‘A History of Forgetting’
We saw Sam’s phone fall from the edge of the elevator shaft in episode 3. Episode 4 of The Resort picks up right from the moment it crashes into the ground and takes away the undiscovered answers to solve the mystery.
Emma and Noah debate what to do with the unconscious Baltasar. The former suggests putting him in a closet, while the latter wonders what kind of person he married. In the meanwhile, the Frias regains consciousness and starts to explain the truth about Sam and Violet, the room, the resort, and a new character, Alex (Ben Sinclair, who is also the showrunner), the actual owner of the Oceana Vista.
Baltarsar’s narration takes us further back to the time when he had a horrible ponytail and came to Alex for a job. The eccentric owner took him to the beach and engaging Baltasar in a game of thumb wars, he seeks out his true ambition: to become a detective. This led Balatasar to believe that Alex was a genius with a profound insight into the human condition. Baltasar became the security head for this very reason.
The entire entourage of employees at the Vista had similarly unique and slightly off-putting personal histories, including Luna who lost her family in a car accident. Alex’s generous heart brought them together under one roof, the Vista, which became more than a workplace: it became their home. They lived with the closeness and love of a family.
During taking the group photo we saw in episode 2, Alex has an episode. He defines his condition to Baltasar as “tempus exhaurire”, or memory leaks. It happens across Alex’s body parts – his ears, the butthole, the eyes. And to make sure he does miss out on anything, he makes little post-it notes and a huge mural that has all the main figures from the Vista.
By the way, Alex was the Santa from Christmas Eve whose card Sam and Violet stole to get to the penthouse. The room also belonged to him and along with that, all its contents. As the memory leaks exacerbated, the situation deteriorated and Alex became borderline threatening to others. He certainly wasn’t kind to Iguanas, many of whom were found headless on the premises. This angered the local employees who believe Iguanas are harmless creatures.
Baltasar quickly became Alex’s only portal to reality. He was the only one Alex trusted. On the morning after Christmas Eve, Baltasar is called away by two security situations. The first was Alex, whose jeep was rammed into the side pavement. When Baltasar reached the spot, he notices blood on Alex’s hands, suspecting he might have done something horrible. It is only then he is called away by Sam’s parents, who have now started worrying that he isn’t back yet and is not picking up their phone. Baltasar also steals a drawing of him from Sam’s picture book.
Violet’s father then learns that she isn’t in her room either when Baltasar lands at his room to investigate. He then goes into the security room and only reveals to Luna that Sam and Violet had gone up to Alex’s penthouse last night. They suspect the worst has happened and that Alex is responsible for it all.
‘A History of Forgetting’ Ending Explained: Is Alex still alive?
The flashback is emotionally told with delicate poise and respect. Alex wasn’t an evil man and his friendship with Baltasar went beyond the contours of relationships. His perception from Baltasar’s memories is one of a struggling person unable to make sense of the world.
Baltasar confronts Alex in his room about Sam and Violet. Alex denies any memory of them and even says that he has had the skateboard (Sam’s skateboard) since he was a child. Baltasar shows Alex the figures of Sam and Violet in Alex’s mural and beckons him to remember. But Alex is not able to.
An extreme incident is witnessed by Baltasar as he sees Alex stripping and running away into the depths of the ocean with the hurricane just picking up momentum.
As he sits with Luna and Murray and drinks away his sorrows, the hurricane changes its course and strikes the resort, just as Alex predicted.
We then jump back into the present where Baltasar indicates that the police could not investigate as the hurricane washed the evidence away. Baltasar then reveals a shocking detail he notices in the mural. He points the couple towards figures of them in it! The painting was indeed made 15 years ago and them featuring in it would probably have to be a huge stroke of coincidence.
Did a couple that looked just like them also visit Oceana all those years ago? Does Alex have the ability to time travel? Does Alex have foresight where he can see in the future? Or, the big conclusion: is Alex still alive?
The last one probably seems to be the sanest option for the viewers. We still can’t figure out the exact thing but something along these four possibilities should be the case.
The Episode Review
This is the defining episode that has brought The Resort to critical mass. It has turned the tables delightfully toward the show. This sudden jolt of energy and life comes in the form of Alex and the majestic air about him.
The storyline was drab and almost lifeless until this point. It started to feel like a sappy tale about an unhappy marriage and a couple that needs counselling. In its essence, it was about two people drifting away. This episode did one better and was about one man drifting away from himself. It is a beautiful touch that brings us right back to square one in knowing the truth about everything.
We already had a truckload of questions before but now the volume of confused frowns has only increased. Us left scratching our heads is a better sight for the show than us wincing and rolling our eyes. It is, perhaps, the start of something beautiful. Only time will tell!
Previous Episode |
Next Episode |
You can read our full season review for The Resort here! |
-
Episode Rating