Okay, last night’s episode of The Slap was interesting. Spoilers ahead!

In my last article, I stated that Anouk was Hector’s sister–which is completely false. Anouk  (Uma Thurman) is Hector and Aisha’s friend.

Back to the review.

The Slap: Episode Three, “Anouk”

Speaking of Anouk: this episode was all about her! Viewers got a look at her back story in ways that were both predictable and surprising. Predictable because, yes, the week’s trailer was quite revealing. I was skeptical on how much more could be said about Anouk if she was supposedly pregnant. Oh, by the way, she’s pregnant. Yes, she is pregnant with Dan Humphrey’s– I mean, Jamie’s baby. Jamie is played by Penn Badgley.

But before we get into that overly dramatized situation, it is revealed the “side” that Anouk clearly stands by on the whole “slap” fiasco. Although last episode we saw Anouk clearly tell Harry, Zachary Quinto’s character, that she is not to get involved, she had no problem telling Rosie (Melissa George) and mother of devil spawn, that she should “let it go”.

Back to the day of the party, picnic, and/or birthday celebration, Anouk didn’t watch Harry slapping Hugo because she was too busy watching Hector flirting with the teenage babysitter, Connie. Afterward, she heads over to sleep with her boyfriend, Jamie, who’s an actor in the show she produces and member of this New-age-Electronica band. After she throws up the night of his gig, she realizes that something is the matter. Oh, really? Her symptoms, as she tells her psychiatric-educator mother: crankiness, lack of appetite, and looking like a hot mess. Her mother, Virginia, even suggests: “Maybe you are pregnant” which Anouk laughs off.

If that wasn’t awkward already, Anouk seeks advice from her mother if she should tell Aisha of the alleged affair between Hector and Connie. Virginia says, “No. You had bad luck.” Anouk doesn’t quite absorb this and then attemps to tell Aisha soon after but fails.

Uma Thurman is a beautiful and talented actress and, I’m sure, rarely judged on her skill of acting. But, watching this episode last night, I couldn’t help but cringe at certain moments that she was on-screen– which was the whole episode! I get that Anouk’s character is somewhat condescending and arrogant and a whole lot of bitchy’, but while interacting with other characters around her, I felt Anouk was just out of place. And it wasn’t a lack of Uma’s work– the viewer could tell she was trying!

Towards the end of the episode, we got to understand why she believes she could never fill the shoes of an adequate mother. And if you haven’t guessed it already, it’s her strange relationship with her mother, Virginia.

Overall, this episode was kind of a let-down, compared to the first two. Yes, I still have hope for the rest of the season– especially if we are to follow Rosie and Gary’s stories next. As far as characters go, Anouk is probably my least favorite. And not because of Uma Thurman, but for bad writing and silly dialogue.

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