At the beginning of One Of Us, we see home videos of Adam and Grace. The couple grow older over the course of videos, until we see the couple’s wedding. We jump to the present and see lifeless bodies of the couple. Lee Walsh (Owen Whitelaw) stands over them with a knife in his hand. Afterwards, we see Grace’s parents, Bill (John Lynch) and Moira Douglas (Julie Graham) at church. During the ride home, Bill scolds their son, Jamie (Christian Ortega), for listening to his music too loud. Regardless, Jamie jams the earbud back into his ear. Bill cranks up good old Hank Williams to show his son what real music sounds like. We also hear a news report about an incoming storm. The couple arrives at Adam’s home, where they’ve confronted by Charlie Fuller (Gilly Gilchrist). Fuller tells them about the murders and they all lose it.

Then, we jump over to Adam’s mother, Louise Elliot (Juliet Stevenson), who is hunting birds in the woods. She manages to shoot one down, before Fuller arrives and tells her about Adam’s murder. We see Lee getting high, while reliving the moment he discovered the bodies. It appears he grabbed the knife after they were already dead, but it is difficult to say for certain. Lee spots blood on his hoody, before scouring through a bag of the couple’s belongings. He rips up a picture from the couple’s wedding, before we jump over to Adam’s sister, Claire Elliot (Joanna Vanderham). Claire attempts to get in touch with a friend, but receives no answer. We see that she is working as a nurse. After a brief chat with a coworker, Claire attends to a patient, Meredith.

Meredith tries to give Claire a ring, but Claire refuses. Meredith then attempts to coax Claire into helping her commit suicide. Claire refuses, while insisting it would be against the law. Afterwards, we jump over to Adam’s brother, Rob (Joe Dempsie), and his girlfriend, Anna (Georgina Campbell). They chat about a traumatic experience in Anna’s recent past. She insists she is prepared to return to work, before they say their goodbyes. Once Rob leaves, he is shown stalking an unknown man. He seems angry. He is only stopped by a call from Claire, who tells him about the murders. We jump back to Louise and see her grieving her son’s passing. Rob is forced to identify the bodies. After he does, we jump to see and see him trying to sell the couple’s belongings. He gets rid of the items, but doesn’t receive any money up front. He insists he needs to get somewhere, so he can finish the job.

Next, we see Juliet (Laura Fraser) meet up with a drug dealer. She passes along some LSD and receives a bundle of money for her troubles. That night, Louise and Moira chat about the situation. Louise tells Moira about killing the bird and the joy she received from the experience. She insists it is bizarre that someone could get so much pleasure from death. Meanwhile, Lee manages to steal a vehicle. He also takes the man’s wallet, before driving away. He looks at a note in his pocket and punches an address into the GPS. Rob, Claire and Louise sit around a fire. They grieve together, while Anna watches from a distance. Once they’ve finished crying, they sit down at the table and Claire admits she called her father, but only received his voicemail.

Louise smashes a glass to the ground. Claire receives several calls, but refuses to answer. She admits it is Sam. We jump over to the Douglas family, who are also grieving their loss. Jamie spies on Claire’s text messages from his cellphone. Moira admits she cannot stop wondering why, before placing the blame on Adam. She wonders whether or not he was involved in something. The family’s worker, Alastair (Gary Lewis), enters and tells them he finished up. Alastair is given permission to stay the night, so he won’t have to drive in the storm. Lee continues towards his destination. The GPS messes up and he winds up crashing the vehicle just outside of the Elliot home. The family manages to pull him out of the vehicle and carry him inside. The ambulance is called, but the storm will prevent them from reaching the scene for several hours.

