Fear
The Truth Will Out
Episode 3 of I Hate Suzie begins with Cob sitting Suzie down and asking her outright who the man was in the photos. “It’s Carter,” She says. As his eyes widen and Cob struggles to keep his anger in check, the scene interweaves with Suzie running in the forest. It turns out this man is actually the show-runner of a big production she’s currently involved with. Oof. Naomi rings Suzie in the morning and confirms good and bad news. The good news is that they can sue for the photos being stolen so the papers can’t print. The bad news is the press have taken photos of her house – including the street name. On set, Suzie struggles with her scene as Carter arrives and hugs her. He apologises for what’s happened and it turns out his wife doesn’t know anything. However, their conversation is interrupted by Naomi who arrives to try and serve as damage control. As they talk in her trailer, it turns out Suzie has lost the Disney gig on the back of the pictures. A police officer arrives and hands back the phone. There’s no malware but unfortunately the police won’t pursue the matter further.
Paranoia
Back home, Suzie worries that someone is stalking her outside. As creaks emanate across the house, she completely forgets about her bath and finds the water overflowing. This paranoia is only made worse in bed as Suzie bolts upright and admits to Cob that their address has been leaked online. In the morning, Naomi rings and admits that the guys are not happy that Suzie is walking off set and abandoning the project. When Carter finds out, the duo talk through her options. Only, that talking turns into kissing and so much more. This, obviously, is less than the ideal resolution. Feeling guilty, Suzie heads off to visit Cob at University. As she sits in to one of his lectures, Suzie can’t shake the paranoia and anxiety she feels. At home, she confronts Cob over the lecture and how no one seems to know he’s married to her. Unfortunately this all spills over into a big argument between the two. It’s exacerbated when Carter shows up outside professing his love. Suzie manages to get rid of him though and heads back inside again. As she walks upstairs, she notices a note on the ground reading “I love you.”
The Episode Review
Tonally, episode 3 leans into those psychological horror vibes and does a wonderful job of doing just that. From the minor key piano notes and underlying chords to the entire framing techniques, this chapter feels like an old-school Hitchcockian thriller. That’s to say nothing of the zoomed camera shots which feel very Sam Esmail-esque and really capture that paranoia that bubbles up throughout the episode. Once again though the episode plays back into that idea of celebrity culture and this time in the form of stalkers and danger in one’s own home. It’s a fascinating idea and seeing this from the other side of the lens is really great to see. So far, this is easily the stand out episode of the series.
