'The Shards' Episode 3-4 Recap: Are Matt And Rhonda Dead?

In the first two episodes of The Shards, we were introduced to Bret and his eclectic group of friends, Debbie, Susan, Thom, and Ryan. Officially, Bret was in a relationship with Debbie, but he was also having affairs with Ryan and Matt. Ryan broke up with Bret and soon after that, Bret broke up with Matt. Robert, the new kid on the block, became Bret’s new obsession. Robert’s arrival coincided with the emergence of a new serial killer named The Trawler who had a habit of kidnapping young girls and their pets, and then mutilating them in the most grotesque ways imaginable. Hence, Bret was convinced that Robert was actually The Trawler and he spent every waking hour of his life looking for clues that could prove that Robert was secretly a serial killer. The only thing that distracted Bret from his paranoid thoughts was his novel writing, which was supposed to be optioned by Terry for a movie. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep himself distracted from the horrors of the real world for too long because Matt got abducted (supposedly) by The Trawler. When Bret got home after learning that news, he found a cassette tape, with his name on it that had the audio recording of The Trawler torturing Matt. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Rhonda Is Abducted By The Trawler

In The Shards episode 3, we see that Bret is concerned about Matt’s abduction, but Debbie, Susan, Thom, and Robert don’t seem to care about it at all. And maybe that’s the reason (as in everybody’s lack of alertness when there is a serial killer on the prowl) why Rhonda gets abducted next. Bret says that Rhonda’s father works at ICM, a talent agency that represents Sally Kellerman; which means that he is rich. Since Rhonda has a neurological condition (that seems like Tourette’s), her father seemingly pays the school a lot of money to make sure that she is accepted by everyone instead of being isolated for her “quirks.” Even though the teachers don’t put up with Rhonda’s antics, Bret is a fan of her carefree spirit. Moreover, he appreciates the fact that, despite knowing his sexuality, Rhonda has kept Bret’s “secret” safe. Bret believes that Rhonda fights her condition (which usually prompts her to say the most inappropriate things out loud) every day just to make sure that Bret doesn’t become the subject of homophobic bullying, which has formed an unspoken bond between them.That’s why when Rhonda gets kidnapped from her go-to roller skating rink, Bret gets extremely upset. We get a brief glimpse of The Trawler keeping Rhonda in a cage and feeding her eels; Rhonda cries out for her help but nobody can hear her.

Bret Is Upset That Nobody Cares About Matt And Rhonda’s Abduction 

At lunch, when Debbie starts telling Bret, Susan, Thom, and Robert how they should prepare for Dance Off, Bret gets upset because it seems like they are purposefully ignoring Matt and Rhonda’s back-to-back abductions so that they can keep having fun. Bret’s words or feelings don’t have any effect on the group; Debbie says that they are gonna go for Dance Off regardless of what’s happening in real life, while Thom says that he’s gonna take Bret shopping so that he can stop worrying about Matt and Rhonda (who have only gone missing and haven’t been declared dead). Then they arrive at the topic of homecoming, which is something that Susan doesn’t want to participate in; Robert supports Susan’s feelings about homecoming, while Thom and Debbie keep Susan motivated. But Robert echoes Susan’s sentiments because he wants to get into her pants; Thom can sense that and he gets visibly angry. Bret notices Thom’s anger and tries to get Robert’s welcoming party canceled under the garb of respecting Matt and Rhonda, but that proposal is shot down by Susan and Debbie because they really wanna throw a party for Robert. Susan decides to give Bret some respite by stating that they should actually do something for Matt and Rhonda to create awareness about the fact that schoolchildren (yeah, please keep in mind that these characters are supposed to be children, not young adults) are being kidnapped. Robert immediately echoes Susan’s thoughts to impress her (which gets on Thom’s nerves) and the bright idea that they come up with to motivate the students at their school to look for Rhonda is distributing sparkling water with Rhonda’s face on the bottle.

Terry Gets Creepy With Bret

A jealous Thom not only mocks this awareness campaign for Rhonda, but also tells Susan that (despite saying that she’s not interested in homecoming) she is doing all this to become homecoming queen. Thom and Susan joke about it but it’s evident that a rift in their relationship has started to form. The same can be said about Debbie and Bret’s relationship, as Debbie seems to be gravitating towards Ryan of all people. We get a brief interlude from all this amateurish drama and politics as Bret goes for yet another lunch date with Terry, who gives Bret some constructive criticism about his writing (it’s ironic that the real-life Bret hasn’t followed the advice that the fictional Terry gives to the fictional Bret) and then takes him to a secret street to supposedly get handsy with him. But then Bret notices a creepy-looking van (which looks similar to the one that The Trawler uses) roaming around the spot where Terry has parked his car and requests Terry to take him back home. Terry doesn’t object, but instead of going home, Bret heads to Matt’s place to reminisce about all the good times he had spent there with Matt.

