

I know the whole premise is implausible but it still expects a lot of suspension of disbelief. If Henry's jumps are random than it seems odd to me that Claire is in woods area so often when he appears. Or did she keep going there every day and it's just by chance? Even so, there is still the time factor. 

They are random in that at any point in HIS life, he might jump back to see her as a child. But, he gives her a list of dates of all the times they will meet between their first meeting and the library meeting. (you have to accept the time loop that he gave her the dates that he memorized after seeing them on the list that he dictated to her) So she know when he will be there and is waiting. Or leaves a note because she decides to go to a party instead.

In the first episode, she says she knows she's his wife because "he told her", which seemed inappropriate. Then in this episode he repeatedly lies to her that she's not, even though the clues she's piecing together are pretty convincing. I'm glad to see that his intention was to never tell her and it only slipped out because of the argument with the rapist.

When he returns back to future Claire, I wish they had had a more emotional connecting about what had just happened (for him). He finally knows an almost-truth (he knows she was assaulted, if not raped) about his wife that he had never known before. You'd think that revelation, or their shared experience of that night, would be something to commiserate about, rather than the marker.