The Process continues in 3% Chapter 3 “Corridor” and the episode begins by showing what those coins are for from the previous test. As the other participants use theirs to buy food and drink from an automated machine, Joana holds onto hers and remembers.
Her memory takes place in the streets of the city she is so desperate to escape. After Joana puts some coins in a backpack along an alley. She is caught and threatened by Gerson’s thugs. They take her money and the backpack and eventually they let her go.
Back in the Process with the other candidates, Joana “dances” the coin across her knuckles and does not use it for food.
Ezequiel is warned from another friend about Aline. She has been sent to spy on him for the rest of the council who want the process made easier. He assures the woman that he knows what Aline is up to and that he has nothing to hide.
Aline watches the next test with Ezequiel. Joana, and the rest of her group must make it through a long dark tunnel, or corridor, together in under five minutes. Inside the darkened area, there is a single flashing light and some sort of gas is being released into the corridor.
Michele imagines that Fernando asks why she killed Bruna. The gas being released into the tunnel contains a hallucinogen. The point of the exercise, Ezequiel tells Aline, is for the group to overcome their fears and paranoia.
Ironically, it is Joana who saves the group in this test. After panicking and running to the end of the corridor, she learns everyone must leave the area. She sees the gas and it is Joana who faces and quashes her fears and the visions. She gets everyone through to the other end.
Aline questions the validity of the test and asks some probing questions. The candidates are all sent to the dorms to sleep and Agata is still upset from the tunnel test.
In the dorm rooms the survivors to the next round talk about the gas and what Offshore will be like. Marco and the other young men ask Joana why she did not freak out and what she saw. Nothing, she replies, as she slides into another Inland memory.
In the flashback, Joana retrieves the coins and backpack. Inside the gang’s lair she also finds a handgun. As she attempts to leave, a small child startles her and she shoots the kid dead.
Back in the Process, the effects of the gas are still being felt by the group. Joana goes to the toilet to wash her face. She imagines she can hear the child in a stall. Opening the door she apologizes for killing the kid.
Agata is in the stall, not the murdered boy, and she almost chokes Joana to death. Marco steps in and can barely pry the girl’s hands from Joana’s neck. A young boy sneaks into the compound setting off the alarm. Ezequiel goes to retrieve the boy and tells security that he will reset the alarm.
The boy; Augusto, is taken in and fed. Ezequiel tells the youngster that he cannot see him as often since he is being watched. He then gives the child glasses that he was mending earlier.
Joana, is not Joana at all. After killing the child she has a friend register her. Her new name is Joana. The friend, Valeria, learns of the murder and orders the girl out. Gerson has offered a bounty for the man or woman who killed his son.
Marco and Joana talk in the hallway. He notices her “registration” scar; he has one too and realizes that she is also a phony. He tell Joana that he will protect her secret if she protects his.
Ezequiel gets the boy out, Michele and Fernando decide that despite their passionate kisses they need to concentrate on getting through the process. Joana wakes early and discovers that during the night, they have been walled into the dorm area.
The candidates are trapped.
So far it appears that every person competing in the Process has a secret or two. Initially it seemed that only Michele was there under false pretenses. This is not the case as both Joana and Marco are competing with fake credentials as well.
Aline definitely has it is for Ezequiel and despite an attempt by him to clear the air the council mole is still gunning for him.
3% is impressively piling on the mystery while peeling layers back and revealing more about the hopefuls who are competing in the Process. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the Offshore and we have learned that the council actually want the process to become easier.
The real question is why? Is there trouble in “Xanadu?” Is there some problem Offshore that Ezequiel is not privy to?
3% is streaming now on Netflix and it can be downloaded to a smartphone or a tablet. The pace of this Brazilian series is slowly picking up and the intrigue alone make this one to watch. Head on over and check it out.
Cast:
- João Miguel – Ezequiel
- Viviane Porto – Aline
- Bianca Comparato – Michele Santana
- Michel Gomes – Fernando Carvalho
- Rodolfo Valente – Rafael Moreira
- Vaneza Oliveira – Joana Coelho
Mikes Film Talk 