After the first three episodes debuted at once, we've been made to wait for Constellation episode 3, so anticipation is high for the next entry into Apple TV Plus' new sci-fi show.
This episode, "The Left Hand of God", continues the story of Jo (Noomi Rapace). We've seen her escape a science experiment gone wrong on the International Space Station, only to find that parts of her life have changed in mysterious ways.
Now that Jo has firmly got her feet on solid ground, and is re-acclimatizing to Earth, could the strangeness cease or will things only get weirder? Well, this would be a very short recap if it was the former, not to mention there are four episodes left!
So let's sink into the episode with this Constellation episode 4 recap, and if you need to watch it first, here's how to watch Constellation. Spoilers ensue, of course, as this is the most twist-filled and mystery-laden episode of the show thus far.
Visions of a new Earth
As always, we start in the forests of Sweden... except it's daytime. Alice (Rosie/Davina Coleman) is being led by a parent... but it's actually Magnus (James D'Arcy), not Jo! They go to the cabin, and it's the first time they've gone since Jo went to space. Magnus reassures Alice that Jo isn't there and that they'll never see her again. The episode has gotten off to a strange start and it's only going to get weirder!
Now to the main story: Magnus and Alice are throwing a combined Christmas-birthday party for Jo, to catch up for time lost. Afterward, Jo is confused that Magnus has moved the cupboards around, though he says he hasn't. Magnus wants to talk about how they didn't leave things well before she went to space, as she was distant before she left and he was unhappy. Jo genuinely doesn't remember it that way though. He asks if she still loves him, and she says yes.
That night she has a flashback dream of her time on the ISS. She wakes up and wanders around her flat, and finds a piano as well as sheet music to a Rachmaninoff piece.
Going to the European Space Agency (ESA) that day, she's given a hero's welcome. Watching the applause from afar is Henry (Jonathan Banks).
That night, Jo and Alice go through the latter's old belongings. Jo speaks in Swedish, but Alice doesn't understand. Later, Magnus and Jo are building flat-pack furniture together (a fast track to a break-up, usually!). He says that rumors were swirling around ESA that she was having an affair with Frederic (Julian Looman) which she vehemently denies. He admits that because he thought she'd leave him, he went on a date with someone while Jo was in space, but it didn't go anywhere.
We see Henry writing notes on a whiteboard: Lithium VII is circled with the words "stress", "trauma" and "death in space" circled. Later his supervisor calls, to tell him that he needs to come home to California as they've decided to shut down the CAL project.
We see Bud (also Banks) wake up after his night of drinking and cruise incident. He goes to see Mr. Rogers (whom he pushed overboard in the last episode, apparently he forgot!) but is told to go to an emergency briefing. FBI agents are on board and the boat is being redirected to Santa Barbara due to an "incident".
The weirdest trip to work
Jo is having a session with ESA's therapist and mentions the odd things happening: memory loss, hallucinations of Paul, and the fact that there's a piano in her house despite the fact she doesn't play. The therapist prescribes Lithium-7, which Jo points out is an anti-psychotic drug. She doesn't want it but begrudgingly walks out with the pills.
On the way out she bumps into Henry. He invites her to go and see the CAL, which she mentions she'd never heard of before the accident. There, Henry mentions cases of astronauts and pilots hallucinating when on the edge of space, seeing angels or their deceased children, smelling toast, or feeling a pressure pushing down on their wings dubbed 'The Left Hand of God'. Jo notices Henry's notes about Lithium-7, but when the CAL is turned on, she gets a piercing headache.
Bud calls someone from the bridge of the ship, mentioning "it's not working" and that he needs to get someone. However, the voice tells him that he's having an episode and he needs to take his pills. Instead of doing so, Bud throws them overboard.
At school, Alice has been acting odd, so Jo and Magnus go to see her teacher Sarah. Apparently Alice has been hiding in cupboards from fear and is confused about the return of her mother. Jo also notices that Magnus and Sarah seem acquainted, finishing each others' sentences, and when they leave Jo is annoyed that Magnus didn't stick up for her more.
That evening, true to form, Alice hides in a cupboard. When retrieving her, Jo notices Alice's necklace on the door handle, which looks exactly like the one from the vision at the end of episode 1. Jo tells Alice that she wants one-on-one time with the two of them, and suggests a holiday to the Swedish cabin. Alice admits that she doesn't know if she's happy that Jo is back, and expresses disappointment.
