Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Before!
Episode 4 of Apple TV+‘sBeforecontinues to push the psychological thriller forward, revealing more details about the mysterious connection between Noah and Eli. The new episode is one of the slowest in the show so far, and the reveals aren’t as noticeable as those in previous episodes. However, they are still crucial toBefore’s main charactersand the overall narrative.
WhileBeforehas leaned more heavily into the psychological part of its genre, the episode takes the strange connections and possible supernatural elements to a new level. While Noah seemed to have a connection to Eli in earlier episodes, this episode presents a possible connection between Lynn and Noah instead. The episode also reveals more about the mentality of Eli after the loss of his wife, furthering his isolation from his family and friends.
7Noah Disappears From The Therapy Room Early In Apple TV+’s Before
Noah Hides In A Linen Closet In The Psych Ward
Apple TV+’sBeforehasn’t had very many scary moments so far, but one of the most nerve-wracking is when Noah disappears from the play therapy room. Eli goes out to get water, talks to Noah’s mom, and he’s gone by the time Eli looks through the playroom window. While anyone in this situation would panic,the look on his face, when Noah disappears, shows just how close of a connection he has with his client.
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After frantically looking in throughout the psychiatric ward, Eli hears scratching on the inside of a linen closet. Since Noah previously did that with the table, the child psychologist assumes it is his missing client. Luckily, he’s right and able to get Noah back to a safe place. The show never clarifies what exactly caused Noah to run away. Since he says he wants to go home, the initial assumption is that he’s trying to escape the hospital. However, Noah looks petrified when Eli finds him, so it’s possible he felt scared by the woman he drew drowning or swimming.
6Noah Has No Dutch Or Farmhouse In His Former Foster Homes
The Archaic Dutch And Farmhouse Still Isn’t Explained
The first thing Eli asks his assistant Cleo to research is whether anyone previously referred Noah to him as a client. When Cleo finds no connection between them, Eli asks his assistant inBeforeepisode 3to look into the background of Noah to see if his former foster homes could explain the odd behaviors of the young boy. Early in episode 4, Cleo comes back to Eli with an answer about Noah’s history in the foster care system. She couldn’t find any evidence of him living with someone who speaks 17th century Dutch, and he never lived in a farmhouse.
Cleo’s findings raises more questions as to where these skills came from.She suggests that the Dutch and farmhouse came from cryptomnesia, a psychological phenomenon where a subconsciously forgotten memory resurfaces without recognition that it comes from a previous experience. For instance, Noah could have heard the Dutch on TV and then repeated it for years, not realizing he’d heard it before.
However, there’s also a possibility that his ability to speak archaic Dutch and his memory of a farmhouse could have a supernatural explanation. The child could have some kind of Dutch spirit from the 1600s who lived in a farmhouse attached to him for an unknown reason. In either situation,Beforewill need to explain how these characteristics connect to Lynn’s photo of the same farmhouse.
5Sophie Thinks Lynn Is In Her Lizard
Eli Rejects Sophie’s Coping Mechanism For Grief
When Eli and Sophie spend the day together inBeforeepisode 4, she reveals to him that she believes her grandma Lynn is inside of her stuffed animal lizard. This belief of Sophie’s can be interpreted in different ways. She could think her grandma’s spirit truly possessed the stuffie, or it could be more of an imaginary friend situation. Either way,whenever Sophie brings this up, Eli gets more irritated, as if her comment is a personal slight to the grandfather and his values.He repeatedly pushes her to let go of her belief that Lynn is in the Lizard.
Unfortunately, he finally snaps when they’re at the church as the priest tries to justify Sophie’s beliefs as being a faith-based form of grief processing. Eli’s outburst, driven by his belief in science and dismissal of faith, significantly damages his relationship with his granddaughter. She feels like he doesn’t care about her feelings. Additionally, his rant towards the priest shows his general mentality about religion, the afterlife, and souls. If Before turns supernatural, Eli could be forced to reject his deeply held beliefs.
