Mongkok
Episode 2 of Expats is completely set in the past. The timeline is roughly a year from that of the opening episode. Instead of jumping straight into what happened to Gus, Wang and the writers take a measured approach, allowing the strand of the story to unfold in its own time.
Mercy and Margaret’s first meeting was at a yacht party. Gus had separated from his mother and had the temptation to jump overboard. Mercy handles him pretty, impressing Margaret who catches up. Simultaneously, we also witness the backstory of David and Hilary Starr.
The couple married each other under the pretence that they won’t have children. However, David has had a change of heart…and Hilary hasn’t. This creates a sort of friction between the two that is yet to be resolved – even in the present.
Back on the yacht, we learn that Mercy’s friend, Philomena, is rich. She doesn’t have to work a day in her life, a far cry from Mercy’s daily struggles. When she introduced Mercy to her friends, Philomena did not expect her to strip and jump overboard.
Before that, she explains to Philomena’s rich, snobby friends that her life is cursed. Everyone has told her so…from her mother to the card reader. Perhaps that has made her so carefree and liberated in life. But we seldom expect it to be a prison in itself for that person.
Mercy invites Philomena and her friends to “dare” her to swim across from under the boat. The swim seems long but she eventually makes it. To her utter surprise – I fail to understand why – no one is at the decks, cheering for her.
No one bothered enough to even care if she made it to the other end alive. That is her prison, in a nutshell. After visiting the orphanage David and she generously donate to, Hilary meets him for dinner. She explains to him how she held a child in her arms…and felt nothing.
David had earlier remarked to Sam, his simpleton car driver, that even he didn’t see himself as father material. But something in him changed and that sparked his newfound desire to become one. He tries to convince Hilary to try and conceive, for when it will be her own child, she will feel differently.
Margaret runs into Mercy when she climbs back on the yacht all wet. That is the beginning of their brief acquaintance – well, the pleasant part of it anyway. Margaret is impressed with how well Mercy handles the kids.
She explains that because her mother often helped out her auntie run a restaurant in New York City, Mercy had to oversee the cousins. Another thread of focus in the episode is Gus’ disenchantment with his mother and his strangely powerful connection to Essie, the housekeeper.
Gus even spoke to Essie in Tagalog on certain occasions. He wouldn’t go anywhere without her; preferred that Essie carried him instead of Margaret. The behaviour is problematic. Clarke doesn’t seem to mind but Margaret grows wary of this relationship. It is also the time when Margaret and Hilary were close friends.
When the Starr couple came back, all ready to “bang it out,” they ran into Gus in the lobby. Hilary, who doesn’t want to have a child and is on preventive pills – which she doesn’t tell David – takes Gus back home.
She has a long conversation with Margaret about her situation. What Hilary fails to appreciate – and what will eventually end her marriage – is that people change with time. It is the most natural course of things, which can lead to different outcomes than expected. Hilary did not bring that into perspective while navigating David’s change of heart. He resorted to drinking after a year of sobriety when he sensed she wouldn’t go along.
After the kids go to sleep, Margaret and Clarke smoke weed. In their heightened state, Clarke reveals that they will have to stay in Hong Kong for another year. The company has offered him a lucrative package. But this doesn’t please her. Margaret complains that she not only dislikes the city but also is discontent with being reduced to a housewife. Her work and professional ambitions were left in the US.
All the optimism is drained out as everything changes in the next few days. Mercy had offered Margaret her services to babysit the kids whenever she had the chance. And Margaret takes her up on the offer, inviting her to lunch with the kids. It is the same day that David breaks his year-long sobriety, right in the heart of the night market, Mongkok.
Margaret, Mercy, and the kids go together for a stroll. Daisy occupies Margaret with some petty shopping as Mercy volunteers to take the boys.
Philippe is old enough to understand not to steer away from her… but Gus doesn’t. A momentary lapse where Mercy checks her phone allows Gus to drift away into the crowd. He hasn’t been found since but David was nearby and only discovered this mess long after it had already happened. That is why Margaret blamed him because the police told her that kidnappings like these are mostly executed by familiar people.
It doesn’t make sense and you can see why Hilary was upset with her in the first episode. This is also how Mercy and David met one another. The heartbreaking conclusion to the episode shows Margaret standing in the market, looking on longingly, wishing that she would have never let go of Gus’ hand.
The Episode Review
Once again, I have to point out Anne Solano’s exquisite work with the camera. Hats off to all the technicians who have produced such gorgeous portraits of Hong Kong city thus far. The silhouettes and shapes of characters and places are absorbing to look at.
They give an atmospheric touch to the storytelling, which is the other bright thing in episode 2. We go through many red herrings in the episode about what actually happened to Gus.
The entire plan is smartly executed because it gives the climactic act a believable sense of disbelief. The maturity in filmmaking is also exhibited by how much time the central characters are given to become familiar with us. Their connections and closeness are also in stark contrast to what we saw in the opener.
Ji-young Yoo gets a better opportunity to stake her presence and she grabs it well. She is very natural in her portrayal of Mercy, who came across as very relatable. Expats has thoroughly impressed in the double-header, raising expectations.
Given the short length of the limited series, creative choices made in the next episode will determine the show’s fate. For now, all good!
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