Undone season 1, episode 2 recap: The Hospital

Undone spends most of its second episode in “The Hospital.” Alma’s dad introduces her to a whole new world and asks for her help. We’ve got the recap!

The premiere episode of Undone ended with a bang. When Alma (Rosa Salazar) wakes up in the hospital after “The Crash,” she has a deep, scratchy bruise on her upper right temple. She fades back into a coma. When she wakes up again, her mom Camila (Constance Marie) is there by her side to scold her for not wearing a seatbelt. Her sister Becca (Angelique Cabral) is there, as well. She’s grateful that Alma won’t need a back brace because that could make her maid of honor dress clunky. And, sitting a chair off to Alma’s left is her dad. Jacob (Bob Odenkirk) is quietly sitting and reading a newspaper. The only thing about this that’s jarring to Alma is the fact that her father has been dead for a long time.

Director Hisko Hulsing (Junkyard) plays this moment straight up. Undone is rotoscoped, but the shot set up could have been achieved on a smartphone. There are cuts to and from Jacob. No one else acknowledges his presence. Alma’s reactions to Jacob’s presence cause concern in other characters. I liked that. There’s going to be a lot of interdimensional scene melding in this episode. Hulsing does not overplay his hand on the simple stuff. Raphael Bob-Waksberg (BoJack Horseman) and Kate Purdy’s (BoJack Horseman) script does a nice job setting up the basic rules of the Undone world. It also makes you want to reach out and hold Alma until she starts crying and lets things out.

Alma and Jacob

Jacob needs Alma to help him. He repeatedly asks her if she’ll agree to help him. But Alma is righteously confused. Help Jacob with what? What is she risking by saying yes? Isn’t Jacob super dead? Without using a whole lot of words, Alma conveys all of these questions with expressions that mix shock, startled confusion, and emotional paralysis. Since she won’t say yes, Jacob pushes Alma back into the same day over and over again. The events never change, but their order and nature vary from replay to replay.

My feelings were really hurt for Alma. She’s in a car crash and when she wakes up her dead dad keeps pushing her into a time loop because he’s not getting what he wants. It turns out to be a perfect representation for their relationship. Jacob died on Halloween night. After tween Alma (Luna-Marie Katich) had finished trick-or-treating, she asked Jacob if he would take her out for more candy. He was busy reading his paper but seemed to happily agree. Almost immediately after they start out, Jacob gets a call. He tells Alma to stay put in the middle of the neighborhood and wait till he returns.

First of all, this is garbage parenting. This is likely taking place in the early 2000s. How do you just leave a kid like that? Alma makes it clear that she can’t find her way home from where they’re at. Had they just moved? Did they go someplace out of the way for better candy? Who knows. What’s important is that Jacob dies in a car crash of his own. That’s the defining moment of Alma’s life. She missed being able to play with him and have him at her graduations. She was left to sleep on the ground waiting for her dad that night until police found her the next morning. The loss became so intense that she even attempted suicide.

Tween Alma’s costume was Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. That’s perfect. She’s now straddling a world with one consistent timeline and a world where time seems to be something that’s already happened in every direction. You can go back or forward and investigate any part you want. It’s very disorienting and the people in the timeline view your reappearance and reactions to it as odd and scary.

My heart broke for Alma when Jacob tells her that he intentionally appeared on the side of the road and caused her car crash. Then, Jacob has the audacity to ask Alma to not abandon him. Dude! Look in the mirror! There’s a sudden realization that focuses Alma real quick. She goes back into the day she’s been reliving. She makes sure to have the best possible interactions with her mom and sister. Alma’s felt abandoned for all these years. It’s caused her to neglect the family that she has. The family that loves her.

Alma and Sam

Sam (Siddharth Dhananjay) comes to visit Alma in the hospital. At first, she mistakes him for an orderly. But, a visiting Tunde (Daveed Diggs) makes sure she knows that was Sam. The only person on Earth who knows that Alma broke up with Sam is Becca. So, to everyone else, it makes perfect sense that he would visit. Plus, and this is the most important aspect of their relationship going forward, Alma does not remember breaking up with Sam. He takes note and moves all of his stuff back into Alma’s place while she’s in a coma.

This is creepy, gross behavior. I get it. Sam is in love. He really cares about Alma. But he’s taking advantage of her memory loss and erasing part of her history. This is the dark side of being clingy. There is a point where Alma flashes into a future where she finds out about Sam’s deception. But, he’s still living there and she’s not that mad. I get it. This is the ultra-romantic love story. But it could also be assault if they had relations while she was in the dark about her own break-up. But, after the revelations about her dad, Alma seems to be prioritizing what hurts her and in what amount she’ll be hurt.

Alma and Brain Damage

Every time Alma sees her sister and mom, they are wearing the same thing. Some of that is due to reliving days. But Alma sees people in the same clothes quite often. She also only sees her dad in poses, situations, and moments that she saw him in during the hours leading up to his death. Jacob doesn’t say much until the part of a dream where Alma could have become lucid enough to fill in logic blanks. Is any of this really happening? Is Alma still in a coma? Is Alma’s mental health compromised? It’s something we will have to keep track of in the episodes ahead.

Are you enjoying Undone? Do you think Alma is really time traveling? Let’s discuss in the comments!