Looking for Alaska episode 3 review: Breakups and a concussion

A mystery is about to get solved, there are multiple breakups coming, and Looking for Alaska is already delivering on its promise to break all of our hearts.

This review contains spoilers from episode 3 of Looking for Alaska. Come back after you’ve watched the episode if you don’t want to know what happens!

The first two episodes of Looking for Alaska kept things lighthearted and fun, allowing us time to get to know the characters, at least on the surface. And this third episode started out heavy on the humor we’ve come to love, but it slowly shifted in tone as it progressed — from happy and fun to dark and awful. But let’s start with the happy(ish) parts.

Oof. I was definitely right about the awkward Miles-Lara date. I did not anticipate just how awkward it would be — unless you have a better word for a date that ends with a concussion, courtesy of a direct hit to the face via basketball. But hey, at least he got to ride in a limo?

Oh, and guess what I was completely 100 percent wrong about? Sara and The Colonel finally finding common ground and starting a decent, healthy relationship. Nope. They broke up. Should I stop trying to predict how this show is going to go? Eh, not likely.

Starting episode 3 off with The Colonel getting kicked out of every basketball game and Miles having no clue how to talk to girls not named Alaska was all absolutely perfect.

So much laughing. So much joy. Alaska dramatically unbuttoning and taking off Miles/Pudge’s shirt just so she can iron it before his date with Lara is some of the best 25 seconds in 2019 television. Fight me. But to be fair, it does compete with Pudge standing awkwardly to the side without a shirt on as Alaska makes out with her boyfriend. Poor guy can’t catch a break, can he?

Especially not when the girl he might be in love with has a much darker side than he knows. Yes, friends. It’s time for the darkness.

Alaska gets by on being admired, at least when it comes to her peers. She is generally well liked and prefers to keep it that way. So when everyone starts accusing her of being “the rat” — and they turn out to be right — her destructive, downward spiral begins.

We’re definitely starting to see her true colors — in more ways than one. She leaves Jake because she thinks he deserves better. And all signs pointed to her being the one who got Paul and his girlfriend kicked out of Culver Creek in episode 1 — though her potential motivation for doing this was unclear up until now.

She wanted to avoid getting kicked out of Culver Creek so desperately that she ratted her best friend out to The Eagle in exchange for a pardon of sorts — all because she can’t bear the thought of having to go back home, presumably forever.

Alaska’s backstory is coming soon. Those who have read the book already know it, but I’m curious to see if and how they are going to expand upon it. Even if they stick straight to the original story, it’s going to be tough to watch.

Three episodes in and things are already looking gloomy (here we go with the rain — don’t forget about the scene from the very beginning of the show). Many of you out there know what’s coming. I can’t speak for you, but I know I’m not at all ready for what’s going to happen next.

Get your tissues ready. Have someone huggable on standby. It’s about to get real.

All eight episodes of Looking for Alaska are now available only on Hulu.