As the episode begins, Alice (Keeley Hawes) has a nightmare of William the Estate Agent (Joe Bannister) digging up Harry’s body in the middle of the night. She wakes up, rushes outside, and finds that Harry’s grave is okay. She tries to go back to sleep and ends up in bed with Charlotte (Isabella Pappas). When that doesn’t work, she sets up a tent outside and sleeps by the gravesite. When she gets up in the morning, she finds a Dean & Stone sign near her home and learns that the house is now under offer. She gets upset and tries to take the sign down but can’t. She rushes inside to tell Charlotte that they’ve sold the house. Once things calm down, Charlotte puts bandages on Alice’s hand and they discuss ways to prevent the house from being sold. Alice suggests selling or pawing stuff, but Charlotte wonders if they should bury Harry under a nice tree and start a new life.

Charlotte encourages her mother not to set unrealistic goals for herself, but Alice isn’t willing to give up the house. Next, Alice goes through Harry’s paperwork in hopes of finding the money needed to save the house. During her search, she finds a bill of sale for a piece of land. She goes outside and finds Nicola (Sharon Rooney) who is hurt and wants to hang out for a bit. Nicola says she hates death because it is the worst. Alice puts Charlotte in charge of dealing with Nicola so she can leave. Nicola says she wanted to be close to where her brother died. Then, she admits she knows little about Charlotte and her mother because Harry kinda kept them apart. She believes Harry didn’t want a bad apple like her to spoil the whole barrel.

Charlotte comforts Nicola while Alice meets with Yasmina (Dominique Moore) to discuss the land Harry owned. Alice says the land is gorgeous before Tanvi (Ayesha Dharker) enters and says the land is worthless unless you have goats that need grazing. The land was rezoned for development but that was rescinded when the council found it was contaminated and too expensive to clean up. Harry had asked Tanvi to invest but then the contamination problem turned up. Then, Harry passed. The flats are not for sale because Tanvi is still doing a deal with her estate agents. Alice wants to speed up the process before learning that Tanvi has to be repaid for helping finance finishing the house. As a result, Alice won’t get much from the house when it is sold. Tanvi knows Alice must hate her but she reveals she protected Harry.

She says the builders he hadn’t paid ransacked the place and roughed him up. That is how Harry got the bruises that were found during the postmortem. After that, a distraught Alice meets with a bank employee (Salman Akhtar) and tries to get cash from Harry’s account, but she is told he can’t do anything until probate. Since she doesn’t have a mandate on him, he can’t tell her how much money is in the accounts. The man suggests dealing with an executor but it is going to be tricky because there is no will. She tries to talk to him about being unable to sleep before he abruptly gets her to leave. When she returns home, she finds William trying to show the house to two people. Alice doesn’t like that and grabs the pressure washer to keep him away. She eventually takes it out on his buyers too. They manage to escape.

Next, Sarah (Joanna Lumley) meets with Alice and offers to do something with her hair since she looks terrible. Roger (Nigel Havers) believes it might be survivor’s guilt. When Alice says she just needs sleep, Roger asks if she has tried turmeric. Alice asks for money because they need to survive until probate and she offers to pay them back. Alice asks for legal advice from her father. While they’re in private, she asks Roger when he is going to confront Sarah about her affair with Keith. He reveals that not marrying and not having a will makes this complicated. It’ll take six months to a year to clear up but promises it’ll go in a flash. She needs access to Harry’s money so she can do something with the plot of land he purchased. He tells her that she won’t be able to sell anything until she gets probate even if she has access. She agrees to let the house go before talking about the things Harry won’t get to see.

Alice asks for her father’s help because they’ll be homeless without it. Roger turns his attention to the business Harry’s Housing. Tanvi and Alice are listed as owners of the business. She owns 50% minus any borrowings. She calls Yasmina and questions the decision to cut her in. She learns that Yasmina has been digging through Harry’s emails and the land was granted planning and the survey was clean, but the council changed its mind midway through. They found historical records showing chemical pollution but Alice says that doesn’t make sense. After that, Charlotte speaks to George (George Webster) using her computer. He tells her about being hassled by the law because they wanted to know what he said to Harry.

He confesses he only pleaded with Harry to talk to him and he doesn’t think that made him fall. Alice and Yasmina go to the town hall and try to speak to the planning officer just as he is trying to leave. He tells them they’ll have to put all of this in writing. They leave without anything helpful and Alice tells Yasmina she feels like she is running on a 3% charge. Alice wants to try to sell the flats as soon as possible now that she can. When Alice gets in her vehicle, she learns it is out of gas. She climbs into the backseat and tries to take a nap. She returns home near 4 AM and finds a fox in her backyard. She talks to it about her insomnia problems. Charlotte makes up and finds Alice sleeping at the end of her bed. In the morning, Alice begins working to sell the property. She goes to William and offers to let him sell the luxury flats if he takes her house off of the market.

