Netflix Obsession recap guide: All 4 episodes explained

Netflix Obsession episode 2 recap: Breaking the rules

The second episode of Obsession begins with a montage of William and Anna continuing their affair, regularly meeting up for passionate bouts of sex. They establish “rules” for their relationship, mainly that while in the flat, they can do whatever they want. At Anna’s flat, Williams picks up her diary and shows interest in reading it. Anna tells him to “earn” the privilege.

In the meantime, Jay is planning to take Anna on a romantic trip to Paris, where it’s hinted that he’ll ask her to marry him. Ingrid isn’t thrilled by this as she’s unsure if Anna is the right match for him. William is also conflicted.

William attends a work fundraiser where Anna texts him, inviting him to her flat. But just before he arrives, she tells him not to come. Already in the hallway, William knocks on the door anyway and comes face-to-face with Anna’s friend Peggy, the real owner of the flat. Anna looks after it when Peggy isn’t in town.

Peggy insists William stay for a drink, seemingly getting the implication that he and Anna are entangled. Instead of inviting him inside, Anna swiftly shuts the door in his face after mentioning that she told him not to come.

Ironically, at home, Ingrid mentions that she and William seem off. She doesn’t think he would ever have an affair. With Jay and Anna going to Paris, Ingrid suggests they take a romantic trip somewhere, too, and rekindle their flame.

We can see the beginnings of William’s obsession as he presses Anna to tell him something that no one else knows, even Jay. She tells him her brother committed suicide because he was infatuated with her, and she rejected him. Does that change things between them? William says no, and Anna wonders if maybe it should. “Damaged people are dangerous.” She lets him read parts of her diary, and William secretly rips a page out to keep.

He follows her to Paris, telling Ingrid he’s going to Brussels for a work conference when in reality, he’s lurking outside of Anna and Jay’s hotel. When William texts her later, Anna meets him in an alley outside the hotel to have sex, but she’s also pissed that he broke the rules by following her there.

Once Anna and Jay leave, William pays to book their room for the night. He goes totally feral, sniffing all over the bed for her scent and then masturbating as he buries his face in her pillow. Kinda creepy, dude. But this is an important scene as is contextualizes how William’s obsession with Anna is manifesting when he can’t have her. It’s also a riff on an integral scene straight from the source material.

Back home, Anna goes to a club with Peggy and tells her what she’s doing with William. Peggy is disturbed by the revelation. What if the family finds out about their affair? Anna says that won’t happen because no one knows, but that’s not true because now Peggy knows.

Obsession episode 2 ends with Jay preparing to pop the question to Anna. She calls William and tells him to give her permission to say yes to Jay. If they get married, she and William can continue their torrid affair more than ever before. William eventually relents, commanding her to say yes to his son. Ick. It’s also clear that Ingrid is starting to become suspicious of her husband based on the way she asks him about his “work conference” and watches him leave to answer his phone call from Anna.

To make matters worse, William has started receiving text messages from someone threatening to tell everyone about his illicit affair.