Rain Dogs (Season 1) Episode 3 Recap & Ending Explained: Until now, Cash Carraway’s ‘Rain Dogs’ focused on Costello Jones’ character arc. It gave a closer look into her struggle as a single mother who dreams of becoming a recognized writer. Selby and Gloria were introduced mainly as her mates while keeping both of them as mysteries for the most part.
The latest episode, streaming on HBO Max, tells more of Selby’s past and his emotional struggles with his mother. Meanwhile, it shows Costello giving some time for her sexual pleasures instead of merely being a source of amusement for random creeps. Gloria becomes her reliable friend at this point in time.
Let’s find out what happens in ‘The Small World of Florian Selby.’ Spoilers ahead.
Rain Dogs (Season 1) Episode 3 Recap
Episode 3: The Small World of Florian Selby
Directed by Jennifer Perrott, ‘The Small World of Florian Selby’ brings Selby’s (Jack Farthing) cellmate, Mason, back into his life. Apparently, Mason got out of prison soon after and now enjoys his life in a lavish villa. He reminds Selby that he still owes him money, as they discussed. Selby does not have it at the moment. He asks why he needs it urgently and whether it is for a business opportunity. Mason shares an elaborate answer. Then he threatens Iris’s (Fleur Tashjian) life if Selby does not return it soon.
Selby continues begging for more time. However, he realizes that Mason isn’t going to empathize with him in any way. To find its solution, he decides to use a horse race bet. But that does not work out. So he goes to ask his mother, Allegra, for a favor. The two do not have a healthy relationship, and the brokenness reflects in every part of their interaction. He calls her by her name instead of calling her mother. She refuses to give him any money and calls out his entitledness. He seems to have asked for it quite frequently in the past.
Instead of helping out Selby with his issue, Allegra lectures him for turning out to be a failure. She had high hopes for him and his intellect, which never came to fruition. While she was getting exercised by her personal trainer, she summons him to get a job instead of begging her. But Selby does not have a conventional life. He does not want to marry someone, have children with that person, and live a joyless life. That answer keeps him farther away from getting Allegra’s help.
Meanwhile, Costello (Daisy May Cooper) contemplates whether she should date Richard (Tom Durant Pritchard). After awkwardly taking her photo, he approached Costello right outside her peep show. Gloria (Ronke Adekojuejo) sees this desperate man-child photographer as strange. He calls him a Travis Bickle with a friendship bracelet (trying to save a troubled soul).
Gloria still wants Costello to pursue it since she hasn’t had sex in years. While giving others pleasure, she never sought for herself. So Gloria gets Costello date-ready with her morgue-makeup tools while standing right next to a dead body. Despite the morbidity of their background, Costello is pleasantly hopeful about this date.
Richard, however, has some strange ideas for their date. He takes Costello to a dumpster, jumps into a garbage bin, and eats an apple. He speaks about the need for preservation, not letting food go to waste. ‘You have no idea how many people throw away perfectly good food,’ he says something along those lines. Under his sustainability activism, his behavior screams his ignorance about her reality. Considering her dire situation, he believes this is what Costello would be interested in.
Selby, who has put a tracker on Costello’s phone, shows up there uninvited. He tries to question her decision to date, Richard. She tries to save one date she finally had in years. Richard also seems a reasonably nice guy to her by then. So, she does not want Selby interrupting her time of joy. Selby sees Richard as a poverty voyeur. His assumption is not further from the truth. However, Costello does not realize it just then.
Selby joins the couple on a fancy restaurant dinner. He makes Richard see Costello’s emotionally unavailable side due to what she has been through. If he plans to be in a relationship with her, he should know that it’s no cakewalk. Richard portrays himself as a well-intentioned man. Selby senses its distance from the truth but lets Costello have her night of pleasure.
Meanwhile, Gloria is left with Iris’ parenting duty during Costello’s date. She takes Iris to an arcade. While playing, Iris asks Gloria whether her mother is a whore. Gloria gets worried about why she thinks so. Iris was unaware of what her mother did for a living, and Gloria wanted to maintain that secrecy. Apparently, a bully classmate called Iris – ‘a whore’s child’ because of ‘the article’ that spoke about her sex work. Since Costello is absent, Gloria decides to take the matter into her own hand and get that bully straightened up.
