Never Let Go

## "**Never Let Go**"*Season three, episode two*

"**Never Let Go**" is the second episode of the third season of *The Rain*, and the sixteenth episode overall. Directed by Josefine Kirkeskov, and written by Anna Bro, the episode premiered on August 6, 2020.

## Synopsis

Simone meets a brother and sister living off the grid. Back at Apollon, Patrick and Fie weigh their options, and Rasmus makes a horrifying discovery.

## Plot

Daniel finds Simone by the side of a riverbank, brings her to his home, and nurses her back to health. She wakes up in Daniel and Luna's care, who reassure her that she is safe. Meanwhile, in Apollon, Rasmus and Sarah have just finished having sex. Sarah knows that Rasmus is distraught however, feeling his anguish through their link to the virus. Changing tact, Rasmus convinces her to come with him, as proof to Sten that the virus can be transmitted successfully without killing the new host. Martin is also brought to have his body thrown in a lake, but he comes awake and dispatches the guards, returning to Apollon to help the group.

Back with Simone, she learns of how she was saved, and also that her tracking device was waterlogged while she was in the river, so that her group can no longer track her. He reveals to her that they live in a small piece of paradise free of the virus, and invites her to go out on the lake nearby. While they do, Sten is overjoyed to have a new test subject: Sarah. However, his clinical questioning unnerves Sarah and she wishes to leave, and although Rasmus convinces her to stay and to undergo tests, she would rather just keep the virus to herself and Rasmus. Cutting to the lake, Daniel and Simone float, talk about their lives before the rain, splash each other, and laugh.

Once more in Apollon, Patrick and Fie have been shown to their quarters, although Fie demands that they have separate beds, despite their cover story that Patrick is the father of her child. Fie is conflicted about taking Apollon's help, especially after Simone's "death", but Patrick insists that Simone is dead now — by her own hand, to boot. They are then interrupted by the arrival of Martin, attempting to break them out, but Patrick insists that Simone is dead and that they should stay. Martin nearly attacks Patrick, but they have to be quiet to avoid detection.

Fie willingly reveals herself to Sten when she hears Sarah's voice, and is shocked to see Sarah alive. She confirms that Sarah had indeed died, and Sarah reveals that Fie is a biologist, so Sten has them all come with him. Martin tries to convince Patrick to leave, but he doesn't want to, and goes with Fie. When he follows Patrick, Sten sees Martin as well, and has him dragged away as he cries for Rasmus to talk to him. In Daniel's paradise, his father finds Simone and forces her to stay under guard, only until she can heal, before being sent away.

After Daniel's flashback, Simone arrives at her secluded RV, with Luna assuring her that she'd have everything she needs. Luna questions Simone about running away from her brother, which she doesn't explain very well. After talking, Luna decides to show Simone the secret of their small paradise — a bottle of nectar, with a single droplet possessing the ability to clear entire sections of forest of the virus. Although stunned, Simone can't ask many questions as the rest of the family is drawing near.

Rasmus has Martin brought before him, where he insists that Simone is dead and that he is only trying to save everyone. Martin wants his tracker, so he can confirm Simone's death, which Rasmus happily turns over. He offers Martin life, but he cannot make a decision in his grief. Meanwhile, Fie is examining Sarah, but Sarah thinks that Fie abandoned her, and doesn't want to help Fie get the virus like her. However, Rasmus can feel Sarah's anger, and soothes her, convincing her to forgive Fie, although Sarah is still leery that everyone only wants them so that they can stay alive with their viruses.

Wishing to see the people they would save, Sarah has Rasmus lead her to visit the sick, the test subjects. Once at their chambers, they find only corpses, people who Apollon failed to give the virus while keeping them alive. Enraged, Rasmus goes to Sten, who calmly explains that those test subjects were already dying anyway, and that they had enthusiastically given their consent to try for a cure since they were already terminal. Rasmus completely ignores this, and is only enraged at the fact that people died at all. He threatens to kill Sten, but Sten stares him down and insists that without him, no cure could be found, so Rasmus leaves.

Back in paradise, Daniel is heading toward the source of their cure for the virus, and Simone is following. In Fie's quarters, she has Patrick wake up to get her some water, but when he accidentally overflows the water she gets a sudden idea — the glass must be empty before it can be filled, just as a person's immune system must be compromised before the virus can take hold without killing the host. She tells this to Rasmus, but he doesn't want Apollon to be the ones to find the cure, because of the test subjects that died in their attempts to find it.

Rasmus wants Martin to get the virus first. Martin himself is depressed, blaming his own lack of power for Simone's death. Rasmus agrees that he doesn't have the power he would need, but he could get it, through the virus; Martin agrees. Simone, who is not dead, has just now caught up with Daniel, and is watching him withdraw nectar from the strange plant that killed his girlfriend years ago. Daniel and his father find her, and apprehend her. In response, she tells them of the world coming to an end, and says that while they've created a piece of paradise that looks like home, wouldn't they want to actually *go* back home, and cure the virus everywhere? However, rather than working with her, the father is incensed by this and demands that she be killed, lest anyone discover their secret.

While preparing to kill Simone, Daniel turns on his father and lets Simone escape.

## Flashback

Daniel has a flashback to before the rain, taking his girlfriend Emilia with his family on a vacation to a lake. While sitting under the canopy of their RV, the rain begins, killing all the vacationers around them instantly. They try to survive the subsequent apocalypse, but soon face food shortages. In response, Emilia takes *all* their food and tries to leave, saying that there are too many of them to survive together. Although Daniel tries to reason with her, he's interrupted by his father, who comes angrily rushing toward Emilia with a knife. Daniel tries to stop his father, which gives Emilia a head start to flee, but his father throws Daniel down and quickly pursues, with Daniel rushing after him.

Although the father is older and Emilia young, Emilia is worn down by the large cache of food, so Daniel's father slowly manages to close the distance. He chases her into an abandoned hotel, when suddenly she screams and a blast of nettles fly through the doorway she just entered. Daniel's father investigates, but drops his knife when he sees her horrifically destroyed body, having run afoul of the strange plant that cures the rain. In shock, the father drops his knife, and has to restrain Daniel from going in to see what happened to Emilia.