As the first episode of Pieces of Her begins, we see what looks like a little girl held captive in a wood box or hiding there. Andy Oliver (Bella Heathcote) answers a 911 call from Patti who is a frequent caller. Patti complains about the raccoon that has been tearing through her neighbor’s trash. Andy plays on her phone until Patti curses the government and hangs up. Then, she rides her bike home and uses the bathroom. She heads outside and grabs the key hidden under the pot. She uses the key to enter her mother’s house where she grabs toilet paper and peanut butter. Andy gets a message on her phone asking whether she is still taking care of her mother, but Andy says no because she got better. When asked if she is coming back to New York City, she says no since she can fail rent free here.

Meanwhile, her mother Laura (Toni Collette) works with a former sergeant who says he lost his phone but struggles to tell her. She gives him encouragement by insisting he has been making progress anyway. Back at home, Andy looks at family pictures on the wall. Her mother comes inside moments later and tells her happy birthday. Andy doesn’t want to be reminded that it is her 30th birthday. Laura changes the way her daughter loads the silverware into the dishwasher before asking if she is open for lunch. Andy says yes and she doesn’t need to change. While they eat, Andy draws on a napkin as her mother encourages her to find work that actually interests her. Andy isn’t interested in going back to school since it would be more student loans.

Andy isn’t eager to talk about it but apologizes for not knowing what she wants to do with her life. She knows her mother likes to help people and is good at it. Andy questions whether her dad was the screw-up since she has to get it from somewhere. Laura says Jerry was smart, funny, and adored her although Andy can’t remember that. She suspects her daughter has gotten used to being low before they argue about how low one can go. Her mom offers to pay for a therapist for her, but Andy isn’t interested in that. A loner (Harry Greenwood) seems to be paying particularly close attention to them. They wonder why he is looking at them. Since she knows Andy didn’t want to come back home, she encourages her to go back. Andy isn’t sure why she’d talk to someone after her mother already diagnosed her.

Their conversation is interrupted by Betsy (Blazey Best) and her daughter Shelley (Kathleen O’Dwyer). Betsy knows Laura because she helped her father. Shelley is going to med school too. Andy excuses herself and walks away. The loner gets up, calls Shelley’s name, and begins shooting her immediately. Laura drags Andy to the ground to shield her as the loner shoots Betsy too. Once he finds out that an old man tried to call the police, he shoots him in the back. He walks over to Andy, calls her a pig, and tells her to get up. The loner asks about her gun, but Laura admits she doesn’t have one. Laura explains she just works for the police answering phones so he can go now. The loner curses and calls Andy useless. Laura encourages him to shoot her instead of her daughter. When he tries, she pushes the gun away to avoid being killed. He runs out of bullets as Laura screams for Andy to flee and get help.

The loner pulls out a knife and ends up stabbing it through Laura’s palm. Laura turns her hand around and uses the knife to slash the loner’s throat. While they wait for assistance, Laura says she is cold before asking whether it is snowing. When paramedics arrive, Laura encourages her daughter not to speak to the police. Andy waits at the hospital before her father Gordon Oliver (Omari Hardwick) arrives to check on her. They discuss Lara who is waiting on a plastic surgeon now. A nurse asks Laura whether she can feel her touching her fingers. She says barely before learning the surgeon is coming up. A report about the incident is shown on television that reveals Laura is a speech language pathologist and long-time resident of Belle Isle. Survivors praised her on social media by saying she likely saved many lives. Andy tells Gordon about her mother talking about crazy stuff.

Detective Sergeant Wilson (Zahra Newman) and Detective Shooltz (Josef Ber) enter to question Andy about the incident. Gordon isn’t sure Andy should be answering questions because she has been up all night. Regardless, Andy sits down to begin answering questions. She insists she didn’t recognize the shooter. She learns the shooter was a 25-year-old named Jonah Helsinger. Shelley broke up with him three weeks ago and he didn’t handle it well. Witnesses believe Jonah saw Andy’s uniform and wanted her to kill him. Andy is asked whether her mother served in the military, but she didn’t. Wilson reveals someone recorded the incident. She begins showing Andy the video, but they’re interrupted when Laura is wheeled out. Gordon won’t let them interview Laura instead offering to call to schedule an interview later.

