Full Circle – Season 1 Episode 3 “Jared’s Body” Recap & Review

Jared’s Body

Episode 3 of Full Circle begins with Xavier and Louis burying the bodies of Nicky and Keesen. The latter is the “snitch” who was killed by Victor in the van in the last episode. Aked is still confused about why Savitri insisted they kill the “pickney” at 1.11 dot. Why not before or after a conventional time like midnight?

Moving forward, Mel faces a confrontation at work. Her bosses Pete Fong and Manny Broward inquire about her presence at Washington Park the other night. To Mel’s surprise, the latter has changed his narrative as to what he ordered her to do at the park.

Now, an interagency task force is being formed with the NYPD and the FBI to further investigate the botched kidnapping and the insurance scam. Mel’s “mutual cooperator” (Xavier) might come in handy for them to crack both cases.

At the Browne residence, things are calmer now. Derek is still struggling in the aftermath of Nicky’s supposed killing. Sam senses there might be something else going on and unsuccessfully tries to break into Derek’s phone and search for the name “Charisse.”

Nicky took her name almost as if Derek knew her and that is what intrigues Sam. Nicky wakes up in a motel and Natalia dresses his wounds. She thinks he is Jared and Nicky does not clear up her misunderstanding. He wants to wait to inform the police and “his parents.”

Aked is worried about where Nat is and Xavier still doesn’t know about Louis’ plan. Harry’s meeting with Xavier at the former’s house is quite revealing. He shows his trust and belief in Xavier by giving him additional money. He characterizes this money as something earned by Xavier for capably doing the two jobs he was given.

Unsurprisingly, Harry also talks crass about Savitri and her careless ways of conducting business. He suspects either Nat or Louis is the informer. When Harry proposes to extend Xavier’s visa, he is unsure. He wants to go back to Georgetown. Harry also shows his intention to go back and a “new plan,” which might have to do something with resetting the “old order.” Xavier gifts Shakeela a necklace from his bonus.

Mel, who is now working on the case, tells Fong that Xavier will only talk to her and subsequently, to the task force. She meets with NYPD Det. Brian Sanders and FBI Agent Roan Jessup downtown at the Browne residence to discuss the case. During the questioning, Derek keeps avoiding questions from Mel about his estrangement or lack thereof with Nicky. She presses Sam to answer questions about their marriage but she doesn’t indicate anything is wrong. Mel clearly believes the family is letting on less than what they know about Nicky and the Guyanese.

Sam, whose maiden name is McCusker, calls the NYPD asking for Manny. It turns out that Jeff’s brother, Gene, worked with Manny when they were at the NYPD. Mel discovers that they were possibly involved in some drug case but were eventually cleared in an internal audit.

The article she reads also claims that Gene owned properties in Guyana, the building we saw in the first moments of episode 1. We see Jeff meeting Clarence at the hospital in an intimate way, suggesting there is more to it than what meets the eye. Derek also has a bigger secret – he is Nicky’s father. He calls Widmer, his lawyer, and asks about his paternity confirmation test from years ago. Mrs Charisse Henrikson is Nicky’s biological mother and confirms this relationship to the task force. She tells them that Nicky ran away from the house after he turned 16. She made a deal with the boy not to turn him in to State Services.

Charisse also reveals that Nicky has a disassociative disorder and is especially obsessed with Derek. There is also the suggestion that there is a financial agreement with Derek to keep things quiet. Nat contacts her friend, Eloise who works for Edward Chung. Both Louis and she are scared of what to do next and think this is the best idea when it is clearly not. Meanwhile, Carol, Mel’s girlfriend, finally tells her their relationship is off when she goes to her apartment.

Seymour, the casino manager, investigates the case. He wants to learn how the kidnappers knew about Jeff’s credit limit with the casino. It turns out that Harry contacted an employee for the information. And Harry also has around 88k in debt with the casino.

Sam is finally contacted by Manny. They discuss the kidnapping and a lot of dots that need to be connected. But above all, Sam wants to “do the right thing” irrespective of what comes out the other end about Gene. Derek meets with Widmer who tells him that Nicky can seek him in the normal course of things, like Charisse. He is worried that Charisse might have a legal case against him for not trying “hard enough” to save Nicky.

Next, he meets Charisse and tells her the truth about Nicky. Sam is on the move as well, going to meet Gene and Cindy, his wife, at their house. Sam asks Gene to meet Jeff and help him calm his nerves. But Gene goes off on a rant about how Jeff screwed him over in the past. It seems like the wrongdoing in Guyana might have resulted in Jeff profiting from it.

Aked and the others now think Louis and Nat are also informers. It is revealed that Aked tried to check on the body before filling up the hole but Louis stopped him. He is convinced that Jared isn’t dead. 

The Episode Review

Well, well, well… episode 3 of Full Circle brings startling buildups to the story. I must confess, the interconnectedness of the universe and the truths about the characters were jarring, to say the least. This gives a completely new complexion to the show going forward. It is still unclear what everyone wants out of the whole ordeal or what the outcome might be. Anything is possible at this stage and that is a great look for the season halfway in. 

Among other things, episode 3 was ingenious in establishing the characters for us. Mel was the pick of them. Her “loose cannon” attitude with zero filters and no fear stands in stark contrast to her investigative skills. Through motifs, Mel and even Derek became more familiar to us by the end of the episode. Although this isn’t a Soderbergh special yet, it might turn out to be, given the developments in episode 3.