Boy Swallows Universe has been an intense ride so far, with 12-year-old Eli dealing with far more than your average child does.
From coming along to drug deals to having his finger cut off by mobsters to his mother in prison, we're only four episodes in and a lot is going on. As we pick up in episode 4, we start to learn even more about Eli's life, where he grew up with his brother Gus.
The first three episodes teased some sort of incident with a car, that the boys keep drawing or dreaming about, and we get our answers to that in this episode. Meanwhile, the severed leg that washed up on shore is being investigated, and Frances struggles to cope in prison.
Here's what went down in Boy Swallows Universe episode 4...
When Frances met Robert
When the episode picks up, Eli writes a letter to his prison penpal, confirming that his brother Gus is talking properly again, and has been painting lots of pictures which they have been using the cover holes in the neglected walls of their father's home. He explains that they're all "pretty weird" though, including one where Eli has red hair and is leaving a chicken shop.
On top of this, Gus is painting the story of how their parents met, and much like the rest of their lives, it's definitely not your ordinary meet cute. His first painting about his parents depicts their mother hitchhiking, where she gets abducted by a truck driver.
The driver holds a knife to Frances' stomach while he's driving, threatening to stab her if she makes a noise. But when they hit roadworks, the truck driver was forced to slow down and Frances used this opportunity to make a run for it, opening the door and diving out of the truck.
Robert, the boys' father, was among the workers on the road and stayed with her while the truck driver sped off in a rage. This was the beginning of their eventual love story. But the scene cuts to the present day, and as we know, Robert is nothing like he once was. We see him waking up in the morning and immediately looking for alcohol.
At school, Eli is bullied and has tomato sauce poured on his face, and an angry Gus offers to teach them a lesson. Eli says no because he needs to start fighting his own battles. To try and take his mind off things, Gus shares his theories about the red phone in Lyle's basement.
Gus believes that the caller on the other end of the phone is a future version of himself which speaks to him, and he is convinced he can see the future too. Eli thinks he's being silly and brushes it off as a joke.
While the boys are at Robert's, Frances is struggling with prison life and she's had no contact with anyone on the outside world, including her family. Detective Cotton isn't allowing her to contact the boys or Robert, and the many letters she has sent have not received a response, which seems out of character considering Eli's prison pen pal.
On top of this, Eli is just as desperate to hear from his mother and begs Robert to take him to visit, but he refuses. It feels like something fishy is going on here, and with the family unable to communicate, they're in a difficult situation.
Meanwhile, Frankie is having a hard time adjusting to the prison. What is more troubling for her is that Detective Cotton isn’t allowing him to contact her husband and sons. Frankie has written many letters to her sons but hasn’t heard back, suggesting foul play. Eli also pleads with Robert to take him to see Frankie, but he refuses.
Caitlyn continues to follow Eli's story and the amputated leg that was found on the beach, concluding that the Vietnamese gang has something to do with it. She meets with Detective Cotton to discuss this, who tells her that he's dealing with it and that she should drop the case and leave it alone.
Child protective services show up at Robert’s doorstep, threatening to take his sons away if he doesn’t prove he’s a responsible father and the children are taken care of. It's here where we learn about the car that has been a recurring theme throughout the episodes.
Robert took the boys on a camping trip to get away from Frances, but suffered a panic attack at the wheel and accidentally drove off a cliff, into a lake. Despite the fact all three survived, Frances blamed Robert for the accident and accused him of trying to kill their sons. After a discussion, Robert is allowed to remain guardian of Eli and Gus, but they'll be keeping an eye on him.
We learn that Detective Cotton is in cahoots with Ivan. He also knows that Ivan kidnapped Lyle and cut off his leg, confirming that Lyle is alive but he's not in a good way!
Eli plans to see his mother in prison, but Robert has a medical emergency. So he goes to see Slim and begs him to help her escape prison, but he refuses and says it would just make things worse if she was caught because her sentence would be increased.
The episode ends on a dramatic note where we learn that Slim suffers from stage 4 cancer. Unfortunately, Slim suffers a heart attack and dies at the scene, only adding to the anguish the Bell family are going through.
