‘Mammals’ Recap: ‘Episodes 4-6’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes Four, Five and Six of ‘Mammals’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about the horrors that go into discovering the reality that our significant other has cheated on us, and why we might not step away from that immediately, simply because… that’s precisely what the Prime Video series, Mammals, focused upon in its first three episodes. Since we watched Jamie see the truth about Amandine unfold before his eyes and stun him and shock him. To the point where he struggled mightily with letting go, before walking away from their love to find agency and a new path forward from being hurt, leaving us to wonder where the story was headed next. Was it going to be about picking up the pieces? Or would it work to understand the true motivations behind infidelity?
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Well as it turned out, the final three episodes in season one, focused on none of those things. Simply because… this was an opportunity for this series to point out a few realities about love that we tend to ignore. Such as how… we shouldn’t expect the world of a relationship… that is founded on infidelity in the first place. For we came to learn in the show’s fourth chapter, that Amandine and Jamie met on a whim on a boat ages ago, and both of them were unhappy with their lives and their current relationships, and seeing what appeared to be signs of fate surrounding them, motivated the both of them to just dump their significant others and go for it from a love perspective, and what makes that problematic is… it keeps the door open for this to happen again when one is unhappy.

Simply because the relationship is now predicated on the needs of the moment, and a precedent is set. In that, if by chance someone isn’t getting what they want in love, it is easy to just walk away and start over fresh and enjoy that thrill once again. Not to mention, the whole foundation of this kind of relationship is now built upon fantasy. For the belief that ‘signs’ determine whom we should be with over connection and fulfillment is also a recipe for disaster. So, these revelations made it no surprise that this relationship reached the breaking point that it did, because there was nothing solid for it to stand upon to begin with. It was born out of a chance to escape a miserable one and when that magic faded, and hearts began to wander… the end arrived through infidelity. 

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However, while that makes it seem as though this series was indeed leaning toward talking about the genesis of infidelity, that simply isn’t the case. Because what truly blows one away about season one of this saga, is how the story wraps up. Because we come to learn in the closing minutes of this tale, that Jamie is just as much at fault as Amandine. In fact, pardon the crudeness of this statement… but he started it. For she caught him looking for the next best thing at one point, and that… changes the perspective of this story by reminding us of the fact… that women aren’t the ‘villain’ in every instance of infidelity. We tend to forget that men are just as shady when it comes to matters of love and tend to be ones that initiate such pain in the name of well, being a mammal, and needing to ‘sow their oats.’ Whatever the hell that means.
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Which meant that everything Amandine did here, including sleep with Jamie’s best friend, the elusive ‘Paul’, was an act of revenge, one designed to teach Jamie what it means to really hurt someone that loves you, which makes for a poignant lesson on how we reap what we sow in relationships. Giving rise to great pause when this season comes to an end since it subverts your expectations and shocks you through and through since you really thought you were following a hero and not a scoundrel here. But there were clues along the way that should have indicated otherwise, but we are taught that only women weaponize love, and are always at fault in matters of infidelity when in the end, both parties here are the villains of sort.

Because neither of them ever gave this relationship the agency it deserved, and they never truly worked at making it something special. They instead… believed in magic and signs and fate regarding their love, rather than build the right foundation between one another and really connect. Not to mention, they put great stock in gestures over substance and genuine meaningful love and this is the end result and that makes this story, a cautionary tale. One that reminds us that love is actual work, not fluff and pomp and circumstance, but something we must fight to maintain, and we have to nurture it and appreciate it and our partner… or this is what you get. All of which makes this a poignant first season of storytelling, one that truly exposed the complex and unfortunate nature of modern relationships… where fantasy and expectation outweigh the reality of what actually goes into making love work.

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