That evening, Henry is on a video call with a professor at MIT, who thinks it's crazy that Henry is the only person who can see the results of the CAL. However, Henry insists that it's a case of the observer effect that only he can see the results.
At home, Jo sits down at the piano and can masterfully play the Rachmaninoff, which surprises her. She contemplates taking the pills but then realizes that they're exactly the same as the vitamins she was given at Star City, in shape and in taste.
Jo goes to the ESA labs and uses a machine to identify that her new pills and old pills both contain Lithium-7, a serotonin inhibitor. She goes to her office, avoiding some workmen who don't notice her, and looks at the ISS astronaut records. All her crew was assigned Vitamins (A) except her, who was assigned Vitamins (B). She looks through historical records, and most people get (A). She looks up the various people who received (B) and most of them reported seeing hallucinations in space or later going crazy and attacking people. Henry Caldera also received (B).
While in her office, the workmen arrive and start working... seemingly not noticing Jo. And when we see from their perspectives, she's totally absent! That's until she stands directly in front of them, and for a brief moment, they see her... before they vanish!
Understandably freaked out, Jo quickly leaves the ESA. On the way out she sees Henry talking on a video chat, but his screen is off. He's talking to his reflection, who looks a bit different to him — then he turns in Jo's vague direction and remarks: "Curiosity killed the cat" before turning back. What a weird trip to work!
Secret relationships and new evidence
The next day, Jo returns to ESA, and Frederic speaks to her. He says that he feels something has changed between them, but that he still wants her, and it's not clear whether he's referring to a business venture they were apparently forming before she went to space, or in a more saucy way.
While this is happening, a woman from the FBI asks Bud about the death of Mr. Rogers. However the astronaut says that an accident in the Korean War means he can barely lift his arms. Later, the woman sees CCTV footage of Bud and Rogers on the bridge of the ship, but a weird warping means she can't see what happens. The warping has the same pattern as the interference pattern from the CAL experiment.
Later, Jo is giving a talk to Alice's class about her experiences in space, when she notices Magnus and Sarah whispering to each other at the back of the class. She loudly demands to know "is it you?" and then storms out of the room (referring to Magnus' date, mentioned earlier).
Magnus is annoyed at Jo as she drives them home, and she's swearing loudly in front of Alice and acting distressed. Alice wants them to put on music, but Jo says it'll distract them — a point made quickly after as Alice puts music on her phone instead, which distracts Jo, who almost crashes the car. She gets another nasty headache.
That evening, Frederic comes around at Magnus' behest. The former tells the latter about "astronaut burnout" and the clinics that exist to help treat it, though Magnus doesn't want Jo to leave so soon after getting back.
Magnus asks Frederic whether he and Jo had an affair, and the astronaut says yes, they did! Just then Jo enters the room, and she insists that she doesn't remember any affair! Magnus shouts at Frederic to leave and the storms out of the room.
When alone, Jo notices mail to her from a marine observatory in Denmark. It's a tape cassette, a letter and a transcript. The cassette has two recordings: the first is of Jo on the ISS, when she thought no one could hear her. The second is of the apparent death of a female cosmonaut in 1987, which was apparently covered up. This, presumably, is the body that Jo found in the first episode, that everyone has been denying the existence of.
As Jo is listening to the recording, Alice comes downstairs while looking for her father. When downstairs, she sees lots of people clad in black, as it's a wake for... Jo? In attendance are Paul, who's meant to be dead... and another version of Alice herself! As she screams, Alice returns to the real world, and Jo is there for her.
Magnus appears and tucks Alice into a cupboard, to comfort the girl, which she's happy about. However Jo is mad that Magnus is catering to Alice's weird need to be in a cupboard, and they argue.
Jo insists that there's a certified effort to get her to take anti-psychotics (because of the pills) and Magnus thinks that Jo is seriously sick. He starts to call Frederic, to get him to collect Jo and take her to one of the astronaut burnout facilities... until she knocks him over, and he hits his head. He doesn't stand up.
The episode ends with us seeing the weird ghoul picture in the Swedish cabin, which looks a little different from before.
