Under the Bridge Recap: Marriage Story

Under the Bridge

Beautiful British Columbia

Season 1 Episode 4

Editor’s Rating 3 stars ***

Photo: Darko Sikman/Hulu

Often, successful the aftermath of a unspeakable tragedy, victims are painted arsenic saints. Transgressions are forgotten and edges are smoothed to marque a nonaccomplishment oregon a hard clip much palatable. Case successful point: In her book, Rebecca Godfrey chose to omit Reena’s mendacious accusation against her father, but the bid chooses to walk an full occurrence unfolding this concealed by mode of intergenerational flashbacks and a doomed meal enactment that the Virks propulsion for the Seven Oaks crew. Some of it works, immoderate of it doesn’t, but it’s each beauteous devastating.

Under the Bridge is mostly based connected Godfrey’s archetypal book, but the amusement besides optioned Manjit Virk’s memoir, Reena: A Father’s Story, for inclusion successful the series. I’d ideate that the household past we get successful this episode, on with perchance immoderate of the memories from that genuinely atrocious meal party, are pulled from Manjit’s memoir. To ramp up the melodramatic effect, the 2 stories tally successful parallel, with speedy and occasionally disorienting cuts betwixt Reena’s household members assimilating into Canadian nine and the Virks preparing for their hostile company. The predominant cuts had maine wondering if the occurrence mightiness person had much of an interaction if it had been told successful chronological order, arsenic the lead-up to the large uncover astatine the decision would person inactive been an upsetting twist successful the Virk household history.

We don’t spot Cam, Rebecca, oregon the Greek chorus of Saanich teens successful this installment, and it’s a abbreviated one. Reena narrates the apical of the episode, seemingly from beyond the grave. She tells america that Kelly Ellard did, indeed, termination her — but determination are inactive mysteries to beryllium revealed present — and this admittance is layered implicit scenes of her young parents doting implicit her arsenic a baby. She past brings america backmost to erstwhile her maternal grandparents archetypal immigrated to Canada, looking for a amended life. They’re sweetly optimistic astir making caller friends, hand-delivering invitations to Suman’s first-birthday enactment to each the neighbors, but they lone find racist vitriol and silence. Then, the Jehovah’s Witnesses travel knocking connected their door. And wrong that assemblage they find meaning, belonging, and acceptance.

Years later, a bright-eyed young Manjit (Raj Lal) arrives successful Canada looking for opportunities. His question visa is astir to expire, truthful his sister not-so-subtly suggests that helium wed a national truthful helium tin stay. At first, Manjit rolls his eyes, but past helium spots the beauteous Suman (Illahi Rayani) from crossed the room. Her parent is trying to acceptable her up with who she perceives to beryllium a drawback — an Indian technologist who is besides a Jehovah’s Witness! Score! — but Suman isn’t having it. In a precise adorable meet-cute, Manjit whisks her away, and the 2 instantly commencement talking astir their lives and their passions. They some person deep-rooted desires to rise a household and emotion their children. But Manjit is Sikh and Suman is simply a Witness, truthful it would beryllium hard for them to beryllium together.

As soon arsenic Manjit mentions that his beard is important to him and his religion, and Suman counters by saying that Witnesses can’t person beards, we cognize that Manjit is going to suffer his scruff. After Suman’s parents entity to their pairing and it’s revealed that Manjit is sportfishing for matrimony successful bid to enactment successful the country, Manjit shaves for love. He agrees to person for Suman, and yet Suman’s parent comes astir and gives her blessing successful the signifier of a brace of heirloom earrings that travel into play aboriginal successful the episode. (Damn you, Josephine.)

Given that they are progressive successful the mostly achromatic Witness community, it feels similar Manjit and Suman should cognize a spot much astir teen civilization successful the Western satellite than they do. Even though they’re benignant of clueless, they bash effort their precise champion to invited Reena’s friends erstwhile they get for dinner. Kelly’s mom, Susan, drops them off, and her stilted posture and uncomfortable effect erstwhile Suman asks her to enactment for meal reeks of judgment, racism, and exclusion. The bitch can’t get retired of determination accelerated enough. Kelly, connected the different hand, makes herself close astatine home. She mildly reprimands Josephine for not taking disconnected her shoes, and past she spies a representation of the Virk household successful Japan. She incorrectly identifies wherever it was taken and brags that she’s besides been to the World Showcase successful Epcot … twice. Manjit cheerfully corrects her — they were really successful Japan — and Kelly skulks away.

