The Rain Season 1 Episode 3: Avoid the City Recap

In episode 3, the survivors make their way to the big city of Copenhagen as the first leg of their trip to the Apollon headquarters in Sweden. Copenhagen follows the Walking Dead big city model introduced with Atlanta: When the disaster hit, everyone went there to find shelter and relief, so food is scarce and crime is rampant.

The Rain follows a modified version of The 100’s model for Black Rain. The 100’s radioactive rain became safe as soon as it hit the ground (kids, don’t try this at home). On The Rain, the water is safe as soon as it lands, as long as it’s not collected in a pool of any quantity. A wet roof is safe, but a puddle will kill you… Don’t think about the science of it too hard. The virus probably really needs a lot of room to swim free, or it dies quickly.

After getting to know Simone in episode 1 and Martin in episode 2, this episode is Beatrice’s turn. Beatrice is a complicated person and a skilled survivor who’s not easy to get to know. She’s learned to use what she has, mainly her good looks and ability to charm people, to keep herself alive.

The episode opens with Beatrice, Lea and Jean running away from Martin and Patrick. Martin and Patrick yell at them to stop or they’ll shoot, then fire a warning shot. The others stop. The guys want to steal their food and any useful belongings. Beatrice refuses to give up her pack, even though Martin’s yelling at her, and Patrick’s yelling at him to shoot her. She tells them there’s no food in the pack, but drops it after a minute. They all start walking.

Every apocalypse group has a Patrick, because sometimes they come in handy when the mob turns into monsters and you need a crazy fighter, but they are the worst when you want to pretend life is normal.

Beatrice sits in the bunker and thinks about this memory. It’s not a happy memory.

Simone shows Martin the message from Sten and explains that they want to go to Sweden to find their dad. Martin is skeptical. He thinks if their dad were alive, he wouldn’t have left them alone in a bunker for six years, which is the obvious argument. Frederick is clearly one of those men who sees himself as a superhero, so he prioritized saving the world over making sure his family was safe.

For years Martin has heard rumors about cures and places that were better. They’ve wandered all over, following the stories, but none of them panned out. Now they’re in a safe bunker, full of food. He plans to stay there for a while.

You can’t really fault him for feeling that way. It’s kind of inadvertently cruel for Simone to promise them food and shelter, then take it away again the next day, after they’ve been homeless for years.

Martin gives them instructions for making their way to Sweden through Copenhagen and across the long bridge, the combined Öresund Bridge and Drogden Tunnel that spans 12k/7.5 miles between Copenhagen and Sweden. All of the other bridges were destroyed to try to contain the plague. He insists they avoid people in the city, because anyone who’s left there will murder them for food. And they need to avoid the Strangers, the men in trucks with heat-seeking drones.

Simone and Rasmus need to find their father, no matter what dangers they might encounter. They also can’t face continuing to hide in a bunker, so they pack up and leave. Rasmus is worried about all of the dangers they’ll face alone, now that they’re leaving the group behind. Simone is certain that they can make it to the next bunker before dark and be just fine.

Patrick and Martin are happily playing ping pong when Lea wakes up and asks where Rasmus and Simone went. Martin says they left for Sweden to look for their dad. Lea, who would have died without the food in the bunker, is annoyed that he let them just leave. She tells Beatrice what happened, and Beatrice decides they need to help Simone and Rasmus. She and Lea feel they should help the people who helped them, and they need the hope that comes with finding a man who might be saving the world.

Jean votes that they avoid danger, but they split into their original groups and the girls outvote him.

Martin remembers when Beatrice, Lea and Jean brought him and Patrick back to their camp in a greenhouse and fed them. Patrick still wanted to eat, then rob them and leave. Patrick has a one track mind. The group had a happy conversation over the meal, while Beatrice and Martin made eyes at each other.

Copenhagen appears deserted when Simone and Rasmus enter. Rasmus runs to explore a tipped over bus in the city center. While they’re inside, he and Simone hear people coming, but have nowhere to hide, so they try to stay low.

