Toxic Town episode 3 recap: the case gains traction, but not without setbacks

Toxic Town is a four-part limited Netflix series depicting the real-life story of one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals.

In the Northamptonshire town of Corby, a cluster of birth defects affected the lives of many mothers and children born in the mid 1980s to 1990s. Dubbed as the “British Erin Brokovich,” it follows the mothers’ fight for justice against the council who spilled toxic waste across the town while trying to reclaim the area left behind by closed-down steelworks. The cast includes Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle, Claudia Jessie, Joe Dempsie and many more.

Here's a recap of everything that happened in Toxic Town episode 3.

The third episode begins in the pub as mothers put flyers into envelopes inviting Corby residents to get justice for their children and join the local campaign group. Susan tells them all that a Regional Health Authority report will be out soon looking into the cluster of birth defects. Des reveals they need to prove four things to win their case. Firstly, that a cluster of women all affected at the same time exists, which the RHA report will show. Secondly, that there was a reason they were affected, and how the toxins of the reclamation got into their systems. He says Anglian Water are investigating their supply. Thirdly, that the toxins directly impacted their unborn children. Finally, that there’s knowledge and negligence that the council could’ve prevented this from happening and didn’t. He introduces Dani to hand out forms for witness statements.

Elsewhere, Sam calls for the suspension of contracts with Rhodes and Miller Construction while the fire service runs their investigation. He implores that the company has been making money for the past 18 months whilst the investigation has been going on. No one seconds his motion, so Roy tells him to sit down. Sam goes to see Ted, but he won’t answer the door.

It cuts to 2002. The RHA report is being handed out that a man announces shows no difference in the rate of birth defects to mothers in Corby and those in the wider Kettering area. In fact, he says, it was lower. Thus showing there was no cluster in Corby. Susan starts to shout at Roy who is in the room. Maggie wants to say something, but Derek tells her they should just go home. After the meeting, Des reveals that Anglian Water have informed him they found nothing unusual in the water supply.

Tracey sits at home staring at the RHA report trying to figure out what it all means. Susan comes over and tells Tracey that Des is going to leave them and instead, they should break into the plant site. She pushes Tracey over a locked gate and tells her to get samples of the toxic water, which she does.

At Des’s office, Dani says that the council have none of the files they’re requesting because they all burned in the fire. Susan and Tracey show up and hand Des the bottles with the samples in. He says he already knew that the water was toxic, what they’re trying to prove is that it got into the water supply to affect the residents of Corby. They thank him for his help, thinking he's going to quit, but he explains that he’s not giving up now. He said if it’s not in the water, it must’ve got into their systems another way.

At the council office, Sam comes in to speak to Roy and says he wants to raise a concern about the Willowbrook A site. Roy interrupts him and says at the next election, they’ll be renewing candidates and that Sam will be out. Sam says he went to the police about Rhodes and Miller, not Roy. He says it’s not to do with that, but Sam is angry and leaves.

At school, Connor is being bullied and he gets into a fight with another boy, which gets him suspended. As Susan is walking him home, she goes to grab his hand and she notices it’s hurting. He says he doesn’t want any more operations or pain and runs off. Elsewhere, Des and Dani meet with a professor to look at the health report, but he can’t find anything wrong with it. Des then wonders if the toxins are in the food they’re eating. In another attempt, they meet a professor in Newcastle and tell her that every epidemiologist they’ve spoken to thinks the health report is right and they think it’s wrong. Intrigued, she agrees to take a look.

Back in Corby, Sam, Pat and Roy are at a work bar. Roy reveals that the police report for the fires is in and that no charges of corruption are being brought. While they cheer, Sam says they shouldn’t be celebrating. Sam accuses Roy of burning the evidence and reveals he’ll be running independently at the next election as the 'Clean Corby' candidate on anti-corruption and just wanted to let Roy know that.

Sam begins canvassing for the re-election, whilst Des gets on the phone with more medical officials to look into the case. Susan and Tracey sit together at home and Des calls with good news - the RHA double counted. He reveals that they counted all the birth defects in Kettering, including Corby, and then used that number against Corby. They’ve finally proven their cluster and they’ve been invited to talk about it on GMTV. He says he wants Susan and Maggie to do it, not Tracey because their kids have similar disabilities. Derek isn’t happy about Maggie going on the TV and he’s worried Pat won’t like it.

Susan takes Connor to London with her and Maggie brings Samuel. As they wait to go on TV, Maggie asks Susan why she doesn’t like her and she says it’s because she’s stuck up. When live on the show, they both talk bravely about what’s been happening and ask other mothers to come forward. It shows that Peter, Susan's ex and her son's dad, is watching. As soon as they reveal the number that mothers can call, Des is by the phone and it starts ringing.

When Susan and Connor arrive home, Peter’s waiting outside. She hurries Connor inside. He tries to see the kids and she tells him to leave. Later, Des and Dani meet with a foetal medical specialist, Dr. Penman, who says he thinks the toxin is heavy metal cadmium, but no one’s ever studied the effects of cadmium on pregnant women. He says in order to prove with 95% certainty that these women have been exposed to cadmium, he would need Des to focus only on the babies with upper and lower limb defects, but for this they’d have to stop representing some families. He says they can win the case with 18 of the families, but they’ll need to eliminate the rest from their case, including Tracey.

Connor goes in for another operation. Meanwhile, Sam listens to the local election results on the radio and hears he lost his seat with Roy and Labour earning a landslide victory. At the hospital, Connor is burning up and the doctors start rushing around his bed. They explain to Susan that he has an infection and that they’re treating it with antibiotics, but there’s a sepsis risk that may require them to amputate.

In the morning, Sam is waiting to speak to Des with all the files he has. He wants Des to promise he’s not trying to profit off the mothers. He hands over the files. Tracey comes to visit Susan in the hospital and then goes to see Des. They look over the plant and she says that she misses working there, but not cleaning her car twice a day. He asks her why she had to do that and she reveals it was the dust that got everywhere and inside everything. She said her husband had to replace her windscreen wipers three times and he’s shocked to hear the dust caused that amount of damage to her car. She said it was because of the site and the lorries and the spill and that when the slop dried on the roads, it went everywhere. To this, he has a realization that the dust is how the toxins are traveling.

Connor and Susan arrive home Peter is there looking after Daniel. She reveals they didn’t have to amputate, but he lost the toe they moved so he’s only got one. She thanks him for picking up Daniel. Peter apologizes for what he did. He then says Daniel told him she pushed Connor into the operation and that none of them are perfect. She’s angry and says he doesn’t get to speak to her like that.

At the pub, Des wants to give everyone an update. The RHA report was wrong and in fact the limb deformity is three times higher in Corby than the region. Also, they now think the toxins entered their bodies through the dust, which was breathed in. Des is now collecting photos of the dust around their homes and asks everyone to send him any they have. The expert they have brought in says it has affected the whole town. Des also reveals they now have documents that they believe proves the council had knowing negligence.

Maggie gets home and tells Derek that it’s dust that they’ve all been breathing in and that now they've got a case that will help them win. At home, Susan tells Connor there will be no more operations and he thanks her.

Elsewhere, Dani asks if Des will be taking Dr. Penman’s advice to reduce the list and that if so, they need to tell Tracey they're going to exclude her. He says they’ll only do it if there are no other options. At home, Tracey can’t sleep and when her husband asks her what she’s thinking about she says, justice, and smiles.

All episodes of Toxic Town are available to stream on Netflix now.