After the thrilling first episode, the second episode of “Alaska Daily” was recently released amid high anticipation. While we can say that the episode is well done, since the expectations after the first episode were insanely high, it seems like the second episode falls a little short of the awesomeness that the pilot episode happily dwelled in. While the first episode focused on Eileen and how she slowly sank her teeth into the case of the disappearance and “murder” of Gloria, in the second episode, a few side characters’ stories unfolded.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 2 Recap
Right at the beginning of the episode, we see Eileen on a run and her brief encounter with a moose, a local Alaskan. The symbolism in the scene perhaps indicates that she is finally being welcomed in the ‘isolated’ American state since she is there to fight for the rights of the locals. In another symbolic turn of events, Eileen withdraws from the scene and prepares to leave for the office, where she will continue working on Gloria’s case while truly being empathetic to the cause. The story then moves to a local restaurant named Rita’s, where the morning crowd is creating a commotion of sorts as some of the diners are strangely obnoxious. There we meet Claire, played by Meredith Holzman, who turns out to be one of the most interesting characters in this episode.
Yuna’s front page story has gone viral, and the staff at the newsroom are celebrating it. However, there is an air of mystery and surprise over the fact that Rita’s is getting sold, which most of the newsroom staff seemingly frequented. However, their manager, Stanley, isn’t concerned with all that. What’s bothering him the most is the fact that there is an important lunch meeting between him, Eileen, and the owner of the publication.
Meanwhile, Claire is discontent about this sudden decision by Rita, the owner of Rita’s. The restaurant was doing well, and it didn’t seem like there was a solid reason for her to sell it. However, Rita refuses to help Claire in any way and doesn’t even show up. Claire discovers that a big burger chain, Big Burger, is behind the buyout. The mystery behind Rita’s runs parallel to the investigation of Gloria. In a brief sequence, Eileen is once again confronted by her stalker and also discovers that there is an admirer of hers who’s silently watching over her. Eileen and Roz pursue Toby, a key lead in the case. He is Gloria’s friend and was supposed to be with her on the night of the murder. Our reporters discover that Toby is about to begin working in Kodiak, Alaska, and reaching it is quite difficult. But meeting Toby is very important for the case, and hence, Eileen and Roz manage to reach him. They get help from Jamie and reach Toby. He tells them that Gloria came out of the party and went to an afterparty with Skeeter, one of her friends.
Claire, on the other hand, attends a town meeting about Rita’s fate. The townsmen are divided over the taking over of Rita’s by a big company. Many people have their memories associated with Rita’s, and they aren’t willing to let the eatery go. A fight breaks out between the supporters and protestors of the buyout, and Claire wonders what is happening. She does sense a sinister plot going on between the lines, and becomes more determined to find the root cause of it. However, Rita catches fire and goes up in flames. Claire and the townsmen are startled at the sight. However, it also means that Claire now has a better idea about what must have happened, as she has mostly uncovered the truth. Lately, Rita didn’t have a good experience while running the restaurant. The reason behind the same wasn’t specified. Hence, Rita made the difficult choice of selling the restaurant, but when she witnessed how dangerous it could be to sell it, in anguish, she burned down her own eatery.
Meanwhile, Roz and Eileen are finally learning to work together by focusing on the Nammac theory behind Gloria’s murder. However, things aren’t very pleasant with other characters as Juna’s front page story becomes compromised when she learns that the key witness to validate her story is dead. Foul play is obvious, and this gets Juna frustrated.
Claire is severely heartbroken at the state of her favorite eatery and sits down to write an emotional and factual story about the tragedy at Rita’s. On the other hand, Eileen, feeling lonely and depressed in a bar, tries to contact Jamie but to no avail.
‘Alaska Daily’ Episode 2: Ending Explained- Is Eileen Depressed?
With some disheartening recent events taking place in the town of Anchorage, Eileen finds it too difficult to stay alone. She contacts Jaime, but as it turns out, Jaime doesn’t seem interested in her anymore. After their one-night stand, it seemed like they might go on to develop some sort of emotional connection, but now it does not seem very likely. But in the future, something might happen between them, as the story suggests. For now, Eileen is just sitting in a bar, all alone, sipping on alcohol and brooding. She clearly doesn’t want to be alone, but in this strange town a thousand miles from her home, she yearns for some company.
The blowing up of Rita seems to have taken quite an emotional toll on Claire. We can expect that in further episodes, this angle will be further explored, where we can hope to find some new revelations that might be crucial for the story.
On the other hand, Juna also seems to be disheartened by the death of her love, and it is implied that she might dig further into the case. It won’t be surprising that she might fight something sinister there, which could harm her career and also put her life in danger.
See more: ‘Alaska Daily’ Episode 1: Recap And Ending, Explained – Why Is Eileen Getting Panic Attacks?
