The Mother – As the second episode of Flowers In The Attic: The Origin begins, Olivia Foxworth (Jemima Rooper) talks about control while using a pillow to make herself look pregnant. She had passion, hope, and control until she met a man who turned out to be a monster. He made her a prisoner by trapping her in her own home. Malcolm (Max Irons) forced himself on Alicia (Alana Boden) and brought new life in her and Olivia for appearance’s sake. Olivia is back in control and determined to never lose it again. She meets with the servants and tells them that there will soon be a new addition to the family. Nella (T’Shan Williams) congratulates Olivia who tells everyone that Alicia will be leaving. Her son, Christopher (Callum Kerr), will stay with them until Alicia can send for him.

Alicia leaves only to return later that night to sneak into the east wing. She worries that this might be a mistake although Olivia argues that she is protecting the Foxworth name and Christopher’s legacy. Once they reach her room, Olivia tells her she has all the comforts and amusements to ensure time will fly by. After the baby is born, she’ll get the money from Garland’s estate and she can leave with Christopher. Olivia says she’ll take care of Malcolm. Alicia says she is scared. Olivia claims fear is like pain so you’ll become numb to it after enduring it enough. When Olivia leaves, she locks the door and takes the key with her. Olivia tells Malcolm that she settled her in the chambermaid’s room in the east wing with the steps to the attic. She has the only key. Malcolm insults her. She returns the favor before telling him that he will leave Alicia alone.

Malcolm agrees to let her remain in control but warns her that something bad will happen if anything happens to his daughter. Olivia tells him it might be a boy. Malcolm reminds her that he always gets what he wants. Later, Christopher scares Olivia. She offers to let Christopher sleep with her tonight since he misses his mommy. Malcolm manages to find a way to sneak into Alicia’s room in the middle of the night. In the morning, Olivia hears Mrs. Steiner (Kate Mulgrew) talking to Nella about hearing someone crying in the east wing last night. Olivia tells Nella that she’d like to talk to her later about the produce order before informing Steiner that she is being fired. Before leaving, Mrs. Steiner tells Olivia that Garland wouldn’t stand for this if he was still alive. Olivia suggests this is the one happy result of his death then. Once Steiner is gone, Olivia offers to let Nella become the new head housekeeper.

She tells Nella that nobody should enter the east wing for any reason. Nella tells her that she was in the library and saw that the door to the attic was open. Olivia learns about the old servant staircase that also accesses the attic. Once she is shown the door, Olivia asks Nella to get one of the carpenters to seal it immediately. When Olivia checks on Alicia, she learns that Malcolm visited her. Olivia thinks they can stop Malcolm by cutting her hair since Malcolm likes beautiful things. Malcolm finds her hair sitting on his desk when he returns. At home, Nella tells Celia (Evelyn Miller) that something strange is going on in that house. Celia urges her to stay out of it. Nella knows that only evil comes from that house. She thinks Olivia is different. Celia tells her that she is white so she doesn’t know her. Malcolm calls for Olivia because he wants to show her a letter to Westmoreland Sanitarium about his poor, sad, deluded wife.

He claims she never recovered after finding out that she was infertile. Malcolm is going to tell them that she has been pretending to be pregnant for months. He didn’t like that stunt with the letter and threatens to send it if she does anything like that again. She asks how he’ll become in possession of the newborn since Alicia will never let him raise the baby alone. Malcolm suggests she might have a say in the matter because they all know how dangerous childbirth can be. She threatens to tell the authorities how he killed his father and raped his stepmother. Malcolm grabs the scissors and stabs her in the stomach. He tells her that she can pretend to be in control, but she is a sad woman with a sour face and a dead womb.

Once he leaves, she pulls the scissors out. Later that night, Olivia follows Malcolm to a brothel where a woman offers her service. The girl offers her an abortion when she sees the baby bump, but Olivia says no and leaves. Alicia was finally safe since Malcolm found other means for release. Christopher asks her if he can call her mommy. Olivia tells him of course. Alicia bangs on the window in hopes that Christopher will see her, but he doesn’t. Alicia argues with Olivia about it later while claiming she took her son away from her while Olivia reminds her that Malcolm is the enemy. Alicia is convinced that Olivia wants her baby just as much as Malcolm does. Olivia reminds her that she agreed to these terms and wasn’t forced into anything. Alicia begins packing her bags while Olivia warns her that she won’t get her inheritance if she leaves.

