Picnic at Hanging Rock episode 4 review: Sara won’t forget the missing
Appleyard’s college in shambles
Although Irma was found safe and sound, that actually hasn’t helped Appleyard’s school at all. In fact it has brought even more attention to the ladies that are still missing as the media has run with this story, signs for the missing girls are popping up all over town and people are connecting the tragedy to the college… and this may be only the beginning of Appleyard’s troubles. Parents start withdrawing their girls from the school and teachers are questioning her cruelty and are quitting their jobs. She decides to rename the college and going forward the missing are never to be spoken of at the school again, but when she finds out that a detective from Scotland Yard is being sent to investigate, she knows she can’t keep this buried.
Sara’s got a gun
While the rest of the ladies are off at church, Sara is once again being punished for her mischievous behavior and has to stay behind. While she is at the college a man that previously tried to assault Miranda stumbles into the college (stumbling because she smashed his foot with a pitchfork) to defile the school. Sara goes into Appleyard’s office, takes her gun and tries to shoot him – missing him ever so slightly. This causes all the nearby adults to come running into the room to see Sara with a gun.
Sara’s mischievous side doesn’t stop there (but did you expect it to?). Once she hears of Appleyard’s ban on talking about the missing ladies, she makes it her mission to ensure that they aren’t forgotten by putting up portraits of them in the hallways. After taking Sara out of the art program at the school, Appleyard tells Sara that her guardian has abandoned her and that if she doesn’t start behaving that Sara will go back to the orphanage. Seems that having a teacher quit over Appleyard’s cruelty hasn’t slowed her down at all.
Albert’s search for Sara
What we did learn though is that Albert is actually Sara’s brother and gave her up for adoption when he felt he didn’t have the money to care for her, but now that he’s come into some money he wants to find a way to get her back. Unfortunately he can’t get in touch with Sara’s guardian and instead decides to give his notice at work and try to join Mike on his journey to Miranda’s parents home. He heads to the college to get one of the teacher’s to write a letter for him to Mike letting him know of his intentions and while he’s there Sara hears Albert’s name being used and sees his heart shaped tattoo. She runs down stairs to see him, but by the time she gets there he’s riding off. She finds a way to escape the college at night and heads to where Albert works… will she get there in time before he leaves to meet Mike?
A look into Marion’s past
We haven’t had a chance to really dive much into Marion when it comes to the missing girls, but in this episode we had a better look. She is smart, likes books and seems to be in love with Miss McCraw (who also has attraction to her too). She would often spend her time alone with Miss McCraw after school hours reading together and growing close. Appleyard (unaware of this situation) had taken a keen interest in Marion herself, but in a scholarly way. She feels that Marion is never going to get the husband she deserves (because of the color of her skin) and offers her a position at the school as a teacher of history once she has graduated which includes the same pay as the other teachers, but she would never be allowed to interact with the parents. Not exactly the greatest offer on the planet, but she decides that she will accept it because it will give her a chance to be with Miss McCraw on a regular basis in a way that isn’t as limited as a student.
Related – Check out our episode 5 review of Picnic at Hanging Rock.
CarterMatt Verdict
Sara is an interesting character to have this much rage and mistrust at such a young age, but she has experienced more then most of us experience in a lifetime. Everyone wants to see her reunited with her brother so that Sara, Albert and Mike can go off on a glorious adventure together, but this isn’t that type of show and we suspect that Sara won’t get to him in time. Everyone is quite miserable and unfortunately this isn’t a pleasant story.
What did you think of Picnic at Hanging Rock episode 4 and are you excited to see where the story goes next? Leave us a comment in the box below with your thoughts. If you want more scoop on the show or are looking to chat with other fans of the series then be sure to join our official CarterMatt Facebook page. (Photo: Amazon)