The episode begins with a short scene of Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) walking through a neighborhood at night. As the camera pans in, it is revealed that something is not quite right with her. This is soon explained by the bleeding head wound before she disappears into the surrounding forest.

5 after those events at the end of another school year, Pippa Fitz-Amobi (Emma Meyers) and several friends attempt to buy alcohol to kick off the summer. Although Lauren Gibson (Yali Topol Maragalith) has a fake ID, the shop’s proprietor, Mrs. Penton (Vivienne Soan), knows the gang so Pip’s role becomes distracting Mrs. Penton. It doesn’t take Pip long to blunder the entire thing, but by this time the others are running out of the store. Shortly after this, Pip stops by a memorial for Andie, which causes a very brief flashback.

Later that evening while cooking dinner, Victor Amobi (Gary Beadle) can’t stop raving about a recent underdog trial win that apparently no one expected. When Pip interrupts with an inquiry about posh chips, Leanne Fitz-Amobi (Anna Maxwell Martin) tells her now that summer has arrived, she can get a job and begin contributing. As it turns out, Leanne knows for a fact that Linda Walker’s catering company needs waitresses for the upcoming Hastings’ anniversary party. Although Pip is ever quick to excuse herself with claims of needing to work on her EPQ, she can’t get away before Vic tells her to walk Barnie.

Pip’s earlier memory at the memorial is extended when she notices a group of younger local boys vandalizing the Bell home. A much younger Pip (Kitty Anderson) is at her locker when Salil Singh (Rahul Pattni) greets her and asks if she’s seen Andie. Pip eventually finds herself back at the memorial where she is joined by Cara Ward (Asha Banks). Cara isn’t at all encouraging when Pip declares she is going to do her EPQs on solving Andie Bell’s murder. As far as Cara is concerned, Sal confessed and despite how nice he was, he’s guilty.

Upon returning home, Pip immediately begins her investigation by turning her bedroom wall into a murder board of sorts. She also begins reviewing old news reports that suggest Sal committed suicide after confessing to the murder. According to the New Reporter (Ryan Davies), Sal’s younger brother Ravi Singh (Zain Iqbl) was the last person to see him alive. The report also reveals that Andie’s body is yet to be discovered.

The following day along with Barnie, Pip takes her investigation to another level by following Ravi, which she isn’t at all sly about. Her offering of blueberry muffins suggests that she might not have been trying to remain unnoticed. Either way, he remembers her from school after confronting her. Things sour and he storms off the instant she reveals the truth about following him.

Pip eventually finds her way to what appears to be a small cabin in the woods. Inside, the mattress, debris, and signatures on the wall suggest the place is an extremely popular hangout. Pip’s attention is soon drawn to a nearby runner, who is shortly revealed as Becca Bell (Carla Woodcock).

While spending the afternoon with Cara and Lauren, Pip researches Becca’s social media profile on her phone. At one point, Pip asks Cara about speaking to her older sister Naomi Ward (Yasmin Al-Khudhairi), about the case but this only frustrates her. She doesn’t get long to stew on the denial thanks to Lauren’s excited announcement that Anthony/Ant Lowe has just asked her to the Hastings’ Party. Pip doesn’t share her enthusiasm, given that she thinks he’s an idiot but soon excuses herself with the excuse of getting a snack.

It becomes clear that this was just a ploy to get into Naomi’s room, which turns out to be a futile risk. The trip to the kitchen is a different story and leads to Pip’s first official interrogation. On the night of April 19th, 2019, Naomi and her friends, including Sal were at Max Hastings’ (Henry Ashton) house playing games when Sal left at 10:30, under the guise that he was tired. Being that he wasn’t reported home until 12:50, he had plenty of time to kill Andie. Naomi is right in the middle of telling Pip that Sal had an alibi for the 2-hour and 20-minute time gap when Elliot Ward (Mathew Baynton) interrupts. Elliot extends an invitation to dinner but Pip refuses and leaves.

Upon returning home, Pip continues her investigation by scouring through Naomi’s social media profile and expanding on her murder wall. She not only sends Max a text asking to speak with him about the case but she approaches Leanne about getting her a job with Laura just so she can work the Hastings’ party. Unfortunately for Cara, Pip unwittingly drags her along.

Pip didn’t know working the event would require dressing as a star and Cara isn’t particularly happy, given that their classmates are in attendance. Pip has her eye on Max for most of the event and at one point follows him into the wine cellar, where she ultimately agrees to a quid pro quo interrogation. Every time he answers a question, she takes a shot.

Although this interrogation is much more revealing than that of Naomi’s, it has plenty of enigmatic qualities. Max tells her that the group initially agreed to alibi Sal so the cops could solely focus on finding her. After Andie had been missing for several days, they decided to change their minds and reveal the truth about Sal not being with them. Despite doing this, Max claims the Sal he knew would have never killed Andie, but there must have been a reason for him taking his own life.

Things only get more awkward when Pip returns to the party buzzed and has an awkward run-in with Dan Da Silva (Jackson Bews) who warns her about being too nosey. Despite being rescued by Cara, the two end up in a verbal argument after Pip inadvertently reveals that she questioned Naomi.

Buzzed and now emotionally fraught, Pip attempts to visit Ravi but is instead greeted at the front door by Nisha Singh (Siddiqu Akhtar). After making a joke about Pip being from a galaxy far, far away, Nisha retrieves Ravi. The initial encounter does go well but once he sees that she’s serious about Sal being innocent, he invites her upstairs where he gives her Sal’s phone. There are several texts from days before and after the night Andie went missing, including the one with Sal’s confession. It doesn’t take Pip long to notice the drastic differences in the grammar and punctuation, which Ravi apparently already noticed as well.

The episode ends with Pip in her room going through the phone.

 

A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder Review

I certainly was not blown away by this episode, but it was intriguing enough for me to want to watch another episode. I suppose the first episode established a story, introduced the suspects, and added some subplots while also providing enough background on everyone to keep viewers guessing. As far as that goes, the episode was a success. I certainly didn’t appreciate Victor’s racial ranting at the very start of the episode, but besides the intermingling diversity of the character, the series kept the political correctness to a minimum.

I did get a bit of an old-school Encyclopedia Brown or Nancy Drew vibe, which is a huge plus, for me. All in all, I don’t want to be too harsh on the first episode and am interested enough to slog through another episode, so that has to at least be worth a 5.3 out of 10. Other than this, the characters are kind of bland.

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