It’s Beatrice, Lea and Jean, who tell Simone they believe her, like she’s a guiding star, so they’ll follow her and Rasmus. Beatrice says that Martin and Patrick will come after them as soon as Martin figures out that they’re not coming back. They tell her she’s in charge now, but she says she’s not in charge, so they laugh and joke about it. They find a derelict Burger King to have lunch in. Rasmus pretends they’re eating the real thing. Then Jean and Lea go to an optometry shop to find Jean a new pair of glasses.

Before long, Martin realizes he can’t let the rest leave without him, even though it makes him angry at himself. He’s a good person despite himself. Patrick still thinks they should stay in the bunker. He’s messing around with a device he took from the Strangers. He can’t figure out what it does.

Beatrice is angry with Martin for sending Simone and Rasmus out alone, then refusing to join her, Lea and Jean. She remembers the continuation of Martin’s memory. After everyone was asleep that night, she went to Martin, climbed on top of him, and had sex with him. Then she said, “We’re all staying together, right?” as she walked back to her own bed.

A gang of marauders shows up outside of the Burger king while Simone, Beatrice and Rasmus wait for the others. They run away, but Simone gets separated from Beatrice and Rasmus.

Lea and Jean are sweet with each other while choosing new glasses for Jean. They are obviously close, but it doesn’t look like it’s romantic.

Simone wanders back out into the main part of the city while looking for the others. She calls for Rasmus, which seems really dumb when she’s just escaped thugs. She finds a huge public wall covered with “missing” posters. One of the posters says that Denmark is in quarantine, no help is coming, and people should head south. (They group is moving north.) There’s a starving little boy standing behind the wall.

It’s about to rain, so Beatrice and Rasmus take shelter inside a mansion. Beatrice tells him that this is the house she was born in. Beatrice tells Rasmus that her parents had just told her that they were going to get a divorce. She went to a movie to get away from the atmosphere at home. When she came out, the Rain had come and everyone was dead or dying, including her parents. Her dad had left messages on her phone, saying they were sick, and she should never come home.

Simone takes the little boy in out of the rain. She asks him where his parents are, then notices that he’s taking a pill from a packet of morphine. He says they stop his stomach from hurting. Simone says he shouldn’t be taking pills and that he needs food. She tries to give him something to eat, but he faints. His father finds them and tells her to leave the boy alone.

Patrick messes around with the Stranger’s device while he and Martin wait out the rain. Martin worries that it has a tracker in it, but Patrick says they’d have been found by now if it did. Then Patrick thinks he’s found some hash that’s been laying on the ground for years. Like I said in the last recap, tiny brain. He tastes it, and it’s horrible. Not hash. Let’s not think about what it was.

The device rolled onto the ground, and that triggered it to open. It projects a map of the region, showing the quarantine zone.

Rasmus oh so smoothly slides his arm around Beatrice to comfort her after her sad story. She notices that the rain has ended and suggests they go up on the roof. They enjoy the view and she teaches him how to flirt using irony.

The boy’s father ask’s Simone why she helped his son. She says that she did it because she could. He tells her that no one helps each other any more. They are all more like feral animals now. She needs to get out of the city, and be careful on the way. It’s too dangerous there if you have any supplies.

He wants to get his son out, but the boy’s too weak to cross the bridge. He’s heard there’s a doctor in Little Bjärred. Simone shares more food with them so that they have a chance of making it that far.

As soon as they go outside, the father and son are swarmed by dozens of violent people who want their food. Simone runs away, but one man follows her. She makes it to the Burger King, where the others are waiting. She tries to get everyone organized and out in time, but he catches up to her and holds them at knifepoint as he demands food.

Simone tells them to hand over some food, but the others balk at giving theirs up. Simone reminds them that there will be more in the next bunker. The man hears her, and wants to know what she means by that. He grabs Rasmus and holds the knife to his throat.

Martin and Patrick show up at that moment, guns out, and yell at the man to let Rasmus go. After a brief stand-off, the man stabs Rasmus in the stomach, then runs away in the chaos that follows. Rasmus screams and screams, while Simone panics. Martin tries to calm everyone down. Simone tells him there’s a bunker in Amager, so he sends someone to find a way to move Rasmus.

They use a shopping cart as their ambulance, and run all the way to Amager. When they get there, Rasmus is still screaming, and the bunker’s door is off its hinges. It’s been broken into and ransacked. Everything is gone.

