Created by Lulu Wang, the 2024 series “Expats” is an adaptation of Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel, “The Expatriates.” The series delves into the lives of three American women residing in Hong Kong, each grappling with their distinct and profound existential crises.
Episode 3 of “Expats” ended with the police informing Margaret (Nicole Kidman) and Clarke (Brian Tee) about finding a body which matches their missing son’s information. So, the couple heads to a hospital to identify the body, as Margaret desperately hopes it is not Gus.
Titled “Mainland,” Episode 4 focuses on all the protagonists struggling with their relationships and day-to-day situations. Margaret can’t bring herself to face the fact that her family is falling apart. Hilary (Sarayu Blue) must contend with her judgmental mom who is visiting, while Mercy (Ji-young Yoo) discovers something that brings a wave of new uncertainty and panic into her life.
Margaret and Clarke’s subplot as broken parents trying to find their lost son was the most poignant part of this edition. However, Ji-young Yoo and Jack Huston as Mercy and David deliver the most sincere bits of the story with their characters’ twisted way of dealing with problems. There’s something both perverse and pitiable about the way David and Mercy mock their trauma, belittle each other, yet stick together through the ordeal of being looked down upon by the world.
Sudha Bhuchar’s cameo as Hilary’s imperious Punjabi mother, Brinder, adds some energy to the otherwise somber episode. The moment Brinder meets Hilary, she starts off by criticizing every little thing about her daughter, from the way she walks to her refusal to have a child and be a ‘complete woman’. The two get trapped in the lift with a stranger and have a prolonged face-off over values, beliefs, and what women should be doing. It was a very typical ‘desi mom versus daughter’ altercation – tense, frustrating, with only a sprinkling of humor, which is soon replaced by sheer resentment and anger.
The screenplay captures all the different moods and emotions of the characters astutely, with the camera angles ensuring that the loneliness and angst of the protagonists are conveyed through the frames. Margaret and Clarke’s visit to the hospital featured several shots of the couple walking through empty wards, with long shots emphasizing the alienation felt by the duo. They aren’t just alone in the horrifying burden of identifying the body of their child, but the fact that they don’t even speak the local language and have a hard time interacting with the doctors and nurses exacerbates their desolation.
Since the viewers are already familiar with the major characters of “Expats” by now, Episode 4 felt a lot more familiar and moving. With only two more episodes to go, the series is heading towards a definite climax, which could either be tragic or perhaps a sentimental mix of both tragedy and triumph. Some may win, and maybe some will lose.
You can stream “Expats” on Prime Video.
Read Next: Dragons of Wonderhatch Series Review – Magical. Almost.
Also Read: A Man Called Ove – Orderline Oring (Audio Version Below)