In this third episode ,one feels that filming on location would be necessary;most of the action takes place around the lakes ,and although the black servant reads an article about a drowning (in Stevens' movie, the hero hears it on the radio),and maps are displayed at the end ,but it's really too little for it's around those enchanted banks that the young jet set has fun(and that the tragedy will take place)
This is Clyde's peak ,as well as the beginning of the end ;he gets a promotion ,and now works in an office ;Sondra has really fallen for him and he may think that his American dream is no longer a mirage .But Roberta begins pregnant by him.
In this third segment ,the screenplay drastically wanders from Dreiser's novel: Samuel Griffiths and his family's role has been fleshed out,Clyde is invited to their birthday party and he has a long conversation with his cousin,which would be unlikely in Dreiser's story.
All that concerns Roberta's pregnancy has been sweetened :no visit to the shady chemist who's got an effective medicine ,and the girl does not want to have an abortion :it's Clyde himself ,under his pseud (Mr Smith) who asks for it (he's present in the doctor's office).
This episode is too talky and sometimes verges on soap opera;only its end is really spooky:Clyde's face appears superimposed on the lakes map ,then on ominous waters.