All the Dangerous Things

As Waylon cooks, Isabelle notices increased tension in the room after bringing up Allison. Waylon asks Isabelle what she thinks happened—whether Allison died by suicide or an accidental overdose. Isabelle confesses uncertainty and that she has not talked about it with Ben extensively. Waylon notes the convenience of Ben’s wife dying as he was having an affair, with his son disappearing shortly before his separation from Isabelle. Isabelle defends Ben, and the two fall into an uncomfortable silence until Waylon begins asking questions about Mason. He pushes Isabelle to share something more personal than what she talks about for sound bites. She admits Mason was a difficult baby and ruminates on some of the dark thoughts she had when she hadn’t slept and was trying to soothe him. This leads her to reflect on other secrets.

Isabelle and Waylon drink heavily as they talk about Mason’s case. Isabelle and Ben had no spare keys to their house ever since the one they kept under the welcome mat went missing, so no one could have used a key to break in. Waylon asks if the baby monitor footage is accessible; Isabelle realizes the footage saved automatically to an application. The two look at some of the old footage. When Isabelle becomes emotional, Waylon thanks her and suggests they both sleep.

Isabelle continues looking through the old footage, picking days at random to review. She eventually stumbles upon footage that shows herself sleepwalking into Mason’s room, standing over him for two hours, and then leaving.

In the past, Isabelle wakes up feeling groggy and notices the smell of marsh. She realizes Margaret is not in bed with her and sees a puddle, as well as some wet towels, on the floor of the bathroom. She notices her nightgown is different from the one she put on after her bath and finds dried mud behind her ear. Isabelle goes downstairs and finds her parents at the kitchen table. Her father says that Margaret had an accident and the police are on the way; he sends Isabelle up to her room.

Isabelle is thinking about her history of sleepwalking and the night of Margaret’s accident when Waylon arrives. He offers to make her food while she showers. In the bathroom, she looks at herself in the mirror and compares Margaret’s accident to Mason’s disappearance, highlighting the similarities between the two cases.

Waylon tries to comfort Isabelle, as she still feels shaken after having watched the footage of Mason. Isabelle reflects on lost memories of Margaret and compares them to her fading memories of Mason. She and Waylon go downtown after breakfast and see Ben with his new girlfriend, a woman who resembles Isabelle and Allison.

Isabelle remembers attending Allison’s memorial and her conflicted feelings that day. She went with Kasey, and both women were uncertain of how to behave. Isabelle stepped outside to get some air and found Ben hiding behind some bushes, smoking. She offered her condolences, and Ben described Allison’s drug addiction. He then kissed her. The pair was interrupted by a man looking for Ben. While the man did not see Isabelle, he found her abandoned glass of champagne, and she fled.

Isabelle and Waylon spend the weekend making podcast recordings about Mason’s case. Waylon goes to the police station on Monday to interview Detective Dozier. While he is gone, Isabelle continues to review baby monitor footage. She also reflects on the physical resemblances between Allison, herself, and Ben’s new girlfriend. She believes Ben started dating his new girlfriend due to her physical resemblance to Allison and her own enthusiasm for him. Isabelle forces herself to continue looking at footage but is interrupted by Detective Dozier.

Detective Dozier invites himself inside, citing Isabelle’s voicemails and emails as the reason for his visit. When Isabelle expresses frustration over her neighbor (the redheaded man) not answering her questions, Dozier reminds her of her past assaults. She convinces him to tell her what he knows about her redheaded neighbor. The man is Paul Hayes and has previous drug offenses, but he has regular meetings with his parole officer and has broken no laws in years. Dozier refuses Isabelle’s request to get a warrant and speak to Paul. Isabelle pivots the conversation to the suspicious comment on the online article, but because the comment has been deleted, Dozier doubts its existence. As he leaves, she has an outburst, insisting she did not kill Mason.

In the past, Isabelle’s father coaches her on what to say when the police arrive to investigate Margaret’s accident. He tells her to say she was sleeping during the accident and to omit her sleepwalking the night before. He finally reveals that Margaret has died, but Isabelle has no time to react or mourn as the police arrive. She remains in her room until the police chief questions her.

Isabelle follows her father’s instructions, answering most questions by saying she does not know how to answer them. The police leave, and Isabelle believes she is lying to protect herself, suspecting she killed Margaret while sleepwalking.

Isabelle is filled with anxious energy following Detective Dozier’s departure. She searches for Paul Hayes online, but his name is too common for her to find anything definitive. She convinces herself that he has something to hide. Isabelle calls Dr. Harris and leaves a voicemail, requesting to be seen. Waylon calls and tells her that he spoke with Detective Dozier, who was cooperative; Isabelle knows Dozier left her house too recently to have reached the station and been interviewed by Waylon. Isabelle grows suspicious of Waylon as they end their call.

Isabelle drives to meet Waylon for lunch and speaks with Dr. Harris, scheduling an appointment for that same afternoon. She cancels on Waylon and goes to the doctor’s office. She lies to him about her sleeping habits and then asks if people can be violent while sleepwalking. Isabelle and Dr. Harris joke about homicidal sleepwalking, though he insists it is rare. He tells her that most of the damage that happens while sleepwalking is the result of the sleeper going about their everyday activities. As Isabelle leaves, Dr. Harris warns her about the dangers of sleep deprivation, which include hallucinations; he knows she still suffers from insomnia.

The night of Allison’s memorial, Ben appeared unexpectedly at Isabelle’s apartment. The two had intercourse; afterward, he swore her to secrecy until they could figure out a proper way to reveal their relationship.