Deadwater Fell Episode 1 Recap

As Deadwater Fell gets started, we see the wreckage of a house fire. We see a schoolroom in perfect condition too. A vehicle cruises down the road before it crashes and flips upside down. After that, we join a classroom full of kids. Jess (Cush Jumbo) and Kate (Anna Madeley) work with the school students. The kids end up painting flowers using their fingers before they prepare to go out onto the street. The kids are led outside so they can cheer on the bicyclists. Steve (Matthew McNulty) is outside helping direct traffic. Tom (David Tennant) is shown inside. He seems to be packaging his luggage. Everyone is told that the bike will be there in one minute.

The kids cheer on the racers as they pass by. Tom and a few others do the same from the window of a nearby build. Once the racers have passed, we see an investigator laying out evidence. It appears to be a bunch of items a child would have. Meanwhile, Simon (Jamie Michie) and the locals enjoy the celebrations. Tom takes a picture with his wife Kate while the others have a good time. After that, Kate and Jess speak about calories while Tom helps Steve start a fire. The women watch as Steve ends up burning himself. They agree that the two shouldn’t be allowed near the fire.

We see the evidence again and a part of the packaging for a shed locking kit. The investigator finds some keys and a receipt. Jess spots Steve speak with his ex Sandra (Lisa McGrillis). She scrolls over and finds out Sandra wants them to take the kids Sunday. Steve isn’t happy about it but Jess insists everything will be fine. After that, the celebrations continue. During the party, one of Steve’s kids ends up burning his arm. Steve takes care of it. Iris agrees that he has been a brave boy. When the night ends, everyone says goodbye before heading separate ways. That night, Steve and Jess continue chatting about Sandra making them take the boys.

We see that Jess has to take medication in the form of a shot. She must be diabetic. That night, they’re awoken by one of the children. It is Jess’s turn to take care of it. Meanwhile, the medical examiner finds a thorn in the foot of a dead body. Jess looks out of the window and finds out that Tom’s house is on fire. Everyone rushes over in hopes of saving the family. Steve manages to get inside the house. He finds a door locked with a padlock before finding Kate on the ground and carrying her to safety. Mark (Stuart Bowman) tries to help Kate outside. Steve finds Tom next. He pulls him out of the house. The girls, Charlotte, Emily, and Iris, are nowhere to be found. A fire truck and ambulance arrive moments later.

Jess is shown at the hospital with Tom. She recalls spending time with the couple in the past. Jess holds Tom’s hands while remembering going to the beach with the couple and the kids. Steve arrives moments later to check on Jess. The following day, Steve has a panic attack while Jess drives down the road. He pleads with her to pull over so he can pull himself together. Firefighters pull the bodies out of the house. There are three bodies in all. Next, Steve shows up at the morgue and speaks with the medical examiner. He learns about the pine needles being found in Emily’s pajamas and her feet. It also discovered that they had been injecting something.

The injection marks are found on Tom’s skin as well. They’ll have to wait for toxicology before they can find out what they were injecting. Steve is told it might be time to call the Glasgow boys. Steve and his partner visit the grandparents to give them the bad news. Simon speaks with the students so he can tell them about the passing of Charlotte, Emily, and Iris. Investigators tour the house and find out that the fire likely started in the kitchen. Steve tells the investigator that Kate made a call to her mother-in-law, Carol, at 11:23 but Carol hung up because she couldn’t hear anyone. They check out the room that was locked with a padlock from the outside.

Jess takes the boys to the hospital and lets Elliot buy candy. Jess enters Tom’s room seconds later and finds Carol there. Carol says it might be best if Tom just went. Meanwhile, Steve watches security footage and also learns that Kate was on antidepressants. The birth was traumatic and Kate had a hard time after that. Steve finds footage of Kate in the store. She is buying something on the CCTV footage. After that, the adults get together for a chat. Sandra reveals that Elliot asked if he was going to die too and Steve seems surprised. He is reminded that she told him already. Simon doesn’t believe a psycho is out there since he suspects it wasn’t a stranger.

Mark tells them about Kate’s problems. Simon blames everything on Tom though. He is drunk and ends up throwing up in the bathroom moments later. Steve and Jess agree to let Molly stay the night. The last couple leaves after that. Jess gives herself another shot in the stomach. Jess tells Steve that it’ll be a stranger and not Kate. We jump back to the beach scene again. Kate begins freaking out while using the phone. Charlotte gets hurt and Kate gets very angry about it. She goes off on Carol before Tom gives her some alcohol. Tom wants to know if they can just have a nice day for once. He tells her that it doesn’t always have to be about her.

Then, he encourages her to leave if she isn’t going to change her attitude. Jess sympathizes with him while Kate takes the kids to the car. One of the boys asks Steve if the fire hurt. Steve said it didn’t since they were all asleep. Jess returns to class the following day. Meanwhile, Steve is harassed by Dylan who wants to know if the victims looked like something out of resident evil. Jess goes through the dresser drawer and finds a box containing tobacco or weed and two rolled joints. She puts the box in her purse. Steve is told good work on the padlock which might’ve been what Kate was buying from the store. Steve goes through old videos of Tom with the girls. Jess and Kate are in the video too.

Steve receives a call fro the Fenerbie Hospital. He answers and leaves while Jess cleans up at the school. Jess recalls being with Kate in the car and talking about what mother-in-laws being there to make you feel bad. Kate gets distracted while the kids continue fighting. That leads to the wreck we saw at the beginning of the episode. Jess goes to the hospital and finds Steve there with Tom who is now awake. In a flashback, we see that Tom had been having an affair with Kate. He asks them what Kate did. They all cry together before the episode comes to an end.

 

Deadwater Fell Review

I was thinking Deadwater Fell would by very good. With the first episode out of the way, I am not thrilled with it. There were a few things that nagged at me. First and foremost, I am thinking Steve is the only cop in town. He helped investigate the fire, break the news to the grandparents, searched through the camera footage, and checked on the suspects at the hospital. Wasn’t there anyone who could help? I know there were a few other cops around but I guess they weren’t able to anything.

Second, I felt the show was too slow. We waited a good 10 minutes for the bicycles to come and go. The party continued for another 5 or 10 minutes. With only 4 episodes, I thought they could’ve managed the time better. Anyway, I noticed a few things. Steve’s son got burnt in the fire. He woke up in the middle of the night before the fire. He would’ve spotted his mother using her insulin medication and that could be what the victims were injected with Would it be too far fetched for Elliot or whatever the boy’s name is to be the culprit? At the very least, that would make the story original. Oh, and the affair between Tom and Jess was way too predictable.

The show has some potential but it didn’t show much of it here. The opener scores a 6.5 out of 10.