Tina Kakadelis
The following recap contains spoilers for Under the Bridge S1E6, “In Water, They Sink As the Same” (written by Quinn Shephard & Samir Mehta and directed by Quinn Shephard)
Episode 6 of Under the Bridge, “In Water, They Sink As the Same,” takes us back in time once again. We are introduced to Cam (Isabel Deroy-Olson) and Rebecca (Georgia Acken) when they were teenagers. They’re now the same age as those who are involved in Reena’s (Vritika Gupta) murder. It’s 1982, and Rebecca is a moody little teenager who’s jealous that her brother Gabe (Teagan Stark) is stealing Cam’s attention. It goes beyond typical sibling anger, with Rebecca berating Gabe and saying that the only reason Cam is nice to him is because she feels sorry for him.
As Rebecca goes about her day, tragedy strikes: Gabe has been found drowned in the lake behind their home. The memory of Gabe has been haunting Rebecca (Riley Keough) throughout the entire series, but now we have an understanding of their dynamic and his final moments. At first glance, Rebecca’s kindness to Warren (Javon “Wanna” Walton) could be interpreted as her attempting to right the wrongs of her own childhood. To reach out to this young boy who is clearly hurting and give him a safe adult figure to rely on. Warren and Gabe share some similarities. They’re quiet, thoughtful, and lonely. Rebecca gives Warren the suit Gabe was supposed to wear to a school dance, and Gabe looks like he could’ve been the youngest sibling of the Godfrey family.
Upon further inspection, as “In Water, They Sink As the Same” continues, it’s clear that Rebecca sees herself in Warren. While he wasn’t the main instigator of Reena’s attack and murder, it becomes clear that he helped Kelly (Izzy G) drag Reena into the lake. Rebecca wasn’t the one who pushed Gabe into the water in their youth, but she feels immense guilt for adding to the heavy depression he was experiencing. She relates to Warren because neither was the one who delivered the blow that killed a person, but both bear some of the burden nonetheless.
Hopefully, this isn’t the only glimpse into Rebecca and Cam’s teenage years that Under the Bridge gives us, because this small peek has opened a can of worms. It’s obvious that something romantic existed between Cam and Rebecca back then, but to what extent? Also, was Gabe’s death what severed their friendship or the thing that pushed them together? How did Rebecca and Gabe’s obvious wealth affect Cam as she was in the group home? These are questions that add a richness to the current situation between Cam (Lily Gladstone) and Rebecca.
Rebecca and Cam have spent much of Under the Bridge working together to solve the murder of Reena. They’ve gone about it in different ways, with Cam much more by the book while Rebecca, a private citizen, has had the freedom to immerse herself in the world of these teens. “In Water, They Sink the Same” sees the two women splintered, based on the ways they believe the investigation should continue. Even when it’s revealed that Warren had some hand in Reena’s death, Rebecca wants to protect him because she wants there to be a smoking gun that will bring in Kelly too. She worries that Warren will end up taking all the blame because people think of men and boys when they think of violent crimes. Warren also doesn’t have the benefit of money, support, or family to make his case. Kelly has all those things, and it’s clear that she thinks there’s no real threat coming to her.
Cam is much more concerned with the facts. She wants justice for Reena’s family, first and foremost. Reena’s death seems to be hitting Cam hard because of her belief that it was racially charged. It’s a theory no one in the police department supports because they don’t believe there could be racial tension in their small, serene town. It feels personal to Cam, who is First Nations but doesn’t know the full extent of her heritage. She was adopted and has no information about her birth parents or family. It as though the show is setting Cam up to be one of the First Nations children who was forcibly removed from her family in the 1960s-80s.
As these revelations emerge, the rest of the teens in town are preparing for a school dance. Kelly, Dusty (Aiyana Goodfellow), and Jo (Chloe Guidry) plan to use the dance as a cover for their escape to Mexico. Dusty is having second thoughts, and is consumed by the knowledge that Kelly was the one responsible for Reena’s death. Kelly, fearing that Dusty will flip, plans to kill him with rat poison. When that doesn’t work, she pressures Dusty to stand in front of an oncoming train, preying on Dusty’s guilt. It’s ultimately Jo who pushes Dusty off the tracks to safety.
Like the relationship between Rebecca and Cam, the trust among the three teens is splintering. All three are arrested as “In Water, They Sink As the Same” ends. Now, with their backs against the wall, it will become clear which of them truly understands the gravity of their actions. Dusty is already showing extreme remorse, and Jo saving Dusty shows that she feels some guilt for what she’s done. Kelly, however, continues to see it all as a game. When they run into Reena’s mom (Archie Panjabi) at the grocery store, Kelly tells her that she wishes she “was there to help” Reena in those final minutes. It’s an awful moment, but one that Kelly seems to delight in. As much as Jo postures about wanting to be a mobster, she seems to understand the weight of it. Kelly, someone who has never wanted for anything, sees the death of Reena as an opportunity to live in the gangster movies she loves. As Under the Bridge works its way to its conclusion, it will be telling to see if Kelly ever grasps the totality of what she did.