Bret Finds A Cage In Robert’s Aunt’s House

Bret’s time at Matt’s house is interrupted by someone calling on Matt’s phone; when Bret picks it up, he hears that same raspy breathing sound that Debbie, Bret, and The Trawler’s first victim heard when they got a call at their respective house phones. Bret asks about Matt and Rhonda, and then he accuses the individual on the other side of being Robert. Given how the caller hangs up, I guess Bret feels that his assumption that Robert is The Trawler is correct. The focus of the episode briefly shifts to Liz, who goes on a coke-fueled rant about her first modeling agent, her daughter, and her husband. Terry enters Liz’s room, which does bring her rant to an end, but then she starts rambling about her wasted potential. Then we go back to Bret, who is following Robert again. This pursuit brings Bret to a mysterious-looking house, which apparently belongs to Robert’s aunt. Robert is seen exiting the place with a bowling back; Bret assumes that it contains somebody’s head. Once Robert has completely left the property, Bret breaks into that house and starts making his way into the basement. The editing of this scene makes it seem like Bret is about to find Rhonda locked in her cage. Bret does find a cage but it has his school’s jacket and a bloodied iguana in there. Meanwhile, we see The Trawler drag Rhonda out of her cage. I’ll come back to this bit of nonlinear storytelling in a bit.

Ryan Works In Adult Films

The Shards episode 4 starts from Ryan’s POV as we learn about his morning routine (which plays out like a homage to American Psycho) and his career in adult films (which isn’t a hobby of his but a necessity because his father lost all his money co-financing Heaven’s Gate). Ryan’s boss, Butch, reveals that she is releasing her movies via VHS tapes so that people can enjoy her productions from the comfort of their homes. This worries Ryan because he was under the impression that the films that he was starring in would only release overseas, thereby allowing him to maintain his reputation in his community. Butch doesn’t care about what’s gonna happen if someone recognizes Ryan on the streets because he has been featured in her adult films; all she cares about is the money she’s about to make. As if that’s not troubling enough, Butch orders Ryan to “break in the new girl,” and that “new girl” turns out to be Liz. Ryan and Liz agree that Debbie and Terry are not gonna learn about this and then they start shooting for the film. The focus of the episode then shifts to the beach where The Trawler was seemingly torturing Matt; this time he is torturing Rhonda by taking photographs of her and forcing her to eat something (probably those eels again). Then we go over to Thom’s house where Thom and his mom (she’s divorced) are having an argument over the former being unwilling to meet his mom’s new lover, Ted.

Robert’s Welcoming Party Is Still Happening

Thom joins his friends for… smokes and drinks? There, Bret brings up the topic of Matt and then rambles about what The Trawler represents (the end of the age of innocence). That’s interrupted by the arrival of the drinks. Nobody gives any follow-up thoughts on that matter; they go straight to yapping about Robert’s welcoming party. Bret again complains about how this is wrong because Matt is still missing, but then he shows up at the party at Susan’s house anyway; he convinces himself that he’s there just to observe people and use that for his writing. Susan sees Robert ordering a drink and wonders if he should do so because he is on meds (for his psychological issues); Robert listens to Susan’s advice and avoids consuming the drink that he has ordered. Thom sees all that and starts getting jealous again; so, he pulls Susan to the side and confronts her about her newfound fascination with Robert. Before they can get into a fight, Debbie barges in and starts talking about weight loss and whatnot. That said, Debbie gets into a fight with Susan because Debbie wants Susan to kick Cha Cha (the star of Dance Off) out of the party and Susan doesn’t want to ruin the mood of the party just because Debbie hates Cha Cha. Debbie goes over to Bret and gives him Stephen King’s Cujo as a gift, but he doesn’t appreciate it as much as she hoped he would. This causes Debbie to have a bit of a meltdown and, instead of comforting her, Bret just walks away.

