Dominique
Episode 3 of The Serpent begins on the 20th November 1973. We’re in Paris where Dominique says goodbye to his parents and prepares to leave and jet across to Bangkok. This introduction is short-lived, especially when we jump forward 2 years to Chaing-Mai in Thailand. Dominique writes home but finds himself approached by Charles, who sees him as an easy target. Charles drugs him, taking him back to his complex in the back of his car after going hiking together. This threads in with the scenes in episode 2 as Dominique is entrapped with Charles as well, just like Marie. However, Charles gives Dominique the task of looking after Marie and showing her around while she’s there. While “purging” him of his sickness, Charles encourages Dominique to keep drinking. However, Coco the Monkey winds up drinking that very same powdery substance and now Dominique sees exactly what this is doing to him. Coco is dead. With the monkey gone, Dominique asks for his passport back. Charles however, shows that his tourist visa has expired and he’s now stuck there. To make matters worse, Charles is actually “borrowing” his passport, complete with a new picture and identity. If the police stop Dominique, he’ll be arrested. This, unfortunately, means his passport is forced back in the safe and he’s trapped. Even worse, with the Colonel by his side and Charles cozying up to Suda, the truth about Dominique is revealed as a contingency plan. Now he is well and truly trapped, unable to run away or escape Charles’ clutches. Ajay tries to convince Dominique to head up to Santa Cruz but he refuses to go. However, he does notice the rowdy Turk tourist throwing up and being dragged away. Doing some investigating, Dominique realizes that the man in question fell for exactly the same story he did. Scrambling in his bag, Dominique checks the photographs and even looks at the safe too. He eventually heads out and phones home, telling his parents he misses them and that he’s still in Bangkok. On the back of this, Charles requests to see Dominique, with the whimpering of Helena and Willem echoing down the corridors. Charles knows about the phone call and tells Dominique matter-of-factly that he’s not going home, nor will he return there again. Instead, Kanit House is his new home. After all this hard work, Marie and Charles head off for a trip away. While they do, Dominque sizes his opportunity and decides to leave. He trusts Lena and Nadine and shows them the news reports, especially those including the guests who have stayed there and been killed. Together, the trio try to work out whether to go to the police or not. Dominique is still trapped, and with no visa and no money, he doesn’t have a way out of this nightmare. Thankfully, Lena and Nadine work with him and help change the passport back to what it was before. In fact, they manage to find another – the dead girl from Turkey – and use her visa and passport to escape. As Dominique heads off, his fate remains a big unknown. Back in our present day timeline (8th March 1976) Herman returns home to Angela, bringing Nadine and Remi inside. Apparently they never saw Willem and Helena, leading Knippenberg to lose his patience and ask about the bodies. Apparently they didn’t see the pair but do believe his story. After all, this is a common thread among Charles’ victims. Sitting back down, Herman learns that the number of victims here is way more than they expected. Checking the different pictures, Nadine notices a radio in one of the pictures, something Charles gave to her as a gift. Apparently she too helped bring clients to him and it seems like she had the same role Marie did. Charles had a way with his victims, especially those who end up working with him. Paul classes Knippenberg as a functionary and eventually leaves. Angela and Herman are unsure what to do next, eventually settling on them talking to the pair about their ordeal. As Remi and Nadine get talking, they mention how Dominique seems to have gone missing. Marie was involved of course, but also visibly scared. Herman learns about Dominique’s trip and heads back to the airport to try and find the exit stamps. Thankfully they find it, although it’s not actually confirmation of his escape, especially given Charles could be using their passports. Unfortunately, Willem and Lena have their exit stamps – which could well be Marie and Charles. It seems the pair are wise to this and trying to confuse the authorities. So far though it seems like they’re doing a very good job of it. As we cut back in time once more, a nervy delay at the airport sees Dominique struggling to keep it together. Thankfully, he manages to make the flight and heads back to Paris. As the plane takes off, he finally manages to breathe easier. Touching down in Europe, several months pass as he’s reunited with his Father and Mother. Dominique writes to Nadine, who checks her mailbox in the present-day timeline and breathe a sigh of relief when she sees he made it back okay. Unfortunately, Charles shows up midway through her reading and takes her back to the complex. They’re concerned about Dominique and clearly suspect she’s involved in some way. Unfortunately Remi hasn’t spoken to Nadine and this poses a particularly nasty problem for them as they’re left with more questions than answers.
The Episode Review
The Serpent delivers its best episode yet, as Dominique’s struggle and journey to get home is one wracked with nerves and tension. The flashback sequences continue but unlike the first episode, everything is much more controlled now and delivered across two separate timelines rather than flitting all over the place. Seeing what led Dominique to become entrapped and his nervy journey back home has been really well-written and all of this leads in nicely to the big climax where Charles has returned homey. With Marie and Ajay by his side, it seems Charles is ready to strike again though, as this viper begins to coil around another victim. The ending is certainly a big talking point and that cliffhanger leads nicely into the next episode.
