The Devil’s Hour – Season 1 Episode 3 “Tchaikovsky” Recap & Review

Tchaikovsky

Episode 3 of The Devil’s Hour starts with a montage, switching things up and showing the Warren family in their house. Only… is it actually their house? As the cheery music cuts out and the colour becomes less saturated, we see that it’s actually Lucy’s house. But how? What’s going on? Well, Lucy scrambles out the front door, calling for Isaac but realizing that he’s gone.

Back in the interrogation room, Gideon admits he never touched Isaac or caused him pain, but they were there and witnessed Lucy in the middle of the street. As Lucy starts to lose control, the buzzer goes off on the table, bringing Lucy outside. There, he finds Ravi is there, with horrible bruises across his face and a swollen eye. He decides that Lucy can’t go in alone, and he’s going to be by her side. As they talk, Lucy thanks him and admits how glad she is that Ravi was assigned to the case rather than anyone else. “I’m not.” He replies.

So then we jump back in time and see Ravi taking charge of the case and attempting to do everything he can to try and help find Isaac. He shows her the extracts from the notebook found at the Lodge, including a picture of Isaac’s watch that was inside his bag. It doesn’t work anymore. Not only that, but the killer has written “Isaac is unbound” on there. And for some reason, Lucy experiences a handprint on the glass that appears, and then fades away.

Staying with Lucy’s family, there’s a revealing scene involving her mum at the care home. She begins rattling off answers to a quiz…but the TV isn’t on. When her carer switches the power button on, the same question is repeated and the answer is exactly what Sylvia said originally. It’s certainly an eerie moment.

While Ravi and Nick pore over the notebook scribbles, finding a map hidden in plain sight, it leads them to the stomach-churning discovery of a dead dog stuffed inside a fridge, dumped in the middle of the woods alongside a number of other random appliances just dumped there like a white goods graveyard.

Lucy shows up at Dr Bennett’s office. She’s in shock, understandably, and she’s just following the pattern of the day, unsure how to function without Isaac around. Bennett explains that being powerless is the worst possible thing and the reason why she’s there is she’s trying to find a way to do something. This could be why she’s clung to Harold Slade’s name since seeing it in the paper.

Back at her house though, Lucy experiences more horrific visions, including seeing a man standing by the wall in the attic and footsteps overhead. And just to top this nightmare off, she also hears child laughter coming from downstairs too. Then she turns and the loft is open and the ladder down. Something is seriously wrong here and Lucy completely “nopes” out of the situation, shutting the door to Isaac’s room and lying in his bed. When she glances over, she notices Meredith there smiling.

Struggling to cope, Lucy heads outside and immediately goes to the petrol station, deciding to start up smoking. However, she also pores over the business card Ravi left her. When she phones, Ravi is immediately taken aback when Lucy mentions a violin hanging above Harold’s stairs. While this is true, Lucy has never been there before and he can’t figure out how she knew that.

Lucy heads over to Harold’s place herself the next day, where she finds the exact violin right where she imagined it before. Heading upstairs, under the pretense of using the toilet, she finds Harold’s study, still with blood over the mat. Lucy knows the combination to his safe, have seen this before. 1812.

Inside the safe is a land deed to a property and an old key too. This spooks Lucy, especially when she experiences even more visions, and hurries out the front door. As she does, she rings Ravi and immediately rattles off the address – Turnpike house, Paintmoor Lane, North Tamford. She decides to send over some documents to him, and while she’s not sure exactly what this means, it appears to be important. In fact, Ravi notices the word “Turnpike” scribbled on the sketches he has and knows that this is all connected and important.

Lucy doesn’t drive over immediately though, as she receives a call that her mum has gone walkabouts. Sylvia happens to be out and about, claiming that Lucy looks like her daughter and was on the TV talking about “them girls.” She wants her to sit and watch the ghosts together, and Lucy concedes, deciding to do just that. As they sit together, Sylvia points out that she’s been on the TV, deciding not to give up on finding Isaac

After picking up Sylvia and keeping her in the car, Lucy decides to head over to Turnpike House herself. However, Ravi and Nick are already there, taking a look around. Ravi finds Flurane in the kitchen, which happens to be an anesthetic. As Ravi discusses how commonly you find rats and spiders inside, they’re both distracted by a big discovery. It’s Isaac’s watch. Just as they find it, Lucy heads through the front door and sees it for herself. She also finds a green door that’s hidden behind a shelf. That key from Slade’s safe? Well, it opens the basement door.

Heading down together, they find a camera, outfits, a dollhouse, the works. It’s absolutely unnerving and Ravi immediately tells Lucy to go upstairs and bring Nick down instead.

Meanwhile, Sylvia decides to go for a wander through the forest, finding Isaac just sitting there. He claims he’s not supposed to be there and offers her hand, leading him back to Lucy. This time though, Isaac begins sobbing and the pair embrace each other warmly. It’s a really beautiful moment.

Back in the interrogation room, Ravi and Lucy show up again to talk to Gideon. He admits that he was searching Isaac’s room for research and confirmation. That “confirmation” came in the form of Isaac’s watch. He was gone before Isaac and Lucy returned. He heard the glass smash downstairs… and claims that no one took Isaac. He believes that he disappeared into thin air. Or, perhaps, into another reality?

Remember the Warren family montage from the opening? Well, we cut back to the family, as Meredith screams and stands watching from outside her room. Inside Meredith’s room happens to be Isaac. Meredith says “He’s not supposed to be here.” and as we pan across, Isaac happens to have his hand on the window.

The Episode Review

So it would appear we’re dealing with a case of parallel universes – or at least realities – here, as Isaac wasn’t taken by Gideon but in fact skipped across to this other house. All of the little clues along the way have now slipped into place and while it’s interesting and creative, the show feels eerily similar to Shining Girls too. Still, we’re only at the halfway point and I’m sure there’s more going on here than first meets the eye.

This episode ultimately serves as the turning point though, as everything is set up nicely for what should be a very dramatic second half to this season. The acting has been great and seeing the little clues along the way start to make more sense is definitely satisfying to watch.