The mystery in the Caribbean begins with Hulu’s latest Saint X. With three episodes dropping on their debut, let’s dive in to see what happened.
Episode 1: A Lovely Nowhere
It’s dark and something is wrong. Gogo (Josh Bonzie) is fleeing through the night, while the rest of the hotel guests are calling out for Alison (West Duchovny). A storm is coming, and it looks like bad things have happened.
In present day New York, Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is hit on by a guy at a party. They talk but it doesn’t last long as Josh (Pico Alexander), her boyfriend, arrives and they leave the party.
Back on the island, the plane is just landing, and the new guests of Indigo Bay Resort are starting their journey to the beach. The Thomas family, with Alison, her younger sister Claire and parents Bill and Mia, (Kenlee Townshend, Michael Park, Betsy Brandt) get to know their fellow vacationers, and then board the resort bus. In the future, Mia and Bill Thomas are older and having dinner when they explain to a fellow diner that yes, they do have a daughter. (Not two, just one.)
Emily and Josh are walking through their neighborhood, and while they enjoy the move, Josh is wondering if this was a good idea. He asks her how she feels about living in a Caribbean neighborhood, especially what happened to her sister. Emily assures him that everything is okay and that she loves their apartment.
On the beach, the Thomas’ are lounging when they are invited to play volleyball by Edwin (Jayden Elijah) which they initially turn him down. They learn from Edwin about a distant island called Faraway Cay, where a witch lives there waiting to turn sinners into horrible monsters for their transgressions. Claire has no desire to take a tour of the island, and from here we see a flashback to Gogo arriving at school as a kid. Struggling with his speech problem, Gogo meets Edwin and they become friends.
In the present day, Emily has taken a cab to meet her friend Sunita (Kosha Patel) for lunch. Before she gets out of the car, she notices the name tag of the driver and it is none other than Clive ‘Gogo’ Richardson. Frightened that she has encountered the man blamed for the death of her sister, she hides her phone in the cab, and leaves for lunch.
Inside she tells Sunita about her encounter and her friend is cautioning her to stay away from Clive Richardson. After all, this was the man responsible for the death of her sister.
At the resort, Edwin is reminding Gogo that they need to do all that they can to get as much money out of the guests. Gogo takes it upon himself to encourage participation in the volleyball game and lures Alison and Claire to the court. Once Alison makes her way to the volleyball game, others follow, including Tyler (Caleb Lowell). The game is a success, but Gogo soon meets with Sara, (Bre Francis) the mother of his child, and learns that she needs money for new tires for the car. Their relationship is strained, and Gogo promises to get the money.
Back in New York, Emily arrives home upset, and informs Josh that she had a bad day at work and lost her phone. Trying to alleviate her anger, Emily goes for a run, leaving Josh behind wondering what is happening.
While Gogo needs money, and Edwin might be able to help, Alison is busy starting a relationship with Tyler. As the two get to know each other, in present day New York City, Emily calls her phone, and Gogo answers. They agree to meet so that she can get her phone back.
Episode 2: Woman is Fickle
Detective Roy (Kevin Mambo) comes upon a swerving car and pulls it over. Inside are Edwin and Gogo, and both are intoxicated. He arrests them and takes them back to the station.
At her therapist, Emily is not entirely truthful about meeting Gogo, and while she paints a rosy picture of life with Josh, and how much she loves her apartment, one can see that Emily is starting to get stressed out over having met her sister’s killer.
Gogo lives in a shared apartment, which looks more akin to an early 20th Century rooming house of ill repute. These are rough times for Gogo, and it looks like he knows things are bound to get worse.
The next day at the resort, everyone is feeling the vibe of island life. While Edwin brings the Thomas family their morning drinks, he surprises Alison with a special alcohol-filled drink, secretly without her parents knowing. While Alison gets more details from Edwin on where she can meet him later, a flash forward shows Det. Roy meeting with Bill and Mia Thomas explaining how he arrested two local men in connection with Alison’s disappearance but doesn’t think they were involved. Seeing Gogo in the room, Bill attacks the employee, and the young man flees from the hotel.
Josh is excited about an appeal that his law firm has won, and calls Emily to tell her about a big party that night. Hoping to entice her out, Emily agrees to go. At work though, Emily is far behind on her assignment, and she learns from Sunita that Josh texted her wondering if everything is alright. Telling her friend that she covered for her, Emily is relieved.
Edwin has a plan that will help Gogo get the tires he needs, and to make Sara happy. All he has to do is help Edwin sell some drugs for a lot of money and everything will be alright. A cut to the past where a young Gogo meets Sara, it’s easy to see how the young man was smitten with the girl.
