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Expats Recap: Unhappy Together
A trip through time reveals the defining tragedy at the heart of the series.
Merely two episodes in, the show’s nonlinear structure has already proven powerful, creating heartrending, dramatic irony and palpable tension given what we know, but what the characters do not, as we peer backward through time, unable to reach out to them for warning or comfort. That she doesn’t pick up on Mercy’s offer to “help” as an employment inquiry represents a blind spot that carries over to the blurred lines that already exist at home with her Filipino maid, Essie (Ruby Ruiz), who’s been living with and working for the family ever since Gus was born and has a particularly close bond with him. A mere handful of moments, and by casting such a wonderfully sweet child actor (and directing him toward a freeing sense of chaos, it would seem), creates a kid performance at once deeply familiar yet seldom seen onscreen, given how hilariously and charmingly disruptive Gus is in every scene.
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