Sterling Point Recap Season 1 Episode 4 ‘Take Me to the Cliffs’
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
Being in your teens meant having a lot of time and energy, which often translated into words. Lots of words. Long, long hours of using words, of talking, of parsing out feelings. Often, the words were inconsequential, a boy or girl you liked that someone saw somewhere, a date you needed the perfect outfit for, a movie you could not quite believe someone has not seen yet, or perhaps seen too many times. Other times, words carry with them the heartbreaking fragility of life. Annie realising and vocalising that she had no mother, a fact that she has grown up with, but a condition she never before took the time to process. Connor using words Ramona was not quite ready to admit to, that she was in love with Oona. Ellis hearing Lincoln casually say that he could grab himself a treat, as he tried to hand over his credit card so Ellis could buy food for them, as one would a servant. Teens talk, and talk a lot, and it is to Sterling Point’s credit that the dialogue is almost always on point. Even young Maple got the lines, ‘You’re already doing it… Like, breaking her heart’, delivered with the poignancy of a kid seeing through an almost grown-up. In fiction, we suspend disbelief, and I am more than willing to accept that these kids (with the exemption of Lincoln) are just that insightful and articulate.
This was Connor’s first full episode with the Sterling Point crew, and having his chaotic energy around pushed both Ramona outside of her comfort zone, and the narrative into its first big revelation since the introduction of Ramona herself, that Goldie died at childbirth instead of the cancer story Annie believed all her life. What began as an effort to get Connor to fall in love with Sterling Point and change his mind about selling the island evolved into a day and night of bonding amongst the kids.
I confess to being a little worried at the end of the third episode, when Connor casually pulled up and dropped his plan to sell the island. Ramona was just beginning to thaw around Annie; I was concerned over what Connor’s appearance would do to their fragile bond. When the episode opened with Annie and Ramona sitting together on the couch – they wouldn’t have been sitting that close to each other had they had a blown-up fight – I started to relax. Annie fully backed Ramona’s conviction to not sell the island; Ramona trusted her word enough on this. Ramona also believed Annie when she said that she was lying when she promised Connor they could have a serious conversation about selling if, after a week, he hated Sterling Point; Annie claimed Connor would fall in love with a girl and would want to stay on the island, as what has happened in all their vacations.
As good writers often would, Sterling Point knew how to inject poignancy in the most casual of moments. Rory in his jeep with the rest of the Sterling Point gang waiting for Annie to join them, and Ellis declining Annie’s invitation, was a sudden illustration of a gnawing class gap – the rich kids in an expensive vehicle about to head out and have fun, a working class kid who cannot join them because he has a job waiting. Rory being consistently decent toward Ellis has been one of the show’s best decisions. His existence was the issue, not his character (at least for now). It was a far more interesting take on the class complexities that teens (and adults) need to navigate, though having an obligatory rich douche in Lincoln added some necessary realism.
Before Annie took off, Ellis did manage to ask her to an outdoor movie double feature that night. Annie was enthusiastic about it, but because her mind was still on the problem of her brother, she thought it would be a great place to take Connor, turning what Ellis had envisioned as a date into a group activity.
There was no such confusion with Rory. When everyone – Ramona, Oona, Connor, Lincoln – engaged in some joyful cliff jumping, Annie could not quite bring herself to do it, and so Rory suggested an alternative activity. They ended up in a floating cabin/ sauna, where they had one of those vulnerable conversations that tend to deepen a connection. Rory confessed to having been always intimidated by Annie. When Annie asked why he stopped playing piano when he had been such a prodigy, he played at Carnegie Hall at the age of seven and even took a guest spot at Ellen, Rory told her about his little cousin slamming a car door on his hand, and it not healing properly so that he could no longer play play.* Rory asked how Annie was, and Annie, tearing up but with the tears not quite falling, spoke of her mother. She never really knew Goldie, and now, being at Sterling Point, she had started to wonder what her life would have been like had Goldie lived. Annie grappled with a loss that had been fact all her life slowly turning into feeling, as she stayed longer in a place that held her mother’s memories. Annie and Rory had moved into the cold plunge pool, and Annie apologised for killing the moment. Rory knew just what to say; he told her he hated her feeling the need to feel sorry just because she had feelings. It was just the right thing to tell her at that moment, an assurance to Annie, who has been strong and logical her whole life, that it was all right to feel. They ended up kissing, more passionately than they did at the porch on the night of the party.
