Sensia
Episode 3 of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey starts in the past, as we explore more of Grey’s family history. His brother, Coydog, arrives and encourages Ptolemy to leave with him in the middle of the night. Ptolemy can’t remember exactly what he’s been tasked to do but in this dream, an elderly Ptolemy turns back into a child. Coydog has stolen treasure from a guy called Clive, which he’s buried deep inside a well. He gives instructions to the young boy, pointing out exactly where it’s buried. After dropping a lantern down and watching as the flames lick hungrily across the ground (and then extinguish), the pair part ways. Unfortunately, Coydog is surrounded and forced to watch his brother be beaten down by a bunch of white folks. Ptolemy has been asleep for several days after his incident last episode, and a worried Robyn is there to see him awaken. She’s called the doctor who wants to bring him in but Ptolemy is certainly on the mend – at least temporarily. The drug appears to have worked as Ptolemy gets himself dressed up in a suit and arrives with Robyn to see Dr Rubin. Given less than 10% of patients see a physical improvement, Rubin is surprised to see Ptolemy improving so much. He warns that fevers will return from night to night but he needs a second shot in order to bring all of his memories back. The peak effect is only going to be four weeks – at most six or seven. However, this could also have an adverse effect of deteriorating Ptolemy’s condition and speeding up entirely after this wears off. Robyn doesn’t think this is a good idea but for Ptolemy, he’s convinced that he needs to finish what he’s started. In doing so, he also gets a solid $5000 too. Rubin needs a signed release in order to get the second dose but Ptolemy drives a hard bargain, and eventually takes the shot. With Ptolemy starting to get his memories back, and his condition improving, he speaks to Robyn about how he was feeling. They’re distracted by Shirley though, who shows up to return the money that she borrowed from Ptolemy before. She’s also grateful for him standing up for her, even in his time of need. Roger Dawes shows up to see Robyn, talking to her about Reggie. When he finds out Reggie has been killed, he’s shocked and wants to drop by to pay his sympathies to Ptolemy. He even offers her to carry Robyn’s bags too. Walking with her, Robyn eventually promises to ring him after he walks her to his place. Inside the house, Shirley says her goodbyes as Ptolemy lights the stove. In doing so, the flames brings him back to the moments involving Coydog, where he looks to be lynched by the men. As they throw a rope over the tree, we cut back to the present. Robyn is moving her things and eventually she heads out for dinner with Ptolemy at the diner. Ptolemy is dead-set on finding who killed Reggie and with his memories coming back, that should be easier to do. For now, more flashbacks shed light on Ptolemy’s past and, specifically, how he met the love of his life, Sensia. She approaches Ptolemy after he’s gone for a run and quizzes him over what he’s doing. Coydog actually gave him some solid advice back in the day, claiming that “there comes a time when every black man must run” and he’s been practicing for that moment ever since. Ptolemy has also been reading a lot too (another of Coydog’s words of wisdom). The pair get along well but it doesn’t take long for a man named Ezra to show and sling his masculine weight around. He challenges Ptolemy but Sensia calms him down, walking away. That doesn’t stop Sensia’s interest in him though, as she heads over to his place after leaving Ezra. Unfortunately, Ezra shows up with a baseball bat and begins smacking Ptolemy. Only, Sensia gets a gun out and shoots him down multiple times. Just before she hits the killing blow, Ptolemy grabs her and stops Sensia from shooting him. In the middle of the night, Ptolemy awakens and decides to dig up the black treasure. With a knife in hand, he pulls the carpet apart and begins opening up the floorboards, believing he’s about to find “the future.”
The Episode Review
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey returns with a long chapter, one that really only has a few bits of plot development across its run-time. We see Ptolemy take the second dose of his medicine, more details about how he knows Sensia and a couple of developments involving Coydog and what happened on the farm. That’s it. Aside from that, there really isn’t a whole lot else going on here. I’ve said it across multiple different shows I’ve covered on Apple but this streaming service has a serious problem with pacing. Given these episodes are drip-fed out once a week, the slow pace is in danger of losing people who may be running out of patience to actually get some good character and plot development. However, despite that there’s enough to stick with Ptolemy Grey for the time being. Right now though, this show is struggling with its pacing.