Olivia mentions what Malcolm might do to both of them if she leaves. Alicia says it can’t be worse than what he has already done. Olivia throws her to the ground. Alicia gets up, pushes her back, and flees the room. Olivia yells for Malcolm to help stop her. Although he manages to grab her, she ends up falling down the stairs. Malcolm warns Olivia that she’ll spend the rest of her days in a padded cell if the baby is hurt. She doesn’t think he’ll send the letter unless he wants the Foxworth name splashed all over the newspapers. Olivia believes he needs to start listening to her so they can call the doctor and save the baby. She calls the doctor before Malcolm carries Alicia back to her bed. When Dr. Curtis (Peter Bramhill) arrives, he thinks his diagnosis about her infertility was wrong. Olivia gives him an envelope and asks for his discretion when dealing with this matter.

Curtis checks Alicia and says she and the baby will be fine. Alicia wakes up before telling Curtis that Olivia is evil. She tries to get Curtis to believe her while Olivia claims she has been losing her mind since Garland’s death. Olivia says she can’t accept that her grief sent her into the arms of one of the servants, but Alicia says it was Malcolm. She is held down while the doctor gives her medicine. Later, Malcolm tells Olivia it looks like she did the right thing calling the doctor. She tells him that the baby is important to her too. Olivia won’t get the chance to have another and she always wanted a daughter. Malcolm tells her that her ankle is going to make it hard for her to care for Alicia. He’d offer to help, but he knows how she likes to maintain control. When Olivia tells Nella, she tells that she doesn’t want anything to do with this. Olivia insists it is for her own good and she doesn’t know where else to turn.

Nella visits Alicia and tells her she is going to help Olivia until she recovers. She tells Alicia not to pull any of that with her because she hits back hard. Then, she tells her to eat for the baby. The baby is Alicia’s no matter what anyone says. Nella instructs her to play their game, take their money, and be away from this awful place forever. She warns her that she’ll be lucky to have a life if something happens to the baby because she knows what Malcolm does. The only reason she isn’t running for the hills is because Malcolm is paying for her daughter’s school. It isn’t charity because Malcolm is her daughter’s father. Although it was a long time ago, he did the same thing to Nella. Once she leaves, she locks Alicia in the room. Olivia admits she couldn’t know how much Nella had in common with Alicia at the time or how much pain she was in. She says being a mother is all about pain.

When Alicia is ready to give birth, Malcolm tells Olivia to make it convincing and drown out her screams. While Nella helps Alicia deliver the baby, Olivia screams in her room. Alicia doesn’t want to hold the baby because she belongs to them now. She tells Nella to never forget what they did to them and can still do. Once Nella says she knows who they are, Alicia asks why she is still helping them. Malcolm and Olivia are thrilled with the baby. He admits she is here because Olivia’s plan worked. Malcolm welcomes his sweet Corrine into the world. Later, Olivia thanks Nella for being there for her more than any employee or friend ever has.

Although Olivia would like to think she understands her, Nella doesn’t think she knows anything about her. She reveals her name is Cornelia Jennings. If she knew her, Olivia would’ve never asked her to help with Alicia. Olivia tells her that she promoted her above what would normally be allowed, but Nella says she earned it. When Alicia reunites with Christopher, he tells her that she isn’t his mommy. Olivia believes he will come around. She tells Alicia she should’ve been kinder to her, but she lost sight of their common enemy. Alicia asks her to protect their daughter to ensure Malcolm doesn’t do the same to her. Olivia says she would honor Alicia’s wish no matter what. She didn’t know how great that cost would be. They say time heals all wounds, but 15 years only made them worse. Olivia thanks everyone for coming together to celebrate Corrine’s 16th birthday.

She also mentions Joel (Luke Fetherston), Mal (Buck Braithwaithe), and Mal’s fiancée Helen. Nella brings out the birthday cake before Corrine (Hannah Dodd) blows out the candles. Malcolm breaks in so he can dance with his daughter. Helen tells Mal that his family is always pleasant to her, but he thinks that is only because they’re not family yet. Mal doesn’t like seeing Bill nearby so Helen tells him to just dance. Joel stands out front and notices Harry (Jordan Peters) cleaning his car. He quickly hides. Mal joins him and complains about Helen’s ex Bill being here. Mal worries that he won’t be enough for Helen. Joel admits he’d jump at the chance to knock him down a peg or two, but that guy has nothing on him. Olivia thanks Nella and tells her that everything was perfect. Before the party ends, Malcolm gives Corrine another gift which turns out to be a doll. She will always be his little girl no matter how old she gets.

