The episode mainly focuses on the demons we have within our lives and this is mirrored brilliantly with the theme of Halloween. In addition, her dear old flatmate Ben is a pillar of unwavering, unjudgmental, serene comfort and we love him for it. Arabella’s attachment to her trauma, leads her to questioning everyone’s actions but her own, and it takes wise words from an outsider to point that out. Furthermore, the dialogue explores victimhood and labels. In this episode Coel highlights the toxicities of the internet and how it can be misused and cause regular people experiencing trauma to become burned out. The episode begins with her receiving results from a CT scan that confirm that her brain is healthy, but her actions of publicly announcing the results to ‘prove’ that she is not crazy mid appointment suggests otherwise. Conflict is constantly being infused into the storyline, just as it is in life, therefore, making this fictional world a lot more like reality.īuilding onto the reliance Arabella develops in order to cope in episode 5, Arabella’s social media consumption takes a turn for the worst as she appears to be consumed by it. There’s a lot from this encounter which Coel leaves us to unpack and we are able to view both parties as victims and perpetrators at the same time, because as usual the writing is superb. It’s clear why he decides that sex with women is safer for him than with men, but his deception adds to the conversation about sexual encounters and how it affects consent. It is an event filled with shock, tenderness and violence, and ultimately the boundaries that Arabella crosses in order to find comfort lead her to feeling more desperate and alone.īack in England, Kwame’s quest to feel safe during sexual encounters leads him to problematic actions. Arabella and Biagio’s reunion is short and bittersweet. Despite, knowing this is a bad idea, Terry provides the plane ticket in order to ‘affirm’ her friend. He was last seen screaming at her through a phone screen and blaming her for her situation, but the heart wants it wants sometimes. Being that her work has firmly taken the backseat, her finances are in disarray and her rape case is closed, the only thing that she desires in this tragic state is going back to Italy to see Biagio. Finances, justice and relationships are not within reach for Arabella, as she finds herself sinking in the quicksand of life. If you’re familiar with the phrase ‘it comes in threes’, then you won’t be surprised by the events of episode eight. On a less serious note, this episode is a ten out of ten for vibes and overall depicting Black people in their element – house parties. I’m not saying that Coel predicted the fight against systemic racism, but as a Black writer, producer and director, she uses her platform wisely to comment on the things that affect her and people that look like her.
The insights provided in the dialogue take the gravy in this episode as they come at a time where race and power structures are being examined.
Her new job is the object of discussion at the party that centres power, race and exploitation. This leads her to being recruited by Theo for a job at a vegan company, that use her status as an influencer to push her brand. The aftermath results in him beginning to come to terms with his sexual assault, as he opens up to Terry about what happened to him.Īlongside the celebration of life, we see the downside of reality happening to Arabella, as her finances are in disarray. Although she doesn’t know about his situation, she forces him into a traumatic situation. In the nature of people being complicit, we see Arabella act in way that makes Kwame feel uncomfortable and endangered, as she locks him into a room with another man. This is a big reveal for us as an audience and we wonder what will become of the beautiful friendship we’ve seen, once Arabella finds out the truth. The guilt that Terry’s self-care overload was trying to hide is finally revealed – Terry told Simon to leave a wasted Arabella alone the night of her rape and she told Simon to lie about it the next day. Michaela Coel brings us back to the main timeline for the celebration of Terry’s birthday, but before festivities begin, we as an audience learn of Terry’s complicity in the events that occurred at Ego Death in episode 1.
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