Episode 3.1: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Spoilers for Fallout's season 3 premiere after the jump...

Before delving into the heart and soul of the episode, I'm going to lay out in broad strokes what is new about Season 3:

Credits Include:

     - John Bogulski as Blake (Living)

     - Nigel Brown as Chad (Living)
     - Brynne Dickie as Erin (Living)
     - Amy Haeussler as Gina (Living)
     - Elise Johnson as Melony (Living)
     - Kelly Lynne Johnson as Sarah (Dead)
     - Andy Lisle as Tim (Living)

     - Nick Messersmith as Zach (Living)

     - Andrew Nixon as Max (Dead)

     - Shane Simmons as Chris (Living in Chicago)

     - Brittani Smith as Brittany (Living in Chicago)

     - Leila Sutcliffe as Vanessa (Living)

The characters have mostly relocated to the following locations:

     - Apartment 203A: Melony, Vanessa, and Gina

     - Apartment 103A: Blake, Chad, and Zach

     - Undisclosed apartment in town: Tim

     - Undisclosed apartment in town: Erin

     - Apartment in Chicago: Chris

     - Separate apartment in Chicago: Brittany

The guest stars for this particular episode were:

     - Nick Doerner as Adam

     - Sarah Bumpus as Jenny

     - Linda Granbois as Lydia (Blake's mom)

     - Mallory Heggen as Rachel

     - Mimi Nguyen as Martha (or, rather, a spiritual guide appearing as Martha)

     - Maggie Scrantom as Ashley

     - Joe Reilly (as a special guest appearance)

Notably absent from the credits and the episode was Elizabeth Tuttle as Beth Cleary, whose appearance on the show is a loss, although not a huge loss with such a fantastic set of characters. If past seasons are reliable indicators, then Beth may not be gone for good. Perhaps an even more telling clue is that Beth appeared in the Season 2 finale, in the form of two different apparitions (or hallucinations, or other other-wordly-being, but more on that later...), suggesting that we have not seen the last of Beth Cleary (in a non-human form. Sadly, Beth's life-on-Earth days seem to be permanently ended). The character most likely not to return in Season 3? My bet is on Chelsea, whose departure last season seemed much more final than any other character yet, although I would have said the same about Chris a week ago.

Which brings us to the specifics of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation." The episode opens in a dream state that harkens back to the show's pilot episode, with Chris running down the alley alongside the main house. This time, however, he stopped in his tracks by Sarah, Willy, and Max, all of whom are now dead. Max asks Chris where he is running to (and not what he is running from), which also suggests that Chris is still stuck 2 years in the past, when he first ran back to discover Max's dead body. Willy confesses openly to Max's murder, maintains his innocence in Sarah and Beth's murders. Notably, the screen is shaded in an ominous red, which seems to be one possible indicator of a ghost with less than admirable intentions. Is it the case that fouler-than-in-life versions of these three characters (well, perhaps equally-evil-as-in-life in Willy's case) are pushing Chris to pick up the pieces of his now defunct investigation? Or is this just an overtly red herring?

Once awakened, Chris now encounters Martha, or another other-worldly presence who just happens to look a lot like Martha. In Season 2, Martha the ethereal guide was used to great effect as a plot device for moving the story forward, and allowed the actress (Mimi Nguyen) to display a lot more versatility, and I think most viewers would agree that Martha the guide is much more interesting than Martha Tim's sadistic and on-again-off-again girlfriend. If this guide is the same guide as the one from Season 2 (seen here), then her motivation for trying to convince Chris to investigate the additional murders back home seems much more well-intentioned than the convincing in his dream. However, we don't know if this is the same Martha, so that leap of logic is not quite fair (yet).

The Chris-Martha/Martha-like-being interaction allows two characters from two separate previous seasions the chance to interact with each other, and this isn't the only unusual pair. The second is Chris and Brittany, who has apparently moved to the city after college. The two characters have terrific chemistry, and Brittany is a character whom I like more and more as her storylines becomes more and more interesting. Skipping ahead to the episode's montagic conclusion, we learn that that Brittany was not coincidentally walking along the North Shore harbor when she met Chris, but rather that she was driven by something related to Vanessa and/or the rest of the gang. Based on what we have learned about Brittany thus far, it seems most likely that her motives are impure, and that Chris is being flanked on multiple fronts (i.e., the Max/Sarah/Beth ghost phalanx, Martha-esque's more concentrated apprach, and Brittany's full frontal onslaught) to delve back into a world that he and the rest of the Fallout audience had thought he had escaped. But more on Brittany's role on the show later.

In the episode's most dramatic plot twist, we learn early in the episode that Adam -- Blake's one-time enemy and Erin's former boyfriend -- has hanged himself from the balcony of the old house. The timing of events is slightly unclear (which is not new ground for Fallout, which makes heavy use of blue-tinted flashbacks through most episodes) but it seems that this occurred earlier in the summer, with enough time beforehand for Adam to have left town, returned, investigated some of the more recent deaths, and call up several of his friends to let them know that these deaths were worth looking into. Speaking of these phone calls, let's recap who Adam called, and who overhead Adam calling someone else.