Later, Mal tells Olivia that he is worried about his trust fund because Helen is accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Olivia tells him that all the money in the world means nothing if there isn’t love between two people. Regardless, Mal wants to provide for her in a way that she is accustomed to. Although he doesn’t want to do it, he’ll have to deal with Malcolm to change the trust. Mal confesses he doesn’t know how she put up with Malcolm for all these years. She managed because she had him. Mal asks what she is doing to do once the kids are gone. She insists she’ll be fine. Olivia visits Corrine’s room later that night to give her another present. Once Corrine sees the pearl necklace, she is glad her mother realizes she isn’t a child anymore. Olivia says it is hard for her father to see her growing up and dancing with the boys. Corrine confesses she can’t stop thinking about what it’d be like to kiss Rockford Taylard.

Olivia wants nothing more than for her to find a man to love and a man to love her back. Corrine asks if she deserves that too. She questions when was the last time they did it since everyone knows they don’t do anything. When asked why she married daddy, Olivia says she thought she was in love. Malcolm appreciated her as a businesswoman when he met her. It is easy to end up on a path in life, but it is difficult to change it after that. Once Corrine asks if she’d like to change the course, Olivia changes the subject and urges her to enjoy her youth. The next day, Olivia was unable to shake the thoughts her children had awakened in her. Although she was lost, she found something else in that moment. It was that remained hidden until fate brought her there that day.

She walks out of the gate and finds a strange plant. When she gets home, she tries to find out more about it. Malcolm watches Corrine as she drinks water from the hose outside. Olivia suggests the key to finding herself had been right at her fingertips all along. Joel takes Corrine shopping until she sees lover boy. Joel notices that something is going on with the car so he takes it to Harry. He thinks he can fix it, but he’ll have to order a part first. Joel asks him about the music he is listening to because he likes it. He introduces himself as Joel. Once he says he hasn’t heard anything like that before, Harry says the blues usually don’t reach rich folks like him. Joe tells him that he writes and plays music before Harry offers to let him borrow the record.

Mal tries to talk his father into letting him have his trust. Malcolm confesses he’d be getting nothing at all if it was up to him. He doesn’t like begging so he thinks Mal should just leave before he embarrasses himself further. When Corrine makes it home, she thanks Rockford for giving her a ride and agrees to see him next Saturday. Malcolm tells her he doesn’t want to see her with that boy or any boy again. He argues that she is too young to be going to dances and spreading her legs on the back of a motorcycle. Corrine thinks he might change his mind if he just met him. Malcolm doesn’t need to meet him because he knows boys only want one thing. He refuses to let her go to the dance and won’t discuss it anymore. Once Corrine leaves, Olivia confronts Malcolm and takes up for her and Mal. Malcolm claims Mal is a weak man because she coddled him.

Olivia says they can’t stop Corrine from growing up so they have to teach her to be a young woman. She sees the way he looks at her and it isn’t the way a father should look at their daughter. Malcolm suggests she is just jealous of her own daughter’s beauty. Olivia is scared of how their daughter’s beauty could entice the wrong men. She needs experience with them so she won’t say yes to the first man who proposes. Malcolm says that was their first mistake. They might not be so different after all. Corrine complains to her mother that it seems Malcolm wants to be the only man in her life. Olivia tells her to go anyway and it’ll be their secret. Later, Olivia finds out that Malcolm was right about men wanting one thing since Corrine is now pregnant. She tells her mother that she just got caught up in things and didn’t mean for it to happen. Olivia wishes she’d told her daughter more about the ways of men.

She reminds her daughter that she isn’t in this alone. Olivia decides to take her daughter to get an abortion. Once they get it done and leave, Olivia says it’ll be like this never happened tomorrow. Corrine eventually thanks her mother. In the morning, Malcolm asks Corrine about being so quiet. He gets mad when they lie to him about reading novels all night. Malcolm calls Olivia a filthy wh@re for taking their daughter to that place to get that procedure. Then, he tells Corrine that she won’t be parading around like a hussy anymore. Instead, she’ll remain on these grounds. He threatens to do something to her if she sets foot out of those gates, but Olivia argues that she has suffered enough already. Corrine is asked to leave. Olivia and Malcolm argue briefly before he tells her he will find a way to make her regret this. Harry finishes fixing the car for Joel who says it gave him time to work on his music and the record inspired him.

Harry tells him about the new record he got and lets Joel listen to it. He admits he dreams of getting out of here and seeing something besides those walls and trees. Joel says he knows what it is like wanting to escape the walls you live in. Celia interrupts to tell Harry to make sure he takes a lunch break. Joel says he doesn’t think his mom likes him very much, but Harry says Celia is his stepmother. His mom died when he was young. Harry is surprised he can’t tell her daddy is a white man. Corrine smokes weed with Mal. They discuss Corrine being grounded and Mal not getting his trust early. When Joel joins them, he says he thinks their dad might be Celia’s father. Corrine has heard the rumors and can’t believe he didn’t see the resemblance. As for Mal, he thinks Joel is a genius. Mal uses that information to try to force his dad to give him the trust money sooner. Malcolm likes this side of him.

