Chloe writer reveals meaning behind episode 3 Easter egg
"The boundaries between truth and lies get really murky."
BBC/Amazon psychological thriller Chloe stars The Crown's Erin Doherty as Becky, a woman on a mission to uncover what has happened to her childhood best friend Chloe (Poppy Gilbert), who has died. Did one of her inner circle contribute to her death? And if so, how?
Was Chloe's marriage to Elliot (Billy Howle) really as blissful as it appeared on social media? Her alleged affair with Richard (Jack Farthing) suggests not. Did she invoke the wrath of Livia (Pippa Bennett-Warner) after refusing a slice of her pavlova?
Or is there a big twist in the pipeline that will change the contours of this narrative completely?
In order to unearth the truth, Becky infiltrates Chloe's friendship group by masquerading as Sasha, whose fabricated existence is a lot more glamorous than Becky's reality.
"[The show] examines how people present and how they really are," writer and director Alice Seabright told RadioTimes.com. "It's about the stories we tell ourselves. What narrative are you trying to portray?
"Becky takes Sasha as a character because she knows that Sasha will be allowed easier access into the world that she's trying to infiltrate than Becky would. She’s throwing out the image that she knows wants to be received.
"But then sometimes in the mask the truth exists, and that’s definitely explored more and more when the boundary between Becky and Sasha starts to slip and you go, 'Wait a minute, if she's pretending to be in a friendship with someone, she's pretending to be this, now she just is [that person].'"
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Seabright went on to reveal that there is a small detail squirrelled away at the series' halfway point, which speaks to that. Becky is poking around in Chloe's belongings after spending the night with Elliot when she discovers a book given to her by Richard.
"When I was developing the treatment, there was this quote that I kept coming back to which was from Mother Night [by Kurt Vonnegut]," she explained. "It’s in episode 3 as a little Easter Egg, and the quote was, 'We are what we pretend to be, so beware what you pretend to be.'
"It's the idea that actually, when you take on a pretence, at some point it just is what you know because the boundaries between truth and lies and fiction just get really murky."
Speaking previously to RadioTimes.com and other press about her character, Doherty said: "I'm nervous about [what viewers will think of Becky]. I don't know [how people will feel about my character]. In a way, that's kind of what she's there for, that's exactly the purpose of that character. And that’s why, as an actor, it was so fascinating to get inside her head because I've never seen anyone like that portrayed before."
All six episodes of Chloe are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. If you’re looking for something else to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide. and keep up to date with all of the latest news over at our Drama hub.