Adam called:

     - Chris

     - Erin

     - Gina

     - Zach

Adams calls were overheard by:

     - Melony (overheard Gina's conversation)

     - Chad (also overheard Gina's conversation)

     - Vanessa (overheard Zach's conversation)

Notably, when Adam heard that Vanessa was in the room talking to Zach while on the phone, the line went dead. This could be coincidence, but it feels worth mentioning. And despite Gina's claims that everyone had either received a call from Adam before he died or overheard one, this is not actually the case. Absent from both lists are Blake, Tim, and Brittany. Perhaps drawing more attention to them as possible killers (although remember Vanessa, too). It is also perhaps important to note that, on the day that he died, Adam was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, which leads us as viewers to infer that the faceless figure wearing a black T-shirt and jeans who placed files in Erin's glove compartment was likely also Adam. This also happens to be the day that Adam called Erin (since she is wearing the same outfit in the scene with the file-holding faceless figure and in her phone call scene), which may or may not be important to note.

Moving forward in the episode, we see that Blake and Melony are now kaput, and Melony has rebounded with Chelsea's former flame Chad (with a little bit of overlap between the two relationships). Chad was an important comedic addition to last season's cast, especially when on screen with Chelsea, arguably the show's most hilarious character. Here with Melony, though, his presence is somewhat diluted, and, either for balance or because being with Melony saps the life out of a person, Blake is now a much more entertaining character (albeit to his physical and emotional detriment). After being dumped by Melony and consulting with Chris, Blake has been driven to the drink. Characters with tragic flaws tend to meet suspicious and messy ends, so let's hope that Blake and Free Willy (i.e., Willy a la Season 1) have only the drinking problem in common. Oh, and Melony and Chad together makes the third odd character pairing in this episode.

Now feels like as good a time as any to lay out the not-exactly-human characters on this show, and address their intentions, motivations, and possible dual identities.

- Max has been either a ghost or a figment of someone's imagination since the show's pilot, and he has usually been either a guiding force, or at least appears innocuously. Since the Season 2 finale, however, we have been led to believe that not every Max on screen has the real Max's intentions. (As an aside, it is also possible that the real Max and the "evil" Max may be one in the same, and that the real Max had secrets none of the characters yet know about. But in any case, his advice can be either good or terrible, leading us to assume that there is more than one Max floating around in some other realm.) This, of course, throws into jeopardy every one of Max's appearances, and we can never be certain what his intentions and motivations are. On more than one occasion, evil Max has been bathed in a red light, but Chris's dream calls that into question (possibly). Also, evil Max seems to wear different T-shirts and a Minnesota Twins (Nike) hat, while regular Season 1 Max wears the outfit Max wore on the night he died: maroon hat and light blue plaid shirt.

- Sarah's appearances are less assuredly "good" or "evil," since she spends most of her time making Erin feel crazy and horrible. This could be the work of some demonic or at least less-than-good power, or perhaps Sarah appears as divine retribution for the way Erin treated (and was treating) Adam when the two of them were together. Her appearance in Chris's dream is also ambiguous, since we don't know how Chris's re-entry into the lives of his former acquaintances (at least from a distance, as he insists) will play out. And speaking of Erin, Sarah's astute accusation that Erin fears most that Adam's ghost will haunt her next, it might be very interesting to see Adam in a different light.

- Beth didn't appear in this episode, but we have positive confirmation that she can appear in multiple forms with different intentions (as Willy saw two Beths at once). Because we haven't seen her again, we don't know what her role(s) will be. But I loved the juxtaposition of both Beths in the Season 2 finale, and I hope to see more of her.

- Martha-as-guide has given us no reason to think she may have ulterior motives, save for the fact that her advice is in line with the advice given by Max, Sarah, and Willy in Chris's dream (and the dream was bathed in a red light!)

- Willy's appeance in Chris's dream is yet unclear. We do not know what his role is to play in this season, or where his advice will fall on the good/evil continuum

- Adam? Will Adam appear as a ghost? If so, will he be good, evil, or both?

It remains unclear whether or not the "evil" forms of these characters have similar goals or not, but the premise is an interesting one, and one I will enjoy seeing through. I have several questions regarding this new development:

1) Are there really different forms of these people? Or is the form particular to the conscience of the person being haunted? Are the evil Maxes, Sarahs, and Beths (and possibly Marthas and Adams?) manifestations of guilty consciences? Or do they exist, and haunt only targets they can get to?

2) As alluded to above, I'm curious as to whether or not these evil beings are working in tandem, or for different goals. They seem to each pick their own particular victims (Evil Max haunts Blake and Zach so far exclusively, Evil[?] Sarah has only appeared to Erin and possibly Chris, and Evil Beth has stalked only Willy), which could either be because each has a vendetta against those particular individuals, or because each of those individuals is particularly troubled by the way they left things with that particular dead person.

