Adolescence: Behind the scenes of Episode 3, the "Chess match" episode's brutal dissection of Jamie's psyche

Adolescence is Netflix's latest crime drama that has made its mark in the world of storytelling. It has emerged as one of the best shows of the year, with some absolutely powerful performances from its cast. Apart from that, even the show's technical aspects have received heaps of praise from both critics and fans alike.

The third episode of Adolescence is particularly striking because of how it examines the mind of Jamie Miller. The character is portrayed by the brilliant Owen Cooper, who made his acting debut with this role.

In Episode 3, we see clinical psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) arrive at the Standing Secure Training Centre. We'd expect it to be Briony and Jamie's first interaction. Instead, as the episode progresses, we get to know that they have had sessions before.

What Briony tries to understand through her session with Jamie is his character and how his mind works. She asks him questions, which seem random and bizarre at times, but they all serve a purpose.

The episode also revisits the crime Jamie committed—the tragic stabbing of his schoolmate, Katie—though his legal culpability remains uncertain.

The episode is directed with precision and feels like a pretty intense psychological duel or "chess match," as Doherty likes to call it. Let's explore what went into the making of this episode.

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Adolescence: The preparation

The episode touches upon some pretty intense themes of masculinity, bullying, and Jamie’s exposure to misogynistic ideologies. We see moments in the episode when Jamie’s anger flares up, and that's when his core is revealed. It allows psychologist Briony to know him better.

Cooper, the actor playing Jamie, had to really tap into that dark part of the character. Director Phillip Barantini shared with Netflix's Tudum how challenging the role was for Cooper:

“There were moments where I really wanted Owen to let go and really go for it, in terms of being angry [with] Erin. And that’s just not Owen. He’s a sweetheart. For him to go that dark was a challenge."

Barantini recalls encouraging him:

“I was like, ‘You know you’re protected by me and Erin. Everyone around you has got your back. From that moment, he was a completely different actor. It was just mind-blowing.”

Doherty spoke to Tudum about playing Briony:

"I had to attack the episode as a child psychologist would. Her goal is, ultimately, to get an answer. Briony needs to be able to go to the higher-ups and give them a genuine assessment of what she believes about Jamie."

She described Briony’s internal struggle:

"She cares for him. Briony is genuinely asking him these questions, praying there is some twist of fate where she could say that this kid is innocent when all the evidence points at one thing."

For Doherty, it really helped to do multiple rehearsals of the scenes. She shared:

"The more you’re in a character’s skin, they just become a part of your soul. There’s a freedom that comes with the repetition we did. By the time it came to shooting, we knew this episode inside out. Owen and I knew each other, we made that bond. And character-wise, there was no question about whether we knew how to embody these people."

The tension between Briony and Jamie plays out like a "chess match" in Doherty's words. We are also treated to the show's one-shot filming style, which really enhances the dynamics of the scene.

In Episode 3 of Adolescence, one moment, their conversation is friendly; the next moment, it's adversarial, and sometimes it becomes professional. So, it is pretty unpredictable, to put it simply—but also absolutely compelling.

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Adolescence: Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne’s vision

Casting Jamie in Adolescence was a major decision because he would be the center of the series. But it wasn't hard to notice him. The team quickly recognized Owen Cooper’s raw talent.

They also knew that Doherty would help him bring that rawness to the role and simply own it. And yes, Doherty’s experience and generosity as an actor played a very important role in bringing out Cooper’s best performance. The chemistry between these two actors created a deeply human exchange.

Adolescence is the result of two decades of collaboration between co-creators Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne. Graham envisioned an episode that would be all about the last interaction between Jamie and his psychologist. He did not want to show an introductory meeting. He told Tudum:

“Episode 3 gives us this deconstruction of this young boy. We get to see the fact that Briony’s been doing this job for years, but yet she’s never experienced [anyone] like Jamie.”

Jack Thorne also shared:

"When I was writing this, Stephen said to me, ‘Just write a David Mamet play.’ And I was like, ‘Stephen, you’re talking about one of the great dramatists of all time.’”

He further added:

"We all sort of treated it like it was theater, like we were making something together and that it was just purely about performance."

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Adolescence: How Episode 3 was filmed

Filming Episode 3 of Adolescence was a pretty intense process. The cast performed the whole episode many times a day. Barantini provided feedback between takes. This approach lets the actors fully get into the moment.

If you remember, in this episode of Adolescence, we see Jamie yawning during his session with Briony. Well, that yawn was real. Yes, it was unscripted. Cooper was exhausted from all the shooting, so he ended up really yawning in that scene. And that was also the last take of the episode.

Barantini explained:

“Owen didn’t do that in any of the other takes. I didn’t tell him to do that. That was the very last take. We were all behind the monitors going, ‘Oh my God!’"

But they knew Doherty would handle it, and she did. And the whole episode came out really authentically in Adolescence.

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