American Gigolo – Season 1 Episode 3 “Rapture”

Rapture

Episode 3 from American Gigolo begins following the grim revelation made by Detective Sunday this week. The two of them, Guy and Olga are dead, murdered in cold blood.

The flashbacks from 1993 serve to clarify Olga and Julian’s connections that we open with a grueling review. Julian is the one who’s known to be the driver of Olga all over the place, in spite of having been 15 years old.

They have a complicated and tangled relationship that is hard to define She’s not a mother but she does act motherly, offering Julian the same things that he didn’t get from his own mother and she’s not a boss, as Julian receives different treatment from her staff; she’s not a good acquaintance, considering their past.

Julian brings these controversies to the funeral of Olga’s mother which will be attended by stoic Isabelle and a charming Lorenzo. As Isabelle and Lorenzo exchange names for Olga or form pimp Mama, Isabelle eventually settles on “fuck you Olga”, placing a glass of alcohol on the coffin.

Detective Sunday is present as well, a bit far from the others, however, she does catch up with Julian. She believes that he’s involved in the incident that happened to Olga. When Sunday inquires about what he was doing that night, Julian claims to be in bed alone…which clearly doesn’t help his case. But, Sunday takes Julian’s word for it and begs Julian to take his phone out the moment she rings.

Julian goes to visit Mr. Banks the teacher he used to be for more information. It brings back memories from the past, specifically from Lisa Beck. This girl was someone Julian was in a relationship with, and now that Olga is gone, Julian believes it might be related.

In the meantime, Michelle is still worried about Colin however, while Richard is giddy and insists that the police will find him, Michelle takes the initiative and goes out to meet Chris. In exchange for locating Colin, she is willing to keep Elizabeth secure. In this regard, the man gives her the credit card bill that confirms the location of a motel she’s been charged and could be hiding in.

Unfortunately, Panish (Richard’s right-hand man) is the first to arrive and is able to wrestle with Elizabeth. He gets her knocked against the cabinet, causing the largest gash on her skull. Elizabeth died. After realizing what he’s done Panish runs away. After Colin comes back, he comes across Elizabeth’s dead body. He decides to run and scurry down the steps, and then onto the streets… then on to another motel.

When Michelle arrives, Colin is gone but Elizabeth is still lying in the living room. The woman relays the news to the husband as well as the men, who confess to tidying the house and packing it up. We know who’s at fault However, the story is to suggest that Colin is the one to blame in this case, and having the authorities involved isn’t a good appearance. Michelle acknowledges that the owner of the motel recognizes that she was the last one in the room and that’s why she’s “taken care of.”

But, Sunday and the other officers learn of the death of Elizabeth and an investigation is initiated. Panish repays both Chris and the owner of the motel in order to keep peace in the area, being compelled to turn over security footage also.

For Julian his character, it is clear that he’s at a different level to the two Lorenzo as well as Isabelle. His past is filled with monsters, and horrifying, disgusting images that dance through his mind. We’ve seen bits of it in previous episodes and there’s an interesting conversation here, which includes Julian saying to Lorenzo that he views the classic suit jacket as a disguise. Julian is evidently trying to distance himself from the male-dominated escort job that he’s been involved in for many years.

When Detective Sunday arrives to visit Michelle She realizes that she’s not one of the paid-for officers of her husband. Instead, she asks about Julian and her ties to Julian and his ties to.

Michelle admits using Julian at least twice and explains that she took him to events, and they took pictures of each other, but it wasn’t anything serious. She was playing the role of them traveling together as tourists. The story doesn’t fully explain (to Sunday at the very minimum) why his picture ended up being in the motel room however we, the audience, can. Through flashbacks, we learn that the bonds between Julian and Michelle are more than mere lust.

When Sunday calls Julian who asks him these questions, he admits Michelle is simply a customer. The whole thing is too much for him, and he hangs up Sunday. He decides to smoke the drug Lorenzo had left earlier in the episode and is surprisingly dressed in the suit he’s been put off for the entire chapter. Sometimes, you just can’t escape your past. And as Julian takes his car and heads away his way, the camera pans to show that he’s been watched.

The Episode Review

American Gigolo is an interesting character study it is a deep look into an unreconstructed man who is trying to put parts of his story together. Jon Bernthal is one hell of an actor and can sway into the role with ease. You can clearly see the struggle and the pain in each scene, and it’s a testament to his talent to pull off the role in such a way.

The scattered flashbacks throughout the show also allow us to look into the past as the subplot that involves Michelle, as well as Richard Stratton, is very clearly linked to the main plot. It’s obvious Julian is being monitored and there’s a possibility that a bullseye may have been pinned to Julian’s back that could prove deadly in coming episodes in particular if the archer is armed and ready to fire.