He can’t take the house off of the property because it isn’t her house and they’ve already accepted an offer. She offers to pay him more as soon as she sells the flats. William doesn’t say yes or no before she leaves. Next, Nicola catches up with Alice and finds her working on wedding dresses. Nicola says she loves the shop because it is a happy shop. Alice says she had to beg her boss for a shift. Nicola admits she is in financial trouble and Harry would always help her out without asking. Now, rent is due and her landlord is talking about eviction on Friday. Alice falls asleep on the couch before waking up on finding Nicola trying on a wedding gown. Alice can’t give her money for rent because she doesn’t have any and she doesn’t want to live with Ed.

They visit Gerry (Kenneth Cranham) and learn that the sale of the house has fallen through. Alice says she loves greedy agents before pleading with Gerry to delay trying to sell the house. He refuses so Alice tells him about Nicola being evicted. She suggests she could move in with them. Gerry says they’ll be there for Charlotte but they don’t want to see Alice anymore. When they leave, Nicola admits she is intimidated by her father and couldn’t stand up to him. Nicola suggests getting petrol for the car but Alice doesn’t have money and says they could use the exercise. Nicola makes a comment about Alice not having another baby, but Alice suggests she might use the sperm Harry stored. Nicola promises not to tell anyone. They meet with Yasmina and learn that Tanvi has gone home. William joins them and learns that Tanvi has her own agents.

William begins taking notes before they look through the property. William confirms Alice owns them and says he is going to sell the arse off the flats. When they leave, Tanvi catches them. Alice tells her that she wanted to show Harry’s sister around. Tanvi claims she wanted to show her kids around. Alice is introduced to Tanvi’s wife Patti. Alice tells Tanvi about half of the company being in her name and says she looks forward to working with her on Monday morning. Nicola and Alice return home to Charlotte and Nicola begin talking about Harry’s sperm. Later that night, Alice tells her daughter that they’ve signed to be trustees of her inheritance until she reaches 18. They can apply for probate and get access to the accounts. George will need to sign a separate document to relinquish his rights.

Charlotte refuses to sign anything until she has read it thoroughly first. The conversation turns to Alice having a baby but Alice promises she wouldn’t do anything without talking to her first. Alice confirms she has just sold their kitchen. They get into a brief argument about Alice needing help. After that, Alice joins Nathan (Rhashan Stone) and the others for the bereavement group. Alice checks her phone and finds out that the bid has been canceled before Graham joins them. The group wants to talk about sex before Alice turns the conversation to money. When the conversation ends, Alice approaches Graham about being an accountant because she needs one. She can’t pay so they arrange to hang out with a bottle of wine and a pizza. Charlotte meets up with George and they talk about getting away from their parents.

He says he is the family fire extinguisher and his parents would kill each other if he wasn’t there. Frank was humiliated because he was exposed as the cheated-on husband who can’t make kids. Charlotte tells George about the frozen sperm. When Charlotte returns home, she is introduced to Graham and given a few slices of pizza. Graham is there to help with Harry’s papers and he bought the kitchen. Later that night, Alice tells her daughter that they can’t fall out over money or sperm. In the morning, Charlotte gets a video call from Minnie and learns they bought a cemetery plot for Harry. Charlotte surprises her mother with breakfast and learns she finally slept. They discuss Graham being interested in Alice but she didn’t realize it. Alice regrets selling it but Charlotte reminds her they need the money more than a bonkers kitchen.

Alice wonders what they should do for the day so Charlotte takes her to the cemetery plot Gerry and Minnie bought for Harry. Both admit they don’t like it and Alice doesn’t think Harry would’ve either. They return home and Charlotte goes through the paperwork she has been asked to sign. She doesn’t understand a word of it but Alice thinks it means Charlotte is giving her the right to act for her. Charlotte signs it before a removal company arrives outside. Graham has come for the kitchen. Later, Alice counts the money while Charlotte says they need to tell them that they don’t want Harry buried in the plot in the gated community. Later that night, Alice drinks and promises Harry that they’ll buy the kitchen back when she gets the money. In the morning, Yasmina and Alice focus on dealing with the planning commission. Harry bought the man for cheap so he would’ve made a killing. Tanvi arrives outside.

Yasmina is told Tanvi won’t need her anymore. She thought about it and doesn’t think it’ll work with her and Alice. Tanvi says she and Harry go way back and she wants to do the right thing for Alice and Charlotte. She reminds Alice she knows how to sell property and Alice doesn’t. She offers to buy all of Harry’s business assets from her including the greenfield land for two million. She believes the land is worthless but might change that many years of working with the council. It will be enough money to pay off her in-laws and keep her house. Alice isn’t sure because she feels connected to the land but Tanvi says she’ll lose her home if she doesn’t accept the deal. When Tanvi leaves, Alice discusses the deal. Nicola arrives in a taxi and moves in with them.

 

Finding Alice Review

It is hard not to like Keeley Hawes in this role because you can feel the emotions just from her facial expressions. I also appreciate that the episode did a good job of developing relationships between the characters. Charlotte is trying to build a relationship with George while Alice and Nicola have become closer friends.

We also learned why Harry had bruises on his arms although this was glanced over very quickly. The William character was enjoyable and sadly accurate more than many would like to believe. The episode was better than the last couple.

It is getting better but time is running out. I just hope that we’re going to be rewarded for sticking with the series. A good finale with emotional substance can do it. The episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. You can find previous recaps of Finding Alice on Reel Mockery.