The Innocents season 1, episode 3 recap: ‘Bubblegum and Bleach’

In the previous episode of The Innocents, June and Harry cope with June’s ability, eventually escaping to London where they believe they’ll be safe — until Steinar and Alf show up.

June isn’t sure if they should run — they’ve found a video from her mother telling her to trust Steinar — but Harry is convinced they should, so they take off. Meanwhile, June’s mother, Elena, goes through a brutal test in Dr. Halvorson’s lab in Norway, and June’s father and agoraphobic brother team up to search for her.

At the start of The Innocents‘ third episode, June and Harry have escaped from Steinar and spent the night at the top of a slide on a children’s playground, They go to clean up in a public restroom and then continue on their way.

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Meanwhile, in their hometown, Harry’s mother goes to find John at his farm, but he’s already left with Ryan. Unfortunately, Ryan isn’t handling their quest well. He desperately wants to help his sister, but going out into the world before he’s had any treatment for his agoraphobia isn’t going very well. He’s racked with anxiety and John thinks he should take Ryan home. But Ryan finally evens out his breathing and insists they keep going.

In Norway, Elena is still reeling from the test Dr. Halvorson gave her the previous day. Runa goes to talk to Elena, who is considering leaving. Runa brings up June against Halvorson’s wishes. She tells Elena that June ran away from home and they’ve confirmed she’s a shapeshifter. Elena is horrified by the news. She didn’t want that for June.

Runa finds Halvorson and tells him what she told Elena. Runa claims she did it because she got confused. Whatever her issues are, they’re getting worse.

In London, June and Harry try to figure out what to do. They left their bags at the apartment where they had planned on staying so they have nothing but the clothes on their backs. They at least need to figure out a way to get money. Then they run into a stranger who offers them sympathy and shelter on his boat, which they cautiously accept.

As they make themselves comfortable, June starts thinking about Steinar again. He knows where her mom is, which is more than anyone in her family can say. Harry suggests that maybe John knew more than he let on about her mom’s conditions and about her whereabouts. But June insists John felt as abandoned by Elena as she and Ryan did.

Elsewhere in the city, Steinar wakes up in the back of Alf’s van. Steinar is despairing. He can’t find June. Alf suggests they talk to the kids in the apartment where they originally found her. Maybe one of them knows where she went.

In Norway, Halvorson attempts to discuss things with Elena. Halvorson tells her June will be safe and happy there. Elena says she wants that for June but she can’t continue with her treatments, she’ll go mad.

Halvorson wants to know how she’ll help June now that they know she’s a shapeshifter too. Elena claims she knew about June from the moment she was born, but always put herself first. Halvorson counters that when June gets there she’ll have a support system and a role model, and Elena will have to be the kind of role model June needs.

On the stranger’s boat, Harry and June crash. When they wake up they find he’s having a party above deck. The man, Shane, offers them a job of sorts. If they distribute drugs for him on the party circuit, he’ll give them a percentage in cash. Harry and June don’t have a better option, so they agree.

Meanwhile, Steinar and Alf plot what to do outside the apartment where June and Harry stayed. They watch as John and Ryan pull up.

John forces himself into the apartment. He finds one of the tenants and asks him if June was there. The tenant says she took off but then John notices her bag. John throws the boy against the wall but the boy swears June and Harry are gone and they seemed like they were on the run, he assumes from John. John takes June’s bag and goes back to his car.

Ryan informs John that Harry’s mother, Christine, has been calling.  When he gets her on the phone, Christine tells him the location of Harry’s crashed car.  John informs her that he’s already in London but hasn’t found June or Harry yet.

Christine tells him to look for the kids at the area hospitals. Christine wants to come help but John tells her to stay at home in case the kids return. They agree to continue to share even the smallest scrap of information. As John and Ryan drive off, Steinar and Alf follow.

Harry and June hit the club with Shane and his girlfriend, Lil. They split up to find buyers, doing well with their new gig. Once they’ve sold all their pills, they have some fun of their own. But Shane and Lil decide to push things up a notch by dosing their drinks.

When a fight breaks out on the dance floor, June starts to get stressed. Lil comes over and hugs her, and June shifts into Lil as the real Lil goes catatonic.

June, not realizing what happened, finds Harry. She tries to kiss him but Harry pushes her away. He knows it’s June but he still doesn’t feel right kissing her when she looks like someone else. Finally realizing what’s happened, June starts crying and runs to the bathroom.

Harry follows and tries to calm her down. Once Harry gets her relaxed again, June transforms back to herself. They leave the club, where they find a still unconscious Lil being taken away in an ambulance.

Shane is standing at a safe distance. He can’t understand what happened, Lil’s always been able to handle her drugs.

June, feeling responsible, steps forward and gives an EMT one of the pills she was selling, assuming that’s what Lil also took. June goes in the ambulance with Lil. Shane tries to give Harry his cut of their take for the night but Harry refuses.

Harry finds June in the waiting room of the hospital. June tells him they checked her in too, and she gave them her real name, but she won’t see the nurse.

Even worse, Lil’s in a coma. Harry takes the news hard. His dad was in a coma and hasn’t been the same since.

June goes to see Lil while Harry calls his mother. He tells her he’s not sure he’s strong enough to stay on his current path. Christine asks him to tell her where he is so she can come get him. Harry ignores the request. Instead, he tells her about June’s ability. After what happened with Lil, Harry’s worried June could hurt him.

Not understanding, Christine tells Harry that what he’s experience is just love. Things go wrong and you can’t do anything about it. Harry agrees. What’s happening isn’t June’s fault. Harry apologizes and hangs up as the episode comes to a close.

Yeesh, being a teenage shapeshifter isn’t easy! And neither is being a teenage shapeshifter’s boyfriend. Although June is lucky to have Harry — most teenage boys would be long gone by now.

Harry and June have managed to stay one step ahead of everyone looking for them so far. But given they’ve gone to the one place John and Ryan are currently looking for them, it may not be too long before they’re located by not only John but Steinar too. We’ll see how things continue to unfold on the next episode of The Innocents.

We’ll have the episode 4 recap up soon. In the meantime, check out our episode 2 recap of the series, stream the entire first season on Netflix, and share your thoughts on episode three of The Innocents in the comments.