The Changeling Episode 6: Plot Summary and Review

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It’s not bad by any means, but episode 6 was the worst episode so far.

This article will contain spoilers from Episode 6 of The Changeling

The Changeling Episode 6 Plot Summary

The episode begins with Emma back in their apartment, where she finds a tree branch in Brian’s crib. She breaks a window and sneaks out the fire escape. She heads for the port and leaves the city on a boat. Kim catches up with her and convinces Emma to leave without her. Kim throws her overboard.

Emma arrives on the island via a rowboat, where she meets Cal. Emma begs to see Brian, but Cal doesn’t know where she is. Emma’s first night on the island is violent and rage-filled until she is drugged to sleep. When she wakes, our theory from the previous episode is confirmed as she etches a phrase into the wooden post in her cell.

Cal explains to Emma that none of the women who came before Emma have ever found their children. Emma refuses to accept that her son is lost forever. Emma wants to immediately start looking for her son, but Cal wants her to sit tight and relax. Instead, Emma heads to the beach, looking for a way home.

Unable to see any escape, she decides to try and figure out where the mysterious tree branch came from. She has no success finding the right tree and goes back to Plan A: Escape the island. Emma gets a boat down to the beach, but she is unable to get in and nearly drowns. Fueled by her memories of Apollo, she finds the strength to get to the surface and into the boat.

She manages to row herself back to the city, and she heads straight for the library. She takes a bunch of books from the library, and after seeing a newscast saying that Apollo is still alive, returns back to the island. Accepting her current situation, Emma goes back to work trying to solve the mystery of the tree branch.

Asking around, Emma is able to get a drawing of a leaf one of the other mothers found in her child’s crib. Using this leaf, she wanders the island looking for a match. After collapsing in defeat, a leaf falls from the sky matching the drawing.

Emma returns to the city, desperate for answers. Following the map from Cal, she discovers a mole man. Yes, a mole man. The man introduces Emma to a second new world, the city under the city. The pair travel through the underground world until they reach the subway. From there, Emma travels to the library to use their computer to gather information about her tree branch.

Our timelines crash together as Emma hears Apollo enter the library with his gun while she is trying to leave the library. On her way out she is seen by the police, and they chase her into the subway. Wheels, the mole man, is ready and waiting, and they escape the police on his motorized 4-wheel scooter.

Wheels manages to help Emma with her riddle, pointing her toward a part of the city where a forest of her trees exists. She agrees to return the following night, hoping that she has found where her son is. Emma bids adieu to the island and the women, and heads for the city for the last time.

The Changeling Episode 6 Review

What a change of scenery. After 5 episodes that revolve around Apollo, we get an episode that has him on screen for about 3 seconds total. I enjoyed the way the story was told in this episode, slowing everything down and telling it piece by piece instead of jumping through a bunch of flashbacks like episode 5 did.

This entire episode is filling in the missing pieces from episodes 2,3,4, and 5. We learn a lot about where Emma has been, and what she’s been doing. We get to see yet another spectacular world, this time under New York City, with a ton of detail. Considering Emma only drives through the underground metropolis, I was surprised by the sheer number of things going on. Wheels explain the entire infrastructure setup, from food to water and everything in between.

The underground world is a pretty minor detail in the overall series so far, but it reflects the level of care and detail that has been put into every aspect of this show. I’ve loved the world-building so far, and episode 6 just reinforces that thought.

Emma’s character is redeemed a lot in this episode. We get to see her point of view, and that changes things quite a bit. While Cal has talked about Emma in a positive light, Emma’s actions in this episode matter far more than any statement. Clark Backo gets a chance to put on one heck of a performance and she delivers. Emma is very emotional at the start of the episode, especially before being drugged, and I felt Backo did a great job of moving through those emotions.

The only downside to this episode is that there’s not a lot going on. We spend a decent chunk of the episode looking for a tree. And yes I understand why that’s important and it’s important to the plot moving forward, but I wanted more. Most of the first 5 episodes have been jam-packed with content, and even if the middle is slow, there is still quite a bit going.

It’s not bad by any means, but episode 6 was the worst episode so far. The acting was really solid, and the story was interesting, but it felt lacking. The amount of content in this episode felt short compared to the other episodes, and the entire episode left me wanting more, not just the cliffhanger ending.