At the end of Episode 3 of “The Baby”, an HBO original series, Mrs. Eaves had somewhere realized that the kid was getting the better of Natasha. She had already told Natasha the perils of being with the baby, but deep-rooted affection and sympathy for the toddler were taking over her. Natasha had tried abandoning the baby in the field earlier and also tried to kill him, but something always stopped her. Now, was it the devilish powers of the baby that were controlling Natasha’s actions, or was it her conscience making her feel guilty about hurting an innocent-looking baby who could not even defend himself, was still unknown.
Mrs. Eaves tells her if Natasha was unable to do the needful, then she would do it and get rid of the evil baby. Natasha agrees and they both go to the bedroom, only to discover that the baby is not there. They are panic-stricken and are not able to decipher what the baby is up to now.
About Mending Old Ties
In the previous episode, we saw that Mrs. Eaves and Natasha had engaged in a scrimmage of sorts. Taking advantage of the commotion, Bobbi, Natasha’s sister, had somehow sneaked inside the house and taken the baby with her. She had decided to go to her mother’s place. Natasha had gotten a call from Bobbi’s partner, Sam, who had presumed that Bobbi was with her. Sam and Bobbi had an audition to get their magic show funded. Without her partner Sam knew that she couldn’t put up a performance. She accuses Natasha, but little did she know that she was herself trying to get a hold of her sister, and didn’t know anything about her whereabouts.
Natasha had not met her mother for 15 years. Her mother was living in a commune, where there were other women and a lot of children. Mrs. Eaves believed that the baby knew what they were up to and was trying to spoil their plans. Natasha finally finds Bobbi, near her mother’s house, sitting in a field with the baby. Bobbi eats a cookie and almost chokes on it. She spits it out somehow and is able to breathe once again. It seemed like a kind of warning by the baby, telling Natasha what he was capable of if they tried to act smart. Bobbi felt that her sister was petrified with the new responsibility, and that is why she was acting strange. The problem was that the issue at hand was so peculiar that even if Natasha tried to make her understand, she wouldn’t have. I mean, how could anybody believe that a toddler, who cannot speak and is barely able to crawl, is competent enough to commit such grave acts, that would make even a history-sheeter shudder.
Mrs. Eaves, sitting in her car, sees an apparition in her rear-view mirror. Just then, Natasha arrives, and they decide to leave with the baby. But once again, it feels like the baby was up to something. The car wouldn’t start, and smoke started coming out of the bonnet. Mrs. Eaves knew that the baby’s evil intention had to do something with it, and it was trying to stop them from leaving. Natasha’s mother arrives at the scene and invites them to stay over. Mrs. Eaves is of the opinion that they could drown the baby in the lake nearby and get done with it. But Natasha gets agitated. She wants to know the whole truth. She was frustrated at being in the dark for so long. She didn’t have any clue as to how Mrs. Eaves knew the baby and why she wanted to kill him. She wanted to know why she had been staying and operating from her car for the past 50 years. She was not ready to make any move before she got all the answers to her questions. Mrs. Eaves told her that all that was not important and the only thing she should be concerned about was the fact that her life was in danger.
Natasha’s mom was a part of a spiritual commune, and the solstice was an event of great significance for them and symbolized transition. It was also considered to be a time period when the spirits were alive and trying to communicate through a medium. That night, Barbara and other members of the commune were having a ritualistic celebration in lieu of the solstice in the Jupiter House.
Episode 4: Ending Explained – Who Was Helen? How Was Helen Related To Mrs. Eaves?
Natasha feels extremely exasperated due to the absurdity of recent events. It had changed her life completely. She was standing face-to-face with her innate fears and, moreover, was not able to accept that it was not a lucid dream, but a reality. She holds the baby and asks him what he wanted and why was he making her life a living hell. Barbara, in her speech during the celebration, said that the solstice was about understanding what was the purpose of life for each and every individual. She starts to sing a weird song, and Natasha leaves the scene with the baby. She fell asleep while the baby was still wide awake and constantly whimpering. Bobbi comes to the room and makes the baby fall asleep. Mrs. Eaves seized the opportunity and decided to kill the baby. She puts a pillow on the baby’s face, but instead of the baby, Natasha starts suffocating. She pushes Mrs. Eaves away and leaves the room devastated. Mrs. Eaves starts hallucinating, and sees a woman, whom she calls Helen. She knew that the baby wanted Natasha to know about her.
Helen was probably the first woman who had adopted the baby, and her death had started the chain of events where every woman in possession of the baby met a fateful end. It was still unclear in what capacity Helen was related to Mrs. Eaves, but they did share an intimate bond. Maybe they were in a relationship and had decided to adopt the baby, or perhaps they shared a blood relation. In a flashback sequence, we see how Mrs. Eaves was omnipresent and overlooked the deaths of women who had the baby in their possession. The last snippet shows us a young Mrs. Eaves crying out in agony for Helen and standing outside the same cottage, on the foot of the cliff, where Natasha had witnessed Lydia dying and had caught hold of the baby for the very first time.
Why did he want Natasha to know about Helen was still unknown. The upcoming episodes will probably put more light upon the role Helen has to play in the scheme of things. Till then, Natasha had to embrace the absurdity, even if she was not able to ascertain a rational explanation for whatever was happening to her.
See More: ‘The Baby’ Episode 5: Recap And Ending, Explained – Who Was Helen? What Happened To Her?
