The Mosquito Coast (Season 2), Episode 2: Recap & Ending Explained – Does Dina manage to patch the hole in the boat?

The_Mosquito_Coast Season 2 Episode 2 Recap Ending Explained (1)
The Mosquito Coast (Season 2), Episode 2: Based on the novel of the same name, The Mosquito Coast essentially presents the story of a family. We meet Allie, Margot and their two children, who are on the run due to some past incidents in their life. The previous episode sheds light on this past, which is making their lives unpredictable, every minute of the day. While Allie’s idealistic intentions behind his actions have been presented until now, this season is conveying the level to which he will go to defend these ideals, even at the cost of his own. The family manages to escape Charlie’s imprisonment, but a sense of danger is omnipresent.



The Mosquito Coast (Season 2), Episode 2 Recap:

Episode 2: Least Concern Species

Directed by Stefan Schwartz, the 2nd episode of season 2 titled ‘Least Concern Species’ focuses on a single day in the family’s life. Just after hearing the story of why their parents are always trying to escape the authorities, the Fox family continues with the voyage through their boat. A bug flies from somewhere around them and bites right at the back of Allie’s (Justin Theroux) neck. All he feels is a tickle and he scratches it. At the time, he is teaching Dina (Logan Polish) to wheel their old boat. After him sharing the details from their past (albeit incomplete), she starts trusting him.

When she sees a similar bug flying around, she gets scared. He makes her not worry about it saying that it is nothing but a harmless cricket. That moment passes without any stretch, and they stop the boat by throwing down an anchor. Along with Charlie (Gabriel Bateman), he checks if the boat’s engine is busted. While he works on cooling the engine, Margot (Melissa George) tries to let Dina aware that the man Charlie shot before leaving had died. Perhaps, it is her way of giving her daughter, a reality check about their situation. Within a few hours, a thunderstorm hits their boat, and they try to find a way to get out of it, safely.




Allie takes charge of the boat and steers the wheel. Meanwhile, Margot and Charlie put on their raincoats and try to look for all the things Allie tells her to check. The surrounding is so dark that it becomes difficult for Margot to do so. Later, all of them get inside the cabin and put on their life jackets. While Allie tries to move the boat forward in the roaring winds and in between the rocks, their engine gives up and the boat starts drifting. He runs right towards the engine and tries to fix it.

However, by the time he could find a dependable solution, the boat hits a huge rock and creates a hole in it. While water starts coming inside in extreme force, Margot keeps trying to make the boat work and it reaches a nearby shore. In the morning, the family tries to think of a way to stop entering the boat. Allie tells me to add a patch to it, which would ensure it. He gets into the water and ties a rope to a nearby tree. While he walks back to the boat, they notice a movement in the shrubs and ask him to hurry. He rushes back and gets onto the boat.

The_Mosquito_Coast Season 2 Episode 2 Recap Ending Explained (1)

Afterwards, while they try pulling their boat towards the tied tree, it breaks and falls down. Right after seeing his plan fail, he gets dizzy and falls down on the boat. Margot realizes that he is burning up and Dina notices a huge pimple on his neck’s back. Charlie deduces it is because of one of the bees in the surroundings, where the parasite can also result in heart failure. Margot decides to let Dina stay on the boat to work on the patch in the engine room while she and Charlie go find medicine for Allie assuming that there would be a medication facility near the oil rig that they see. Charlie gives Dina, their father’s watch and leaves with Margot.




Dina looks around in the boat for all that is available to work with and to find a way to create a patch. She finds a wooden board and puts it outside it. But the water keeps coming inside. On the other hand, while walking towards the oil rig, Margot tells Charlie to be cautious about the possibility of security around it. He opens up about what happened back at the beach, where he tries to see events from his life according to the theory of survival of the fittest. She feels bad for not being present with him during these difficult moments. He gets emotional and starts crying.

After her unsuccessful attempt from before, Dina gets into the water, takes the board out, and starts working on another way of using it. She cuts out parts of Styrofoam from the life jackets and tapes a part of it to the board. While Allie becomes conscious for brief moments, he does not gain complete consciousness. Meanwhile, when Margot and Charlie reach the rig, they find it devoid of any human activity. They walk inside one of the rooms and find blood on the floor. He stoically tells her that the blood is dry, which would mean no harm to them. Finally, they find a medical facility and start looking for the right medicine for Allie and find it in one of the cabinets.




The Mosquito Coast (Season 2), Episode 2 Ending Explained:

Does Dina manage to patch the hole in the boat?

Dina takes the wooden board with taped Styrofoam to the engine room and ties it to a rope. It solves the issue, and she happily goes back to see Allie. Since he is yet to gain consciousness, she tucks him the way he used to tuck her. She recalls a book that Allie used to read to her when she was little. It was about four kids and a dog who decided to go hunt a bear. Their naïve wishes go to waste when they realize their improbability. When they finally reach a cave and find a bear, they get scared and run all the way home.

Does Allie recover from the bug bite?

The reason why she narrates it now is because while he is physically present, he cannot register her feeling of fear for this. While she understood his efforts to be a good father for them, she did not want to make him dissatisfied. After this emotional exchange, she sleeps right next to him. By the time of sunrise, Margot and Charlie return with medication. While Dina starts steering the boat, Allie wakes up and comes inside to meet them. The next day, while roasting some fish, he praises her logical thinking.




He tells her to steer the boat and repeats the line from the book that he used to read – You can’t go under them, you can’t go over them, then you need to go through them. She smiles and recognizes that he also has a fond memory of it. While they move ahead, for the time being, both the kids are enveloped in their own set of worries.

<< PREVIOUS EPISODE

THE MOSQUITO COAST (SEASON 2) EPISODE 2 LINKS: IMDB, ROTTEN TOMATOES
THE MOSQUITO COAST (SEASON 2) EPISODE 2 CAST: JUSTIN THEROUX, MELISSA GEORGE, LOGAN POLISH, GABRIEL BATEMAN, NATALIA CORDOVA-BUCKLEY
Where to watch The Mosquito Coast
Akash Deshpande

Obsessed, fascinated, and always nerding out about cinema! You can find me in the corner of a room ruminating over the last TV series I watched.