- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, with The Players. Gertrude consents to a sinister plan, while Hamlet forces the truth out of Claudius. In the real world, gang violence drives the couple apart as both the guilty and the innocent fall.
- The second episode begins with another extended 'flash-sideways' montage in which the real world Hamlet appears to be losing his wits; he attacks someone that owes him money, takes cocaine in a taxi and murders his friend Ashka after the corrupt policeman Inspector Rosenford tells him that he has become an informant. Meanwhile, Ophelia appears to be completely ignorant of these ongoings, nothing but intuition warning her as to the dangerous situation she is in while they lie in bed together.
Back on the stage, Ophelia and Hamlet are having fun until, apparently winding himself up with no provocation whatsoever from Ophelia, Hamlet talks himself into anger and then melancholy, even as he recites the lines about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arriving. In that story, set in the castle, Hamlet is quick to decipher they were invited by Claudius and are there to investigate Hamlet's depression.
Players arrive and the court is treated to a scene from the Fall of Troy, in which the wicked Pyrrhus bloodily executes Priam to the horror of his onlooking wife. As the players leave, Hamlet consults the King Player, who agrees to perform a 'play' Hamlet has written. After the player leaves, Hamlet explains to the audience that this play will recreate his father's murder (visually distinctive for the vial of poison poured in his ear) and, by studying Claudius closely, hopes to determine his guilt if there is anything more than a superficial reaction.
In a flash-sideways we see Perry and Nana'du discussing a plan of their own; Perry was last seen fighting Hamlet in a street brawl and Nana'du borrowing money, so the audience can assume their intentions are probably not good.
On stage, Gertrude, Polonius and Claudius position Ophelia to encounter Hamlet, a meeting they will watch from a secret vantage point to determine if their romance is the cause of Hamlet's wildness.
Flashing sideways, Hamlet and Sugley are coming out of the lift in a tower when they are attacked by Perry and Nana'du. Sugley is stabbed to death and Hamlet nearly follows suit, until Stacey arrives at the last moment and saves his life by shooting Perry and Nana'du dead with a small firearm.
Back on the stage, Hamlet enters the room in which Ophelia is now hiding from him (apparently unwilling to participate the adults' deception). Thinking himself alone, he produces a revolver and is apparently about to shoot himself in the head when Ophelia is forced from hiding and stops him.
Thus, Claudius and Polonius still hidden from view, Hamlet meets with Ophelia. Her strange behaviour soon raises his suspicions and they have a terrible argument about her dishonesty before he storms off.
In a flash-sideways, we see Hamlet drinking coffee, thinking about how he killed Ashka over and over again. He buries his head in his hands.
On stage, Hamlet briefs Horatio before the royal family arrive. They sit to watch a movie - House on Haunted Hill (1959) - and Hamlet teases the king, who indeed loses throws up a fuss upon seeing 'the dead' rise again. In the pandemonium following his departure, Rosencrantz and Polonius urge Hamlet to go and see his mother.
In the final flash-sideways of the episode, Hamlet forces his way past Dustin into Ophelia's flat. Dustin bottles Hamlet, who pulls a gun on him in return and inadvertently induces a heart-attack. Ophelia screams at Hamlet to leave, who does so. Dustin, her father, dies in her arms.
On stage, Hamlet confronts his mother, outright accusing Claudius of murdering King Hamlet. Whilst fighting, Polonius calls for help and - thinking it Claudius - Hamlet blindly shoots into the cupboard in which he is hiding. Polonius - now taking Dustin's form - stumbles from the cupboard and dies in Gertrude's arms. The Ghost arrives but only Hamlet can see him, raising further questions in both Gertrude's and the audience's mind about the state of his mental health. Hamlet goes about disposing of Polonius' body, leaving Gertrude in a state of severe distress.
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