Robert Has A Meltdown On The Dance Floor

Debbie goes to the bedroom to do cocaine and she is joined by Ryan. They start flirting with each other and eventually get handsy. In the meantime, Bret learns from Robert’s old classmates that there’s a rumor that Robert might have killed his own mother. Bret confronts Robert about that and he downs a bottle of vodka and hijacks the dance floor. Susan gets worried about Robert and when Bret comes to tell her that he is a pathological liar and possibly a kidnapper and a murderer, she gets angry at Bret for possibly triggering Robert with his crackpot theories. Things get out of hand as Robert starts smashing alcohol bottles on the dance floor. When Thom tries to stop Robert, he sexually assaults Thom and then continues dancing. Eventually, Robert jumps into the pool and seemingly drowns. Thom and Susan fish him out of there and Susan gives Robert CPR and brings him back to life. Thom drags Susan away from Robert and then starts kicking the barely conscious Robert in the face. Bret steps in and stops Thom from hurting Robert. When nobody’s looking, Robert winks at Bret, as if to indicate that he did all this so that Susan blames Bret for this meltdown instead of looking into the allegations against Robert. If Susan is convinced that Bret is the villain here, word is gonna spread that Bret is harassing a mentally unstable individual. As Bret is processing this, the lights go out and everyone hears screams coming out of the bedroom of Susan’s house.

Ryan And Debbie Are Held Hostage By A Creep

While all this drama at the pool party was going on, Debbie and Ryan were being held hostage by a knife-wielding dude. Bret and Thom rush to the room and break down the door to see what’s the matter. Ryan and Debbie are safe and the knife-wielding guy is just standing in another corner of the room. Thom interacts with this guy and it seems like they know each other or were in a romantic relationship. Much like Bret, maybe Thom got into a heterosexual relationship to appear normal, thereby hurting his ex-boyfriend’s feelings. The ex probably lost his way and after tracking Thom for a while, he decided to confront him only to find himself locked in a room with Ryan and Debbie. It’s kinda insinuated that this ex of Thom’s is The Trawler because he wears black clothes like the serial killer does and probably drives around in a van that looks similar to the one that The Trawler owns. It might be true or it might be a misdirect. Anyway, the day after the party, Bret, Debbie, Susan, and Thom gather at the pool and discuss certain details about the events that had transpired in the last few hours.

Bret Grills His Friends

Bret asks Debbie why she and Ryan were almost naked in that bedroom; Debbie says that the knife-wielding made them take their clothes off. Well, the truth of the matter is that Debbie was cheating on Bret with Ryan, but then she decided not to because she likes Bret enough to not betray him. Since that’s too complicated to explain, Debbie goes for that lie. Bret questions Thom about how that creep who gatecrashed the party and held their friends hostage knows Thom; Thom claims that he might have heard his name from Debbie and Bret. Debbie asks Susan about Robert’s health; Susan says that, as per the doctor, he had a bad reaction because he mixed alcohol with his medication. Susan asks Bret once again what he had said to Robert that triggered him so much. Bret realizes that Susan doesn’t remember that he had already told her about Robert being a liar, a psychopath, a kidnapper, and a murderer. Hence, he states that he didn’t say anything to Robert (even though he clearly told Robert that he knows what he did to his own mother). Bret questions Susan about his fascination with Robert and Susan claims he is just a friend to her. This interrogation comes to an abrupt close as Bret starts wondering if their friendship is about to come to an end, along with whatever sense of innocence they had, and then everyone looks at how pretty the sunny sky is looking.

Matt And Rhonda Are Still Alive

In episode 4’s ending, we see both Rhonda and Matt writhing around in their respective cages. That must mean that they are definitely alive, right? Going back to the moment where Bret finds that empty cage as we see The Trawler dragging Rhonda out, I think the show is hinting at the fact that The Trawler stuff is not happening in real time. It has probably happened during the time jump between September and October and Bret is just catching up. Maybe Rhonda and Matt are actually dead and by the time Bret realizes that, The Trawler will have committed several other crimes. Currently, the prime suspects in Bret’s eyes are Robert, Terry, and the guy who broke into Susan’s house. It’s possible that Bret is onto something real, but it’s possible that his paranoia has made him crazy and he himself is The Trawler; he has already killed Rhonda and Matt, but due to his split-personality disorder, he is remembering the events incorrectly, thereby making it seem like Bret is the soul truth-searcher in LA. Bret is an unreliable narrator, which brings forth the possibility that a lot of the things that we are seeing in the show, especially the parts that are narrated by him, are untrue and he is merely covering his tracks. In that case, the only objective truth about this world we have gotten so far is Ryan’s subplot because it’s narrated by him, not Bret. What do you think about that? Let me know in the comments section below.

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