The third of the initial batch of The Changeling episodes released on the show's debut day of Friday, September 8, really kicks off the story of the show, with some dramatic character turns and events that'll shape the rest of the show.
Over the course of the last two episodes, we've followed Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield) and Emma (Clark Backo) as they meet, fall in love and have a baby, until parenthood proves too much for the latter and she becomes convinced that her child is the devil.
In the third episode of this Apple TV Plus horror and fantasy show, we plunge straight into the magical and mystical world of The Changeling, ready for the weekly release schedule from here.
This Changeling episode 3 recap will explore everything that happens in this hour-long escapade, so spoilers abound. Here's how to watch The Changeling if you still need to catch up before watching, but if you've seen it, let's jump straight in.
Rock bottom for Apollo
Apollo wakes up in his living room, chained to a pipe and stuck on the chair. The room is a mess except for the kettle which is on the stove, and he's covered in blood too. This is Emma's doing, and she walks about like a possessed monster, even picking up the boiling kettle without wincing. After Apollo begs for his child's life, she knocks him out with a hammer.
Some time later, Apollo is released from prison, for an undisclosed crime. He tries to go home but can't summon the coverage, but when he goes to his dad's group for support they don't want him around. He finally finds the guy who discovered him after Emma's attack, who describes finding him... as well as the body of his child. Turns out Apollo was locked up for three months.
Apollo is being compelled to go to a grief counseling group, but when there, he's more involved in his own issues than others'. The other members of the group let him know that they all know about him, due to his yet-undisclosed crime being in the news.
An uncle who isn't an uncle, and a missing dad
Between this, we see flashbacks of Apollo's mother Lillian (Adina Porter old, Alexis Louder young) when he was 4. After rejecting her boss' advances, she's made to work Saturdays, and has to leave Apollo alone these days. One day she returns and white smoke is coming from the apartment.
In the present day, we see Apollo's crime: after he recovered from his hammer injuries, he takes a shotgun and breaks into the library Emma worked at, threatening people at gunpoint for her location. He was planning to kill her and then himself, for what she did to Brian, however the librarians didn't know where she was.
Apollo gets lunch with Uncle Patrice (Malcolm Barrett) and his wife, and it turns out that 'uncle' is just a name, not a family connection. Apollo gives Patrice a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird (from episode 1) as he doesn't need the money for it anymore. Patrice takes it, but recognizes that Apollo is close to suicide, so begs him not to do anything like that.
When Apollo returns home, his mother is there, whom he's been avoiding since he was let out of jail. She looks after him, and also tells him to visit Brian's grave with her. He tells her that he's been having dreams of his dad again ever since Brian was born, and so Lillian gives a confession:
This wasn't a dream, it's a memory, as Apollo's dad really did return when he was little. This was because Lillian had filed for divorce due to the father not being a useful husband, and in the present Apollo is upset that his mother ruined his chance to have a connection with his father.
Apollo's old mistake
Apollo goes to another counseling group, which has many of the same members as before. Apollo just starts talking about himself again, but he's one-upped by another woman who takes it to a whole new level.
This woman mentions she kept receiving disappearing texts with pictures of herself and her child, that she had to turn to a wise woman group for advice, and that child with her in the photo wasn't actually her child at all — it's clear that this lady is going down the same rabbit hole that Emma did in the last episode.
Apollo screams something to this effect and runs away. One of the men from the group follows him, and this is actually a man who wants to buy the copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. He takes Apollo out for a coffee, and it transpires that he recorded the woman's rant from earlier.
They watch it back together, and make the connection to Emma's spiral. He picks up the name of the group, the 'Wise Ones', and his new friend searches it online to discover that these are witches. Apollo has a flashback to the first episode, when he cut Emma's wish bracelet, and realizes that this started the current chain of events.
Now, he knows witches are to blame, and so can start to turn his fortunes around.
