This Way Up – Season 1, Episode 3 Review

After two strong episodes, the third episode of This Way Up seemed more like a filler episode in the series.

Aine (Aisling Bea) has to stay with her sister, Shona (Sharon Horgan), and Shona’s partner, Vish (Aasif Mandvi) due to rats being found in Aine’s flat. During her stay, Shona plans to set her younger sister up on a blind date.

On the surface the idea of Aine going on a blind date could have comedic and dramatic potential, but this episode was actually more focused on the relationship between the sisters. It was an episode about the character moments and the biggest reveals were between Shona and Charlotte (Indira Varma.) Shona believed Aine tried to take own life and this reveal explains why she so protective and watchful over Aine.

The Charlotte reveal adds a little extra depth to the show’s mental health theme. Charlotte is a confident and successful financer – she is the last person that anyone would expect to have mental health issues. But it goes to show that mental health issues can affect anybody with Charlotte going down the medicated route. Even during such a serious reveal Charlotte was able still about to joke with Shona about it, like real friends world. During the season so far Charlotte has acted as Shona confidante regarding her concerns for Aine.

The interactions during this episode were naturalistic. The relationship between the sisters felt real such as when they watched TV and annoyed Shona’s partner in the process. And the scenarios presented were realistic like Aine accidentally barging into the toilet when Vish was using it. Aine’s presence in the flat annoys Vish and considering the first episode he stated that his partner worried too much about her sister and there are hints that animosity is growing between the two – even if Aine doesn’t see it yet.

This episode showed a bit of Aine’s self-destructive side. Towards the end of the episode Aine gets drunk with one of her neighbours brings him back to Shona’s flat. Shona rightly gives Aine a bollocking for her for this act. Even though Shona is protective, there are certain actions that will be beyond the pale.

Whilst this episode has solid character work the plot was pretty much non-existence. Not a lot happens because the events of this episode were Aine hangs around with Shona, has to spend a day out and gets tricked into a date. The episode was treading water as it found ways to extend itself. It’s not helped by the show’s style of humour which was slight – it’s about the dialogue and small actions. It’s witty rather than outright funny.

The most important event in the episode was at the beginning when Aine has dinner with Richard (Tobias Menzies.) He is already keeping up with Aine’s joke and they bond over dinner where Aine starts to feel a spark.

The third episode of This Way Up is distinctly average when compared to the first two episodes. There were some nice character moments in the episode but it wasn’t as interesting or had as high stakes.