The Perfect Son

In the car, Olivia gives her mother the silent treatment, believing she ruined her time with Liam. Her mother says that she thinks Liam is cute and encourages Olivia to invite him over. Olivia forgives her mother, and she’s in a good mood until she sees an unexpected guest on the front steps of their house.

Jason arrives home while Erika is making meatloaf. Erika lets him help, though he can be clumsy with a knife. Jason tells her about his day. Erika thinks he’s a computer genius but doesn’t exactly understand what he does for work.

Hannah comes downstairs for dinner and reveals that Liam is not home, which causes Erika to panic. Hannah tells Erika to calm down, but her hands start to shake, causing her to cut her finger. Jason wants to take her to the hospital, but she refuses.

Liam returns home, explaining that he went to the diner with his track friends. When Erika asks if there girls were with them, he denies it. Jason jokes that Liam wouldn’t tell them if girls were with them, and Erika realizes that’s what scares her.

Tyler Martinson waits on Olivia’s front steps. He says he needs to speak with her, and Olivia’s mom lets him. Olivia considers that she didn’t want to go out with Tyler because he is a bully.

Tyler explains he wants to talk about Liam. He tells her Liam is dangerous and that Olivia’s life might be in danger if she dates him. He says that Liam doesn’t have any experience with girls, and it might be better for Olivia to be with someone, like himself, who does. Assuming that’s the reason he’s there, Olivia tries to go inside, but he grabs her so forcefully she can feel the beginning of a bruise. When she threatens to scream, he lets go of her, and she goes inside, telling him they won’t talk about Liam again.

Erika and Jason to binge-watch television in bed. Erika’s phone rings, and, thinking it’s Frank, she answers. Instead, it’s Erika’s boss. When she hangs up, Jason encourages her to get a new full-time job, but she says she can’t because the kids still need her. Jason, she thinks, doesn’t know what Liam is capable of because he often travels for work. He thinks Erika exaggerates when she tells him things that have happened with Liam. Erika receives a text from Frank, letting her know he’s spoken to Olivia Reynolds. Relieved, she tells Jason she’ll consider getting a new job.

Olivia tries to fall asleep, but can’t stop thinking about Liam. She hears something tap against her window and looks outside. Liam is throwing pebbles at her window to get her attention. He asks her to come talk to him, and she sneaks downstairs to see him. Liam tells her he can’t stop thinking about her and kisses her. He says he’s been wanting to kiss her since the first day of school and kisses her again.

Erika has a nightmare that she is buried alive and wakes in the middle of the night. She wishes she could wake Jason to comfort her but doesn’t because he must get up early. Further, she doesn’t find him comforting anymore, especially when it comes to Liam.

She reflects on their relationship. Two years ago, Jason came home smelling like an unfamiliar perfume. After that, he doted on her, leading her to believe he was cheating on her. However, she never smelled the perfume again and never addressed it. She still thinks about it, however, primarily because Jason’s weight loss has made him more attractive to other women.

Erika gets out of bed and walks past Liam’s room, finding it empty. She looks around the house but cannot find him and wakes Jason up. Jason encourages her to call Liam. When she does, Liam says he’s out walking since he couldn’t sleep. He explains that Jason told him he could walk around the neighborhood at night. Erika demands that he return immediately.

Jason tries to calm Erika down, noting that the neighborhood is safe. Erika thinks that she’s not worried about something happening to Liam but about Liam harming someone. When she begins to have a panic attack, Jason gets her a Xanax and offers to go wait for Liam downstairs. She agrees. As she falls asleep, she wishes her life was as uncomplicated as Jason’s.

The next morning, Liam is in a good mood on the ride to school even though his parents yelled at him for leaving the house in the middle of the night. Erika still feels drowsy from her Xanax the night before. When they arrive at school, they are surprised to see police cars and reporters. Liam and Hannah pull out their phones to see what’s going on, and Hannah announces that Olivia Mercer has gone missing. Erika asks Liam if he knows her, and he says he doesn’t know her well. Erika wonders if she gave Frank the wrong name. She offers to let Liam and Hannah stay home from school, but they want to go to school. As Liam gets out of the car, Erika asks him again where he went last night. She cannot tell if he’s lying.

The police interview Eleanor Williams, Liam’s second-grade teacher. She says she initially adored Liam, finding him cute and smart. However, Liam said some disturbing things, such as that he wanted to get married so he could keep his wife in a deep hole. Eleanor told Erika about the comment but never talked to Jason about it. Erika didn’t seem surprised but got Liam into therapy. Eleanor felt like Liam stopped saying inappropriate or disturbing things because he realized he wasn’t supposed to say them out loud, not because the treatment stopped his disturbing thoughts.

As Erika drives home, she tries to calm down, telling herself that there’s no evidence Liam did anything to Olivia. She decides to go to a new grocery store out of town rather than the local grocery store, which will be full of other parents wanting to talk about Olivia’s disappearance. When she starts to put the address into the GPS, she notices that the most recent destination is unfamiliar. She follows the directions and they take her to Olivia’s home.

Erika pulls over and calls Jason. When she tells him what she’s learned, he’s primarily upset that Liam took the car. Jason suggests they call the police. He can’t believe Erika thinks Liam is responsible for Olivia’s disappearance and tells her Liam is innocent. Erika wants to believe him.

When Erika gets back home, her mother’s car is in the driveway. Her mother drops by often unannounced. Inside, her mother says she’s been waiting for Erika and asks if everything is okay. Despite being close to her mother, Erika has never told her about Liam’s problems, so she lies that everything is fine. They talk about Olivia’s disappearance, and Erika’s mother says that she may need to worry about Hannah’s safety, but she won’t have to worry about Liam’s. Erika’s mother reveals a secret that shocks her daughter: Erika’s father, whom Erika believed died when she was a child, is alive and in prison for first-degree murder.

Erika is shocked into silence by the news about her father. Her mother explains she kept the information from Erika because she wanted to protect her. Erika’s father killed a woman he was having an affair with. He claimed it was an accident, but the police and jury did not believe him. Erika’s mother says that he poisoned the woman and that she believes it was intentional. She adds that she is telling Erika about her father because he’s now out of prison, and she is worried he might come looking for Erika. Erika tells her mother that she doesn’t hate her but that she needs to be alone. After her mother leaves, Erika thinks about all the time she lost with her father, but her attention soon turns to the 4Runner in the driveway. She will have to wait to contact her father; she needs to focus on Liam and Olivia.

Olivia wakes up in the dark. The last thing she heard before passing out was a man telling her to get in the car. Feeling around, she realizes she’s in a hole in the ground. She tries to get out and realizes her left ankle is broken. She screams, but no one comes to help. She hasn’t been raped. She feels around the hole for any food her captor left her. Overwhelmed, she throws up and cries, desperate to go home to her mother.