‘The Rig’ Episode 3: Recap And Ending, Explained: What Did Rose Find Out About The Ashes?

Kinloch Rig was never a vacation spot by a longshot for any of the crew members in Amazon Prime’s “The Rig,” and that was before a dense fog appeared and people started dying. Now, with Alwyn and Leck dead and Baz running wild through the crevices of the rig, even the sturdiest of the roughnecks would love to be airlifted from this accursed spot. However, their woes are not even halfway over as Episode 3 opens. What became of the parasitic organisms from Episode 2, and what do they want? Did Fulmer get exposed to the parasites, and is he under the influence that turned Baz against his crewmates? Here’s everything that happened in the third episode inside the oil rig in the North Sea.

Spoilers Ahead


Rose Makes An Important Discovery

The episode begins with Baz screaming as he begs for an answer from the voices that keep howling inside his head, and visions of him murdering Alwyn haunt him. Rose is still vehemently supporting Pictor and doesn’t yet wish to see the company that will be decommissioning her crewmates as villains. Apart from asserting that her goal is to make the change to take the company towards a greener future, Rose also decides that the best way to separate the infected from the ones who are not is by drawing blood and comparing it with the sample that had been drawn from Baz. Fulmer’s hand wound  puts him within the purview of suspicion, and his relationship with Rose is strained as well. Inside the rec room, situations worsen as Hutton keeps taunting the crew when Heather announces that the fog is clearing up. With the visibility improved, the crew noticed smoke billowing from the Kinloch Charlie, indicating that the rig had caught fire or an explosion had happened. Fulmer walks in on Baz going through the medical reports inside the clinic, and the latter escapes with his blood sample before either Fulmer or Rose can apprehend him. In the briefing room, it’s decided that the deck areas shall be cleaned as the fog has moved away and the ash stopped flying. Two teams of three members each are assembled as a search party and are tasked with looking for Baz. He is seen in the Production Module, where he disposes of his blood sample into the sea, and as if all the events haven’t been weird enough, Baz waves his hands over canisters of oil, and miniature plants start forming over the surface.

Elsewhere, Rose discovers that the ash particles are 300 million years old and belong to the Permian period, and it’s the same oil that Pictor Energy has been drilling into all this time. Interestingly, the Permian period caused a massive extinction of 95% of all living organisms on Earth, and it’s known as the Great Dying. In the module, Hutton and Dunlin walk in to find Garrow wounded—another victim of Baz. But it turns out that Garrow has crossed over to the other side as he runs away into the darkness. Suddenly, a massive tremor begins that imbalances the crew and adds to the chaos. Heather is isolated from her group and is looking for her mates when she walks into an area where greenery is growing. An oil rig that stands in the middle of a sea has a portion inside it where all sorts of ferns, bushes, and grass are taking hold. While on her way, Heather suddenly comes face to face with Baz, joined in by Garrow, although neither of them seems harmful. Baz talks about having seen the landscape that existed millions of years ago and how everything here is heading to its death. Unexpectedly, Hutton comes to Heather’s rescue and flashes lights on the two men—a probable weakness of the ones who have turned—and helps Heather escape.


Another One Bites The Dust…Almost 

No sooner than one issue is sorted out, another pops up on the rig, and this time, it’s the ignition system, and it’s a major one. The ignition system is responsible for burning off the harmful gases and substances that are released by the rig, and unless the system is functioning, the crewmates will be poisoned. Hutton comes up with an old-school solution for how a jammed ignition system used to be fixed back in the day—shooting a flare at it. Before straws can be drawn to select the person for the task, Fulmer volunteers, probably to prove to the crew that he’s not joining Baz and Garrow yet and maybe to earn back Rose’s affection. Fulmer is primed into the position to shoot the flare from, but he’s struck by sudden inspiration – or a death wish, for that matter. He looks back at the crew and starts crossing the thin ledge, inching towards the ignition system so that he doesn’t miss. Fulmer shoots, and before he can even pick up speed, he’s hit by the shockwave and falls down, unconscious. Rose is beside herself in terror as Cat starts treating him. Fulmer survives, thanks to his fire-resistant jacket, although he does suffer some bad burns on his back and arms. He comes to his senses to find Rose watching him with concern in her eyes, and she admonishes him for his actions, though not too sternly. Inside the module, Baz finally understands that the Well Injection is the device that’s harming the underwater entities, and he decides that the instrument has to be shut down. A montage of the injection reaching the depths of the ocean plays before cutting to black.


The Questions That Need Answers

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising part of this episode was Baz’s newfound power of being able to create greenery in seemingly impossible circumstances and turning a machinery sector into a nursery. This, coupled with his monologue about how he has seen the land for millions of years, suggests that the parasites that have infected him are from an ancient world. Additionally, Rose’s findings that the ashes belong to the Permian age indicate that an ancient power has arisen, and if the visions of Baz are of any help, there could be another Great Dying on the way. Nature might be reclaiming control from the humans who have toyed with her gifts for far too long. Her first step towards retaking the wheel was growing greenery in places where it shouldn’t exist. However, is it nature, though, or does something far more sinister hide at the bottom of the sea? The psyche of the crewmates keeps being pushed toward their breaking points, even leading some people to do things they previously shunned.

Towards the end of “The Rig” Episode 3, Dunlin can be seen leaving letters for his sons and his wife, an act that he had forbidden Heather from doing because it supposedly invites bad luck. Situations will force people to do things that they would have never done if times were better. The episode provides answers to some questions but raises a lot more in the process. We finally understand that the particles are 300 million years old, but the question remains: how did they survive these many epochs, and what triggered their sudden awakening? Baz is able to understand that the entity is at risk of dying, and the wave that he warned everyone about in Episode 2 might be a response by the entity to defend itself. However, how is Baz able to communicate with an organism that’s millions of years old? Finally, since the parasites enter the human body through wounds and cuts, will Fulmer’s exposed burn wounds make a passage for the parasites to seep into his body and make him the third follower of this ancient entity? Only the following episodes will tell. 


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Indrayudh Talukdar
Indrayudh Talukdar
Indrayudh has a master's degree in English literature from Calcutta University and a passion for all things in cinema. He loves writing about the finer aspects of cinema, although he is also an equally big fan of webseries and anime. In his free time, Indrayudh loves playing video games and reading classic novels.

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