Unchosen Recap Episode 3: Jeremiah 29:11

Inside the Fellowship were two wives of two powerful men. Mrs. Phillips was the leader’s wife. At least initially, she was portrayed as one who so thoroughly believed in their closed system, one who kept a sharp, judgmental eye on the women and children, whilst Mr. Phillips played the benevolent benefactor amongst the men.

Then, Siobhan Finneran decided to break our hearts. If you had told me at the beginning that I would be shedding tears for Mrs. Phillips by the third episode, I might not have believed you. In watching these shows and writing these recaps, I am reminded time and time again of how experienced actors wrench emotion from the quietest of scenes. She made excuses for her cheating, violent husband. She spoke of how she would find peace in the next world. With a few words, she illustrated the weariness of her existence, trapped in mind if not in body, finding small strength to fight back but for a few seconds, then returning again to the familiarity of her prison. Adam had declared to Sam that in the Fellowship, there was no poverty or homelessness, only love and family. In this third episode, the women belied that.

By the skin of her teeth, Rosie escaped discovery of how she secretly helped Sam. The story she and Sam told Adam and Mr. Phillips was that Rosie caught him trying to steal their van. Rosie said he was the man from the river, that they should help him because they owed him. Mr. Phillips took Sam to stay at the shed outside his and Mrs. Phillips’s house. They had only just left when Hannah arrived and angrily declared that Rosie let Isaac out.

Now an Elder, Adam decided to keep Rosie’s transgression within the family. He sent Grace to live with Hannah whilst Rosie was confined in a room with not even a bed and blankets. During the day, Rosie was to go to Hannah’s house to be supervised. He declared that she was to remain separated from Grace.

But young Grace had a full meltdown at school, which forced Hannah to allow Rosie to go see her daughter. It was outside the school that Rosie encountered Isaac; he was trying to get in to give his son Anthony a letter. He even offered to help Rosie leave. Aware of the camera at the school gate, Rosie hurriedly got away from him. Hannah, who was still inside the school, saw her husband, and the sight of him triggered the fury and fear within her.

In the Fellowship, the men were supposed to provide for their wives and children. Now, Hannah had four kids, one a newborn, and no husband. Rosie went with Hannah to the Phillips’s house, so Mr. Phillips could help sort the finances. With Rosie distracted by Sam at the shed, she had no idea anything had happened inside until Hannah walked out with baby Noah looking even more upset than when she arrived. Rosie went back inside to retrieve the baby’s muslin, and it was there that she saw Mrs. Phillips shouting at her all powerful husband.

Wives always knew, even wives who were conditioned by their small society to defer to their husbands. Mrs. Phillips knew what her husband did to Hannah, what he dared to do to a young woman seeking his help, right there inside their marital home. When Mr. Phillips grabbed Mrs. Phillips by the neck and covered her mouth with his other hand, Rosie broke into the room and grabbed him from behind. He elbowed her on the face, bruising her cheek immediately at the impact of his strength. After Mrs. Phillips helped hide the bruise with makeup, Rosie assured Mr. Phillips she would not tell her husband. In the same breath, she got Mr. Phillips’s commitment to help Sam with a place to live and a job.

It was how Sam ended up working at Adam’s sawmill, how he walked in on Rosie taking passports and money from Adam’s safe. Adam was furious when he saw via the security camera Isaac and Rosie talking outside the school. Like the abusive man that he was, he raped Rosie, and it was a testament to Rosie’s strength that though she was born in this closed community, though she has never even been to the nearby town until she drove Isaac there, though she has never seen a movie, or held a job, or managed her own money, she understood abuse and reacted sanely – she knew she and her daughter needed to leave. 

She was still struggling with opening the safe when Sam walked in. Rosie finally figured out the combination – Adam’s favourite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11 – took the passports and some money, and told Sam she did not feel safe with her husband. Sam told her she needed much more money than what she had. He also told her that he meant to prove himself indispensable to Adam, and that eventually, they would leave. He also gave her some letters that he found in the Phillips shed.

Had Rosie had more interactions with the outside world, would a small alarm have rung within her at Sam’s manipulative nature? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It was subtle enough to miss. Adam gave Sam a Bible, and when he later asked how the reading was going, Sam mentioned Adam’s favourite verse, a throwaway information he got from Rosie. Adam took it as a sign from God that Sam was meant to be there. A historically closed community was suddenly open to this stranger who arrived out of nowhere into their midst. Adam himself helped baptise Sam.

The letters Sam gave Rosie gave her something over Mrs. Phillips, who had been relatively kind to her but who did not have her rebellious spirit. Mr. Phillips had split up families when members were disavowed, forbidding contact, yet here was Mrs. Phillips still in contact with her beloved son. Rosie laid her terms: She was going to see Sam, and Mrs. Phillips would not stop her. She would also leave with Grace, and when the time came, she wanted Mrs. Phillips’s help. She also urged the older woman to come with them.

Her blackmail done, Rosie went to the shed and slept with Sam. Later, as he was baptised, Isaac saw him on the news where he was identified as Sam Devlin, escaped prisoner.

Rating: B+

Strays

🏡Hannah absolutely resented Rosie. I wondered if that was envy over Adam’s financial and political (within their organisation) success, or something else.

🏡When Mrs. Phillips emotionally cried, ‘Not in my house’ after Mr. Phillips did what he did to Hannah, Mr. Phillips looked like he was about to argue that it was his house. And that, ladies, is just one of the many reasons why you must always have your own money. 

🏡When Isaac went to pick up his things at the sawmill, Adam told him to stay away from Rosie. They ended up in a physical fight, with Isaac quickly gaining the upper hand. Sam broke it up, defending Adam. Isaac not too subtly implied that Adam was gay; Sam for certain understood this.

🏡Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’

Episode Writer: Julie Gearey

Episode Director: Jim Loach

Original Release Date: April 21, 2026

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