Constellation Episode 4: Previously, “Constellation” on Apple TV+ introduced us to its central characters and their neurological problems. We met Jo Ericsson, a female astronaut who returned to Earth after a tragic event occurred in space. Another astronaut, Paul, died before it happened. Since then, she started imagining strange things that probably weren’t there, be it sounds or visions of corpses. Turns out, former astronaut Henry Caldera also faced similar issues since his incomplete mission.
So, after Jo’s return, Henry remained obsessed with finding an outcome from the CAL machine sent with their space station. Now, “Constellation” Episode 4 follows Jo trying to make peace with her life back home, which is not how she remembers it. While coping with her feelings of alienation, she tries to find the cause of her neurological problems.
Spoilers ahead.
Constellation Episode 4 “The Left Hand of God” Recap:
“Constellation” Episode 4 begins with a scene from a while after Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) returns to the Earth after a butchered space mission. We see her husband- Magnus (James D’Arcy), taking their daughter – Alice (Rosie/Davina Coleman), to a cottage tucked in a snowscape. She recalls that she spent a summer there with Jo. Magnus tells her that they will never be seeing Jo again. It seems like something tragic happened days after Jo’s return that pushed Magnus to take this harsh decision.
In the present, Jo returns home with her family and tries to get things back to the way they were before – or the way she remembers being before her space mission. She feels a slight disconnect with Alice, who doesn’t understand Swedish as she expects from her. Magnus soon reveals something even worse – he believed their relationship was over, based on her behaviour before her departure. She assures him that she loves him and does not intend to leave him as he thinks she would.
Why does Magnus distance himself from Jo?
Jo’s life does not go back to normal as she hopes it to. She tries to make sense of Magnus and Alice’s change of behavior. After a point, she decides to ask Magnus openly – whether anything in specific happened that made him distance himself. He reveals that he got close to another woman while she was in space. Before she left, he had heard gossip about Jo’s relationship with her colleague, Fredrick (Julian Looman). So, Magnus thought that their marriage was over. Jo cannot remember ever being in that affair.
What happens to Henry after Ian’s disappearance?
Earlier, we saw Henry (Jonathan Banks) push Ian Rogers (his debater) into the ocean, which possibly led to his death. FBI Agent Lenora Bright (Clare-Hope Ashitey) arrives on the ship to investigate this matter. While that happens, Henry faces another issue in his CAL machine-based research. Michaela Moyone (Chipo Chung) tells him to accept the fact that CAL didn’t work and tells him to return to his duties. But he refuses to back down. His loved ones tell him to ignore things that he can’t control. Still, he keeps seeking support for research into CAL.
Henry draws the face-shaped pattern that he saw in the machine and states his findings. But no one he meets wants to put more time into working on his theories. Meanwhile, Michaela continues her investigation into Ian’s sudden disappearance. She asks Henry about his interaction with Ian before he was thrown into the ocean. Henry claims that he is not physically fit enough to throw Ian from the ship. But it doesn’t clear her doubt. Soon after, she goes through the relevant video recordings. That’s when she notices some strange malfunction in the video right when Henry comes outside with Ian.
What does Jo learn about her condition?
Jo meets a therapist to understand the cause of her hallucinations related to ISS. The therapist believes it might be a sign of PTSD, advises a medical test, and offers some medication. On her way out, she meets Henry. He asks her about her experience with CAL. Then, he brings her to see his research room and introduces her to the idea of anecdotal evidence. He shares the strange experiences astronauts had in the past, where they imagined things that were not there. She does not speak about her experience. While walking out of the room, she feels dizzy.
Later, Jo joins Magnus to meet Alice’s school teacher, who is concerned about her mental health. Jo hopes to mend her broken relationship with Alice. While doing so, she tries to get back to her older self. But it puts her in more anguish than providing any relief. She believes that she was made to consume something that is causing these strange reactions. So, she enters her office to check the contents of her serotonin inhibitor capsules. It leads her to a potentially groundbreaking discovery.
Constellation Episode 4 “The Left Hand of God” Ending Explained:
What does Jo learn about the vitamin pills?
Jo looks at the vitamin pills she was provided with. Then, she goes through the records of older space missions to check for any strange incidents. In the past, most astronauts had received Vitamin A pills, and only one astronaut on each mission was given Vitamin B pills. All these exceptions during these missions faced some serious issues. One of them saw angels in space, whereas another one assumed a false identity before attempting to murder her ex-husband. According to these records, Hendry Caldera had also received Vitamin B pills.
Before Jo can research any further, two blue-collar employees walk into the room she is in. But they do not acknowledge her presence and go on with their work as if she is invisible. Jo finds it absurd. So, she walks up to one of them. Suddenly, he gets shocked, and the next moment, both of them vanish from the room. It seems like one of Jo’s hallucinations. Anyway, she walks out and enters the room Henry is in. She sees him speaking with someone, probably with himself. Before she leaves, she hears him getting angry at himself for being overly curious.
What happens to Jo and Magnus’ marriage?
Frederic keeps expecting Jo to return to the way their relationship was in the past. However, Jo cannot remember having feelings for Frederic. Later, she joins Alice’s classroom to speak about her experience as an astronaut. That’s when she sees Magnus speaking with another school teacher and believes they had an affair. Moments later, she calls him out for it and storms out of the room. He follows her, and so does Alice. Jo decides to drive the car herself. But along the way, she has trouble concentrating. Frederic sees her issues as a part of ‘astronaut burnout’ and suggests admitting her to a rehab clinic.
Frederic also claims that he and Jo had an affair. So, Magnus thinks Frederic is only trying to take Jo away from him. Jo cannot remember having any such affair. She soon finds an envelope sent from the Marine Observatory in Denmark. It contains two videotapes and their transcripts. Both recordings contain distorted speech from former astronauts.
Meanwhile, Alice walks into the main hall and imagines that people have gathered to pay their respects to Jo, who is dead. Magnus blames Jo for it. She tries to explain the concerted effort to get her on anti-psychotic pills to deny what she saw. But he can’t believe it. He tries to call Frederic to seek help for Jo. Jo gets furious seeing Magnus not trusting her. In the heat of the moment, she ends up hurting him.
