Who is Erin Carter? – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Who is Erin Carter begins in the school where Erin is still haunted by what transpired the other night. The school is seeing it as an act of vandalism and nothing more.

Olivia reminds Erin that her big interview to become a permanent teacher is that day. Erin is nervous but determined to land the role that would enable Jordi and her to keep Harper in the school.

Erin’s will is tested as Emilio requests her to help him with his situation. He is investigating a criminal gang and wants Erin to place a bug on the computer of a lawyer, Benecio Agustin. He is connected to the gang and is mixed up in their shady dealings. Erin places it successfully but has to pivot as Benecio arrives at the house earlier than anticipated. A housemaid sees Erin and screams, forcing her to run. Benecio catches up with her and holds her at gunpoint. But Erin does enough to give herself a chance to escape and jumps from the terrace right into the ocean.

Erin is inadvertently late and woefully underdressed for the interview. Although the thought of having messed up makes her nervous initially, she makes up for it with a heartfelt answer as to why she wants to join the school permanently. She cuts to her own childhood where she made a lot of mistakes. She had no one to look out for her. Erin wants to help kids in her position, such as Dylan, who keeps acting out.

Penelope is on the board and is involved in the decision-making. But she seems touched by Erin’s response.

Harper has been struggling with her own issues. Erin found drawings of a nefarious creature in Harper’s room in the previous episode The creature had the face of a goat and the antlers of a deer. Harper keeps seeing its image as if it is real. Jordi wants a counsellor to talk to Harper, although Erin does not want it. There is clear evidence of something tragic that happened to her when she was a child. And it has something to do with Erin’s previous job, which was even shadier.

Erin learns the next day that she did not get the job. She thinks it is because of Penelope but first has to deal with Daniel Lang, Dylan’s father. He is one of the trustees of the school and promises to take a look at Dylan’s problems. He also offers to put in a good word with the Board to review Erin’s position but she politely declines. She goes to Penelope’s house to confront her but learns that Penelope did not veto Erin’s appointment. She missed the opportunity because she wasn’t suitably prepared.

Erin is scared when she finds Emilio’s house being broken into. She follows the tracker on his phone, which is left behind. It leads her to a room where he is being tortured by Benecio for coming after him. Erin risks her life to save Emilio but barely manages to do so. She saddles him in the car and brings him back home. He reveals that he had gambling debts which Agustin promised to take care of. He came back for more and started blackmailing Emilio. And now Benecio knows who Erin is, which puts her family in danger. As Erin pleads with Benecio to leave her alone, Emilio runs him over with the car.

Back home, Olivia is babysitting Harper. They pass the time by playing a card game when suddenly Harper mentions that her mother has a gun. On further inspection, Olivia finds a toy gun in the same bag where Erin had previously kept her gun.

The episode ends with a glimpse of a British prison where a blonde woman holds a photo of herself, Harper, and Erin in her hand.

The Episode Review

The Netflix series continues to positively surprise with its action sequences. I did not expect them to be this decent going in to watch the show. At the same time, a solid base is being laid down to build up Erin’s constant jostling between her past and present lives. Although the contrast hasn’t been brought out yet, we are eagerly waiting to see what’s in the bag.

Erin’s all-action saviour act is a bit bothersome, though.I really hope this doesn’t turn into one of those annoying “girl boss” storylines where the men take all the blame. ‘Who is Erin Carter’ has resisted that notion in the first two episodes but has come dangerously close to breaking their lines. More thought needs to go out to ancillary characters like Penelope and Olivia who seem to be neglected at the moment. If they remain plastic sidekicks come the end, the series will appear like a big miss. However, episode 2 turned out to be satisfactory overall with signs of promise and no complacency.