On the beach at a remote location, Alison joins Edwin and they talk privately. There is some heavy flirting going on between the two and Alison probes for more about the legend of the witch on Faraway Cay.
When she returns, Alison looks to get Claire from the camp program, only to find her sitting on the beach with Gogo playing checkers. He explains that Claire didn’t look too interested in the camp activities and invited her to play checkers.
While she may be flirting with Edwin, Alison has also been flirting with Tyler and Wes (Joshuah Melnick). Olivia confronts her and states that she can’t have them all.
Tyler’s father is less than kind about his son. While talking to Bill Thomas, he degrades his son, and mocks him for calling his mother every day. He explains to Bill that unless Alison is interested in leading him around everywhere, she should look for someone else.
Though she is starting to develop a relationship with Tyler, Alison ends up at the secret beach spot with Edwin and Gogo. When Gogo wonders if her parents know where she is, Alison responds that she doesn’t like to be told what to do. In the hotel room, Claire explains all the great things she did today, and how much she loved playing checkers on the beach.
This happiness is interrupted with a future shot of Alison’s body being brought back from Faraway Cay, and Emily following Gogo in the middle of the night on the streets of New York City.
Episode 3: Men of Interest
While Gogo might be reflecting on the past while living in New York City, the death of Alison Thomas could have a huge impact on the island. Detective Roy is told by the mayor in no uncertain terms that this cannot be allowed to destroy the tourism dollars that the island desperately needs.
The next day at their apartment, Emily and Josh seem to be happy and getting along. When Josh tries to talk to her about what is going on and connect with her over the death of his sister to cancer, Emily is not having any part of the conversation. She thinks the two are completely different and walks away.
Det. Roy states at a press conference that even though Alison was last seen with two local men at a bar, he doubts they had any involvement in her death. Being arrested by him for a DWI and based on the location of Alison’s body, it would be impossible for the two to have gotten back from Faraway Cay to be arrested by him. He states that they believe her death was an accident.
In New York, Emily has been following Gogo and they meet at a local restaurant. Under the guise of paying him back for returning her phone, Emily buys the man a meal and they talk for a few moments.
At Indigo Bay, Sara has forced Gogo to take their son for the morning, and while he was able to hide him with the resort babysitter, Edwin questions him as to why he would want to be involved with Sara. The two plan to go to a local drug dealer and purchase drugs which they will resell, and while Edwin wants to help his friend, he is annoyed with Gogo’s defense of Sara. So, he ditches Gogo and heads to the drug dealer on his own.
Bill and Mia Thomas have their own press conference after the discovery of Alison’s body. Blaming Gogo and Edwin for the death of their daughter, they claim that the authorities haven’t done anything because they don’t want to damage the island’s reputation for tourism. Vowing to never give up, Bill Thomas tells the reporters that he won’t stop until the two men are brought to justice.
While Emily again thanks Sunita for covering for her at work, Edwin meets with the local drug dealer and gains the narcotics that he needs.
Alison is back at the pool flirting with Josh and Wes, with Olivia nearby being disgusted by all the attention that she gets. When Wes tells Olivia that her mother needs her help because she is drunk, the angry teen leaves.
Sunita is infuriated by Emily’s actions. How could she sit down to a meal with the man who is responsible for the death of her sister. Emily agrees to involve her in any future actions with Gogo and explains that she just needs to know what happened to her sister. Gogo has all the answers.
While the two friends follow Gogo on the streets of New York, Alison is making friends with Olivia, and explaining that even though she may seem to have it all, Alison has her faults. The two seem to bond over this moment of honesty, and while a friendship seems to have been born, a relationship may be coming undone.
Josh wants to know what is happening with Emily. At their apartment he asks her what has been happening, and while Emily wants to tell him, she explains she just can’t at this moment. One day she will tell him everything, it’s just not now.
In his own apartment, Gogo has a nightmare about the witch from Faraway Cay, and though it is only a dream, Gogo is frightened.
Verdict:
The show has great promise, with excellent character development. While the timeline is all over the place, it is easy to follow, and I am hooked. What happened to Alison? Who is responsible and was she murdered?
Premiering these three episodes has set the table for an intriguing mystery, and I can’t wait to see more. Alycia Debnam-Carey is superb as Emily, a tortured soul with a past, and West Duchovny blends the innocent beauty routine with enough intelligence and interest that makes viewers very invested in the story.
A+ so far in story, characters, and setting. I just wish more episodes were released because I would be watching them right away. This is a mystery that will take some time to solve.