As the opening episode of Friends Like Her begins, it appears a girl is attacked. In a possible flashback, Tess yells for Nicole’s help while being attacked. Nicole and Liam get up to check on the kids. Nicole (Morgana O’Reilly) holds their child until the earthquake stops. Emma runs in to join them before Liam (Jarod Rawiri) comes in with yet another kid. Tess (Tess Haubrich) tries to call Nicole but can’t get through. Tess tells Rob that she can’t get in touch with Nicole or Liam. Summer (Kirimaia Noel) and her grandma, Fran (Elizabeth Hawthorne), learn that the whole bridge has fallen. The locals talk about not having cell phone reception although Rob (Vinnie Bennett) got through on VHF.

On the other side, a woman, Winnie, wants to get across the water to see her grandchild. She is told Fran will arrest her if she does. Nicole and Liam go to the motel and find it broken. One year later, Nicole and Tess walk together and talk about Nicole’s latest pregnancy. Nicole reveals she’s been having those dreams again. She admits she thought she saw him this morning at the visitor center. They talk about the days when they’d party. Before they split, Tess assures Nicole that she didn’t see him. She asks if she’s taking her pills. Tess believes it’s just her clever mind playing tricks on her again. They touch their matching tattoos. Later, Nicole tries to take the kids to school, but they think Grandma Fran should’ve taken them. Nicole convinces the kids to go to school. Tess makes out with her man, Rob.

Nicole goes to the motel where they’re working to restore it after the earthquake. Then, she runs into Tainui (Dahnu Graham). She complains about the bridge and learns Liam is right around the corner. She says hello to Winnie (Vanessa Rare). Liam tells Nicole he isn’t at the motel because Winnie needed a hand. Nicola runs into Max before visiting Tess. They talk about the earthquake. Tess says the winery is on board for race day. Rob (Vinnie Bennett) lands nearby. In a flashback, Nicole watches Tess dance with a man. Once they go inside, Nicole learns Tess made Rob fly 180km to buy a pair of shoes. Nicole notices that the shows were $1,500. Tess remembers being with Brett in a flashback. John curses Andi at the store. When John leaves, Andi tells Nicole why he was upset.

They talk about how the shop is doing with the road closed. At the book club meetings, Nicole learns Tess is not coming. She tells the others. Jools (JJ Fong) and the others talk about what Nicole and Liam are going through. Pat (Ascia Maybury) says it’s not about Nicole who suggests otherwise. Nicole reminds everyone that Tess is her friend and sister-in-law. She tells Biddie (Amelia Reid) and the others that Tess helped rescue race day. Nicole is told that Tess doesn’t even try to fit in. Summer’s mom drops her off at Rob’s and tells him she is doing her head in. Rob promises to take care of her. Nicole and Liam meet Winnie and the others to celebrate. Tess, Rob, and Summer arrive a short time later. Tess asks Nicole if the witches of Kaikoura are still giving her the hairy eyeball.

Tess decides to make it worse. In private, Tess admits to Nicole that she worries about being a bad mom. Tess lets Nicole how important this thing is she’s doing for her. In a flashback, Tess finds a distraught Nicole and promises to take care of everything. In the present, the area experiences another earthquake. Summer seems to have a panic attack as a result. Buster plays with something on the beach. Nicole tries to comfort Summer. One of the kids says Buster picked up Barney and shook him. Winnie says they all saw Buster just go for Barney. Tess can’t believe it. She offers to get them a new dog. Nicole yells for them to Buster out of there. That night, Tess tells Rob that it was only an accident. She wonders if they should’ve bought Nicole a pair of shoes too.

Nicole checks her phone and finds multiple messages from Tess who wants to talk. The next day, Nicole speaks to Jools about having people back in town. Nicole says there are so many other people worse off than they are. Jools loves the fact that Nicole is always a “glass is half full” type of person. Jools reveals that Buster had a go at another puppy on the beach last week. Nicole doesn’t want to believe it. Jools tells her to talk to the vet since she’s the one who had to stitch it up. Tess visits Nicole at home with gifts to try to apologize. She wants to know what she can do to fix it. Tess insists their friendship is the most important thing to her. In a flashback, Nicole tells Tess she can’t just disappear. When Nicole asks if Buster has done anything like that before, Tess quickly says no. Nicole tells Tess she’s going to have to put Buster down.

Later, Liam tells Nicole that she can’t ask that. Nicole says she saw how Liam went for Tessa during the aftershock. He tells her she’s talking like a crazy person. Nicole doesn’t like being called crazy. She is suck of Tess thinking she can do whatever she wants. They talk about Nicole carrying the baby for her. Nicole knows how it was for Liam’s birth mother and Fran, but giving up a baby is different for her. Although it’s theoretically Tess and Rob’s baby, it doesn’t feel like it. They discuss their responsibilities. Liam suggests both of their lives are crap before leaving. Nicole asks Rob about the payments in North Canterbury B block fencing. He says that’ll be for Danny McClintock. She asks him about a $50,000 cash withdrawal. Rob blames Tess who likely took it out for a race day thing.

Rob says Buster is like a kid to Tess. Nicole quickly says Tess is getting a real one. Winnie and Liam talk about how things are getting back to normal. Liam admits he hasn’t told Nicole that they’ve shelved the rebuild. He hasn’t heard about the insurance. Rob joins them. Winnie tells Rob that the dog has to go. Rob believes Tess will do whatever she has to do. Tess says goodbye to Buster. Later, the girls arrive for the party at Tess’s place. Nicole checks on her. Tess says that’s what Nicole wanted before asking if they have to talk about it. Tess tells the others they’re thinking about naming the baby Charlotte or Charlie depending on its gender. Winnie finds Nicole alone and tells her the biology of it doesn’t matter much in the end. Nicole mentions that Winnie brought the boys down there away from their birth mother. Winnie argues she wasn’t up to it.

She believes Nicole will be a big part of this child’s life. Tess interrupts to thank Nicole. Later, Nicole sees Buster locked up in the back of a truck. When she sees an airplane above her, she says liar three times.

 

Friends Like Her Review

The opening episode of Friends Like Her had a lot to offer so there’s going to be a lot to digest. The episode introduced a lot of characters making it difficult to keep up with them all, but few will likely matter in the long run. The story isn’t particularly original since many aspects have been done multiple times previously.

Based on the first episode, none of the characters were easy to care about. That could change in upcoming episodes, but the first episode didn’t do a lot and hid lots of important details. These details will likely trickle out until the big finale. It’s just too difficult to say much about the series based on the first episode considering how little it achieved.

It’d be best to stick with the series for a few more episodes to see how it develops. So far, we know that Nicole is carrying Tess and Rob’s baby. Tess’s dog, Buster, killed Nicole’s puppy and Tess lied about it happening before. Nicole knows this thanks to Jools. She may be having doubts about giving the baby to Tess and Rob. Something happened between Tess and Nicole in the past that will be very important in future episodes.

This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Friends Like Her can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.