REVIEW: ‘The Crow Club’ Episode 3 Holds Itself Back From Reaching Its Full Potential

Picking up where episode 2 left audiences, The Crow Club Episode 3 focuses again mostly on the relationship developing between Vann (Milk Natchanon Supravorawong) and Rakkhun (Newyear Nawaphat Thannamongkhonsawat). That is, despite the golden rule Linda (Sirin “Cris” Horwang) laid out in the premiere hanging over his head: your client is just a mark. Cross that line, and you’re fired. Still, The Crow Club Episode 3 balances both the job and romance fairly effectively while wasting a lot of potential.

At the end of episode 2, Vann inadvertently summoned the ghost that’s been haunting all the men in Rakkhun’s life. Now, in The Crow Club Episode 3, Vann stands face-to-face with an apparition from a time long past. Knowing that this is the job, Vann doesn’t back down but stands his ground against the ghost who finally identifies herself as Garlah (Pimprapa Tangprabhaporn). She strangles Vann and tells him to leave Rakkhun alone.

The Crow Club Episode 3 sets up what promises to be a love triangle on top of a supernatural mystery.

The rest of the episode focuses on the investigation into Garlah’s appearances. After getting a tarot card reading, Vann and Rakkhun are left with more questions than answers and attempt to summon Garlah again. This time, Garlah strangles Vann but also gives them a key insight: Garlah is trying to protect Rakkhun from dangerous people.

The young men joke that perhaps Garlah simply doesn’t like Rakkhun dating men. Perhaps she’s a conservative. Still, it doesn’t fully help them understand why Garlah is doing what she’s doing. To further complicate things, Kan (Frank Thanatsaran Samthonglai) is still interested in keeping a relationship with Rakkhun, setting up what promises to be a love triangle on top of a supernatural mystery. Vann also wrestles with his feelings for Rakkhun, knowing the consequences.

This is the biggest development in The Crow Club Episode 3 from a romance perspective. While the series clearly leans on a trope that increases romantic tension among the three men, it also does a lot of heavy lifting by giving the audience someone to root for. It gets harder and harder to see Vann as simply the crow that took the job because it’s obvious that Vann and Kan are both jealous of each other, and Rakkhun is stuck in the middle of that.

The Crow Club Episode 3 does a lot to move the story forward in multiple directions. It’s the first episode we get any kind of concrete answers about any of the four stories being told in the series. It’s also the first time we get more than a glance at Garlah and, more importantly, we hear at least a small bit of motivation for why she won’t leave Rakkhun alone.

Unfortunately, The Crow Club Episode 3 suffers from a few glaring issues. The first being that the other three stories are sidelined but still get a scene each to remind viewers that they still exist. For a second episode in a row, Taengmo (Otto Phachara Thanakulwuttiporn) and Yoyeh (BJ Nattanon Wanichakul), Phatee (Pop Pataraphol Wanlopsiri) and Ran (Title Tanatorn Saenangkanikorn), and Talay (Sailub Hemmawich Kwanamphaiphan) and Sun (Pon Thanapon Aiemkumchai) are put on the back burner to allow more time to be given to Vann and Rakkhun.

This season of The Crow Club has 16 episodes, so it stands to reason that there is plenty more to come from the other crows. Still, not focusing on the other stories means that the only real supernatural story we’ve seen so far may be completely resolved before any other stories are told.

The writing for Vann is also incredibly confusing. In the premiere, Vann didn’t even believe in ghosts. In The Crow Club Episode 3, he has multiple face-to-face confrontations with one and doesn’t even flinch. Still, he rolls his eyes at tarot cards and summoning ghosts with a ritual. He treats them like superstitious nonsense, and considering his actual ghost conversations, it comes off as absurd.

If nothing else, it’s a fascinating character development. Vann is forced in an instant to begin believing in the existence of ghosts because there’s one standing right in front of him. It’s not clear how The Crow Club sets him up to be so inconsistently skeptical after being hit over the head with solid evidence that ghosts exist.

The pacing in The Crow Club Episode 3 is also bizarre. At times, things move fast and work overtime to keep everything interesting. Then the episode slows down, sometimes almost to a halt. It’s jarring, to say the least. The most disappointing part is that it seems intentional. The pacing simply isn’t having the intended effect.

The Crow Club Episode 3 does a lot to move Vann and Rakkhun’s story forward

Most of the time, that happens because The Crow Club Episode 3 is trying to create a deliberately slow, intimate moment, but it often doesn’t land that way. In one moment, there’s a kiss on screen that doesn’t look convincing in any way. To make matters worse, the soundtrack to the awkward kiss is music that can only be described as bad jazz.

That’s especially frustrating because Supravorawong and Thannamongkhonsawat have great chemistry. They look at each other in a way that truly sells their attraction and the tension of the job versus the person that The Crow Club is built on. So, it doesn’t make sense that at the climax of their story so far, it feels completely disconnected from the rest of their interactions on screen.

While The Crow Club Episode 3 did a lot to move Vann and Rakkhun’s story forward, its desertion of the other crows’ stories is felt throughout the entire episode. Further, pacing issues and unbelievable story beats keep The Crow Club Episode 3 from being as good as it could be. For a show that has great potential to be an original, compelling story, The Crow Club is actively self-sabotaging its own success.

The Crow Club Episode 3 is streaming now on Netflix with new episodes airing Fridays.