Expats Episode 4: Recap & Ending Explained – Is Mercy Pregnant?

Episode 4 of the series “Expats,” entitled “Mainland,” delves into the characters’ resilience as they face challenges, questioning whether they will endure or falter against the impending storm. Previously, we learned that the detectives had found a dead body that matched the description of our little missing boy Gus. Margaret and Clark are called in to identify the body. 

In this episode, we will find out if it is really Gus’s dead body. If yes, then is it moral to say that at least Margaret can have closure of some sort, knowing that Gus is, after all, dead?

At the same time, the latest episode focuses on our two other protagonists – Mercy and Hilary – as they come face to face with a new reality in their respective lives.

Mind you, the article doesn’t follow a chronological sequence of how the episode runs but provides a detailed understanding of the character’s actions. Please note that the article contains spoilers, so read it at your own discretion.

Expats Episode 4 Recap:

Hilary wakes up a new day to the horror of learning that she had forgotten that her mother is coming for a visit. She quickly changes into fresh clothes and gets downstairs to pick up her mother as Sam pulls in the car in the driveway. Hilary’s mother ignores the greetings and starts criticizing her daughter almost immediately, leaving us to judge how Hilary has decided to live her life at her own will. As the two women head to the elevator, a malfunction leads them to get stuck with another woman. Hilary’s mother has no filter and goes on to say most random things that would come to her mind, which includes – racial slurs towards the white woman. Hilary tries to speak to the maintenance staff via comm, but due to the language barrier, no help comes up. As the three women slowly get comfortable with the idea of being stuck together, we know how the episode will turn out eventually. 

Slowly, we learn the background Hilary comes from as her mother keeps on nagging her with intrusive questions about her private life. Firstly, she questions why Hilary chooses to be motherless at this age and why she never does anything to keep her marriage from crumbling. She doesn’t give any respect to the fact that she is, after all, talking about her daughter’s private life openly in front of a stranger while leaving no space for either of them to breathe. At first, Hilary, keeps mum, knowing that it would almost be hitting her head to a wall if she counters her mother, but then as the time passes and the space of the elevator becomes unbreathable, Hilary starts to fire back. 

It turns out Hilary has not only been a victim of relentless abuse at home for being dark-colored but also a product of a dysfunctional household. We see Hilary not mincing her words as she finally spits out the dark truth of her father beating her mother and finding solace in another woman’s arm while her mother covers up the bitter truth about her own life. Hilary is also expected to cover her marital problems and continue working on how to create a family, as her mother believes children make a family, not a husband.

The other woman, who can converse in Mandarin, finds out the maintenance people are still working on getting the lift gates open. This is when Hilary finally puts a stop to her mother’s constant bickering, body-shaming, and gaslighting by reminding her mother that it is her choice not to be a mother and that David left her. Eventually, the women are rescued as the lift starts functioning again. After having a tiff in a confined space, Hilary’s mother suggests she will head to a hotel but we see her getting comfortable in Hilary’s apartment anyway. 

Is it really Gus’ dead body that the detectives have found?

The episode uses four walls of a room to represent how complex our characters are and how their mind works. After getting inside the facility, where the detectives have summoned Margret and Clark to identify the dead body of a child, Margret starts behaving erratically. Her jumpy behavior, as opposed to her cold demeanor, tells us that she is mentally trying to prepare herself for what will unfold in the next few hours. Due to a language barrier, a janitor locks Margret and Clark in a room together before an official can come and assist them. Now isolated and without any clear understanding, they are left to confront the unsettling discovery that Gus’ dead body can potentially be in one of these rooms. 

The husband and wife remember the time when Gus introduced Pizza Friday into their lives and how things have changed ever since the little boy has gone missing. Margret blames Clark for their current situation, arguing that if they had moved back, they wouldn’t be in their current predicament. However, Clark reflects that if Margret had chosen Essie, their maid, instead of Mercy, a random girl she found, to care for their children, they might never have lost Gus in the first place. This shuts Margret, but Clark apologizes for snapping back as they lost their son not only because of her but because he looks like him (i.e., Asian). He tells her if they had a son who looked like her, they would have gotten a lead, but it is easier to lose a child who looks like him in a crowd. Clark also tells Margret that lately, her behavior has been problematic and concerning, as the children find it difficult to be around her. The children, Daisy and Philip, express a desire for a normal life, but Margret highlights that the family’s current circumstances make normalcy impossible. Margret is very clear that she will not abandon her son (dead or alive) in a foreign land, and she will do everything possible to find him. 

Soon, an official comes and, after filling up a form, takes them to the mortuary. As the doctor removes the cloth from the dead body for identification, Margret, at first, panics, telling the doctor she is not ready yet. She even hysterically starts laughing, making everyone around her uncomfortable. Once ready, she nods at the doctor to remove the cloth, and once the couple looks at the body, Margret immediately tells the officials it is not Gus while Clark breaks down crying. 

Expats Episode 4 Ending, Explained: 

Is Mercy Pregnant?

Meanwhile, as far as Mercy’s arc is concerned, we see her contemplating something as she stares at a blank wall. After a while, she wakes David, who had passed out at her place after getting drunk. The two almost immediately start spitting the truth about their personalities and how fucked up they are in the real world. At first, the two were just doing it for fun until David pushed a little hard when he said that Mercy lost a child and destroyed a family. Mercy takes a time out, and David joins her and tells her that he is no different as he, too, destroyed a family. It turns out David, during his childhood, had pushed his twin brother, making him paraplegic for life. It seems David and Mercy are two peas in a pod, who have unknowingly created havoc in other people’s lives, and now the two have to live with their truths. 

As David leaves the apartment, we see Mercy rushing to the washroom as she gets sick. David comes back only to find Mercy by herself, prompting him to guess if she is pregnant. David, who had been told by his doctors that he has a low fertility rate, wants to ensure that Mercy is pregnant or not. So he gets three pregnancy kits for his surety. 

The ending of Expats episode 4 shows Mercy taking the pregnancy test. The episode leaves us with no clear answer about the test result, but as Mercy sees David out of her apartment, he gently reminds her to carefully think through her decision, making us to believe that the test result did come positive.

Now, there could be three ways to the new revelation in the episode. If Mercy chooses to keep the baby, will she do so in order to fulfill her long-standing desire for a sense of belonging and to establish a relationship? Will she have the baby as a peace offering to Margret because she lost one of hers? Will this be a respite in Hilary and David’s crumbling marriage? The narrative can go in any direction now, and episode 5 might just explode in a totally different way. The last sequence of the storm approaching might just be a sign of what’s to come.

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Expats Episode 4 Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Expats Episode 4 Cast: Nicole Kidman, Ji-young Yoo, Jack Huston, Sarayu Blue, Brian Tee, Bonde Sham, Flora Chan
Expats Episode 4 Genre: Drama, Runtime: 6 Episode (between 35-40 mins each)

Where to watch Expats