‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 3 Recap

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Bad Monkey Episode 3.

Picking up in the café where the Bad Monkey double-episode premiere left off, Vince Vaughn‘s Andrew Yancy and Natalie Martinez‘s Rosa compile notes over coffee — and Yancy absolutely has Rosa’s coffee order wrong. The previously suspended then fired cop turned food inspector interrupts their chat to, well, do his job, and finds Driggs (Crystal) helping himself to the grapes in the kitchen. As it is his sister’s café and his monkey, Neville (Ronald Peet) negotiates with Yancy, earning the kitchen a reprieve, so the monkey is not included in his report.

However, the timely crossover of the separate Bad Monkey stories ends here, as Yancy and Rosa leave to track down Madeleine (Nina Grollman), the girlfriend of the murdered Phinney (Brett Cormier), at her place of work, Chest Candy (just a t-shirt shop). As Rosa approaches Madeleine despite Yancy’s warnings of her being a runner, Madeleine proves Yancy right, earning Rosa a smug “Told you she was a runner.” The screen cuts into its visually stunning and acoustically atmospheric opening sequence, and Bill Lawrence‘s dark comedy continues unfolding its murder mystery, served with a side of environmental themes.

Yancy and Rosa Follow Clues in ‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 3

The newly formed dynamic duo interrogates Madeleine about her boyfriend and his potential involvement in the murder, specifically the arm. Yancy recalls an old fisherman’s trick used on tourists to make them believe they had caught a fish — they would “reel” in the tourist’s “catch” but, with sleight of hand, pull out a fish they had already put aside from the water. As such, Yancy inferred that Phinney had pulled the same trick but with the arm and was paid to do so, which is how he got so rich. He comments on how Phinney’s meager involvement in Nick Stripling’s death caused him to be murdered, instilling fear and paranoia in Madeleine. As a consolation, Rosa agrees to buy one of the pornographic-adjacent t-shirts — Yancy naturally chooses a phallic one.

The pair decide to visit Phinney’s former workplace, Midwest Mobile Medical, which is now a planned office park. Yancy dons a tie and an inspirational quote to convince security that they are the feds, and much to Rosa’s disbelief, it works. So far, the running theory around Nick Stripling’s death is that his second wife, Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner), conspired with her new boyfriend, Christopher (Rob Delaney), to kill Nick for his $5 million insurance policy. As such, Yancy and Rosa rummage through paperwork trying to find any mention of Christopher, and while they can’t find something that specifically names him, they do find a bunch of prescriptions written out by Dr Israel O’Peele (Zach Braff), leading them to their next clue. However, Yancy’s prophetic words about the security being “half-decent at his job” come true, as he returns with real federal agents. In their escape, Yancy gets bit on the behind by a savage dog — naturally.

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Yancy and Rosa head to the doctor’s residence, but not before making a quick pit-stop at Officer Mendez’s (Gonzalo Menendez) house, so Yancy can trash his mailbox. Mendez is a corrupt cop Yancy used to work with when stationed in Miami, a place that cannot work again, as narrator Tom Nowicki explains, hinting at another aspect of the former detective’s past that is yet to be revealed.

When the not-couple arrives at Israel’s apartment, he is a complete mess, but luckily it is “just past bathrobe time,” as Yancy reassures in broad daylight. Since losing his job, Israel has completely let himself go, wallowing in alcohol and drugs he prescribes himself. Israel is ready to talk about his scheming with Nick, but wants immunity that food inspector Yancy cannot give him. But Yancy’s go-to inspirational quote slightly loosens Israel’s lips as he exposes Midwest Mobile Medical as a “classic ghost-patient scam.” The company would bill Medicare for equipment they never bought, and stole the IDs of older, unsuspecting citizens so their checks would be delivered to the company. Israel’s contribution was writing phony prescriptions to keep up appearances of treating patients.

Interestingly, Israel also describes Nick and Eve as totally loved up, making it slightly more confusing that she would be dating Christopher at the same time (remember this). But without immunity, Israel refuses to comment further — luckily, Yancy finds a brochure of Curly Tail Lane, the mall Christopher is planning to construct after he demolishes Neville’s homey shack. While Rosa finds someone to run a background check now that they have Christopher’s full name and Yancy is still hiding the investigation from his friend, Rogelio (John Ortiz), Israel calls Eve about the murders, concerned for his own safety. Realizing she doesn’t care, he contemplates calling Yancy.

Is ‘Bad Monkey’s Yancy in a Love Triangle?

