Lies
Episode 2 of The Woods begins with those crucial moments in the woods, as Pawel tells Laura to run away from the screaming. When she makes it back to camp, she sobs in her Father’s arms. As she thinks over these details, we cut to glimpses of 2019 as Laura reads an essay from one of her students that plays out eerily close to what she experienced, right down to a guy called “P”. The case continues to thicken as Pawel learns that Klaudia actually did know the men she claimed not to. Pawel’s boss tells him to be careful going forward and if he doesn’t have substantial evidence, he needs to drop the case. Instead, he tells her he has a witness and hurries out. While he does have a video of Klaudia dancing for someone, he certainly doesn’t have a witness and it puts him in a very difficult position. Pawel then meets Inspector Jork who reveals that someone moved Marek’s body given the forensics and there’s more – his girlfriend identified the body and confirmed it’s not Artur. That girl happens to be Ming Li. Pawel doesn’t get much from her when he visits her restaurant but is caught off-guard when she asks outright if he killed Artur. Back at camp in 1994, Laura is haunted by the screams she heard in the forest. Pawel meets her and tries to reassure his lover, telling the girl it may have been poachers. However, when Artur winds up missing from camp that theory is immediately off the table. Kamila and Monika are also missing too and as everyone gathers together to look in the woods, Pawel snatches up the torch he left there from the previous night, stuffing it in his pocket. Nearby, he finds a blood-stained yellow jacket and Monika’s body not far away. When the police get involved, Pawel tells them defiantly that Kamila will turn up safe and sound, but another fruitless search casts doubts in his mind. The search goes on and alongside the kids combing the forest, Lubelski starts interviewing the different kids and parents, including Laura who admits she was out there that night. In 2019, Laura manages to obtain the name of the girl who wrote the essay – Sylwia Nowakowska. Calling her into her classroom, Laura confronts the girl about what she wrote but it turns out it wasn’t about Pawel after all. It was actually about her brother Adam. At the same time, Jork reveals to Artur’s parents that they believe the man they’ve uncovered is him. Only, as Bogdan walks out we cut back in time and see that Daniel’s body was found under a tree. When Pawel arrives at the morgue, he shows Artur’s Mum and Dad the arm with a deep cut. According to them though, Artur’s cut was on the other arm meaning either the parents are lying and covering this up or someone is making it look like Artur is dead. Back in 1994, Pawel is struck by a car but after cleaning himself up, meets Laura where he confirms that her Father and his Mother are having an affair. As the conversation turns back to Monika, they contemplate whether it could have been one of the kids that killed her. In 2019, Laura contemplates what to do next and eventually decides to ring Pawel. With more of the mystery starting to unravel, Dawid and Pawel’s Mother giving each other a knowing glance seems to be hiding something more than their affair while Pawel’s behavior both in 1994 and 2019 may actually point to him being involved too but repressing the memories, given his frustration and erratic outbursts. The big question though comes from whether Marek is actually Artur or not. With lots of questions hanging over this one and plenty to contemplate going forward, The Woods bows out with another juicy dose of mystery drama to chew over. Although it is a little slow-paced at times and the constant jumps do sometimes break the flow of action, there’s enough here to enjoy nonetheless.
