Before: Season 1 Episode 4 “Symbols and Signs” – Recap and Review
“Before” begins to feel long in the tooth despite being only half an hour, as the craving for answers starts.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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| Originally Aired | November 7, 2024 |
| Network | Apple TV Plus |
| Director(s) | Ravi Petrarca |
| Writer(s) | Sarah Thorp |
| Character | ACTOR’S NAME |
| Jackson | Robert Townsend |
| Eli | Billy Crystal |
| Sophie | Rebecca Ruane |
| Barbara | Maria Dizzia |
| Noah | Jacobi Jupe |
| Lynn | Judith Light |
Storyline Recap
What Were You Saying To My Wife – Jackson, Eli, Lynn
From what it appears, Lynn and Jackson had a friendship that didn’t include Eli. This makes Eli a bit hot, but Jackson explains it was based on her trying to work on her next, if not last, children’s book, which would have been about death. Eli never wanted to discuss this topic, since he was always looking for a cure over facing the inevitable, so Lynn sought out others for discussion. Add in Lynn has thoughts and feelings she wanted to discus which weren’t rooted in science and logic, which Eli refuses to do, and Jackson became the only person in Lynn’s universe to confide and have conversations with.
Bad Grandpa – Eli, Sophie, Barbara, Noah
Eli’s obsession with Noah continues to negatively affect his family as he tries to find out about Noah’s birth parents and past foster homes, all the while traumatizing his granddaughter. You see, Sophie claims her grandmother is in her pet lizard, seemingly as a coping mechanism, but when she reveals some things a child shouldn’t know, Eli gets very antagonistic towards her and Barbara.
After all, if Eli doesn’t want to talk about Lynn’s death, he certainly doesn’t want to hear about it from Sophie. But, to show how far gone Eli is, he goes to the church Noah was dropped off, and as the pastor starts talking about faith, rather than politely exit the conversation, show he has the mind to speak to adults as he professionally speaks to children, he becomes an immature, nasty man who curses in the church, at the pastor, in front of his granddaughter, and seems like someone who shouldn’t be around children.
Review
Low Points
Eli Quickly Losing What Made Him An Interesting Lead
While characters with strong feelings and opinions are always necessary, there was something about Eli, as originally presented, that was cool. He was a man, a psychologist, who focused on children, and while he had a blind spot with his own family, you get it, for he put so much effort into others. However, I feel like they are starting to do more than have Eli have an understandable blind spot and now are moving towards him being an ass. Someone who shouldn’t work with children, especially one like Noah, and is likely making things worse for everyone around him rather than better.
With that, the hook might be gone, and with the Lynn and Noah mystery reliant on Eli as a middleman, it is hard to say that either can compensate.
On The Fence
The Long Road To Answers
I fully understand that it can’t provide quick answers as to what happened to Lynn or what is happening with Noah, but I feel there should at least be breadcrumbs or moments like what we saw with Eli choking Lynn, which can provide theories. For even with being a half hour, “Before” can feel like a slog since you want something to spark interest, and while they present the question of whether Noah will harm someone again, that lost its luster a long time ago.
At this point, the mysteries are set. We need to work our way towards answers, and each episode needs to offer something more than it is currently offering.
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