TV Recap: Lucia Settles into Her "New Life" as Selma Discovers a Dark Secret about Elisa's Past in Episode 3 of "The Stolen Girl"

Elisa could not catch a break in last week's episode of The Stolen Girl. Between a ransom note, her husband refinancing the house and forging her signature, and the continued harassment from Selma, her life continued to fall apart. But with a new lead on the whereabouts of Lucia, Elisa may finally start getting closer to the truth of why someone took her daughter. Closing out with Lucia being welcomed into a new home, let’s take a spoiler filled look at Episode 3 of Freeform’s latest drama series.

This episode takes viewers back 9 months before Lucia’s abduction. We see Nina, the now named mystery woman from the end of the first two episodes. After visiting a bakery in a French town, Nina runs into Delphine, a former classmate of her husband Nicolas. She reveals to Delphine that Nicolas had died four years prior in an accident. Delphine asks about her daughters. She shares they are nine years old and both at boarding school. Nina is also living at Nicolas’ parents farmhouse. Delphine asks them to send them to her school where she teaches. Nina walks away, her smile quickly fading to a look of fear. Who knows if any of what she said was true.

We then cut to seven months before Lucia’s disappearance. A car pulls up as Nina enters the large farmhouse, which looks to have been vacant prior to her visit.

We then cut to 3 months ahead. She visits a cafe, looking for a woman named Laure Claes. She explains to Laure that she was told she could introduce her to Milan Matkovic. Laure snaps a sharp no at Nina. Nina tries to sweeten the deal saying she has a job for him and is willing to pay. Laure rebuttals, saying Nina couldn’t pay enough. She reveals that her daughter was taken from her, and is desperate for help. Laure is still apprehensive. Nina says that her husband passed away, the police have done nothing to help her get her daughter back despite her compliance. Laure says Milan and her have moved on from their former life. Nina begs and it seems as if Laure folds.

Taking us just three weeks until Lucia’s kidnapping, we see “Rebecca" moving into the fancy vacation home where Lucia had her fateful playdate with Josie. We get a first look at “Rebecca" and Elisa meeting before the series cuts to the title card.

We are back at the French farmhouse where Lucia is now being held. Nina finds her asleep on the floor of the closet in her “new room." But Nina sits down to comfort her, and reveals that she is Lucia’s, or Lulu Rose as she calls her mother. Now who knows if that’s true, but she tells Lucia that Elisa and Fred were only supposed to look after her while she was “sick." Doesn’t seem like she’s much better considering she just hired someone to kidnap a child, but I’m sure we will get to that. She explains that Elisa and Fred wouldn’t give her back. When Lucia asks to call Elisa, Nina says she doesn’t have a phone and there is no internet access. Nina hands Lucia a stuffed animal named Bunny. She shares that Lucie used to carry it around with her everywhere. It does seem like Lucia remembers the stuffed animal. Maybe Selma was onto something about Elisa’s past.

Back in England, we see Fred entering the Cheshire Police Station after his breakdown that saw him attack his client and wander all night. He hands himself in for the assault, and the guard reveals that the ransom letter was fake. Investigator Sinclaire calls Elisa to tell her the news, which causes her to meltdown.

Selma heads out for the day, running into Caleb at the office, her story about the hoax ransom letter garnered lots of attention. He awards her the story for Lucia’s kidnapping and tells her to keep digging. And she immediately jumps in, looking for more information on Elisa’s past. She starts digging through birth records, looking to find Elisa’s prior name. Using her birthday posts on social media, Selma is able to find Elisa’s birth certificate. She hits the road, calling Caleb to update him. Elisa was born in a religious commune in Eyton and she’s headed there to find more information about her. She pulls up to a community with everyone wearing red. As she drives in, she gets weird looks. A kind stranger points her to Elisa’s mother, Debra Stanton. Debra shares with Selma that she hasn’t seen Lucia for 5 years, right after her 4th birthday. Debra reveals that Elisa left and chose to cut her out of her life, with Debra sharing she prefers to just pretend she doesn’t have a daughter.

Elisa arrives at the police station to get Fred, Sinclair pulls them away urgently. They identified the man from the CCTV footage as Milan Matkovic, a Croatian living in France who is believed to be involved in human trafficking. They share a picture of Laure, asking if she is “Rebecca" or Fred’s mistress Sarah. Elisa is sure it isn’t her, while Fred is mostly sure it isn’t Sarah. Side note, Fred really is infuriating. Always indecisive and unhelpful. Elisa begs to share the image of Milan and Lucia on her socials. Sinclair agrees. Fred is pushed about the 200,000 pound loan he took out, explaining that it went to household expenses and luxuries for the family, but had nothing to do with Lucia.

