‘Soulmates’ Recap: ‘Layover’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Soulmates’.
​
It is definitely safe to say that love is something that is quite healthy for each and every one of us. For when we meet someone that we genuinely love and adore, some positive behaviors emerge. Because suddenly, we push ourselves to be a better person, so that we are reflect how our lover sees us, and we also work harder to secure a better life for ourselves and our newfound love because we want to take care of them and provide for them. Plus, we suddenly become quite the positive person as well, the kind that works to support our partner in every endeavor and decision they make because we want them to feel supported and secure at every single turn.
​
But while it is lovely to know that certain positive traits emerge when our hearts beat for that special someone, there are some who try to get in on this transformation, for all the wrong reasons. Because some people, are in a rough place emotionally and mentally, and they hope that the positive behaviors that they see others exhibit when they’re in love, will somehow transform them into a better person overall. So, they chase relationship after relationship in the hopes of curing their ails, instead of working on what they actually need to in life. And oddly enough, this particularly unhealthy aspect of how love transforms us, found its way into the next episode of Soulmates, and that made ‘Layover’ quite the powerful and introspective tale.

For this story features those exact, negative behaviors and they are exhibited by a man named Mateo. Who is on his way to Columbia to meet his soul mate, Miguel, after taking the test. But a stopover on his way down south brings about some complications. For Mateo meets a man named Jonah that he outright connects with, prompting him to have a little pre-soulmate union fling and well… that turns out to be quite the unfortunate choice. Because Jonah is a thief, and he seduces strangers in the hopes of robbing them, and if Mateo wants to meet his future love and start his life over anew, he’s going to have to make nice with Jonah and go on one wild adventure to his get his passport back. The kind that will in fact, change his outlook on love and life and everything in between. 

---

So, the first thing that this episode deserves serious credit for, is for offering up a supremely up close and personal look at a busted man, that is outright desperate to find love in order to heal his emotional aches. Because Mateo really is a mess in just about every way imaginable, and the only thing that seems to motivate him to be more or do more in life, is Miguel and the life that he can offer him. Which makes Mateo quite the realistic for character for certain, since we’ve dealt with someone like him at some point in our lives. Or we’ve been him since we all go through that phase where we think a relationship will fix all of our problems. But what makes this particular study of a broken man so worth our while, is that it oddly offers up a genuine solution/fix for people who are in the same mental state as Mateo.

For as we get to know him better, we come to learn he’s not a terrible person, he’s just lost his way and somewhere along the line, he stopped forgiving himself for the mistakes he's made in life. To the point where he can no longer stand the face that he sees in the mirror. Plus, we also come to learn that he’s scared. Scared of what the future holds, scared of whether or not it will work with Miguel and he's scared to outright live. Because he’s simply not happy with who he is and he is slightly aware of that. But once we see him be open and honest about that fact, and once he starts to explore who he really is as a person, he starts to warm up to the idea of embracing the unknown and chasing love and all the terror that it sends our way and that makes for one powerful ending for certain.

Because in essence, the show teaches us, that the only way we can become the perfect model of love that we talked about at the beginning of this recap… is to be happy with ourselves. For we cannot offer support and guidance and nurturing, when we aren’t content with who we are as a person and that’s a stunning message to send to the audience, but it is present here and it definitely gives the viewer pause. Since it forces you to reflect upon your own journey and where you are with self-love, if only for a moment. Which oddly makes this, the most positive episode of Soulmates to date, and it doesn’t hurt that it features a damn good story and some fine acting as well. Because Bill Skarsgård is phenomenal as Mateo and some of the shenanigans he and Jonah get into over the course of this tale, leave you in stitches for certain. In the end however, this episode just goes to show how versatile this series can be, and it does leave one curious, as to whether or not any more helpful life lessons in regard to love, are going to pop up in the remaining episodes of season one. Until next time.  

---