Boilermakers
Officer Thomas tells Franklin that he doesn’t need to do a DNA test because he knows who Jude is. Franklin is confused, but Thomas assures him that he knows what’s best for him. He then tells Franklin that Jude is the son of a powerful man, and that he has been working with the police to cover up this information.
Jude learns that his father was arrested for not having a place to stay. He also claimed to have amnesia when he was arrested. When Irene shows Franklin this, he makes a quirky joke, claiming it must be genetic. As a side note, this is definitely a suspicious thread that needs to be unraveled here.
Inside an abandoned warehouse, a machine starts belching out random numbers. Toni and Stella soon find themselves working with their contact, Nick, to try and figure out what this means. Although Nick can narrow down their field of search, he needs to go with them to really lock this signal in. We still don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m sure we will over time. ..
Denise stays at Katie’s place and wakes up, discussing the extreme stress she’s under right now. Speaking of stress, Byron burns all his campaign signs.
Irene speaks to Jude and calls him out for being secretive. She brings up how he hasn’t really said anything about his life, but Jude smiles painfully and tells her he’s grateful for her care all the same. Just then, Dale from the pawnbrokers rings but Jude is the one to pick up, pretending to be Franklin’s son. Dale discusses the gold coins and how valuable they are. Jude does not look happy.
Jude rings someone and asks about the gold coins. Whoever this guy is, they don’t say a lot but they do say “Fiat voluntas Dei.” This seems to be Latin for “God’s will be done.” After hanging up the phone, Irene arrives to pay Jude for his work around the house. She also promises to be there for him should he need her. ..
Jude heads to the local bar after a flying visit from Chandra. He snatches up a business card by the dresser and heads out to the local bar. It turns out that Chandra actually stole something of value from Jude, which is a rectangular slab we saw glimmers of before.
Denise and Jude meet up at the same bar where Katie is currently drinking. They end up doing shots and dancing together. ..
Byron arrives at the pool hall and plays a few games with Franklin. Byron calls him out for the campaign stunt, but Franklin is adamant that he didn’t call it in to the authorities. ..
Despite Franklin’s initial hostility, the pair connect properly. Franklin admits he loves Irene more than anything but he’s not sure if she feels the same way. Byron though, has woes of his own. He was second choice to Jeanine, whose partner actually ended up passing away. He refers to himself as the “consolation prize” and believes that’s always defined their relationship. ..
Both of them end up getting very drunk and while sitting outside the bar, Byron admits he’s underestimated Franklin. He talks about the doorway, but Franklin tries (and fails) to write this off as just a bomb shelter. Byron is desperate to know more, and that persistence sees Franklin cave and agree to show him.
Franklin leads Byron to a familiar spot in the shelter, but it doesn’t work. For some reason, the shelter doesn’t transport them anywhere, leading Byron to chuckle incredulously, believing this is all a big wind-up and actually some sort of strange dungeon.
Irene drives out to find Jude, who has been wandering home. When she does, he leaves the bar and begins wandering home. He’s stopped by the police, who grab him, bringing back memories of his time prior to being arrested. Whatever happened, he actually stabbed the assailant multiple times, explaining the blood.
Irene drives past Jude on the road, who is face-down on the hood of the police car about to be arrested. ..
The Episode Review
The fourth episode of Night Sky is a bit more plot development but a continued reliance on bags of patience from viewers. This is one slow, slow burn and while there are some answers sprinkled in here, there’s still a lot of meandering around and not-very-much-going-on across large swathes of the run-time.
The story has a lot more atmosphere and mood to it now, almost in the same vein as Dark and The OA in many ways. It remains to be seen whether we’ll actually get any answers this season or not but for now, this episode bows out with a promising sign that we’re about to ramp up the drama going forward.