Now back in Eyton with Selma, she explores the commune looking for answers. She finds the friendly stranger in her shop, where she asks her to trade her shoes for information. Elisa had left when she was 16, and the stranger reveals that Elisa didn’t quite fit in, changing her hair and her accent. She also shares that Debra was relentless to Elisa, punishing her for her differences. “She doesn’t like to be challenged," she shared. The last visit was due to her father’s passing, which Debra left out. They trade shoes before Selma leaves.

Back in the farmhouse, Nina is making breakfast for Lucia and the other little girl. She gives them oreillettes, a pastry that was apparently her “father’s favorite" growing up. Nina and the other girl show Lucia pictures of Lulu as a baby. She sees a picture of her “birth father" for the first time. Nina shares he passed away five years prior.

Nina heads into town for a coffee, scrolling her phone she decides to look at Elisa’s social media profile, where she is shocked to see CCTV footage of Milan and Lucia. She leaves the cafe quickly, calling Milan in a panic. He seems mostly unconcerned but she fears that they may find the car that Lucia was kidnapped in. She goes to where it was purposefully crashed, finding a piece of the car and taking it with her.

Selma’s girlfriend shows her Elisa’s social media post. The next day Selma catches Caleb up on her intel work she did in Eyton. She starts throwing around the idea that Elisa may have made a lapse of judgement due to her upbringing. That is the subject of her story.

We cut to Elisa in bed reading the article, distraught by the allegations that she may be the reason her daughter went missing, she and Fred debate calling the police for her article. Fred does question Elisa to see if she may be hiding anything in her past. She assures him there is just nothing to say. Hate comments flood her social media account.

Back at the prison, Marcus Turner is seen smoking a cigarette before heading back to his room to collect the letter he wrote Elisa. He drops it in the mailbox. A man stops him, intimidating him after finding the newspaper cuttings of Elisa in his room.

Nina sits outside the farmhouse, still distraught by the social media post. A man named Enson approaches, introducing himself as her neighbor. He brings her a bottle of wine to welcome her. She is clearly wigged out by the appearance. Josie asks Nina about the man, asking who he was and whether she and Lucia can talk to him. Nina giggles, as she assures them they are allowed to talk to people. She just reminds them not to share too much about their family.

Night falls upon the farmhouse. Nina heads upstairs to check outside to make sure no one is watching. She hears Lucia having a nightmare and goes to comfort her. Nina shares with Lucia that she started having nightmares after her Dad’s accident. Nina tells Lucia her nightmares might be from being away from her, Lucia embraces Nina and she starts to cry.

We cut back to Selma, who is reading the hate comments Elisa is getting and she gets a call from the French authorities saying that they found Lucia’s blood. She tells Caleb, as they debate whether Lucia is dead. The article backlash got Selma in trouble, and Caleb almost doesn’t let her work with the new intel. However, he relents and she begins her search for more information.

Investigator Sinclair meets with Elisa and Fred, sharing that the French authorities may have found the apartment Milan took Lucia too. Elisa begins to spiral at the potential her daughter is dead. We cut to Nina on the beach, Josie and Lucia playing in the water. All is good, until she notices a man holding a newspaper with Lucia’s face on it. Delphine and her daughter find her on the beach. Nina tries to hold it together, anxiously planning her exit. The girls arrive on the beach, meeting Delphine and her daughter Sophie. Lucia introduces herself as Lulu-Rose to Nina’s relief. Delphine and Sophia leave, Nina looks panicked.

Elisa stares at a photo of Lucia, worried.

Quickly cutting back to Lucia and Nina in the farmhouse, Lucia continues to stare at a picture of her and her father. Nina shares that her Dad grew up in the house. Nina heads to her closet, where she unlocks a secret compartment in the floor, revealing a safe. She takes it out, locking herself away in a separate room before opening it. Inside, there's a laptop. She begins editing photos, placing Lucia’s birthmark on a photo, falsifying the baby pictures.

Now that we know Nina’s story is a lie, we are left to wonder why she kidnapped Lucia. Did her husband ever exist? Why would she target Lucia? Is Nina really Sarah Banks? Check in next week as we recap episode 4.

The Stolen Girl is streaming now on Disney+.

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