He asks why they should wait before calling for Olivia to come into the room. Malcolm tells his son to be a man and tell his mother. When Mal won’t tell her, Malcolm does. He tells him that he’d have to crawl over his dead body to get access to that money. Mal tries to explain everything to Olivia who says it is okay. She tells him to always remember this day so he will treat his wife and children with respect and kindness. She doesn’t want to spoil things when his big day is right around the corner. Olivia wants him and Helen to get as far away from this place as possible. Olivia chases down Nella to talk to her about the news. She admits she still considers her a friend despite everything. Olivia would’ve never involved her in Alicia’s ordeal if she had known about it.

She wonders if that is how Nella got the scars. Although Nella says it was a long time ago, Olivia knows the hurt must still be there. Nella confesses that she will hate Mr. Foxworth until the day she dies. She has always felt that there is something different between them although she thinks it might be time to let bygones be bygones. Olivia goes home with Nella so she can see Celia. She says she is sorry. Celia repays the favor because she knows men like that never stop. Olivia returns home and catches Malcolm watching his daughter get dressed. Olivia says Celia was right and men like that never stop unless you stop them. She goes back to the plant she found earlier. Later, Helen offers to go shopping with Corrine. Joel can drive them since Harry did an excellent job with his car. Corrine tells them she isn’t allowed to go to town. Malcolm begins choking and gagging.

The doctor gives him a sedative and says he should be ready for the wedding. He says the reaction could be because of an allergen or poison. He is lucky to be alive. Later that night, she asks Corrine how she found out about the poison garden. Olivia shows her the gloves she found near the woodpile and points out that they’re stained green by a plant. Corrine says she went on a walk and saw her. She didn’t mean to give daddy so much though. Corrine was just mad at him for the way he treats all of them. Olivia promises not to tell him, but she can’t do anything like this again. Once Malcolm wakes up, the doctor admits he is starting to believe he was poisoned. Malcolm immediately blames Mal and asks them to go get him, but Olivia suggests otherwise. When the doctor leaves, Olivia argues that it could’ve been her. He says she doesn’t have the nerve. She tells him to draw up a list of possible assailants because it’d be lengthy.

They begin getting ready for the wedding. Once Malcolm gets dressed, he tells Helen that she looks beautiful. He apologizes for not giving Mal early access to his trust, but she says she doesn’t know much about that. Malcolm asks if Mal explained that the family operates under a very specific set of rules. He goes on to say he makes the rules and everyone else follows them. When they follow them precisely, everyone will get what they want. He suspects that she wants Mal to get the money and be happy. When Mal enters the room, he finds them kissing. Mal grabs something from the dresser and leaves in his car. He catches up with Corrine and tells her to get in so he can explain why there won’t be any wedding. Corrine finds that he took the poison instead of weed. He passes out and crashes the car. Nella rushes into the house to tell Malcolm and Olivia about it.

A funeral for Mal is held a short time later. Olivia claims she was so worried about protecting her daughter that she lost her son. The family grieved in different ways. Joel sought comfort in Harry while Corrine broke things in her room. Olivia doesn’t think she deserved comfort. Malcolm blames and ridicules her. Olivia says he is right and surrenders control to her husband. He tells her that she abused the freedom he gave her so she will obey him from now on. She begins believing that Foxworth Hall controls all of them. Olivia burns the poisonous plant. Foxworth Hall was bringing new horror upon us and someone who would bring them new pain. Alicia had returned and the fire had been lit with her return.

 

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Review

While Flowers In The Attic: The Origin is gripping at times, the series isn’t good enough to break through the threshold of mediocrity. Even though the series is only four episodes, it still feels like the episodes are a bit too long. The bigger problem is the fact that the writers seem to have forgotten what time period they were in.

The show and some of its content aren’t consistent with those times. Fans of the book series may not be happy with the changes because they’re plentiful. Many of these changes are implemented to connect with a modern audience even when they’re difficult to believe. Mal’s death and the events leading up to it weren’t great considering how easy it was for Malcolm to convince Helen to do whatever he wanted.

The accents remain a problem although we already know this isn’t going to change. Truthfully, the show’s believability was stretched thin in the second episode by the decision to add so many unrealistic things. The series may just become a guilty pleasure that is just good enough to watch but not good enough to remember.

The second episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Flowers In The Attic: The Origin can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.