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Summary
“The First Door”toys with the audience more, as the perspective widens, with David giving the audience a little more context before a Rob-centric chapter.
We’ve established that David and Adele’s marriage has plenty of red flags in this series, however, we have never really established what Louise thinks — will she rely on her principles, or give into company and desire? “The First Door” explores that.
Behind Her Eyes episode 3 opens withAdele using Ron’s techniques in her sleep. David stands behind her, watching her. The next day, Louise goes to work and sits in David’s office, and then the doctor walks in, and they are nervous around each other. Adele rings David and asks what time he returned home; he doesn’t give her a specific answer — he returns the “I love you”, but it’s strained. He’s officially in an emotional, and physical affair with Louise. Another issue; Louise and Adele have become friends.
Rob was sick of counting fingers
A flashback shows Rob and Adele having a spliff outside. She’s worried David will be mad for smoking pot, but Rob tells her to keep it a secret. Rob then states he is bored of counting his fingers every day; another reference to the technique of “opening the door” in the notebook. In the present day, Adele counts her fingers while laying on her bed. This has been a repetitive technique now, and one Adele advises Louise to use to rid her night terrors — pinch your cheeks, count fingers and open a door.
David heads to Louise’s place, again
Behind Her Eyes episode 3 confirms that David and Louise cannot help themselves; their actions do not match their words.
After work, David goes to Louise’s place again. Louise feels bad for what happened, but David says he doesn’t feel alone anymore. Louise reminds him that they can’t be a thing. David asks her why she let him in and why she hasn’t moved on from her ex. He calls her a bright woman and that she shines. Louise reminds him about Adele, but he tells her that she doesn’t know Adele. Louise tells him to leave. You can tell she doesn’t want him to.
David gets angry at Adele
When David returns home, Adele has cooked him a big dinner. She wants them to eat together and reminds him that she’s making an effort to make him happy. Adele asks him if it’s happening again, but she’s vague about it. David gets angry and asks her if he should look for a new job, suggesting that they’ve moved a few times recently. The next day, David rings Adele and checks up on her and Louise listens to the phonecall (she can as his secretary). David asks her if she needs an adjustment, which sounds extremely creepy.
Lunch with a friend
Louise seems to enjoy the friendship as well and meets Adele for lunch. Adele tells her that David is a perfectionist and that he gets stressed and makes bad choices. She wonders if he’s drinking too much, and believes he’s working too hard. Adele wants a friend to talk to. Louise offers her hand and tells her she’s listening. Adele asks about the notebook and Louise admits pinching herself, and imagining a door makes her feel like an idiot. Adele tells her not to give up.
In a flashback, Rob describes how his technique worked in a nightmare, and it finally happened. He was being chased by zombies, and then there’s a door, and he’s in paradise with Adele, getting served co*cktails by naked men.
An angry patient turns up after hours
In the present day, David asks Adele to take the pills, but she doesn’t want to. She takes the pills, but when David walks off, she makes herself vomit. At work, Louise stays behind to give David papers that need signatures in his office. They give each other burning looks. As she’s about to leave, a patient called Anthony demands to see David. He seems overly anxious and is in the middle of a breakdown. Louise watches Anthony vent at David downstairs through the window. She seems to admire his authority and how he’s able to treat his patients.
They said they’d never bring it into work
In the last episode, David and Louise promised not to let their affair leak into work, but the temptation to sleep together in the office was obviously too great. David and Louise admit they wouldn’t take “their night” back. David assures her that he isn’t a bastard and gets upset. Louise comforts him, and predictably it leads to them having sex on his office desk. Later in the evening, Sophie is impressed that Louise is having sex with David while being friends with Adele. Louise tells Sophie that he likes them both; she says that Adele is perfect, but seems sad and lonely. She notes that they are both happier with her than with each other. Sophie asks Louise to walk away, but she doesn’t want to; she’s tired of always doing the right thing. Sophie seems disappointed in her and thinks Louise has let herself get too lonely. She wants Louise to ditch them both. As her friend lectures her, Louise counts her fingers.
Louise doesn’t listen
And she doesn’t listen to her friend’s advice; a montage of scenes shows Louise being friends with Adele while having an affair with David. After another sex session, Louise checks out David’s burns on his arms and asks about it. He tells her about a fire near where he lived — he says he pulled a girl out and saved her from trouble. This is Adele’s story; that David saved her from a fire. Louise keeps digging into the story, but David seems strained to talk about it, making the audience wonder why.
In the middle of the night, Louise has a dreadfulnight terror, and this time she sees Adele in it.
Adele gave David her riches
In a flashback, Adele tells Rob that she’s signed over her estate to David, as she’s getting married as soon as she’s out of the facility. Rob is concerned that she’s giving away millions to a man without thinking. She believes David will take care of her. Adele heads to an estate in the present day, and David cannot get hold of her. She seems to be looking for drugs. A woman ends up punching her. The next scene shows David putting ice over her bloodied eye. Adele claims that a cupboard door hit her in the face, but David doesn’t believe her. Adele begs him to stay, but he tells her he has more appointments which annoys her.
The ending
In the middle of the night, Louise practices the techniques from the notebook and tries to think of a door for herself and counts her fingers — she realizes she is dreaming. She ends up in a nicely lit up and mostly yellow room with a piano. She enjoys the house she is in; it looks like a lovely family house. Meanwhile, as David gets home, Adele is still up, drinking. He wants to know about her black eye again, but she tells him that she’s worried about his drinking.
Adele tells him she thought it was a fresh start and what happened before they moved here was his fault. David tells Adele that he can’t look after her anymore. He starts crying. Adele states that they share things that they can never tell anyone, and he can never leave her. He looks at her defeated and says, “I know”.
It seems Adele has David in a corner — what that “corner” remains a mystery at this stage of the series, but it gives viewers a taste that a twist is coming their way. Behind Her Eyes episode 3 toys with the audience more, as the perspective widens, with David giving the audience a little more context before a Rob-centric chapter.
