What happens in episode four, ‘An Dobhar Who’?
WARNING: Major spoilers for season one, episode four ahead.
Séamus continues to be haunted by flashbacks of Millenium night. He walks out into the woods barefoot, playing trombone next to the faerie seat, and leaves a voice note to Wendy berating her for letting him take the fall for his confession alone.
The next morning, Catherine and Sonny mock him for his declaration, but he tries to brush it off as being drunk and worried about Joanne. Catherine also takes a jab at the tattoo and, in doing so, the family name. Joanne is the only one who tries to comfort him.
On her morning walk, Wendy gets a call from Brad worried about the casting, while she’s worried about the changes made to the script – particularly ones introducing incest to the show. Brad assures her that the author, Jack E. McCarthy approves of the changes being made. She runs into Shelly the barmaid, commenting that Séamus has never been much of a liar, to which she agrees.
Jack E. arrives at the airport and is picked up by Jules. He immediately proves to be a strange fellow.
At the school, Séamus’s alien story has made its way to the school pupils, with Catherine and Matt joking about students claiming their homework was abducted. Catherine notes Séamus doesn’t even drink and is embarrassed by him. Matt suggests she get marriage therapy, but also another quickie. Catherine passes.
The doctor's surgery is deadly quiet, and Sonny – acting as receptionist – suggests they head to the pub for lunch. Séamus says no as he wouldn’t want to get in the way of Sonny flirting with Shelly. While he puts on a brave face, in his office Séamus is seen struggling.
As filming continues, Big Jim hears his character will now be having a sex scene with his on-screen mother – played by ‘indie film icon’ Jemima Rowlands – which leaves him feeling awkward. Wendy continues to ignore Séamus’s calls.
In a car with Jack E., Jules asks why his suitcase is pink with unicorns on it, and Jack E. suggests he may have smuggled ecstasy on board.
As news of Séamus’s alien encounter continues to spread, alien hunters start arriving at Séamus’s surgery, as well as some people who might be on drugs. Sonny continues to find it entertaining, but Séamus is left fuming. Barry later comes to visit to let him go from the committee, despite him already having quit. He then decides to embrace his crowd of “patients” answering their questions openly for the first time.
Jack E. embeds himself quickly in the production, sweet-talking Jemima and Big Jim as they talk about the upcoming sex scene. He also meets Connor, the visual effects technician, who is creating the motion capture for a CGI creature from celtic folklore – the Dobhar-chú, or King Otter. Jack E. suggests Connor go full method in his performance.
At the pub, Shelly is run off her feet looking after the punters. When she goes upstairs, her dad – the pub’s owner – is quietly sat at a computer. It doesn’t look like he’s left his room in a long time. He signs off on a delivery, and when she shuts the door it’s revealed his wall is covered in alien sighting clippings.
Back at the Proctors’ house, Catherine confronts Séamus about his alien claims, believing he’s doing it to get attention. While he doubles down, she continues to mock him, saying he’s become a laughing stock of the town that no one believes.
On set, it is time for the big sex scene, but Big Jim takes things too far and starts mooing like a cow. Off camera, Jim complains to Jemima that her tonguing his ear is making him miss his cues. He also admits that his wife, who’s in prison for stabbing a banker in Pret a Manger, gets jealous, and so he’s anxious about what she’ll think when she sees it. He also clarifies that his sister is carrying their child as a surrogate after rounds of IVF. With that off his chest, the pair end up kissing passionately.
That evening, Sonny informs Séamus that the medical health board called to talk to him. He brushes it off but it’s become clear that something is wrong. Séamus tries to convince his family with proof of his experience – he can play the trombone. He claims to have never had a lesson, with the skill just materialising after the abduction. They still don’t believe him.
That evening, Séamus finally corners Wendy, asking her why she’s been avoiding him. He shows her how he can play trombone now, and she responds to him in Aramaic – a language over 1000 years old and she also has no idea how she came to learn. Laughing at their shared skills, the pair share a laugh at memories of the spaceship. She tells him that she’s leaving Drumbán, but both feel better knowing they’re not alone. Wendy then reveals that she knows Catherine is cheating on him, but he believes it’s another revenge tactic and leaves in anger. As he walks back through the woods, he’s surprised by Connor leaping from the darkness, having taken Jack E.’s suggestion of living as a mythical creature to heart.