Right in the next shot, we see Emma and Noah biking toward the picture. They’re actually going to jump the fence on the Oceana boundary and go into the resort. At the entrance, Emma spots a map of the building. She takes down directions to Baltasar’s room. The couple goofs around for a bit, back to their old self after last night’s intense and passionate rejuvenation. They go into Sam and Violet’s rooms as well, just to have a look around and stand in their places. Noah picks up golf clubs from the latter’s room. Stradling around, they finally stumble upon the yellow door – just as Narro had said in the previous episode – Baltazar’s room. Emma tries to reconcile the picture on Sam’s phone of himself and Violet but does not find the right match. It is strange to her at first, as this was her theory in the last episode. As Emma and Noah veer out on the balcony, we see that someone is watching them from the ground floor through binoculars. Emma tries to place the penthouse in the opposite building, pointing out that both the picture and the room’s windows have the same arches. Without even listening to Noah, she proposes to go up there. There is a seamless transition back to 2007, where we see a person dressing up as Santa Claus emerge from the same room. Sam avoids Hanna, which evokes her to ask what is wrong. He is not forthcoming and along with Hanna and his parents, he takes a ride on a jet ski shaped like a banana. Oliver, the bartender, gives Violet an invitation and directions to a secret Christmas party the employees are having. Sam spots Violet sitting in the bar and approaches her. He is apologetic and bares open about his troubled state and his cheating partner. Violet visually softens and even invites him to the party. She is at dinner with her father but spots the dressed-up Santa using Sam’s skateboard. She apologizes and rushes after him. Sam is waiting for her by the Iguana painting. They try going up to the penthouse, where Sam saw Santa in the morning, but the card doesn’t allow them to go there. The two make their way to the secret party, where they meet a cheery Luna, Oliver, and shortly, Baltazar as well. Sam is clamped up but Violet helps him open up. Balaztar first visits Murray, Violet’s father, who is still sitting at the bar, heartbroken that his daughter does not want to spend Christmas with him. Baltazar gives him a full bottle and allows him to sit there for as long as he likes. He then makes his way into the party in style. The entire mood of the party is changed. Oliver tells them that he is indeed Baltazar Frias. Sam is given lemons by him when he pours himself a drink, prompting Violet to send him the text about the yellow snake and four noses. The Santa walks in and Sam grabs his card to the penthouse while Violet distracts the angry man. Sam and Violet rush out of there and kiss while in the elevator. In the present, Emma and Noah reach the highest floor, but it is not the penthouse. Emma discovers a ladder in the elevator shaft and against Noah’s vehement protests, the two take the ladder up and into the penthouse. It is rather undisturbed, almost like someone is still living there. From there on in, we constantly cut in and out between the present and Christmas eve in 2007. Both couples enter the room for the first time and wander around. Violet and Sam pick up from their kiss in the elevator, while Emma confirms this is where the photo was taken by asking Noah to take one. Sam and Violet hear footsteps and try to hide in the closet. In the process, they discover a secret room with lots of sticky notes covering its walls. Noah and Emma also spot the painting from the first shot, which has all the characters in one single frame. Although we cut before we can see who opens the closet in 2007, Emma ambushes Baltazar in the present day when she sees he has the phone that was kept there by Noah from the closet. She throws a golf club at him before he can escape through the shaft. The phone rests right on the edge and falls over when it mysteriously receives a call. Emma screams in terror, as she and Noah now have to deal with an unconscious Baltazar.
The Episode Review
The third episode is uniquely set entirely in Oceana Vista. We saw how episode two ended with Luna revealing about the Reeds’ inquiries to Baltazar. Well, the Frias prince certainly took them to task in this episode and almost got away with it. The simultaneous intercutting between the past and the present and the two couples weren’t as important for the story as it looked good aesthetically. The past through the present paradigm has become really overused now but I think the creators were simply trying to be efficient with their resources. No complaints as such from that creative choice. What did seem problematic was again the rush just to get on with things. Nick Offerman hardly got a chance to feature in this episode, something many of us were looking forward to. He has a nice character arc and more must be done to fully develop his Murray. His wife’s death and life – and Violet’s mother – should be something that we get to see next because of the mysterious black book that Violet carries around. There must be some significance of that cryptic message she wrote for her in the book to the story. I also do not like Noah is not given a say in what the Reeds do. Like any, really. He just goes along with Emma with no resounding protests, even when he doesn’t want to. He is coming across as a cardboard character with Emma running the show and becoming the focus of all attention. I hope it changes going forward. As for the central mystery of The Resort, it is kept intact well. There are intense additions to the drama before it unravels and that is a job well done. Baltazar’s case remains interesting and the next episode will certainly be a tipping point for his character.