Once the detectives leave, Laura forces Gordon and Andy to take her home because she hates hospitals so much. Gordon leaves to get the car before Laura asks what Andy said to them. Laura admits she doesn’t like all this attention. She doesn’t want her daughter taking care of her and suggests she should’ve come back. Andy is asked if she can go outside and meet with Gordon. She tries to ignore the video of her mother getting stabbed as she leaves the hospital. Once her mother is wheeled outside, she recommends her daughter stay at Gordon’s tonight, but Andy isn’t going to leave her alone. She goes on to say she wants Andy out of the house tonight so she can start her life whatever it may look like. Laura argues that she is an adult and should start acting like one.

Gordon picks them up and they drive away from the hospital moments later. We see someone watching the news report about Laura before stepping outside to make a call. He asks if they saw the news. Then, he claims they have a problem and it is her. Once they make it home, Gordon helps Laura inside while she tells Andy she should pack. Andy can’t stop thinking about the incident and has to throw up in the bathroom. While she showers, Gordon helps Laura change her clothes. Laura tells him to take his daughter, but he wonders if she should really be making this harder on Andy. She reveals she knew the boy was going to do something because she saw it in his eyes. Gordon tells her to call them. He tells her goodnight and leaves. Andy looks at #CrabShack on social media and finds posts about the shooting, including one saying blue lives matter.

Many others ridicule her for not doing anything and claim this is why girls shouldn’t be police officers. Gordon shows up with alcohol and a sandwich. He is invited in as they begin talking about Laura. They toast to her birthday before agreeing to find another day to celebrate. She says 30 sucks. Once they sit down, Andy admits she didn’t do anything. She knows she likely needs counseling like her mother said. Although she saw what Laura did, it still doesn’t feel real. Gordon says she is just cutting her off because she is scared, but Andy doesn’t understand why she is being kicked out. They agree she should stay at his place. Andy says she’ll get some things and ride her bike over there later. Once she is alone, Andy remembers what her mother said before we see the girl hiding in the wood structure again. She wakes up after falling asleep and immediately contacts Gordon to tell him so he won’t worry.

After she gets her stuff, Andy makes it to her bicycle. She drops her phone causing it to slide across the floor. She hides under the window when she sees a guy in a hoodie looking in. The man busts out a window seconds later. Andy sneaks inside to find out what is going on. She hears the man saying there is nothing to talk about and he doesn’t want her money. He also says Paula was right about her. Once he throws a plastic bag over her face, Andy texts for police assistance. She grabs the paper towel holder and hits the man from behind with it. He gets on top of Andy as they begin struggling to grab the gun. Laura manages to free her hand.

Andy hits the man in the head once again and he stops moving. Laura finds out that her daughter called the police so they’re going to be in trouble. She begins instruction Andy to grab the scissors, cut the tape, and free her. Andy is asked to go through his pockets. Once she finds his keys, Laura says his car will be around here so Andy needs to find it and drive to Carrollton. She is given money, a phone, and a key card. When she arrives in Carrollton, she should go to a storage place called Get-Em-Go and look for unit 320. Laura has a car there that she wants her daughter to take and head north all the way to Maine. Then, she should get a motel in Camden and stay there. Laura warns her to leave her phone and not to use her GPS. Andy isn’t sure she can just drive to Maine, but her mother insists she must.

Andy eventually agrees to go. Once outside, she searches until she finds a truck with a Florida license plate. The key unlocks the door. She gets in although she isn’t able to get away before the police arrive. She lets the police cars pass her before turning on the truck and driving away.

 

Pieces Of Her Review

Pieces of Her is one of the newest Netflix series even though it feels like you’ve seen it all before, and it has likely been done better by other shows. Although this was only the first episode, the series seems well acted thanks to the likes of Toni Collette and David Wenham who we haven’t seen much of yet. The series is supposed to be set in Belle Isle, Georgia, but it doesn’t look anything like Georgia.

Combine that with the unauthentic accents and nothing about this series accurately reflects the Deep South. The casting isn’t great in so many ways starting with one of the main characters and continuing with most of the side characters. The biggest problem with the show is the fact that nothing about it seems organic. Andy is a 30-year-old behaving like a young 20-year-old and Laura is just too far over-the-top.

I can’t imagine there will be much in the way of suspense from here on out since it is so easy to see where this is headed. Could it get better in future episodes? Possibly, but I wouldn’t bet the house on it. The opening episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Pieces of Her can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.