4Lynn Sends Secret Emails To Jackson
Lynn’s Emails To Jackson Have Children’s Book Drawings
In each episode of theApple TV+ original show, more details emerge about Eli’s late wife, Lynn. Perhaps the biggest reveal so far happens inBeforeepisode 4 when Eli finds secret emails between Lynn and the couple’s close friend Jackson, which include photos. Initially, it seems like there might be a hidden relationship, since Eli doesn’t bother to look at the image attachments. However, Eli learns the truth after confronting Jackson at his party about the emails.
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It turns out Lynn was writing a children’s book about the subject of death to emotionally process her terminal cancer. Rather than disclosing her book to Eli, she hid it because he pushed her to engage in all the experimental treatments despite her desire to process what was coming. Based on the explanation, it seems that Lynn didn’t want to keep fighting, but he pressured her to do so.
In addition to providing context on the dynamic between the married couple, the emails between Lynn and Jackson have images that she drew that could hint at something sinister occurring.Lynn’s drawing shows two children walking through a snowy forest together with swirls over the top.Though this could signify the wind, the swirls look nearly identical to what Noah drew at the beginning ofBeforeepisode 4. Considering he’s also seeing ice and his breath is visible, there seems to be a connection between Lynn’s drawing and Noah.
3Noah Starts Hallucinating The Ice Again
Noah’s Hallucinations Haven’t Gone Away Because Of The Medicine
Early inBeforeepisode 4, Eli confirms that Noah is on new psychological medications, and he’s not shown hallucinating anything like the dark water or cracking ice. The lack of horrifying visions makes it seem like they might have been a symptom of a psychological disorder that is being properly treated. However, at the end of the episode, the visions are back.
Noah sees a tentacle wrapping around the neck of the nurse and ice cracking across the entire ceiling,explaining his fear from earlier in the episode. Additionally, he has a new element of the visions – snow falling down on him. The biggest takeaway from this reveal is that Noah’s hallucinations either aren’t psychological in nature or he’s not on the right medication to manage them.
Also, the snow, visible breath, and ice all further the idea that there’s a connection between Lynn and Noah. After all, he doesn’t just draw swirls that are similar to hers, but Lynn’s drawing includes a boy who looks a lot like Noah walking through the snow. The biggest question is how exactly the two are connected. Each episode makesBeforeseem more like a supernatural thriller than a psychological thriller. Either way, only time will tell how and why Lynn and Noah are related.
2Noah Is Hiding The Toy Man From Sand Therapy
Noah Has Grown Attached To The Toy From Early In The Before Episode
Early inBeforeepisode 4, Noah disappears from the play therapy room after using a pen. Since the pen goes missing, Eli assumes that his client stole the pen and is hiding it. The episode leans into this assumption, showing Noah hiding a pen-shaped object wrapped in a pen under his bed. He’s extremely attached and protective of this object, clasping it close to his chest when he’s holding it. However, at the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Eli never took the pen and has no plans to hurt anyone with his prized possession.
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Instead, the object in the napkin is the toy man from sand therapy. While he buried the object in the sand during the therapy session so it couldn’t hurt anyone, he never seemed scared of the toy man. During the altercation at the end of the episode,he refuses to let go of the toy willingly, and Noah calls the toy man “Eli.”This moment shows just how attached he’s become to his child psychologist, even if he has said a few times that Eli hurt him without any further explanation.
1Eli’s Breath Becomes Visible Like Noah’s
Noah And Eli Have A Strange, Unexplained Connection
The last scene inBeforeepisode 4 is one of the most bizarre moments in the first four episodes. After Noah starts to see snow and ice again, his lips turn blue, and his breath becomes visible. This wouldn’t be notable on its own, since it fits with the established hallucinations. However, the strange part occurs to Eli at the same time as Noah’s hallucinations. The child psychologist looks at Lynn’s drawings in his home. His lips start to turn blue, and his breath becomes visible, just like Noah’s.
The scene clearly has some sort of significance, but it’s not clear what it means since the episode ends quickly thereafter. ConsideringBeforeepisode 5 is titled “Folie à Deux,”Eli will likely start to experience the same symptoms as Noah, and this scene could foreshadow what’s to come. After all, the title phrase is a psychological term for two individuals who experience the same delusions. Alternatively, some viewers speculate that episode 4’s ending means Eli and Noah are somehow the same person, which would unquestionably bring a supernatural element into the story.
