Chapter 03: Fire
Uneasy Alliances
Episode 3 of The 3% season 4 begins in the past as Gloria and Marco discuss the Offshore. However, Marco tells her the Shell is their Offshore now. This cuts us back to the present as we return to Gloria in the jail cell. She admits that the Offshore is going to be destroyed. However, if Marcela can give up two positions for the Process, then she can help stop that from happening. As part of their agreement, she brings Marcela’s child in to see her. Their greeting is brief, to say the least, but enough for Marcela to agree to the terms. It’s here Gloria spills all the details about the electromagnetic pulse to her. Unbeknownst to our rebels, their plan is about to come completely unraveled. Inside the Process, Xavier sneaks into the air ducts. With Michele waiting patiently by the fans, Xavier starts pulling out the cables to let her through.
Reunions
Xavier and Michele reconvene in the Process but quickly go their separate ways. Michele gets to work planting the turbine. Despite managing to get the job done, Gloria radios through to Andre and tells him that Michele is there. Unfortunately this causes the fans to start working again, trapping her inside the Process. Back at the Offshore, Marco realizes they’re in his Mother’s house and starts to have doubts over whose plan they should be following. Thanks to the turbine situation, he’s leaning toward Veronica’s plan as serving them better. Unfortunately Veronica is unable to set things into motion as she winds up arrested. With the plan in serious jeopardy, Rafael drinks at a bar alone until Ariel arrives and sits with him. Those drinks allow the conversation to turn closer to home as Ariel admits one of her tasks involved pressing a button to kill someone. As we flash back and see, Rafael had a tough childhood including his Mother constantly berating him. This was way back during the 103rd Process 4 years ago. On his 20th birthday, Rafael drowned his sorrows in alcohol until one of the Cause leaders, Ivana, approached. She encouraged him to enter the Process. As Ariel hears this story, she eventually sleeps with him.
Catch The Mole
The candidates inside the Process are given their next task – catch Michele. As Andre riles them up, the men and women set to work trying to find her. Michele charges out in the open and is immediately captured by Pedro and Xavier. Back at the Offshore, Rafael awakens and tries to steal the ring from Ariel’s hand. Unfortunately she’s wise to what’s going on and holds a gun up to his face. Eventually she encourages him to take the ring and leave.
The Raid
Led by Joana, the group arrive at the Offshore Prison determined to break in. As they do, Rafael also finds his way inside too. Joana immediately breaks Veronica out of her cell and waits anxiously for the guards to pass. Natalia and Elisa bust into the security room and manage to shut off all the barriers. Unfortunately, guards are waiting for them and open fire on Joana and the others. Only… it’s not actually guards it’s Rafael and the others who arrive to rescue them. As Joana soon finds out, Veronica is not her Mother as the woman never had children. It’s a tough pill for her to swallow as she holds back bitter tears.
The Fire
With everyone distracted, Gloria takes her opportunity and breaks Marcela out of her jail cell. Her final test, as it happens, is destroying the Shell. It turns out Gloria’s other position is not for Marco but actually for her son. As we soon find out, she’s pregnant. Igniting the explosive material (presumably gunpowder?) Gloria blows up the food supplies and watches as the flames lick hungrily up the walls. She immediately screams fire and awakens everyone inside the Shell. Symbolically, she watches as flames dance around a cot and Fernando’s wheelchair; their dream of an alternate utopia are over. With nowhere else to go, the Shell residents watch the flames hopelessly, trying to decide what to do next as the entire structure burns to the ground. As it does, Michele is captured and brought before Andre. Even worse, Marcela arrives at the Process and tells him the Offshore is in grave danger. However, Gloria is clearly duped by Marcela who tells her she can’t leave until her child is born.
The Episode Review
With Gloria now finally revealed as the mole and working with Marcela, it turns out she destroyed the Shell for nothing. She’s clearly been manipulated and ironically in her bid to be free from the system, has become a slave to it. She’s also lost the only place she could possibly call home. What will Marco have to say when he finds out? And does he know that Gloria is pregnant? With the plan starting to unravel, all hope now rests on those in the Offshore. Will they destroy this paradise before it’s too late? We’ll have to wait and see!