For immoderate reason, the girls marque their mode into Manjit and Suman’s closet. Excuse me? This is super-weird. I never, ever, ever successful my full high-school-girl beingness went into my friends’ parents’ closets. Ever. I cannot stress however unusual this is. But Suman and Manjit rotation with the punches and gamely explicate each of the Indian garb that Josephine finds within. When Josephine handles the heirloom earrings, Suman mildly takes them from her and explains however important they are. So it’s adjacent much of a gut punch erstwhile it’s revealed that Josephine yet steals them for kicks. She’d ne'er beryllium capable to deterioration them, and there’s astir apt not a immense secondhand marketplace for accepted Indian jewelry successful Saanich, truthful this theft is driven by axenic spite. Same with Kelly toying with Reena’s bird, Snooch. (A+ sanction for a bird, by the way. Just truly fantastic.)

The girls beryllium down for dinner, and the promised takeout doesn’t materialize. Instead, Manjit has made goat-cheese-and-pepper pizza, which sounds similar a precise bold prime for a radical of teens. But against each odds, Josephine declares that she likes it, and things look similar they mightiness conscionable perchance spell good for Reena here. Josephine is, of course, a horrible bully with a nasty spirit, but Reena desperately craves the support of the queen bee due to the fact that she controls Dusty and Kelly, too. However, Manjit says a supplication adjacent though Reena protests, and past helium starts successful connected Josephine. He knows wherefore she is the mode she is: She’s been abandoned by each the adults who were expected to attraction for her. Manjit — successful a terribly misguided but yet benignant determination — offers to assistance her. Feeling susceptible and caught out, Josephine flips the fuck out. Reena flips out. Everyone flips out.

The girls are rapidly picked up by Kelly’s doting mother, and Reena has it retired with her parents. When Suman notices things are missing, Reena says thing genuinely shattering to her parent erstwhile she admits that these girls aren’t truly her friends, but they fto her bent retired with them, and that’s capable for her.

Reena’s terms of inclusion present is steep — the nonaccomplishment of existent and existent relationships with others successful speech for the institution of relentless bullies — and it’s astir to get worse. The adjacent day, Reena goes to Seven Oaks to apologize, and Josephine whips up a dastardly plot. She pretends that it’s to assistance Reena find independence, but it’s apt much to get backmost astatine Manjit for his ill-advised connection of help. It’s similar that parable of the Scorpion and the Frog, lone erstwhile Josephine stings, she’s taking an full household down with her.

The last moments of the occurrence spot a resolute Reena starting to marque a mendacious study to the den parent astatine Seven Oaks. As a caretaker of children, this pistillate would beryllium a mandated reporter, meaning that immoderate maltreatment reported to her by a insignificant would person to beryllium called successful to the authorities. When the cops travel for Manjit, he’s stress-eating leftover pizza and coaxing Snooch backmost into the house. He’s the representation of a loving and doting father, everything he’d ever dreamed of becoming erstwhile helium joined Suman. But past it each comes crashing down, courtesy of the devil incarnate, Josephine Bell. It’s ironic that, adjacent though we find retired Kelly is liable for Reena’s murder, Josephine ends up being the existent villain of this section of the story.

• Josephine tries truthful hard to dunk connected some Suman and Dusty, saying that the sari wouldn’t acceptable her, but past Suman claps backmost by saying a sari tin acceptable anyone. She past artfully drapes it astir Dusty, who perfectly rocks it.

• The Reena voice-over states doubly that stories person nary extremity and nary beginning, and successful the lawsuit of the real-life Reena Virk, that happens to beryllium precise true. This is the 2nd iteration of her communicative that’s been told, and it’s not apt to beryllium the last.

• The inclusion of the Virk household past present is meant to assistance code immoderate of the taste issues and systemic racism successful the country that were not afloat addressed successful Godfrey’s book. I’d accidental that the bid succeeds successful making america much alert of those issues arsenic it relates to Reena’s eventual execution (see skittish Susan), but it besides doesn’t bash a large occupation of seamlessly integrating the themes into the series, arsenic this feels precise overmuch similar a stand-alone Very Special Episode and not a portion of a greater whole. But we’ve got 4 episodes to go.