As the 2nd episode begins, Alice (Keeley Hawes) answers the door and finds George (George Webster) standing outside. George introduces himself as Harry’s son before Alice came along. Harry hasn’t been answering his calls so he decided to visit. Alice tells George about his father’s death before yelling for Charlotte (Isabella Pappas) to come and join them. Alice wants to know why she hasn’t heard about George, but he says he hasn’t known for long either. George decides it is best for him to leave in a hurry. After the intro, Charlotte admits she doesn’t believe him, but Alice isn’t sure why George would make it up. Alice decides to call George and leave him a message in which she encourages him to call back if he is Harry’s son and threatens to call the police if he isn’t.
The following day, Alice and Charlotte hang out with Minnie (Gemma Jones) and Gerry (Kenneth Cranham). They discuss cemeteries for Harry’s burial before Alice says Harry didn’t like graveyards. Instead, she would rather gather joyfully in Harry’s favorite pub. Then, the conversation turns to the last time Alice was in church and she admits it was Christmas. Gerry reminds Alice that Harry can’t stay in the morgue forever so Alice says she’d rather have him with them. She doesn’t want to visit him in a cemetery or put him in a jar. She also doesn’t understand why they want to sell their home but Gerry explains they owe taxes on it. George calls Alice and apologizes for running off like that. She asks him if he’d like to meet but he isn’t sure about that because she is in a state.
The conversation ends a few moments later. Minnie tells Alice that they should reconvene when everyone is feeling a bit stronger. Before they go, Gerry says he will put up a banister because the house needs to be safe before they try to sell it. Once they’ve gone, Alice tells her daughter she believes George is Harry’s son. Charlotte says she wishes Alice would focus on her and Harry. Alice confesses she is trying to hang onto Harry any way she can and she wants Charlotte to understand that. The following day, Alice gets up and finds banisters on the stairs. She apologizes to Harry before Detective Prior (Charlyne Francis) and Detective Davis (Matthew Flynn) enter. They tell Alice that they have a warrant to take the CCTV footage and that upsets her.
As Charlotte goes for the CCTV footage, Alice tries to explain herself. Charlotte returns with the tablet and Alice says they need it to operate the house. Prior promises to get it returned soon before Charlotte admits they watched the footage. She tells them about the man at the door but being unable to see that man’s face. When they leave, Alice argues that they’ll never get them off of their backs now but Charlotte suggests otherwise. Alice admits she thinks it is George on the CCTV because they have the same body language and she wants to talk to George first. Later, Alice hides from her parents Sarah (Joanna Lumley) and Roger (Nigel Havers) while trying to get George to contact her back. Alice shuts the curtains using her voice and Roger suggests she needs some space. Her mother encourages her to start a new life.
That night, Charlotte looks outside and watches as her mother uses a piece of heavy machinery. The next day, they return to the funeral director (Philip Bird) and tell him they want to bury Harry in their garden. He admits it would be possible but they would need council approval. However, he doesn’t understand why they would want to do that. Alice says Harry would’ve loved the idea and he’ll be close to the place he loved. She also believes his burial there will increase the value of the property for them. She can’t believe it’ll take roughly 3,000 pounds to bury Harry in their garden. She insists they’ll be able to dig the hole and Charlotte says they can buy a coffin online much cheaper. When they leave, they agree it is a good idea but Charlotte wonders if they should ask the others first.
After that, they visit the council officer (Owen Brazendale) and learn that they’ll need to fill out a bunch of documents. They find out more about the process as well. They run into a roadblock when they are asked for proof of property ownership. The plan can’t move forward until they bring that in. Nevertheless, Alice goes home and tries to dig the hole. Later, they get a visit from Sarah and Roger. They discuss Harry’s burial and Sarah isn’t happy with Alice’s idea. Alice shows them the invitation she has designed for the event and Roger finds something to like about it. Charlotte likes it as well but Sarah doesn’t. She can’t believe Alice is going to go through with it without asking Minnie and Gerry.
Roger says Sarah has a point but he likes that Alice is thinking outside of the box. Alice decides to leave to go sit with Harry and ask him while she still can. This time, she invites Charlotte to tag along with her. They visit the morgue and Alice accidentally intrudes when Nathan (Rhashan Stone) is consoling a group of grieving people. They learn that it is a bereavement group and Alice is invited to join them. Nathan is introduced to Charlotte as both turn down the offer to join the group. Nathan tells them to sit and wait until it is over. When it ends, Graham stops and talks to them in the hallway. He tells them that you don’t join this group. He leaves and Nathan tells Alice he will get Harry ready for a visit. Nathan is asked about the plan to bury Harry in the garden and he encourages them to do it.
