Expats episode 2 was a flashback episode involving every character from the show, including Gus, who is Margaret’s youngest son. The episode ended with Mercy losing the toddler in the busy market. Margaret and Clarke were not even close to processing the tragedy that had struck them. The viewers get to see the first meeting between Mercy and David. David, at this juncture, was having trouble keeping his marriage with Hillary intact, as their efforts to conceive a baby were heading nowhere. Gus had been missing ever since, and the Hong Kong police have been searching for the toddler.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Does Mercy Meet On Her Commute?
Mercy has a hard time moving on from the incident involving Gus. She probably would never be able to move on until the authorities found the toddler. Her work was only giving her financial solace, and she refused to be emotionally involved in any new friendships. The affair with David was purely physical. She ended up meeting Charly during her commute, a young woman of her age, and she felt the woman genuinely wanted to spend some time with her. Charly and Mercy become fast friends, only for the latter to quickly pull away from the friendship over her trauma from losing Gus. Mercy feels she might harm Charly eventually, and she cuts off all communication with her.
Why Was Margaret Obsessed With Her Dead Neighbor?
Margaret was still heading to her secret apartment, away from her family, to face the pain of losing Gus alone. This was probably not the right way to express and deal with the tragedy she’d faced, but Margaret finds solace in emptiness and being alone. Margaret was informed that the police found a picture of Gus with Christopher’s pet on his phone. Christopher was Hillary’s neighbor who was found dead in his apartment only a few days back. Margaret believes Christopher may have some link to his disappearance, as the presence of the picture was driving her crazy. There was no further evidence given to her besides this image, but Margaret wondered why this did not bother anyone, especially the police, Clarke, and Hillary. She was under the impression that Christopher may have tried to molest the kid. Since the authorities mentioned most kidnappings of this nature were carried out by people close to the toddler, Margaret was cooking up stories in her head to the point it had become a major concern for everyone close to her.
What Was The Purpose Of Margaret Taking Pictures Of Her Kids?
Margaret was completely obsessed with the idea of what may have happened to Gus. She spotted a gash on Gus’s arm in the photo on Christopher’s phone. This threw her off, as she revealed she had not mentioned the scar to the police, as they had forgotten about it. This slip-up led to Margaret forcefully taking pictures of her son and daughter’s visible body marks. The whole idea of this exercise was to protect them in case any untoward incident haunts the family again. Margaret was having a hard time processing losing Gus. This could be her guilt manifesting itself, as she had confessed to not wanting a third child. This obsession with taking pictures of her children caused minor friction in the family, and Clarke had to pacify the situation.
Was Mercy Trying To Reconcile With Her Mother?
Mercy was having a hard time keeping the friendship intact with Charly. This was an indication of her loneliness and the fact that, just like Margaret, she had not processed the guilt. It was too soon for her to deal with a tragedy that happened only a while ago. Margaret and Clarke had not forgiven her, and probably her reaction to being around new friendships was natural. Mercy tried to reconcile with her mother and remained hopeful she could share her pain with her. Mercy has so far had a dysfunctional relationship with her mother, and she always required her father to be the mediator between the two. She had hoped to make things right by starting to share her experience, but the mother began to emotionally manipulate and blackmail her, which further antagonized Mercy. Mercy’s plan of visiting her mother changed after the conversation, as she concluded her mother could never be someone she could depend on.
Were Hillary And David Trying To Save The Marriage?
David ended up sending Hillary a message that was meant for Mercy. Hillary was not aware of David’s affair, but the message gave her some kind of closure required for her to forget about him. Hillary was confused about whether to give her marriage a second chance or call it quits because David was no longer interested. Hillary had invited David over for a dinner she was planning to throw for her friends. Hillary chose to come up with an excuse for David’s absence and went ahead with the dinner because she could not possibly deal with the sympathy train that would befall her.
Even though Hillary was livid at David for having an affair, she was still expecting her husband to come back to make their marriage work. She visited him at his regular bar, and the couple were very close to reconciling. Hillary confessed she missed him, and David reciprocated as well. Hillary and David were at a stage in their relationship where both were confused about how to make their marriage work. Hillary was confident about staying in the marriage but was sometimes livid at him. David, on the other hand, was not very sure about how to make the marriage work because their plan to conceive had failed. There was also the incident of David lying to the police about his whereabouts during Gus’ disappearance case, which made it hard for him to behave normally with anyone living in the same apartment complex as he does.
Was Hillary Being A Pushover?
Hillary and David were heading to separation-ville as David was having issues with Hillary and her preferences. Hillary, like many other modern wives, had a flying career but was emotionally dependent on David. She was clinging on to the last hope that maybe David would want to come back and give their relationship a chance. Hillary was a pushover because she was willing to give space to someone who had already given up on something important to her. Right from the start, Hillary was trying hard to accommodate David, but nothing worked in her favor.
Hillary was also asked by Margaret to hand over the keys to Christopher’s home so that she could look for evidence. Hillary was not keen on adding to the manic episodes Margaret was going through because, as a friend, she was being practical. Hillary refused to share the key initially as she felt it would be wrong on every level. Margaret went ahead and pulled the mother card and insulted her best friend, claiming she would never understand her state of mind. Margaret meant that since Hillary was not a mother, she could never feel the pain she was going through. These words had a deep impact on Hillary, and she decided to hand over the keys. Hillary was hurt by the words, which could be the reason for her reaction. She let her best friend arm-twist her by emotionally manipulating her, knowing Hillary would respond when hurt.
Does Margaret Find Anything In Christopher’s House?
Margaret was ransacking Christopher’s apartment illegally and remained hopeful she would find something that confirmed her theory that the man, when alive, had harmed Gus at some point. Margaret was paranoid, and she was not willing to consider that she could be arrested for trespassing on an empty apartment where a death had occurred. She was under the impression that, as a mother, her concerns would be taken into consideration. She finally found an image from Thailand—the spot they visited a while ago with Gus. This made her believe Christopher may have followed the family to Thailand just to stay close to the toddler.
On returning home, Margaret and Clarke were given the bad news by the investigation team. They had found the dead body of a child that matched the description given by the parents. The police wanted Margaret to head to another city where the body had been kept for identification. Maragaret’s heart sank because she had been hoping Gus was still alive, and perhaps he was only kidnapped. The image she found of Thailand at Christopher’s home was sent by someone to him, which kills her theory. Margaret and Clark were expecting the worst and were mentally prepared to face the demon. Margaret had some hope left in her, and she prayed that the kid that was found was not Gus. The episode ends with the couple heading out of the city for identification purposes.
