Amazon Prime Video's Expats centers around series lead Margaret's missing son, Gus, and some are wondering if he is already dead or not.
Connor James brings Gus to life in Expats, being the youngest son of Nicole Kidman's Margaret.
In the book, the character's name is simply G, but both versions end up missing which sends Margaret and her family into turmoil.
What Happened to Gus in Amazon's Expats?
Expats began with Margaret Woo (Nicole Kidman) still struggling to move on from the fact that her youngest son, Gus, has been missing for over a year.
Any mother would understand what Margaret has been feeling. However, the series managed to perfectly undermine that by showing how the rest of the show's cast of characters don't seem to care or already moved on with Gus' disappearance.
Clarke (Brian Tee), Margaret's husband and Gus' father, gave him a simple shoutout in his speech during his 50th birthday as if he is at peace with the idea that all hope is lost about getting his son back.
Gus' disappearance also led to a rift between former friends Margaret and Hilary (Sarayu Blue), with the latter clearly being uneasy around the former.
The debut episode also implied that Margaret's closeness with her remaining kids (Daisy and Philip) is non-existent, considering that she is still fixated on Gus being missing.
The fact that Margaret had a separate apartment in Kowloon further cemented the idea that she feels alienated in her own home.
Mercy (Ji-young Yoo) was initially introduced as a waitress during Clarke's birthday party, but seeing Margaret's surprising reaction upon seeing her suggests that there is more to her story (more on that, later).
Mercy hastily fled the party after knowing that the Woo family was present.
After a tense and thought-provoking first installment, Episode 2 provided more context on what truly transpired during the events that led to Gus' disappearance.
Gus was at the center of Episode 2, with the series showing how he usually runs away whenever the family is outside and how extremely close he is with his babysitter, Essie (Ruby Ruiz).
The strong dynamic between Essie and Gus is a glimpse of the usual bond between a babysitter and a child where parents don't have enough quality time to spend with their kids.
Margaret's jealousy and insecurity toward Essie is understandable. While she did try to get close to Gus in several instances, Expats unveiled that the bond between mother and son is somewhat irreparable.
This development took a toll on Margaret and meeting Mercy during a yacht party made her think that she was the solution to her problems, especially after how she quickly bonded with Gus during their first encounter.
Margaret then decided to tap Mercy as Gus' new nanny for one night, with Essie taking the evening off. Little did she know that this chance encounter would ultimately lead to an unexpected tragedy.
The decision to invite Mercy may seem like a trial run, but it's clear that this stems from Margaret's untoward jealousy toward Essie.
An eventful night in Mong Kok (a place in Hong Kong where anyone could get lost thanks to the busy streets) was where the tragedy unfolded.
While Mercy was texting a friend on whether or not she would charge Margaret for the night, she lost track of Gus who disappeared in the sea of people at a night market.
No one, not even the police, knew where Gus ended up during that night and it was still a mystery up until the final moments of Episode 3.
Gus' sudden disappearance is straightforward yet terrifying because those instances happen in real life.
Expats' third installment showed more of Margaret's descent into turmoil that slowly severed her ties to her family and Hilary.
While it is true that a mother will do anything to find her missing child, Margaret went to the extreme in Episode 3, and it came to a point that she even deemed Hilary's dead neighbor, Christopher, a suspect after she learned that he kept a photo of Gus with his dog.
She even lost her remaining friend, Hilary, after she forced her to give her the spare key to Christopher's apartment to check for clues about Gus.
Margaret also went too far when she took whole-body photos of Philip and Daisy so that she would be aware of their identifiable body marks in case they go missing like Gus.
Margaret's desire to do whatever it takes to find her son is not admirable in any way, considering that she is hurting the people who are still there with her.
At the end of Episode 3, the final nail in the coffin emerged when Detective Chang broke the news to Margaret and Clarke that local police in Shenzen found a body that matched Gus' description, prompting the pair to go to the location immediately.
The episode ended with that massive cliffhanger, giving fans something to think about whether or not Gus is truly dead or not.
Gus' Fate in Expats' Book Explained
Warning - this section contains potential spoilers for Expats.
Expats is based on Janice Y.K. Lee's The Expatriates.
The Prime Video series paid homage to the book by incorporating a good chunk of its story in the first three episodes while also including expected differences throughout, such as character names (Gus is named G in the book).
Another key difference is the fact that the book confirms Mercy has been looking after Margaret's kids a couple of times instead of the one-time thing that Expats established.
While Gus disappeared into the night in the busy streets of Mong Kok during one fateful encounter in Hong Kong, Lee's The Expatriates revealed that G gets lost in a crowded street in Seoul, Korea, but it was still Mercy's fault.
In the book, Margaret stayed behind for weeks in Seoul while Expats unpacked the struggles of Nicole Kidman's character in the city they call home.
The Expatriates implied that G's disappearance remains unresolved. G is considered a ghost shrouded with uncertainty that only directly impacts the lives of the three women (Margaret, Mercy, and Hilary) involved.
The book's focus shifted to tell the story of how the three women's lives are intertwined and how they moved on anchored by G's unknown fate.
Expats has the opportunity to resolve a much-talked-about plot point from the book and give G (or Gus) some closure once the show's six-episode run ends.
There is a chance that Episode 3 will quickly resolve Gus' fate by confirming that he's truly dead, and this could follow a similar path as the book where the next three episodes would focus on the journey of healing for Margaret, Hilary, and Mercy.
However, the series could make things interesting if it manages to reverse the character's fate.
Maybe someone took Gus in and he is happily living a normal and quiet life somewhere in Hong Kong or he could have been abducted by a dangerous organization that could force Margaret and the rest to work together to try and bring him back.
The theories are endless.
The first three episodes of Expats are now streaming on Prime Video. Episode 4 is set to stream as early as Thursday, February 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
Check out Expat's full release schedule here!