Yancy’s love life also heats up as he receives a phone call from (ex?) girlfriend Bonnie/Plover (Michelle Monaghan), who is on the run while tanning on the beach. She carelessly admits to sleeping with her student who was three months shy of eighteen, earning the label “child-fucking sociopath” from Rosa, who insists she is not interested in Yancy’s relationships. The two also share some comically romantic moments, from an ice-cream date to stitching up Yancy’s bite wound date, bearing in mind that Rosa’s experience is limited to corpses. Towards the end of the episode, Rosa also admits that Yancy did get her original coffee order correct, she had been tolerating black coffee just to prove him wrong — how cute.

Rosa also receives the lab results for the bones they found at Eve’s house — it’s a match for Nick. However, Caitlin had already signed off on his death being an accident, so Yancy pays her a visit and informs her otherwise. Sickened by the surrounding corruption, Yancy tries to connect with Israel again, who is ready to talk — he may be a crooked doctor, but he’s still a good person. By the time Yancy reaches his apartment, Israel has been shot dead and a witness sees Yancy leaving the place. He is reluctant to rope Rosa back into this mess, but a previous paranoid phone call from Madeleine, who was scared someone was following her, makes Yancy worried about her safety.

Yancy recruits Rosa and Rogelio (stealing him away from paella with his husband) to hunt down Madeleine since she wasn’t picking up her phone. We see a softer side to Yancy as he becomes genuinely guilty about not taking her concerns seriously before — but alas, she is safe. This sweeter side is also seen when he scares a couple away from buying the house next door to him by capitalizing on his bite, claiming that wild dogs ran amok there. Though the approach is crass, it is his small efforts to preserve the ecological system that is admirable.

Neville Disrespects the Dragon Queen and Ya-ya in ‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 3

Neville’s storyline returns to the mystical side of Miami, as he leaves his sister’s café for home, affronted by Samara’s (Aba Arthur) revealing comment about him refusing to try to do something with his life. Money in hand, Neville returns to the Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) to accelerate his hex on Christopher. However, she is at the funeral of a client whose life she had temporarily extended. His daughter, however, doesn’t believe the Queen helped at all, leading to a conversation between the Queen and Ya-ya (L. Scott Caldwell) about disrespect from younger generations. It lends to an interesting commentary on old traditions slowly being lost, with the culture’s natural imagery also linking it to Bad Monkey‘s overall ecological themes.

As such, when Neville finally gets an audience with the Queen — only after being shot at by Christopher for trespassing — the magical pair assert that the curse cannot work without faith. This stipulation is mainly driven by Ya-y, who is still rankled by the disrespect shown to the Queen and their practice. To prove his faith, he must give up something he cares about. In a truly heartbreaking and shocking moment, Neville gives up Driggs.

Discontent with waiting, Neville decides to help the curse along by enacting his own revenge and breaking into Christopher’s office. The guard dog is not there this time, traumatized by the memory of being attacked by Driggs, so Neville has easy access and finds a mysterious USB that may aid his cause. However, he is interrupted by Christopher’s lackey, “Egg” (David St. Louis), who is ready to rough him up since he is paid to do so. When Neville steadily pulls out a gun, Egg allows him to leave. Neville complies, but not without one solid punch to the face in tribute to the friend Egg had beaten up.

‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 3 Ends With a Shocker

After Yancy speaks to Caitlin, she decides to go pay her stepmother a visit, armed with a gun. She accuses Eve of killing her father and trains the gun steadily on her, begging her to admit it. This is where Eve’s psychopathy begins shining through, as her bizarre reaction to staring at the barrel of a gun includes hashing it out and having a couple of drinks. But things take a jaw-dropping turn when Christopher emerges from a hallway and Caitlin drops the gun, jumps on him, and gasps in confusion: “Dad?” We don’t know if his real name is Christopher or Nick Stripling, but we do know that they are the same person. This explains why Israel described the couple as loved up, as Eve never really cheated on her husband. But it does raise a plethora of questions, one being: who does the arm belong to?

Bad Monkey

Episode 3 slows down the investigation but delivers comedic gems and evolving relationships.

Pros

• Vaughn and Martinez create palpable, believable, and hilarious chemistry.
• The show continues to develop its ecological message in a comedic, subtle, and relatable way.
• Braff’s brief appearance is offbeat and welcome in the dark comedy.

Cons

• The episode operates as narrative filler, slowing the show down to set up the concluding revelation.

The first three episodes of Bad Monkey are available to stream on Apple TV+, with subsequent episodes dropping every Wednesday.

Watch on Apple TV+