The show begins with Theresa Westcott (Anna Maxwell Martin) asking her son, Ben Westcott (Fraser Holmes) what happened near the woods. Ben and Eva (Amelie Bea Smith) found Alex and tried to perform CPR. They learned CPR at school. She pleads with him to tell the truth. They put him in the water, so the police would not know it was them. He asks if they are going to prison. She encounters Fraser (Rhashan Stone) while preparing to go out.

Theresa visits her sister, Helen (Rachael Stirling). She repeats Ben’s story about finding Alex in the woods yesterday afternoon. Helen doesn’t believe Eva would keep it from her. Helen refuses to believe Ben is telling the truth. She believes Ben acted alone and Eva had nothing to do with it. Theresa believes she saw them put Alex’s cellphone in a trash bin near the woods. Helen suggests talking to them separately.

A search drew searches for Alex. Alex’s parents, Gareth (Jonas Armstrong) and Jean Boyd (Jodie McNee) help in the search.

Helen asks Eva to tell her what happened.

Ben tells Teresa they went to the woods after visiting the park. Eva wanted to go to the pond. He told her they shouldn’t go. They saw Alex by the pond. He tried to help him. Eva said they must hide him or get blamed. She hated Alex and wanted him to die. Ben denies hurting Alex. Eva made him keep it secret.

Eva says Ben got angry because she told him they were not allowed to go to the woods. He got angry and went alone. She tried to stop him because she didn’t want him to get them into trouble. She followed him into the woods. He was standing over Alex lying by the pond. Ben pushed him into the water.  Helen asks her if she saw Ben do anything to Alex before he pushed him into the pond. Helen says you do not need to protect him. He made her promise to not tell. She holds up her arm.

Helen and Theresa discuss what to do next. Theresa suggests calling the police. Helen believes Eva. She has bruises on her arm from where Ben grabbed her. Theresa has a flashback of Ben grabbing Eva. He has a history of lying and aggressive behavior. Helen cannot bear the thought of Alex being out there alone. Theresa suggests they check the woods. Helen doesn’t agree. She will check the woods and call the police if she finds anything.

Theresa drives to where she found Eva and Ben. A search crew is in the area. She is given a high-visibility emergency vest. DS Parks (Jim Howick) yells at her as she searches near the pond. She reluctantly identifies herself and walks in the direction of her car.

At home, Theresa searches the Internet for the police anonymous crime tip form, as Georgina (Tia May Watts) tries to convince her father, Fraser (Rhashan Stone) to permit her to stay home from school. Fraser’s brother, Eddie (Ken Nwosu) is back from his run. She heads out to the cafes.

Helen stares at the screen of her laptop, with the anonymous crime top form. Ana (Julie Barclay) alerts Helen of Alex’s parents’ arrival. She gives Jean a hug and looks over at Gareth. They forgot to report a photo of Alex from Saturday night. When Alex went missing, he was wearing the same clothes and a yellow badge in the photo. Jean asks her to circulate Alex’s photo around school. Gareth disagrees with Jean about little things being important. Millions of children wear badges. Jean receives a call from the Simone Police Liaison.

Theresa stops at her café for a carton of milk. She asks the cashier, Jeremy (Dan Burgess) if the manager, Jen who is out. He refuses to take her credit card. She tells him it is fine, but he points to a nearby cashpoint. He shrugs it off when she says, “I own this place.” She can fire Jen and him. He takes her card. She receives a text from Fraser, “Awful” and rushes home, where DS Parks is awaiting. Fraser asks what she was doing in the woods. She visited Helen and decided to go for a walk when she ran into the search team. Alex’s body was discovered this morning close to where he found her last night. In shock, Theresa supports her body with the countertop. He asks why she chose that area to search. She just got separated from the search team. He will need to eliminate her from their inquiries.

She stops DS Parks as he is preparing to leave. She claims to have seen an older man hanging around the park. The man was wearing a long coat, with grayish hair. An e-fit specialist will need to stop by later. Fraser scolds her for not alerting him of the man.

 

Helen is with Alex’s parents at the morgue when she receives an urgent text from Theresa. She alerts her of DS Parks’ inquiry and her false police report, regarding the man at the park. Helen suggests not give a description of the man to avoid criminal charges. Gareth is devastated when he identifies the body as Alex. He reaches for Helen’s hand.

Helen meets with DS Parks and the e-fit specialist. She has flashbacks of lying in a wooden rowboat. She gives them a description of the man against Helen’s advice.

Helen comforts Alex’s teacher, Stephanie Greenford (Elena Gyasi). She tells Helen is amazing for going to the morgue and gives her Alex’s tablet. Eva and Ben sent Alex some nasty messages. They call him a “loser” and tell him to go “fu** himself.” Helen agrees to talk to Ben and Eva, as well as Alex’s parents. She keeps Alex’s tablet and tosses it in her desk drawer.

Eddie backs into a flowerpot while parking Fraser’s car. He informs Helen’s husband, David (Peter McDonald) of what happened. David accepts the blame and offers Eddie to come back for a drink.

Theresa treats Ben to a special meal. He angrily plays with his knife and fork. He is angry at Eva and calls her a “bi***). He says, “You think I killed Alex. She jerks the knife and fork out of his hand, “Did you.” She apologizes. He jumps up and walks outside, slamming the door behind him.

Helen prepares to leave the school but sets back down to look at Alex’s tablet. Theresa sees her criminal sketch on the TV. Helen deletes Eva’s messages to Alex and places the tablet back in her desk drawer.

Georgina says her friend’s mom recognized the man in the sketch. She tells Theresa they could make a podcast of her if she catches the murderer. Ben angrily leaves the table.

Theresa drops by the café to apologize to Jeremy. He says everyone thinks the man is a photographer. She is stunned by his comment. DS Parks calls to ask her to stop in at the police station to look at a photo lineup. A call to Helen goes unanswered. Helen is angry when she stops by the school to talk. She raises her voice, “Everything you do is chaos, I can’t keep saving you every time you make another stupid mistake.” Theresa is devastated by her reaction. She will not identify the man, and everyone will think she is crazy. Helen gives her Alex’s tablet and suggests if the police were on to someone else, they would not look at Ben. She reminds her what happens to children in Ben’s position.

Theresa meets DS Parks at the police station. She picks a man from the photo lineup and has a flashback of her and Ben in the rowboat. She gets on the bow of the rowboat and falls face-first into the water. The man she recognizes destroyed hard drives and has a questionable history in the village. Pathology believes Alex was murdered two days before his body was discovered by police.  He was probably killed at night. She relays the information to Helen. She says they were wrong. Eva and Ben are not responsible for Alex’s death.

Hollington Drive Review

A riveting episode, thanks to superb writing and acting. It is difficult to not feel anger toward the mothers who are only trying to protect their children. Therefore, Anna Maxwell Martin and Rachael Stirling are perfect for their roles. One must question if they would react the same if their child was involved in killing another child.

The show started out too fast but quickly slowed down to a decent pace. So far, so good, I will stick around for what should be a fantastic finale.

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