Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams — Episode 2 Recap & Review

The Orphan

Episode 2 of Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams starts in the year 2024 where a man named Iyos washes the corpse of a man named Bagas. He asks the other corpse washers what would happen to the little boy Bagas had adopted a week before his suicide. The corpse washers find Iyos suspicious and kick him out.

That night, Iyos tries to convince his wife – Ipah to adopt the boy that Bagas had adopted. Iyos claims that the boy had brought immense wealth to Bagas in a week. Ipah refuses to join Iyos in his attempt to get rich by using a “demon child” but when their landlord threatens to kick them out of their house, Ipah gives in. The next day, Iyos and Ipah go to the orphanage to bring the little boy named Syafin home.

They are shocked to see that Syafin looks like a normal young child instead of the demon child they expected. Syafin hugs Ipah and she feels conflicted about their decision to use the child to gain wealth. The warden of the orphanage tells Ipah and Iyos that to get what they want from Syafin, they need to give him unconditional love.

That day, Syafin points to a family eating a lavish meal in an expensive restaurant. Ipah feels guilty as she takes Syafin home and feeds him a meal of rice and fried egg. That night, Iyos and Ipah dream about what they will do once they get the money. Just then, they find some cash lying on the floor. Iyos asks Ipah to cook something nice for Syafin the following day so he can bring them more money.

The next morning, Syafin finds a photograph of Iyos and Ipah’s son – Rian. Ipah gets emotional thinking about Rian. Iyos brings some toys for Syafin to play with and goes to work. Ipah takes Syafin to work with him where Ipah recalls how Rian had died by coming under a truck. Ipah watches Syafin playing behind the truck as it was backing up just like Rian and runs to save him.

On their way back home that evening, Iyos attends the funeral of their neighbour while Ipah and Syafin go back home. At dinner time, Iyos joins them and notices how Syafin is calling Ipah “Mom”. That night, Iyos asks Ipah not to get attached to the boy as they are not his real parents. All of a sudden, they hear an object fall on the roof of their house.

As it turns out, the object was a piece of gold ornament. The next day, Ipah sells off the ornament and pays off his landlord on the rent they are due. That night, Ipah finds more ornaments at the house that he sells off. The next day, Ipah and Iyos take Syafin to a luxury restaurant where they order all the meals they dreamed of eating. Ipah forgets about Syafin’s peanut allergy and he ends up collapsing on the restaurant floor.

Ipah rushes Syafin to the hospital but Iyos is asked to pay the bill first. Iyos fights with the restaurant server but leaves after paying for the food. At the hospital, Ipah tells the doctor that Syafin is allergic to peanuts. The doctor asks the two to wait outside but Ipah and Iyos fight about putting Syafin’s health in jeopardy. Ipah accuses Iyos of only worrying about Syafin because he needed money.

The doctor tells the couple that Syafin is going to be okay. Ipah pays the hospital bill which leaves him with no money again. That night, Ipah waits to find money at home but finds nothing and is disappointed. The next day, their house is leaking due to the rain. Ipah tries to cheer Syafin up and offers to take him out once the rain stops.

Ipah asks Iyos to come out for a chat and the Iyos confesses that she was happy with Syafin being in their lives. Iyos adds that she did not want money and wanted to keep Syafin happy. However, Ipah tries to convince Iyos that Syafin is not their son Rian. Just then, the roof of the house breaks further down which infuriates Iyos. He slaps Syafin and scolds him for not making them rich already.

However, Ipah scolds him, stating if it wasn’t for Syafin, they’d be dead. That night, Ipah finds no money or ornaments in the house and grows upset. Early next morning, Syafin wakes up and gets caught under the rumble outside their house. Ipah runs to save Syafin and Iyos helps save Ipah as more rumble falls onto them.

The trio wake up inside a luxurious mansion, similar to what Iyos dreamed about. Iyos is happy but Ipah notices that Syafin is not keeping well. While Ipah tends to Syafin, Iyos sells off the electronic items in the mansion and buys some rations. He also buys Syafin a toy and apologises to the little boy. That night, something comes over Iyos and he decides to kill Syafin when Ipah is asleep.

However, Ipah wakes up and flees with Syafin. She goes back to their old house but Iyos follows after them. He tries to take Syafin away but Ipah stabs Iyos in the back. She tries to get help but Iyos stops her. Ipah gets guilty and stabs herself with the same knife as Syafin begs her to stop. The episode ends with Syafin screaming after seeing Ipah dead.

The Episode Review

Although this episode seems to have no connection with the last, I wonder if the stories overlap somehow. While there are some aspects of horror in this one, the show looks more like a psychological thriller. Each episode tries to teach us values and this one talks about greed.

We see how Iyos’ greed ends up destroying any hope of a happy family that he could have with Ipah and their adoptive son – Syafin. Ipah and Iyos could live happily with Syafin only if Iyos didn’t get greedy. I wish this episode ended on a different note with Ipah and Syafin living together even after the death of Iyos but it is clear that Syafin has some unexplainable powers.

With that being said, I am excited to see how they show progresses and to find out if there is any connection between the stories in this series.