The Lighthouse
Episode 4 of The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window begins with the focus shifting across to the past. And specifically what happened at the lake. Meredith is worried about Emma swimming on her own. Neil is not happy and there are clear marital issues between the two. Neil loses his temper and curses at her. Meredith admits he has a bad temper but he loses control and pushes her into the lake where she drowns… or does she? Anna awakens with a start as we realize all of this was just one big vision. However, she remains determined to figure out the truth, more determined than ever to expose Neil’s perceived sinister deeds. Anna’s investigation leads her to Hillary Lathan, Meredith’s sister. She happens to be a resident of Middlebury, giving Anna a clear path to discovering more about her. Using social media, she finds her address and heads over, casserole in hand. It turns out Hillary was convinced Neil was cheating on Meredith. The thing is, there was a second tragedy after the initial one, that involving Emma’s teacher at school. She fell during a class field trip to the lighthouse – and Neil was the chaperone on that fateful school trip too. Heading back in town, Anna notices Neil taking an ominous looking bag out and decides to tail him. Neil is wise to what she’s doing though and calls her out for snooping. Anna starts to slip but presses on, questioning his scar. This is something we saw back in episode 1 and now we get some context for it. It turns out the scar across his stomach was actually from when he donated a kidney to his brother but it didn’t take. It’s a painful memory for Neil to relive and he’s visibly uncomfortable by Anna’s persistent questioning. In order to fully prove his theory though, Anna urges him to let her look in the bag. And inside happens to be a ventriloquist dummy. This creepy little thing is what Neil took to in order to help him through the grief following Meredith’s passing. He moonlights as a ventriloquist act. On the way home, Anna receives the results from her background checks. Nothing came up on Lisa but for Rex, his rap sheet goes back a fair while. Only, we don’t see how far as Rex himself shows up behind Anna and forces her inside the house.
The Episode Review
So it seems like Neil is actually in the clear after all. The same, however, cannot be said for Lisa and Rex. There’s definitely something suspicious going on here but exactly what is still to be determined. Interestingly though, the series has managed to sustain its level of mystery, with a couple of nicely timed jokes in this one. The bit involving the lighthouse operator is definitely the stand-out moment, while the enticing elements of this mystery are just starting to come together now. The episode does feel like a bit of a breadcrumb trial though, shifting between different characters who exude a bit of exposition before moving on. While this does help to piece together a consistent timeframe for everything, it also feels a little formulaic. The ending though does hint that we’re about to find out how connected Rex actually is to this case. So was Lisa really killed? Or is this all a big ruse?