Claire agrees to fix the man up and sends Rob next door for supplies. Moira prepares to head to bed, just before Rob enters. He tells them about the situation and gets medical supplies, which Bill uses for his livestock. Lee begins to moan and move around, while the women continue to care for him. Louise finds the note in the man’s pocket, while Claire discovers track marks on his arms. The women escape into the kitchen and look at the note, which contains their postcode. They contemplate why the man could’ve been visiting their house or the Douglas family. Bill and Rob watch a news report regarding Lee. He is accused of killing Adam and Grace. Claire and Louise return to the living room only to discover the man missing. He is shown outside attempting to make his mistake. Rob approaches and bashes the man several times in the face.

Rob is stopped, before he tells the others about the news report. Rob is ordered to call the police. He heads inside and calls the ambulance. He tells them not to come. The man is carried back inside and thrown on the couch. Rob tells the others that the police and ambulance are on their way. Everyone contemplates what they should do with the man, while Claire tells them about the note found in his pocket. Moira asks Rob, if he knew the man, since he visited Adam and Grace frequently. He vehemently denies knowing the man, before mentioning the dog cages in Bill’s barn. Lee is transported to the barn and thrown in the dog cages. Claire insists he’ll be fine. Meanwhile, Jamie, who has been spying on Claire, watches from his window. Claire takes off Lee’s watch and shows it to Louise. They confirm it is the one Claire gave to Adam for his birthday.

Everyone heads back to their houses. Rob heads into the bathroom and attempts to compose himself. Anna checks on him, but he insists he is fine and will be with her in the bedroom in a few minutes. Alastair sits alone in his room. He sobs. Louise wakes up in the middle of the night and grabs a glass of water. She grabs a little bit of wine as well. She witnesses someone walking outside. We see someone standing over Lee. Lee pleads for help. Next, Juliet is shown bringing breakfast to her daughter, who is ill. Juliet tells her daughter that she has been able to get enough money for her operation. She insists they can start feeling normal again. Claire heads out to the barn in the morning. She discovers Lee has been killed. The others are informed and they gather in the barn. Everyone quickly tries to place the blame on Rob, after he admits to telling the ambulance not to come.

Rob denies having anything to do with the man’s murder. Moira tells Louisa that her boy is going to prison for this. Louise admits to seeing someone outside last night and insists it wasn’t Rob. Moira insists the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, while comparing Rob and Adam to their father. Rob chases down Anna, who questions him about stalking her rapist, Graham Harris. He admits to it, but insists he didn’t do anything to Graham. Anna confirms she thought about hurting him too. They embrace, after Anna confesses she wouldn’t blame him for anything. The Douglas family return to their home. Alastair tells Moira and Bill that he saw Jamie outside the previous night. They quickly confront him and almost catch him look at pictures of Claire.

Eventually, Jamie admits to visiting the barn that night, but he insists he only wanted to see who killed Grace. Moira and Bill head out, while insists they didn’t think he could do something like this, despite his previous troubles. With Alastair’s help and advice, the parents agree they need to protect their son, so they won’t lose anyone else. Moments later, we jump to the police station. Andrew (Steve Evets) speaks with Juliet about the Adam and Grace case. He tells her about a sighting of Lee near the family’s home. Andrew is ordered to contact Fuller. Everyone meets back in the barn. Bill tells Claire that they don’t want any more harm to come to either family and Rob seems to agree. They apparently hatch a plan to get rid of Lee and insists he was responsible for the murder of Adam and Grace.

Claire doesn’t like the idea at all. Jamie enters moments later and hands Bill his phone. Bill takes it and speaks with the police. He tells them that everything is fine. Once he hangs up, he tells everyone that a detective is coming from Edinburgh. They contemplate their next move, before we jump into the city. Claire’s father returns home with his new family. He receives the voice message from Claire and learns about Adam’s death. He seems to care very little and tells his new friend that it was nobody.

 

One Of Us Review

The first episode of One of Us wasn’t perfect. A few things were too coincidental, such as Lee just happening to crash outside of the family’s home. Nonetheless, the episode was gripping and very mysterious. Plus, it is hard to lose with this cast. The acting is top notch and the show should become more engrossing as it carries on. The first episode deserves a 7.5 out of 10.