Bad Monkey episode 3 recap: a bloody new murder and a massive twist

The third episode of Apple TV Plus ' Florida-set crime comedy show Bad Monkey aired on Wednesday, August 21, and the revelations revealed across in its 51-minute runtime bring some sweeping changes to the case introduced in its two-episode premiere.

How to watch
Episode 1 recap
Episode 2 recap

Bad Monkey is about a former Miami cop who's relegated to restaurant inspector. However he can't stop investigating a possible murder, which may be linked to a wealthy family buying up land in the Bahamas.

So far we've been meeting the main characters of Bad Monkey as the case slowly begins to reveal itself, and episode three shows the plot moving forward with some twists and turns in the investigation.

So let's proceed with our Bad Monkey episode 3 recap, and spoilers ensue so make sure you've seen the episode or don't mind having it spoiled for you.

Running down clues

We pick up where we ended episode 2: Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn) and Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez) meet for a coffee, in what just so happens to be the cafe owned by the sister of Neville (Ronald Peet) where he's helping out. Rosa confirms that her lab is testing the DNA of the bone chips found in the Stripling house.

Yancy reveals that he's actually at the cafe to do an inspection, to Rosa's chagrin. Yancy finds the place up to snuff except for the presence of Neville's monkey Driggs, but upon talking to Neville, he agrees to do a second inspection a week later.

Next, Yancy and Rosa go to meet Madeline, the girlfriend of the murdered skipper, to question her. She reveals that her boyfriend was paid $3,000 to hook the arm on the fishing line, but she doesn't know by whom.

While this is happening, Neville returns home to the Bahamas, with the money from his sister. He wants to fish but discovers that Christopher has set his boat adrift in order to clean up the beach, and the man starts to shoot his gun at Neville in order to get him off the beach.

Meanwhile, Yancy and Rosa are heading to Nick Stripling's office, to search for clues, and Yancy receives a phone call from Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan). The woman won't tell Yancy where she is, but seems to be having a leisurely time, and he chastises her for the crime he's found out she committed.

While the duo are going through Nick's office, Rosa questions him on his relationship with Bonnie. Then they find a document mentioning a doctor called 'Israel O'Peele', but have to leave shortly after as FBI investigators show up. As they hurry out the back door, a guard dog bites Yancy.

Investigation or a date?

After tracing him down, Yancy and Rosa go to visit Israel O'Peele (Zach Braff), an alcoholic and drug-addicted doctor who wants immunity before he answers any questions. He does reveal, though, that Nick's medical company was actually an insurance scam which saw no real physical customers. He also seems to recognize the picture of the skipper who was shot, but declines to say more, so Yancy leaves his contact information. The cop also takes a brochure from his flat.

Back in the Bahamas, Neville goes to see the Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) to confront her on why her curse isn't working, but a funeral is going on so he returns later. That evening he pays her extra to extradite the process, but her grandmother wants him to sacrifice something else to prove his loyalty. At her behest, he gives her Driggs, though the monkey doesn't seem happy about it.

O'Peele calls Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner) in distress, telling her about the meeting and asking what's going on, but she plays dumb. She tells him to visit her in the Bahamas for a break. Then he notices that Yancy took the brochure from the flat.

Yancy and Rosa get an ice cream at the end of the day, and she reveals that the DNA from the bone shard came back: it's a match for Nick Stripling. As they eat, he asks her questions about herself, and she comments that she's worried that it feels like a date.

At the same time Neville visits a friend, only to find that he was beaten up by Egg (which happened last episode). Neville makes a plan to break into Christopher's office to find incriminating evidence on him, taking the friend's gun to do it.

When Yancy gets home that night, another house viewing is going on at his neighbor's mansion, and he makes jokes to scare away the prospective buyers. Then he sees that the black van is once again following him and he tries to chase it but is too slow.

A change in the death count

The next morning, Madeline calls Yancy to say that someone is following her, but he convinces her otherwise. Then he gets a text from O'Peele, who's ready to talk. The cop picks up his new car from the sheriff, and innocently asks about the arm case, only to learn that Caitlin has signed off on the death being an accident.

While this happens, Rosa does her own digging. She discovers that there are limited records of this 'Christopher' and he doesn't seem to exist. She also asks a colleague about Yancy and learns his reputation as a bit of a wreck.

Yancy visits  Caitlin (Charlotte Lawrence) to confront her as he's figured out that Eve offered her a cut of Nick's life insurance policy as hush money. He guilt-trips her into  regretting this decision by confirming that Eve killed Nick. Next Yancy tries to visit O'Peele, only to find that someone has broken into his house and shot him dead!

Yancy goes to Rosa to tell her about O'Peele, and so that she can mend his stitches from the dog bite. While Rosa speaks to her sister on the phone, we also learn that the popular weather woman Heather has disappeared.

At night, Neville breaks into Christopher's Bahama office to find any evidence, but Chris' henchman Egg shows up and Neville only gets away by threatening the man with the gun.

At the same time Rosa and Yancy rush to Caitlin, thinking that she's going to be targeted by whoever's been covering up loose ends, but find her unharmed.

Simultaneous to this, Caitlin goes to Eve's house to confront her, pointing a gun at her mother-in-law and accusing her of killing Nick. This is disproven when Nick himself appears, sans an arm — he isn't dead at all!