Moments later, Charlotte and Alice visit Harry. Alice asks Harry to give them a sign that he can hear them. Then, she tells him about the garden burial idea and tries to get his permission. She explains they want to do it themselves since Harry would do it for her. She asks him about George and his other secrets before they return to the house. Gerry and Minnie are there. Gerry immediately tells her that she can’t do it and he says he has already phoned the council to stop it. Alice tries to convince them that her idea is better than theirs. Gerry wants to go through with the sale of the house but Alice says they’re not moving out of their home. That conversation ends and Alice calls Nathan to asks him if he can get Harry to their garden by tomorrow morning.
She admits the body has been released for burial but some paperwork is missing. Nathan doesn’t believe he’ll get in trouble for helping her and says they can’t keep the body here much longer. They try to figure out how to get Harry’s body to the garden. After that, Yasmina helps the family prepare the house for the upcoming funeral. The coffin arrives and they decorate it with Harry’s name, dad, and hearts. After that, Alice visits Minnie when Gerry isn’t there. Alice tells her about the small memorial for Harry and encourages her to come. Minnie admits she doesn’t like the future so she has been going over the past. That makes her sad because there is a lot she didn’t say to Harry. Then, they discuss being friends instead of relatives. Minnie tells Alice she’d love to give her the house but they can’t afford the tax.
Alice says she is only asking for time and encourages them to sell their house and move in with them. Then, Minnie says she doesn’t think the garden burial plan is so wrong but Gerry might need some time. Gerry enters and Minnie tells him about the upcoming memorial. Before Alice leaves, she tells Minnie in private that they’ll be burying Harry tomorrow, but won’t if she really hates it. Later that night, Alice and Charlotte talk about the burial plot and how it feels to bury Harry. They talk about George and how he would be Charlotte’s brother. They turn around and Alice plays a short video of Harry. In the morning, Nathan arrives at Alice’s place and tells her she has a cool house. He finds out that they don’t own it. Then, Alice learns that Graham and the others from the bereavement group helps with Harry’s body.
They carry the casket inside as Alice and Charlotte watch. They add Harry’s favorite drill to the top of the coffin. The vicar in charge of the ceremony arrives and tries to find out what she should talk about. Alice encourages her to just make it about Alice. Sarah and Roger arrive and join Alice moments later. Harry wonders if it is symbolic but Alice tells him it is Harry in the coffin. Alice gets dressed and joins Sarah outside. They chat briefly before Sarah offers Alice some of her diazepam pills. Nicola (Sharon Rooney) arrives and comforts Alice. Gerry isn’t happy and stays in the car. Once Alice goes inside, she takes some of the pills and drinks wine. She joins the others before Gerry enters later and sits down as well.
The vicar stands and talks about Harry and the house he built before Charlotte goes next. The others listen as Charlotte goes on and finishes her speech. Finally, Alice stands and begins talking to everyone in attendance. She tells them about the house Harry built for them. He was so proud of it but never got to live in it. She tells Harry he isn’t going anywhere because they’re keeping him there with them. Once she finishes speaking, the coffin is taken down to the hole and lower into the hole. One man tells her to do whatever it takes and that he has smoked enough weed to kill a cow. Alice tells everyone that Harry hated sadness so she tells one of his favorite jokes. When that ends, Alice invites Nicola to come back and see them again. Alice spends the rest of the night with Charlotte and discusses the drugs she took.
She believes Harry would’ve enjoyed the funeral. We learn that Nathan kept a tissue sample from Harry so a DNA test can be carried out on George when she resurfaces. Charlotte reveals she found a letter in dad’s stuff Alice brought home from a fertility clinic. Before the snip was done, Harry stored and froze some of his stuff. In the morning, Alice gets a visit from the detectives again. They want to discuss what they saw on the CCTV footage but Alice says she doesn’t want to watch Harry die. They wonder if she can fill in some of the gaps. Alice says she doesn’t know who the man might be and the detectives don’t either. When Harry falls, the man runs off. Alice asks if the man could’ve saved Harry and they don’t believe so but they still want to find him.
Finding Alice Review
At its essence, Finding Alice is a sad exploration of grief. At points, it gets really sad but quickly losses its way. It has some great moments and seems to be heading in the right direction. Then, it takes a trip into absurdity and the train goes off the rails.
I am worried that the show is taking too many turns and is getting bogged down with too many unnecessary characters many of which won’t matter in the long run. It doesn’t help that the show is unsuccessfully trying to blend humor and drama. It’ll hit a few right notes but the wrong notes are just too difficult to ignore.
The show just isn’t firing on all cylinders. I hate to say it because I adore Keeley Hawes and generally love everything she is in. Finding Alice isn’t terrible but I don’t think it can reach any level above mediocre. Sadly, this will be one of Hawes’s forgettable ventures. The good news is that there are plenty others to enjoy. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Finding Alice can be found on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
