Often, in the wake of a terrible tragedy, victims are painted as saints. Transgressions are forgotten and edges are smoothed to make a loss or a difficult time more palatable. Case in point: In her book, Rebecca Godfrey chose to omit Reena’s false accusation against her father, but the series chooses to spend an entire episode unfolding this secret by way of intergenerational flashbacks and a doomed dinner party that the Virks throw for the Seven Oaks crew. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but it’s all pretty devastating.
Under the Bridge is mostly based on Godfrey’s original book, but the show also optioned Manjit Virk’s memoir, Reena: A Father’s Story, for inclusion in the series. I’d imagine that the family history we get in this episode, along with possibly some of the memories from that truly awful dinner party, are pulled from Manjit’s memoir. To ramp up the dramatic effect, the two stories run in parallel, with quick and occasionally disorienting cuts between Reena’s family members assimilating into Canadian society and the Virks preparing for their hostile company. The frequent cuts had me wondering if the episode might have had more of an impact if it had been told in chronological order, as the lead-up to the big reveal at the conclusion would have still been an upsetting twist in the Virk family history.
We don’t see Cam, Rebecca, or the Greek chorus of Saanich teens in this installment, and it’s a short one. Reena narrates the top of the episode, seemingly from beyond the grave. She tells us that Kelly Ellard did, indeed, kill her — but there are still mysteries to be revealed here — and this admission is layered over scenes of her young parents doting over her as a baby. She then brings us back to when her maternal grandparents first immigrated to Canada, looking for a better life. They’re sweetly optimistic about making new friends, hand-delivering invitations to Suman’s first-birthday party to all the neighbors, but they only find racist vitriol and silence. Then, the Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking on their door. And within that community they find meaning, belonging, and acceptance.
Years later, a bright-eyed young Manjit (Raj Lal) arrives in Canada looking for opportunities. His travel visa is about to expire, so his sister not-so-subtly suggests that he marry a citizen so he can stay. At first, Manjit rolls his eyes, but then he spots the lovely Suman (Illahi Rayani) from across the room. Her mother is trying to set her up with who she perceives to be a catch — an Indian engineer who is also a Jehovah’s Witness! Score! — but Suman isn’t having it. In a very adorable meet-cute, Manjit whisks her away, and the two immediately start talking about their lives and their passions. They both have deep-rooted desires to raise a family and love their children. But Manjit is Sikh and Suman is a Witness, so it would be difficult for them to be together.
As soon as Manjit mentions that his beard is important to him and his religion, and Suman counters by saying that Witnesses can’t have beards, we know that Manjit is going to lose his scruff. After Suman’s parents object to their pairing and it’s revealed that Manjit is fishing for marriage in order to stay in the country, Manjit shaves for love. He agrees to convert for Suman, and eventually Suman’s mother comes around and gives her blessing in the form of a pair of heirloom earrings that come into play later in the episode. (Damn you, Josephine.)
Given that they are involved in the mostly white Witness community, it feels like Manjit and Suman should know a bit more about teen culture in the Western world than they do. Even though they’re kind of clueless, they do try their very best to welcome Reena’s friends when they arrive for dinner. Kelly’s mom, Susan, drops them off, and her stilted posture and uncomfortable response when Suman asks her to stay for dinner reeks of judgment, racism, and exclusion. The bitch can’t get out of there fast enough. Kelly, on the other hand, makes herself right at home. She gently reprimands Josephine for not taking off her shoes, and then she spies a picture of the Virk family in Japan. She incorrectly identifies where it was taken and brags that she’s also been to the World Showcase in Epcot … twice. Manjit cheerfully corrects her — they were actually in Japan — and Kelly skulks away.
For some reason, the girls make their way into Manjit and Suman’s closet. Excuse me? This is super-weird. I never, ever, ever in my entire high-school-girl life went into my friends’ parents’ closets. Ever. I cannot emphasize how odd this is. But Suman and Manjit roll with the punches and gamely explain all of the Indian garb that Josephine finds within. When Josephine handles the heirloom earrings, Suman gently takes them from her and explains how important they are. So it’s even more of a gut punch when it’s revealed that Josephine eventually steals them for kicks. She’d never be able to wear them, and there’s probably not a huge secondhand market for traditional Indian jewelry in Saanich, so this theft is driven by pure spite. Same with Kelly toying with Reena’s bird, Snooch. (A+ name for a bird, by the way. Just really fantastic.)
The girls sit down for dinner, and the promised takeout doesn’t materialize. Instead, Manjit has made goat-cheese-and-pepper pizza, which sounds like a very bold choice for a group of teens. But against all odds, Josephine declares that she likes it, and things seem like they might just possibly go okay for Reena here. Josephine is, of course, a horrible bully with a nasty spirit, but Reena desperately craves the approval of the queen bee because she controls Dusty and Kelly, too. However, Manjit says a prayer even though Reena protests, and then he starts in on Josephine. He knows why she is the way she is: She’s been abandoned by all the adults who were supposed to care for her. Manjit — in a terribly misguided but ultimately kind move — offers to help her. Feeling vulnerable and caught out, Josephine flips the fuck out. Reena flips out. Everyone flips out.
The girls are quickly picked up by Kelly’s doting mother, and Reena has it out with her parents. When Suman notices things are missing, Reena says something truly shattering to her mother when she admits that these girls aren’t really her friends, but they let her hang out with them, and that’s enough for her.
Reena’s price of inclusion here is steep — the loss of true and real relationships with others in exchange for the company of relentless bullies — and it’s about to get worse. The next day, Reena goes to Seven Oaks to apologize, and Josephine whips up a dastardly plot. She pretends that it’s to help Reena find independence, but it’s likely more to get back at Manjit for his ill-advised offer of help. It’s like that parable of the Scorpion and the Frog, only when Josephine stings, she’s taking an entire family down with her.
The final moments of the episode see a resolute Reena starting to make a false report to the den mother at Seven Oaks. As a caretaker of children, this woman would be a mandated reporter, meaning that any abuse reported to her by a minor would have to be called in to the authorities. When the cops come for Manjit, he’s stress-eating leftover pizza and coaxing Snooch back into the house. He’s the picture of a loving and doting father, everything he’d ever dreamed of becoming when he married Suman. But then it all comes crashing down, courtesy of the devil incarnate, Josephine Bell. It’s ironic that, even though we find out Kelly is responsible for Reena’s murder, Josephine ends up being the true villain of this chapter of the story.
Random Thoughts
• Josephine tries so hard to dunk on both Suman and Dusty, saying that the sari wouldn’t fit her, but then Suman claps back by saying a sari can fit anyone. She then artfully drapes it around Dusty, who absolutely rocks it.
• The Reena voice-over states twice that stories have no end and no beginning, and in the case of the real-life Reena Virk, that happens to be very true. This is the second iteration of her story that’s been told, and it’s not likely to be the last.
• The inclusion of the Virk family history here is meant to help address some of the cultural issues and systemic racism in the area that were not fully addressed in Godfrey’s book. I’d say that the series succeeds in making us more aware of those issues as it relates to Reena’s eventual murder (see skittish Susan), but it also doesn’t do a great job of seamlessly integrating the themes into the series, as this feels very much like a stand-alone Very Special Episode and not a part of a greater whole. But we’ve got four episodes to go.