Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Parish episode 3!
Parish season 1, episode 3 is here, and here are the 10 biggest reveals from the all-new episode of AMC’s crime drama, including who Anton actually is. Parish has reached the halfway point with the release of episode 3, with the final pieces being set in place for the presumably explosive second half of the show’s debut season. Some big moves were made by the most significant characters in Parish season 1, episode 3, making Gray’s situation even worse. A lot happened in Parish episode 3, so here are the 10 biggest reveals and a full episode recap.
Parish stars Giancarlo Esposito as Gracián “Gray” Parish, a driver and family man with a checkered past who becomes involved in the criminal underworld of New Orleans once again after making a deal to do one last job. The action-packed thriller sees Esposito’s Parish become embroiled in a gang that has its hands in some of the darkest corners of New Orleans’ seedy underworld, with Parish quickly realizing that he has gotten much more than he bargained for. Parish has found himself in a sticky situation by the time episode 3 starts, and things don’t get any better for him.
Parish season 1, episode 2 ended with Gray driving around The Horse and The Horse’s child before they are attacked by masked gunmen, with the assailants chasing the group into a graveyard. The Horse attempts to hold off the unknown gunmen, but as he takes off to rejoin Gray and his son, the gunmen catch up to him. The Horse is shot and seemingly dies, with the episode ending as Gray and The Horse’s child are trapped in the graveyard.
Luckily, episode 3 of Parish opens with the NOPD arriving in a helicopter, scaring off the assailants. Although this solves one problem for Gray and the gang, it creates another, as the police are after them. Gray, a wounded Horse, and The Horse’s son have to find their way out of the graveyard, with them eventually eluding capture and finding a safe place for The Horse to recover.
One of the biggest reveals in Parish season 1, episode 3 comes at the very beginning, with the show revealing that The Horse is still alive. The Horse seemingly died at the end of episode 2, with him being shot and falling to the ground. However, he gets up and makes his way to Gray, with much of the episode revolving around Gray dealing with The Horse and his injuries. Gray manages to take him to the nuns, with them helping to heal him and get him back on his feet.
The Horse being alive causes some mixed emotions for Gray, making this reveal all the more interesting. While Gray is happy that The Horse’s son didn’t watch his father die, Gray also knows that this will make it harder to escape the gang, with The Horse’s death being his ticket out. The Horse also believed that Gray may have set the raid up, although Gray is able to convince him otherwise.
As the masked assailants are running away from the scene of the crime, Parish spends a little time with some of the unnamed gunmen, with them providing some exposition for the audience. One of them refers to the fact that Anton will be mad, with it being unknown as of the beginning of Parish episode 3 who Anton is.
This reveal sets up Anton as a major threat in the world of Parish, with him seemingly being the one behind the attack. Although it isn’t revealed at first, it could be that Anton is in charge of a rival gang, or it could be that he simply put out the hit, with more information about Anton only being given later in Parish episode 3. However, this tease is an interesting mystery to propel viewers throughout the episode.
One of the elements of suspense throughout Parish so far has been Gray’s attempts to keep his crime family and his real family separate, although these two worlds are starting to blend. Gray’s daughter Mak is the first one who seems to be suspicious of Gray, with her asking Rose if Gray has a new client due to him mysteriously rushing off to make phone calls.
It isn’t long until Rose and Mak’s suspicions are justified. Parish takes place in New Orleans, and when the NOPD reaches out to Rose to inquire about Gray’s role in some of the crimes from the first two episodes, the duo quickly begins to realize what is going on. Although episode 3 doesn’t give them the chance to confront Gray, this will undoubtedly be happening by the end of the season.
After evading the New Orleans Police Department as well as the armed masked assailants, Gray still has the problem of having The Horse on his hands. Gray doesn’t know where to take The Horse to get treated for his bullet wound, knowing that going to the police or a hospital would get them in some serious trouble. Thus, Gray decides to take The Horse to his nun friend, hoping that she can help.
Gray’s friend reluctantly agrees, patching up The Horse’s wound while keeping his presence in the building a secret. Although The Horse is still injured, he is in a much better state by the time he leaves the nuns, with him hopefully holding together until he can heal further once the heat is off of Gray, The Horse, his child, and the gang.
Although Parish episode 3 is full of lots of action, it mostly centers around Gray and The Horse, with some of Parish‘s side characters not having much to do at the beginning of the episode. Thus, Skeet Ulrich’s Parish character Colin goes on his own side quest, with him approaching a pregnant woman in her driveway. This reveals that Coling is attempting to win back his ex in Parish, although her and her new partner are not a fan of Colin’s advances.
Not much is known about Colin’s past with this woman, although it is clear that things ended badly between the two. It is likely that Parish season 1 will provide more context for this scene as the show goes on, shedding more light on Colin’s past as well as his goals in the present.
After the disastrous raid on Gray’s car, the Zimbabwean gang doesn’t have much time to regroup, with Gray’s main concern being getting The Horse home safely. After this is done, however, the gang starts to put their heads together and figure out how this happened, with the heads of the gang coming to the conclusion that there must be a mole.
The heads of the Zimbabwean gang believe that someone within their organization leaked their plans to Anton, allowing him to position the masked gunmen to assault The Horse while he was in the car with Gray. Because of this detail, Gray was one of the first people to have suspicion thrown on him, although the true mole in Parish episode 3 still hasn’t been revealed yet. However, more information regarding this mole is sure to come in the future.
Anton’s gang discovers that they weren’t able to finish the job, with the NOPD showing up before they are able to check if The Horse is dead. Because of this, another one of Anton’s gang members attempts to kill The Horse for good, with him showing up to kill The Horse while he is being treated by the nuns.
Anton’s gang member bursts into the building, hoping to kill The Horse and anyone who stands in his way. Luckily, Gray gets to him first, starting a fight with him. Gray is able to take down the assailant before he does any damage, showing that Gray clearly still has a lot of experience from his former life of crime, with this experience most likely saving the life of The Horse in Parish season 1, episode 3.
The assault on Gray’s car caused a lot of high emotions in the Zimbabwean gang after they got away safely, with everyone having thoughts on who the mole might be. Although they are seemingly friends at the end of Parish episode 1, Gray is quick to turn on Colin, with him explaining that he believes that Colin is the mole.