Paul (Sam Hazeldine) also joins Gloria, and they talk about their families. He talks about his mother, who died of cancer, and afterward, his father ran away from dealing with the grief. Over the years, he kept being moved from one care home to another. While he suffered from his father’s abandonment, she endured from being burdened by his achievements. Her mother ran away when she was eight, and since then, she has become a disappointment in their fathers’ eyes. They resonate in their shared feeling of brokenness.
Meanwhile, after their meal, Costello takes Richard home. They kiss each other, but he admits not going further unless she wants it. Costello feels happy that she has found a genuinely nice guy. She almost wishes in her mind for him to be with her through her struggles. She allows him to have sex right then. He even asks for her consent before moving further. What can go wrong with a guy like this, right?
However, right when Richard puts on the condom, he ejaculates before they even go on to have sex. Costello suddenly feels a pang of sadness. Just a few moments ago, she thought she would prove Selby’s hunch wrong. But he was right. Richard wanted to come only through his fascination with her life, which puts her off. He keeps apologizing that it happened. Regardless, she lets him sleep in her bed for the night. Maybe it is due to her belief that it may just be his one-time mistake. Maybe she thinks it will pass, and maybe he will be as good as she thought. So, she lets him cuddle her even without any clothes on.
Unfortunately, in the morning, Richard proves her wrong. He masturbates to this thrilling idea of an impoverished life. She calls him Louis CK and throws him out right then. In that bitter moment, Richard still decides to have a final word saying that he is better than her (aka, you don’t deserve me). She says that she knows it. What else can she muster at that moment when she feels so heartbroken? She lets that go. Meanwhile, we get a glimpse into how Selby’s words during their dinner clearly hurt Richard’s fragile ego.
After this tragic one-night stand, Costello looks at a pile of recent letters on her doorstep and finds one with a heart sign on the top. She opens it to find it is from her mother. She looks frightened as she has never looked before. Then she gets out of her apartment and looks around for her traces. She can’t find her anywhere around.
Meanwhile, since Selby cannot figure out how to pay him back, Moses shows up at his place. Allegra senses the threat in Moses (or at least what Selby feels from him) and pays back what Selby owes. However, she pays only a part of it and intimidates Moses into leaving. Then, she decides to discipline her kid in another way. Selby will keep getting a monthly allowance from her. But he needs to move to their house in Bruton. He does not have the option to say no to her, considering his vulnerable mental & financial state.
Rain Dogs (Season 1), Episode 3 Ending Explained
Costello goes to meet Lenny and lets him use her vagina as a subject. In exchange, she vents her resentment over the ‘nice guy’ Richard, who ended up perverted. She returns home to find Iris having locked herself in their washroom. Apparently, Gloria scolded the bully from Iris’ school and embarrassed Iris by doing so. Iris got angry at her and refused to speak with her since then. Costello realizes all that she missed from Iris’s life. For her, Iris’s well-being matters more than anything. Once Gloria leaves home, Iris comes out, and Costello consoles her.
Later, Selby arrives at her doorstep to tell her that he is moving to Bruton. She gets teary-eyed, sensing that she is losing her only friend in this process. She tells him about the letter that she received from her mother. Just like her, he fears Costello’s mother’s return to her life. They seem to share some terrifying history, which is only revealed by how they react to her faceless evil.
Selby suggests to Costello that she & Iris join him at this place. He believes that they can lead a happy life there. So, in the end, Costello sees going with Selby as a way out of her miserable life. What’s the harm in starting a new life, right? She considers that and asks Iris before making a decision. Eventually, upon getting Iris’ approval, they both leave with Selby hoping for a better tomorrow.
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Rain Dogs TV Series (2023- ) Links: IMDb
Rain Dogs TV Series (2023- ) Cast: Daisy May Cooper, Jack Farthing, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Fleur Tashjian
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