They get Ramus up on a table and use the only thing they have, duct tape, to bind his wound. Simone gives him one of the morphine pills. The morphine helps him fall asleep.

Simone blames herself, but Beatrice says that Rasmus is lucky to have a big sister to take care of him. She tells Simone to go sleep while she stays with Rasmus. Beatrice tells Rasmus that she’ll look after him. They’re in this together.

She remembers back to Martin trying to ditch her small group, despite her efforts to make him care about them. He says that it’s safer to travel in small groups. She says that she thought they were together now. Then she tells him that she has a secret. She was born in the house down the street. They are nowhere near Copenhagen. She tells him that she saw her parents and her little sister die there, then was on her own until she met Jean and Lea. It’s better to travel together, right?

Her story worked. Martin agrees to take them with him and Patrick.

Simone tells Martin that she heard about a doctor in Little Bjärred. They agree to take Rasmus there. But first, he shows her the projection from the device, overlaid on a paper map of the region that he was given when he was deployed at the beginning of the plague. His map shows the original quarantine zones. When they broke down, he thought that the virus had spread everywhere.

He points to a thick red line at the top of the map. He thinks that’s a wall that’s been built to contain a large, permanent quarantine zone, and that the virus has been contained within that zone. On the other side of the wall is a normal life. That’s where they all need to go, together.

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I’m watching this dubbed into English, with the English subtitles on. Sometimes the two give very different translations from the original Danish. When that happens, and I’m using the lines as a quote, I blend them the best I can. If anyone reading this speaks Danish, and wants to give me correct translations, or tell me if you notice other times I got something wrong, I’d appreciate it! (Editing notes are also appreciated, since I don’t have a proofreader other than the WordPress spellchecker.)

Lea says that Jean is named after Jeanne d’Arc because his mother hated men, and that she made him wear a dress at least once. Jean is embarrassed in front of the new guys, but he has a gentle soul and doesn’t stay mad.

Simone has developed an annoying habit of telling people things they obviously already know, like telling the starving boy that he needs food. Did she think he was going hungry by choice?

Sometimes, you do have to sympathize with Patrick a bit. Rasmus was stabbed as a direct result of Simone trying to be kind in a situation that she hadn’t thought through, then not thinking about what she was saying and giving out too much information. She doesn’t have the resources to save everyone, or the weaponry to fight off a mob, so she has to learn to be careful. On the other hand, the dad should have known better than to wave the food around, so what was up with that?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone over the age of ten scream as much as Rasmus did.

Beatrice is hard to figure out. I think she does care about all of them, but she’s also trying very hard to survive. She’s figured out that her best chance is by ingratiating herself with whoever’s in charge so that she’ll be high on the list of priorities. Right now, she’s waiting to see which leader ends up on top, Simone or Martin, or both.

She does seem to have some real feelings for Martin, but she also hasn’t forgotten or forgiven him for the way he treated her when they met, and she thinks he’d leave her behind if she became inconvenient. Simone is much more of a “leave no man behind” type, so that makes her a more attractive leader.

Beatrice’s actions toward Rasmus are what’s most confusing. Is she romantically attracted to him or trying to make Martin jealous because she senses that Simone and Martin are growing closer? Or is she trying to stay close to him as a way to stay on Simone’s good side? Does she have slightly pervy big sister feelings for him?

Rasmus is the most naive and innocent of the group, in every possible way, and also the most emotionally unguarded. He doesn’t handle hurt or disappointment well, and he won’t take it well if Beatrice is only using him. But, after everything she’s been through, she could be attracted to his sweetness and honesty.

Simone is bringing out the mature side of Martin, and, in turn, Rasmus could stand to have Martin act as a father figure toward him. Beatrice is placing herself between them, though. It’s a tangled foursome, and then there’s Patrick, who wants Martin to still be his bro and ditch the others.

What does the wall in the north mean, and what about the sign in Copenhagen saying to go south? Is this one of those situations where the plague doesn’t survive in the cold, so the entire southern population is gone and the survivors are moving to the arctic? Or is there another wall in the south, but that particular map didn’t reach far enough to show it? Won’t the walls be heavily guarded and impossible to breach?

What do you all think of these new developments?

 

Images courtesy of Netflix.