Appetite for Innocence

Though her hospital room remains under police lockdown, Ella lies awake at night, feeling unsafe while John remains at large. Jocelyn sleeps nearby. Ella reviews how she described John to Agents Blake and Phil and braces for an upcoming sketch session with Sarah. She worries about Paige and refuses to accept that Paige died in the fire. A scratchy hospital blanket triggers memories of the basement and John’s pit bulls. Ella has heavy bandages and 62 staples from dog bites. She expects to experience lasting trauma.

Officer Malone escorts Sarah to Ella’s room. She freezes at the sight of Ella’s injuries, and Jocelyn hugs her. Agent Blake clears the room. Steve, a police sketch artist, sets up while both agents observe. Ella and Sarah combine their memories to describe John. Steve completes a likeness both accept. Randy invites them to talk afterward. Ella asks Sarah if she set the house on fire.

After the bath, John dries Ella, gives her a robe, and brushes her hair, demanding thanks. He seats her at a candlelit table in a grand dining room and pours wine. He describes his property, security gate, and pit bulls, emphasizing that escape is impossible. When dinner ends, Sarah escorts Ella back downstairs. John brings Ella upstairs again for the next three nights. On the fourth, hunger overcomes her, and she eats. John shifts from small talk to facts about her life and friends, showing prior surveillance. When she asks why he knows so much, he frames it as care while maintaining control.

In follow-up interviews, Agents Erickson and Phil ask about any prior contact with John. Ella says she never saw him before the abduction and that he already knew details about her life. She describes Paige, their bond, Paige’s family, and goals. Ella discloses that she, Paige, and other girls were virgins when taken, which suggests deliberate selection.

While Ella eats upstairs with John, Sarah resents being left behind and completes basement chores. Paige asks about missing girls, Rachel and Erin, wanting to know what happens when John is done with someone. Sarah denies knowing. Pressed, Sarah offers hollow reassurance, saying she likes to think those girls went home.

Agents Erickson and Phil show Sarah a mugshot of an incarcerated man named Enrique Manuel. Sarah denies recognizing him. The agents lay out photos of a bruised girl and state that they are pictures of Sarah. Sarah’s legal name is Petra Manuel. Sarah insists she is Sarah Smith. She tears the photos and screams for help. Officer Malone calls in hospital staff, who restrain and sedate her. The torn photos remain on the floor.

Nineteen days into captivity, Ella hopes the dinners mean John will not rape her. She copes by dissociating during baths and when he pushes boundaries. She begins to enjoy the food, then feels disappointed when he does not choose her and becomes disgusted with herself. In the basement with Paige, Ella tries to remember her real life. Sarah tells them to stop dwelling on the past. Ella resolves to keep recalling family, school, and favorites as resistance to erasure, even as the upstairs routine numbs her.

Ella asks to go outside. Randy objects because of media and safety, but Jocelyn insists and works to arrange a disguise. Tension spikes, and Ella tells Randy to leave. She exits. Jocelyn continues to secure a brief, controlled outing. Ella seeks some control within the hospital.

Paige grows withdrawn. Sarah remembers her first months in captivity when John kept her isolated and starved for attention. He abducted a second girl named Tiffany, whom Sarah bonded with over Bible reading and hymns. John began calling Tiffany upstairs, alternating between her and Sarah. Soon, John started favoring Tiffany. Fearing that she would be returned to her father if she lost John’s favor, Sarah resolved to survive by reading his moods and adapting.

A police officer escorts Ella and Jocelyn outside through service corridors while they wear hats and sunglasses as disguises. Ella steps into sunlight, breathes the air, and keeps scanning for John. Police stay nearby as a buffer against the media. Jocelyn expresses hope about rebuilding. Ella acknowledges the moment but cannot accept easy comfort.

Sarah wakes, restrained, and panics. Officer Malone and Randy calm her and ask for her word that she will not hurt herself. Once she promises, they remove the restraints. She notices fresh scratches on her arms. Randy explains trauma responses and suggests coping strategies. Sarah rejects help and repeats that nothing is wrong, while Malone remains steady.

After dinner, John dismisses Sarah to the basement and leads Ella to a locked bedroom. He says he will be gentle and undresses her. Ella sobs and cannot move. He orders her onto the bed and undresses himself. Annoyed by her crying, he throws her robe at her and tells her to get dressed. He uses the intercom to summon Sarah, who escorts Ella back downstairs.

Agent Phil updates Ella and Jocelyn. He explains John Smith is an alias and that another man named Eric Sorenson is listed as the house’s legal owner. Investigators pursue tips and sightings while refining John’s victim profile: girls with absent fathers, often religious. Phil also shares the truth about Sarah’s identity as Petra Manuel. He outlines Petra’s childhood and disappearance. Ella clarifies that the story about Sarah being John’s daughter was a rumor among the girls.

Jocelyn visits Sarah to offer company since Sarah has no family present. She asks to hug her. Sarah nods and weeps as Jocelyn holds her. The physical comfort reminds Sarah of how John used touch to manage her, which unsettles her, but Jocelyn stays and tells her she is not alone.

Ella tells Paige that John now only wants sex. Paige advises her to dissociate and admits she faces the same abuse. At dinner, Ella drinks more wine to numb herself before being taken to the bedroom. During a rape attempt, Ella vomits from fear and inebriation. John yanks her and warns she has one more chance, refusing to say what will happen if she fails.

Sarah sees that John has given up on Ella. He skips dinners with the captives and spends nights online searching for new girls. Sarah helps him shortlist potential targets and spends nights alone with him in the red room, gaining privileges by anticipating his moods. John says Ella is not going to work out and that he will give Ella one more chance. Sarah asks him to tell her in advance so she can prepare for the consequence of Ella’s failure. He agrees.