THEM: The Scare – Season 2 Episode 3 “The Man With The Red Hair” Recap & Review

The Man With The Red Hair

Episode 3 of THEM: The Scare begins with a racist cop insulting Dawn but she has bigger problems as LA Weekly takes her tip and spins it as cops ignoring a serial killer who only targets Black folks. Lt. Schiffer is furious as he takes McKinney off the case and tells Dawn to clear up her mess.

It seems that Athena works at Kyong-ah’s toy store. Her hands get worse and after looking at a Raggedy Ann doll, she almost slices her hands off. Scared, she throws the dolls out.

Meanwhile, Joaquin Diaz gets assigned to Dawn. They figure that the killer is meticulous as he leaves no evidence. And he may know the victims due to the brutality. Dawn thinks the killer lived in the home and was abused by Bernice. He may also know Curtis. As for the lining up of supplies, they think he wants attention.

It cuts to Edmund inviting Rhonda over. His mood dulls when she reveals she usually hangs out with Donovan, the camera guy. He dresses up as a killer and threatens her with a knife. She gets scared and he suddenly snaps out and commends her improv. She runs off while he is exhilarated that he can play the part of the killer well.

As for Dawn, she gets a call from Kwon Viktor, the son of Korean immigrants. He reveals that his two sisters were murdered the same way but the cop just harassed his dad and dropped the case. She finds the mirrors in their room covered like Curtis’. Viktor reveals they were scared to sleep, like Bernice. She finds video tapes and it shows the girls acting strange and claiming that a man with red hair is following them.

Elsewhere, Edmund slices through his thigh while watching a documentary on Charles Manson. At the same time, Kel tells Natalie that sometimes he gets the urge to do something otherwise he is scared people will get hurt. 

At the station, Diaz and Dawn figure that the killer must be a red-head policeman since there were no signs of forced entry, victims of different races were targeted, and there were no mistakes. That night, a drunk McKinney tries to apologise to Dawn but when she doesn’t accept it, he turns menacing.

A scared Dawn reaches for her gun but he leaves. At the same time, the girls’ videotape switches on. Dawn’s heart races but the doctor says it may just be hypertension because her father had it.

Edmund shows up at the slasher film audition as the killer and is completely in a trance. He scares everyone and they try to make him leave. He blames Rhonda and gets physical with Donovan before he leaves. He screams and that night he watches as Rhonda and Donovan leave.

At school, Kelvin’s dad visits him and they catch up. But on his way home, McKinney stops him. He takes the boy’s weed and makes him get in the car. Kel is scared but McKinney just drops him home. He panics and tidies up his room before smoking up.

Dawn finds him stoned but she gives in and takes him out for dinner. She assures him that she is there for him but goes into panic mode when he tells her about McKinney. He doesn’t know the cop’s name but describes him as someone with red hair. At the end of THEM: The Scare Episode 3, Dawn stops outside McKinney’s home and recalls how he bullied and threatened Malcolm, Curtis and even her.

The Episode Review

THEM: The Scare Episode 3 finally starts giving us some answers even if we don’t get the whole picture. For all we know, there’s more than 1 killer. And even if McKinney is not the killer, we definitely do not like him.

Season 2 also keeps us on our toes making us wonder if there is something supernatural going on or not. There’s the whole trance thing that going on with Edmund, Kelvin and even Athena. But this instalment handles all these different storylines pretty well as we are invested in each and every character.