At the lake, Ramona and Oona had another moment, as Ramona helped Oona with her bikini top. Connor, who was smarter than Annie gave him credit for, asked Ramona when she was going to tell Oona how she felt. It was lovely how Connor arrived and simply fit in with everyone, including his sister he only just met. This is a very charming performance by Keen Ruffalo.
Though Ramona told Connor that Oona already had a thing with Stacey Mallory, as the group was heading out, Oona asked Ramona to go with her to the movie thing. That scene read like a date to me. Oona might have even thought it was sort of a date, especially given how she was stressing over what to wear. But, when Maple called her out and told her she could not treat Ramona, her best friend, the way she treated the other girls, it was perhaps then that Oona reconsidered.
The outdoor movie thing was a pretty elaborate event with food booths, face painting, an artist doing charcoal paintings, even some carnival games. Sully’s advice to Ellis to tell Annie how he felt seemed to have paid off. As Ellis and Annie sat next to each other to get their portraits done, Ellis managed an, ‘I really like… being near you.’ which Annie returned. They watched the first movie together (Uptown Girls) and might have had a nice time with Teen Wolf had Rory and Lincoln not joined them. A drunk Lincoln whipping out his credit card and not thinking he was doing anything wrong since he told Ellis he could buy something for himself too was classic oblivious rich. To their credit, both Rory and Annie were appropriately appalled, and Ellis simply walked away.
Connor read Oona as ‘avoidant attached’, which was probably close to the truth given how she grew up and how she now looked after her little sister after her mother took off. Watching Oona stare at Ramona from afar, not quite able to decide to simply walk toward her – as a viewer, you know where it was going, but you also know how realistic it was to go there. Stacey Mallory just happened to be in the same event, and Oona decided to ditch Ramona and spend the night with Stacey instead.
Meanwhile, Ramona, who has never had a drink before, ended up getting drunk off Connor’s flask. A drunk Ramona declared that she was stood up and she felt nothing. The ‘nothing’ exploded when she saw Oona and Stacey having dinner at one of the picnic tables. Ramona walked over to them and said some pretty hurtful things to Stacey, who stalked off. Oona went after her, and Ramona went after Oona. The dialogue here is on point – Ramona trying to get clarity over what they both felt, Oona scared of taking the next step and perhaps losing her best friend.
Joe was upset when he saw Ramona getting off the boat that drunk, and scolded Annie, who has been feeling emotionally raw about her mother as well, and who lashed back out. Annie called out the obvious lie of Joe not seeing Goldie when, as far as Annie knew, Goldie stayed in Gordon’s cabin as she was dying of cancer. Joe said it was not his place to tell her how Goldie died, then proceeded to do so anyway – Goldie died giving birth to Ramona, and he was there.
Rating: A-
Strays
🏚️Did it feel like we weren't getting the whole story about Rory's hand here?
🏚️The Sterling Point episode titles are dialogues from each episode. ‘But I Just Took an Ambien’ was Annie’s line. ‘She’s Giving Single and Bi’ was Maple’s line. I am taking it as a testament to Connor’s aura that he has had two lines that became episode titles so far, ‘My Lifelong Debilitating Wolf Phobia’ and ‘Take Me to the Cliffs’.
🏚️Marjorie called Joe’s house (Ellis answered) trying to get Ramona’s contact number. I have been wondering about Ramona being so free whilst a minor. Could this be why Gordon’s estate lawyer was trying to track her down?
🏚️Denise knew that Ellis has been ripping her off and was totally allowing it. She even upped the charge from the $450 Ellis initially asked for, to $650. I appreciate this thoughtful tax evader’s wife.
🏚️Sully: ‘As much as I love repressed guys who are really good with their hands, you all can be pretty hard to read.’
Episode Title: Take Me to the Cliffs
Episode Writer: Erica Lipez
Episode Director: Aurora Guerrero
Original Release Date: August 5, 2026