3) If Adam reappears in a ghostly form, who will he take the time to haunt? Blake? Erin?

4) Is being haunted indicative of past guilt? If so, what secrets have we not yet uncovered?

Returning again to this specific episode's plot, we learn that Brittany is trying to blackmail Vanessa with secrets from the file she stole in Season 2, Episode 6 from Vanessa's therapist. Vanessa is enraged, and drives to the city with Blake as her unlikely road trip buddy (Vanessa and Blake mark the episode's fourth odd pairing). Both Brittany and Vanessa seem pretty invested in this development, given that both of them drove between the city and the college (and if we are to believe that the two cities in question are Chicago and Iowa City, the drive can easily take 4 hours or more) in both directions in the same day. Both Vanessa and Brittany act strangely in their Chicago interaction, with Brittany first telling Chris to go in the bathroom and later denying that she wrote the incriminating note. This scene begs several questions. Why would Brittany want to be home when Vanessa arrives, and how did she know Vanessa would be coming? And why would Brittany ask Chris to go into the bathroom? If she brought Vanessa (and Blake? That seems unlikely) to Chicago to help him get his revenge (as she later suggests was her motivation), why would she have hidden Chris in the bathroom? And if Brittany is only in Chicago to disrupt Vanessa's life (by disrupting Chris's), why try to spare him the interaction? And why deny the blackmailing? Vanessa behaves predicatble (for Vanessa), but alludes to being able to hurt Brittany in an unspecified way, but in a way Brittany is familiar with, having read through Vanessa's file. These scenes beg a lot of questions, but also allow Blake (John Bogulski) to display some very funny reaction shots in his drunken state.

The culmination of these four-way interaction between Chris, Brittany, Vanessa, and Blake leads to Chris and Brittany having sex at Chris's apartment, and Vanessa and Blake having sex in the back of Vanessa's car (and Chad and Melony may or may not have gotten it on as well, but back in town).

The episode's two big reveals are that Brittany has sought out Chris for a yet-unknown reason, but has bumped into him purposefully, pretending it is coincidence. And, more dramatically, we learn that Adam did not kill himself under his own volition, but under knife-point by a gloved killer. Both of these reveals beg more questions than they answer, but they open up some interesting possibilities for the show.

Also important to note: Vanessa and Zach may now be dating, and Vanessa may just have had a 2-dude night (possibly her first?). But I'm happy for the two of them. I have always 'shipped harder for Vanessa and Zach than for Vanessa and Tim, but maybe that's a personal preference? And maybe I'm just really fond of Season 2 Episode 1's final shot (around 6:28)?

Some final thoughts:

• How does Tim know Chad?
• How many files are there? Chris has some, Erin has some, Brittany has some...
• Also, what information is in these files, and who knows something the others don't?
• Chris's phone calls to Gina allow for the episode's fifth weird character pairing.
• Why would Adam distrust Gina? And why would he leave her a note telling her this?
• Did Adam really leave the note, or was it left by the killer (or someone else)?
• Was the note left before or after Adam called Gina?
• If we are accumulating alibis and evidence for Adam's murder, Blake claims to have been drunk/sleeping the night Adam hanged.
• Although Adam looked like he hanged himself during the day...
• Where was everyone else?

 And lastly, I'd like to end with a little wild speculation and non sequiturs.

Wild Speculation:

• Two characters were seen in this episode by only one person, allowing for the possibility that both characters' appearances in this episodes were hallucinations or hauntings.
• Lydia, Blake's mother, appears, but only to Blake, and not at her usual iciness (although she does butcher Melony's name). She could have been a drunken figment of Blake's imagination. Bonus evidence for this particular wild speculation: in a typically ghostly fashion, Lydia does not pick up the ring.
• Jenny has not yet spoken to anyone but Tim, and we don't know why Jenny and Tim broke up. Is is possible that Jenny died and that is why she and Tim "broke up?" Or am I reading too much into this?
• It seems particularly incriminating that Blake, Tim, and Brittany did not hear from Adam, and that Adam may have hung up on Zach upon learning that Vanessa was in the room (and how does the timing of Adam's death and that phone call pan out?). They are on my watch list, although Brittany may not have been in town when Adam died.

Non sequiturs:

• Chris wisely refrains from throwing his iPhone into the lake. Thank you for abstaining, Chris. An iPhone is a terrible thing to waste.
• I, for one, am very, very glad to see Shane Simmons and Nigel Brown added to the main cast. Shane was always a terrific actor on the show, and Nigel (as Chad, although I have seen him in a play in which he was also hilarious) is very, very funny (although, again, more funny with Chelsea than with Melony).
• I am also unsurprised to see Melony and Blake broken up.
• Who do they belong with? Anyone?

One of the largest questions I am left with is whether Sarah, Beth, and Adam were all killed by the same killer, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this question and any of the others I mentioned above.

So what do you think?