The previous episode ended with Ethan’s arrest for Adam’s murder. In episode 3 of The Better Sister, the story turns its attention to Ethan’s court hearing. A hidden romantic relationship also comes to light, one that some viewers may have suspected all along.
Spoilers ahead from The Better Sister episode 3.
Ethan's hearing begins
The third episode opens with a flashback to the day Ethan brought a gun to school. After being picked up by Chloe and Adam, they confront him about why he did it. While Chloe is more gentle with him, Adam is visibly angry and confrontational, demanding answers. The flashback ends, and we're taken to Chloe's penthouse, where she browses through her phone. She comes across a new article discussing Ethan's arrest. The doorbell then rings, and she opens the door to let Catherine in.
Catherine explains that the magazine’s board is unhappy with the negative publicity surrounding her, including Adam’s murder and Ethan’s arrest. She tells Chloe that at the upcoming board meeting, she needs to make it clear that she has no intention of resigning or stepping down from her position. Catherine also suggests to Chloe that she should find a way to leverage her current situation and turn it to her advantage. After Catherine leaves, Chloe and Nicky discuss Ethan's hearing, which is set for that day. They find out via a call with Detective Guidry where Ethan is being held.
At the juvenile detention center, Ethan confides in his lawyer, Michelle Sanders, about why he wasn’t with Kevin on the night of Adam’s murder. He explains that Kevin was selling weed that night, and fearing his father’s reaction if he found out he was with him, Ethan chose to leave Kevin at the beach and asked him to pick him up later once he was done. Meanwhile, Guidry and Bowen question Bill, trying to extract information about the Gentry Group and whether Adam had any conflicts with them. They even press him about a possible rivalry between Adam and Jake, but Bill remains tight-lipped and doesn’t give anything away.
After the call ends, Bowen presents Jake’s phone records to Guidry, revealing a series of frequent calls to an unknown number, some of which occurred on the night of Adam’s murder. While the pattern raises suspicions, Guidry still remains firmly convinced that Ethan is the killer. At Chloe's penthouse, Chloe looks through her office and finds a flip phone hidden under a pillow. This is the same flip phone that Ethan hid in the previous episode.
On the way to the police station, Chloe talks to Bill over the phone while Nicky flips through the old flip phone. Chloe originally believed the phone belonged to Adam, but Nicky quickly realizes it's actually Ethan’s. She figures it out after finding a message from Kevin apologizing for snitching on him. In an attempt to protect her son, Nicky performs a factory reset on the phone, wiping all its contents. Meanwhile, Chloe learns from Bill that the Lyft receipt leads nowhere. According to him, Adam had simply been taking trips to Queens to meet with the Gentry Group.
At his law firm, Bill has a conversation with Jake. He reveals that Adam had a private, off-the-record meeting with the Gentry Group shortly before his death, leading Bill to believe Adam was attempting to poach them as a client. Bill admits he had suspected this for months, but found it hard to believe the Gentry Group would actually betray him after everything he's done for them. He believes another law firm was poaching Adam and wanted him to join them so that he could bring the Gentry Group along with him. Bill tells Jake that Adam made a big mess and now it's up to him to clean it up.
While speaking with Sanders, Jake finds out that Nicky is back in town. He also reveals some personal information about Chloe and her family to Sanders. Meanwhile, at the police station, Nicky waits in the car while Chloe goes in to speak with Guidry and Bowen. As she sits alone, Nicky rummages through the glove compartment and discovers the bloody pocket knife Chloe had been hiding. Rather than returning it, she decides to keep it.
Inside, Chloe urges the detectives to find a way to retrieve data from the wiped flip phone, but they dismiss her, insisting there's nothing they can do. They then inform her that they’ll be leaving shortly for Ethan’s hearing and suggest that she should make her way there too.
Back at the juvenile detention center, Sanders arrives to escort Ethan to his hearing. Before they leave, Ethan opens up to her about why he really brought the gun to school. He admits it wasn’t an accident. He was scared of having it in the house and was trying to get rid of it. During the hearing, the judge formally announces that Ethan is being charged with second-degree murder. Sanders responds by entering a not guilty plea on his behalf. After a brief but tense proceeding, the judge orders that Ethan be held without bail and returned to custody.
Chloe and Jake's secret affair is revealed
Chloe, Nicky, and Sanders meet at a diner up the road to discuss their next steps. Based on evidence from the crime scene, it appears the murder was staged as a robbery. Sanders tells Chloe and Nicky that their next step is to prove that the person who did the staging wasn't Ethan. Before they wrap up their meeting, Sanders stresses to them that for her to defend Ethan effectively, they need to be completely transparent and share everything they know.
Chloe and Nicky arrive at the summer house. While Chloe heads out for a run, Nicky stays behind to clean up the bloodstains on the floor. She also pulls out the bloody pocket knife and scrubs it clean with bleach. As she does this, a flashback plays of her childhood. A young Nicky is seen eavesdropping on a conversation between her parents, during which her father cruelly insults her.
The flashback ends, and the scene shifts to Chloe out on her run. She makes her way to Jake’s house and confronts him about what he told Sanders regarding her and her family, particularly the restraining order. Jake apologizes and tries to reassure her that everything will be fine. Chloe firmly tells him not to share any more information about her or her family with Sanders, and Jake agrees.
An intimate moment is then shared between the two as Chloe tells Jake she misses him. The episode ends here. Dun dun duuun! It's clear Chloe and Jake were having an affair. Could Jake have murdered Adam in jealous rage because he wanted Chloe to himself? I guess we'll have to continue on watching the remaining episodes to find out.
All eight episodes of The Better Sister can be streamed on Prime Video.