The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Friday

On the third episode of the Amazon original series The Consultant, starring Academy-award Christoph Waltz, we see how Craig, bolstered by the consultant greenlighting his animal and glass game pitch, has become tolerant of Regus. But when Regus gets him to go for a drink, Craig is in for quite a rude surprise as the night spins into lunacy.

The episode opens with Regus playing the demo of the new game made by Craig in the lobby. He’s clearly not a gamer, but he’s fascinated by how the mechanics of weight and the different animals you can put on the tempered glass platform, can push into various breaking points.

Elaine tells Craig that according to a flight manifest she checked out, Mama Sang had flown back to Seoul. She’s doubtful but Craig casually explains it away as a bribe by Regus gone well.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Night out with the boss

Just when Craig is about to leave for a nightcap, Regus invites himself, forcing Craig to allow it. A Friday night drink with the boss, what could possibly go wrong?

At Nippers Bar, Regus talks about possibly getting into a bar fight. Craig balks, scared, and laughs it off.

But then Regus says he was just joking and then inveigles him to do a bar crawl. They’re brought there by a stretch Jeep.

At the 10th floor of a building, Craig is asked to change into something more formal. It’s the dress code.

They provide him with a suit and some leather shoes and so he changes out of his street clothes. They enter what looks like an upscale bar, where everyone’s dressed in evening or formal wear.

As Regus goes off to greet someone, Craig gets some drinks. But then he catches the eye of a beautiful blonde with a prosthetic arm.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Meet Milani

When Craig sits down with her, he realizes she also has a prosthetic jaw, a prosthetic right leg and a Russian accent. Regus sits down with them and introduces the woman as Milani.

Upon some prompting, Craig confesses that he met his fiancée Clara when he was at the hospital for surgery. She was his nurse.

Back at CompWare, Elaine is putting on a new dress for a hot date. The dress still has a tag on.

Her date guy texts that he’ll be an hour late. Since she’s in Regus’s office, she rummages inside his desk for scissors.

She also finds a key with a chain tag that says RECORDS. She doesn’t take it, at first, but then as she’s waiting, she gets a call from Craig sounding tipsy and in a haze.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Elaine’s own file

Elaine gives in, goes back to Regus’s office, and gets the key for the records room. Inside she finds rank upon rank of filing cabinets.

Inside are literal personnel files, typed up on paper and inside manila folders. She finds her own file and gets so engrossed reading it, she barely notices that an hour has passed.

There’s a cigarette on the table beside the typewriter and Elaine can’t help herself. She lights one up, but the butt leaves a telltale sign of her lipstick.

Her date knocks on the locked CompWare door. He tries to call Elaine but she doesn’t pick up.

So eventually he leaves. Regus asks Craig to help him with a favor for his friend.

Craig agrees and they board the same stretch Jeep that brought them there, this time with Regus driving.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Favor to a friend

Two guys open the back and dump in a sheet-wrapped person that’s clearly tied up and gagged. Craig instantly has a panic attack, all the while Regus is spouting maxims about control and calmness.

He tells Craig that they likely have the person responsible for the death of Sang inside the sheets and that they’re heading for a boat on the docks. When the Jeep rings that the tank is almost empty, Craig feels like this is the chance to do something.

It all comes to ahead when, after Regus fills up the gas at a truck stop, he also goes inside to buy some beers. Craig cuts the ropes and frees their backseat prisoner.

Instead of the boy who killed Sang it’s Milani, the Russian blonde he met at the fancy party. Before Regus can get back, she opens the back door.

She leaves Craig with a message to find Frank Florez if Craig wants to find out “what he’s made of”, meaning Regus.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Ruled out for crisis

Regus gets back in the vehicle with two beers. Unsurprised that Craig freed Milani, he explains that the woman was his friend from Moscow whom he thought he left in good hands, because she’s a drug addict.

His plan was to get her on a boat and into rehab again. But since Craig freed her, she’s likely trying to score somewhere in Long Beach.

Regus was trying to test Craig’s loyalty to Sang. But with this turn of events, he certainly won’t be relying on the coder in a crisis.

Craig’s left at the gas station with a beer in his hand.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: That tell-tale lipstick

Back at CompWare, just as Regus is about to update Craig’s file, he finds Elaine’s lipstick-stained cigarette butt on the ashtray. The next day, Clara finds Craig sleeping on the couch and comments on his nice suit.

He plays it off like it was just a wild night out, confessing that the suit is a loaner. Craig goes back to the building and, at the 10th floor anteroom, finds his clothes lying where he left them.

He can’t resist the urge to check out the swank bar. But when he opens the doors it’s just an ordinary office, cubicles and computers and all, completely empty since it’s the weekend.

There is nothing to indicate it was a place for parties or night life. We go all Dutch angle on Craig’s confused and pathetic face.

The Consultant season 1 episode 3 recap: Review

One of the best moment in this episode is the appearance of Milani. She’s a mysterious and attractive one-armed, one-legged Russian woman with, if appearances can be trusted, a prosthetic jaw as well.

Though I am hoping she also makes a later appearance, it seems like Regus just set up the whole encounter to rattle and test Craig. She’s quite a test, too.

“I needed to see if you could be trusted,” said the consultant, after seeing that the coder had freed Milani from her binds and gag. The arc about Elaine unlocking the records room is something we could do without honestly.

It could have been left on the cutting room floor and it wouldn’t have affected the vibe or outcome of the episode at all. Poor, date guy though.

He really shouldn’t have screwed up with the time, seeing how Elaine bought a new dress for him. The surprise end of how the bar where Regus and Craig partied, becoming just a normal office space is a clincher.

Would love to see how it pans out in a later episode. I am sure it’ll drive Craig further up the wall, as apparently everything Regus does is a test.

How’d you like the episode of Regus and Craig as developing frenemies? You can stream the first season of The Consultant on Amazon Prime Video.