Evaluation
Episode 2 of Welcome to Eden begins with us on the party boat. One of the boys, David, realizes that Zoa and Judith aren’t there and tells the captain he needs to go back. He refuses, reassuring him that everything will be fine. Back at Eden, Astrid informs the others that there are 53 people in this community, and they’re all completely self-sufficient. They work hard but are comfortable and have everything they need. They promise that any of them could be lifelong members. They don’t pay anything for living here (which is Africa’s next question) and that they live off “pure generosity.” The thing is, we know that not to be true when Fran – the bartender from episode 1 who went on the run – is captured by the cult. Eva is there and she blows her whistle, outing his location to the others who are trying to find him. Eva returns to camp afterwards and confirms to Astrid that he’s been “taken care of.” Back at Eden, the five teens are carted off to be evaluated. Ulises is there to lead, showing which module they’re each going to be staying in. They’re all separated off into different areas. On the mainland, Gabi is worried about her sister and constantly messages her phone. With her father off with a new girlfriend, Gabi is feeling alone. That much is especially evident when Zoa doesn’t message back. She, of course, handed over her phone on the way into this trip. Zoa is sharing a room with Nicholas and Claudia. The latter is quiet and reserved. Interestingly, Zoa notices her bed has CFF etched on the side of it. Charly immediately starts eating all the free food in his module, and appears to be alone. Aldo remains suspicious, just like he was before, and wants to speak to management. As he keeps asking questions, his roommate urges him to stop, claiming they “don’t like that here.” When Aldo heads out in the middle of the night though, a drone buzzes overhead and shines a spotlight on him, sending the guy back into his module. The next day, the group are handed new clothes to wear “in order to get around safely” while they’re told that the boat can’t return due to the rough water. Most of this episode is taken up with individual incidents with the gang as they start to get accustomed to this strange complex and the people inhabiting the area. Most notably we see Zoa start to get chummy with Nicholas, as they talk about their past and family life. In the midst of this though , Zoa is hand-picked to head into the inner-circle in the courtyard to discuss what’s going on with her. Zoa admits she’s worried about Judith and her sister Gabi. Through a big old exposition dump, she talks about how her mother is a heroin addict, she’s 19, her sister is 16 and it’s actually her sister’s birthday. This intel is enough for those in the control room to use Zoa’s phone to message her sister, using the exact words Zoa does to stop her growing suspicious of her disappearance. Gabi reads the message her sister sends and is enraged. That night, Zoa awakens to find a strange boy outside the module, When she leaves to heck what’s happening, he’s gone and Zoa is left alone.
The Episode Review
The second episode of Welcome to Eden slows everything down to a crawl as the five group members all nonchalantly head off to this compound and settle in. In fact, Aldo is the only one with any concerns over what’s going on, the others are quite happy to integrate and get involved in the festivities. The focus is almost exclusively on Zoa thus far though, and along with that contrived exposition dump at the end, there’s not a lot of detail regarding the other people in this group. We know barely anything about Charley, Aldo or Africa right now, who all feel very one-dimensional. That’s before even mentioning Ibon, who has only been given less than a handful of scenes so far and not a whole lot else to go on. Still, the episodes are rather short so this is looking to be an easy binge watch on the whole. The ending certainly teases more drama on the horizon and there’s enough to whet the appetite leading into the next chapter.
