In episode 3 of “Good American Family,” the mystery gets deeper, with more family fights, secrets, and shocking revelations. The Barnetts’ seemingly perfect life keeps falling apart as Kristine and Michael try to figure out who Natalia really is after adopting her in strange circumstances. Where does she hide it? Or is there something much worse going on? Is she really the child they thought she was?
MICHAEL FACES TROUBLE
The episode starts in 2019 not long after Kristine (Ellen Pompeo) is freed from police custody. In an effort to keep things normal, she goes back to the hotel room where her three boys are waiting with pizza. But the boys have seen what’s been said about her in the news, and they don’t believe she is innocent. When she says she was set up, they ask how she could have been arrested without solid proof. Kristine says Michael is to blame and says he made a deal with the police to keep himself safe. When Michael gets a call from the detective he has been working with, though, his sense of safety quickly falls apart. It’s official: he will be arrested next.
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY
In 2010, Kristine is becoming more and more doubtful about Natalia’s real age. Kristine takes Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid) to the doctor when she notices signs of puberty. The doctor says that she looks older than seven but needs more tests. The doctor feels bad that he didn’t trust Kristine’s gut earlier about her son Jacob’s health, and now he tells her to look into it more. Michael, on the other hand, doesn’t want to believe anything that makes him doubt Natalia’s identity because he already thinks of her as his daughter.
Natalia has a lot of medical tests over the next few weeks, but because she has a rare form of dwarfism, it’s hard to tell what’s wrong. The biggest surprise is when Kristine and Michael find out that she never got the $7,000 worth of treatments she was supposed to have. Instead, Natalia needs multiple surgeries, which puts more financial stress on their already troubled family.
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STRANGE BEHAVIOR INTENSIFIES
Natalia’s actions are becoming more and more scary. She doesn’t want to follow the rules, acts out aggressively, and starts showing troubling mental symptoms. If she were an adult, the psychologist says, she would be called a sociopath. Her condition is called reactive attachment disorder because, well, she is a child (on paper). This means she needs to be treated like a baby in order to make healthy emotional connections. This idea is liked by Michael, but Kristine knows that treating Natalia like a baby won’t help.
As things get worse, Kristine gets ready for a TV interview. She gets scared when she finds bloody socks hidden in Natalia’s closet while she is cleaning. Michael also loses his job, but he doesn’t tell Kristine because he’s afraid of what she will think. He tells Jennifer, a coworker, about his fears, and they end up getting married. After finally getting up the nerve to tell Kristine the news, he finds her in the middle of another crisis; an accident that Natalia caused.
A DANGEROUS GAME
Kristine talks to Natalia about the bloody socks while they are driving. Natalia covers Kristine’s eyes out of the blue which makes her lose control of the car and almost hit one of the boys. Michael doesn’t side with his wife; instead, he sides with Natalia, which makes things worse between them. Kristine and Jacob go ahead with their TV interview anyway, but the family’s tension reaches a breaking point.
Kristine’s friend Valika shows her the scary movie “Orphan,” which is a lot like her own life. The story is about a girl who acts like a child but is really an adult and tricks her adoptive family. Kristine is scared by how much they look alike.
Kristine finds a bloody tampon on the floor during the interview, which is a shocking sign that Natalia set her up on purpose. This is where Kristine breaks down. She makes up her mind not to treat Natalia like a child anymore, which makes Michael sad.
KRISTINE’S PLAN
Kristine looks for Natalia’s old records because she wants to find the truth. Natalia was acting badly, so she caught her on video telling her that Michael is scared of her and that he lost his job. When Kristine gets Natalia’s original birth certificate, which doesn’t match her identity, it’s the biggest surprise.
At the same time, Natalia does something else that is very troubling: she tries to poison Kristine’s coffee with bleach. Michael doesn’t see this as a serious warning sign, so he still stands up for Natalia, which makes things worse between him and Kristine.
THE TRUTH ABOUT NATALIA
Kristine finds Natalia’s old family and learns something shocking: Natalia has been in several fake adoptions, tricking families into giving her money and medical care by pretending to be a child. However, Michael doesn’t believe Kristine when she shows him the proof, which leads to a heated argument right before they go on TV again.
Michael (Mark Duplass) and Kristine sit next to each other on a TV set as Season 1 Episode 3 of “Good American Family” ends. They are acting like they are a happy family, but behind the scenes, their lives are falling apart. Kirsten is more determined than ever to tell the truth about Natalia now that she knows Michael will never be on her side.
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