‘Losing Alice’ Recap: ‘The Visit’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Losing Alice’.
​
When we last settled in to discuss the AppleTV+ series, Losing Alice, we talked at length about the nature of obsession and how this particular series was likely going to be a grand exploration of it and how it begins and likely ends. And we only discussed those particular topics, simply because the series premiere did not really show us what brings forth the true genesis of obsession. No instead, ‘The Encounter’ worked hard to point out some of its foundational points, such as how being lost in life can motivate us to latch onto something obsessively, but the true genesis of it wasn’t explored in the slightest and now we understand why.
​
Because the next episode in this fascinating series was designed to provide us with the true birth of obsession and that made ‘The Visit’ another compelling and powerful tale. One that saw Alice and her husband David at a crossroads in regard to their careers. Simply because Sophie’s script was basically on the skids with the director now missing and well, with bad reviews coming in for David’s latest movie and Alice unable to write… they truly were nervous and curious as to what comes next for them. And oddly enough, that is what allowed for the true formation of obsession to come into play, by way of the visit that is mentioned in the title of this particular tale. 

For Sophie stopped by to be the one to deliver all the bad news and well, while getting a ride back to the train station from Alice, a mention of Sophie’s desire to have her hero direct this project… changed everything. For not only did Alice agree, but it electrified her soul in a manner we’ve not yet seen from her. As though getting to feed off the energy of someone who writes in a style akin to her own could heal her own blockage and that alone seemingly left her curious about Sophie and what makes her tick. Since it would help her to properly understand what brought Sophie to write such a visceral and twisted story about innocence lost to lust. Which is in essence, a very simplistic way to look at obsession, since it is grounded in pure curiosity and a desire to use the energy of others to our own benefit.

But as this series is wont to do, it simply refused to take the easy way out in its exploration of what gives life to this notion, by pointing out that sometimes… obsession stems from the fact that we truly want to explore a darker side of the human condition and keeping someone around that can do that for us and allow for us to return to our lives in a safe manner, can absolutely make us obsessed with them. A point that the series put forth by revealing the fact that Sophie leads an interesting double life, one that is clearly secretive and sultry and everything that Alice knows nothing of, and that curiosity, of what that life is like and how it works is clearly beginning to infect to Alice’s mind. Which allowed for obsession to be born here, one that might be far more costly and dangerous than we initially thought.

For it really does seem as though Sophie is harboring some dark, dark secrets. The kind that might involve the death of the original director of Room 209 and it will be quite interesting to learn if she indeed involved in that, as part of her obsession with Alice and David, and what other odd secrets she is harboring about her life. But while we wait for those revelations to come into play, we can celebrate another fascinating tale. One that taught us that obsession really does take root in the simplest way imaginable, since all it took here was a mere suggestion to get it going and well, this show deserves serious credit for giving it life in such a fascinating manner, all while finding new ways to draw us further into what is clearly going to be a dark and twisted story. Until next time.  

‘Losing Alice’ is available to stream now, on AppleTV+.

---