The premiere begins three months in the future near a cove where Pete Riley (James Norton) runs toward the water yelling at Theo Riley (Alban Guo). A brief shot in the water reveals what appears to be a floating yellow raincoat. When Pete makes it to the raincoat, he realizes Theo isn’t there.

Three months before Theo and Pete return from a morning at the lighthouse with Maddie Wilson’s (Niamh Algar) milk for her coffee. It is only seconds later that Pete drops Theo off at the nursery while Maddie arrives for her shift at a restaurant.

Pete calls Maddie right in the middle of the lunch rush and asks her to meet him at Cornwall Hospitals Trust. Once there, they learn from Martin Swale (Philippe Spall) that Theo is not their biological son. Theo doesn’t handle this news as well as Maddie and even turns down the DNA tests.

Things only get worse when they return home and Maddie begins to have doubts about Theo being their son. Pete is adamant that Theo is his son and no one is going to tell him any different. Sometime later, Pete and Maddie receive a visit from Miles Lambert (James McArdle), the other father. He begins by apologizing and then proceeds to tell them how he and his wife found out about their won while having some developmental testing done. So far, all the tests have come back negative. The doctors think his condition relates to trauma suffered at birth. Before leaving, he gives them a photo of David Lambert (Fraser Cornelissen) that his wife, Lucy Lambert (Jessica Brown Findlay) recently took, and asks to schedule a get-together. Pete tells him that they are still reeling from the news and aren’t ready to make any plans yet.

Theo, Maddie, and Pete are spending the day at the beach when they get the negative DNA test results back. Despite their earlier hesitation, Maddie and Pete decide to have dinner with Lucy and Miles. They are not only surprised by the size of their home but they are surprised by how quickly Theo takes to Miles. Once inside Maddie immediately recognizes one of Lucy’s paintings from the Royal Academy. The meeting goes rather well but gets a bit awkward after the nanny, Tania (Jude Mack) takes the kids. After a few adult beverages and a bit of back and forth, Maddie says that she hates small talk and asks if they can get right down to business. Without hesitating, Miles asks what they want to do. Pete says they want to keep Theo but have a role in David’s life. Miles and Lucy practically want the same and hope that with time David and Theo can become like brothers.

Things take another awkward turn when Miles suggests they sue the hospital. He also adds that if they win, Pete and Maddie can keep the money because they don’t need it. They spend the rest of the afternoon with their boys and make plans to get together again.

Sometime later, Miles bonds with Pete by teaching him to surf. After the session, Miles invites him and his family to attend their annual trip up to Norfolk to see Lucy’s family. Pete appears a bit hesitant but agrees to mention it to Maddie. Elsewhere, Lucy and Maddie spend the day with Theo, who apparently has a limitless tank of energy.  During their outing, Lucy apologizes that David couldn’t make it and says you can never tell when he needs some time to himself.

Theo and Maddie are baking a cake the following morning when Pete interrupts with the news that he’s got the landscaping job he’s been applying for. They celebrate briefly before Maddie receives a call that draws her away. While Maddie is away, Theo gets into some cannabis gummies before Pete can intervene and ends up in the Emergency Room. Although Maddie claims the gummies were for Theo’s granddad and it was an accident, the pediatric nurse (Cara Mahoney) says she has to report the incident to social services.

Pete and Maddie arrive home from the hospital with Theo to find Miles waiting on them with a brand new tricycle. Although Pete and Maddie are grateful, Miles acts like he didn’t get the reception he was expecting. Miles also mentions taking the trike to Norfolk, which later causes a huge strife between Pete and Maddie. Their argument not only reveals that Maddie wants nothing to do with strangers, but the cannabis gummies were Petes. Later that night, Miles is shown watching and replaying the footage from the nanny camera the day Theo and David met.

Pete is on his way to his new job when he receives a call from Theo’s nursery, informing him that Theo hit another kid and is being sent home for the day. At the same time, Maddie has an accident at work, preventing her from answering Pete’s call. With no other option, Pete takes Theo to Lucy and Miles’s place. Lucy is more than happy to look after Theo.

By the time Pete returns to pick up Theo, he is asleep next to David, which gives Pete and Lucy some time to talk. As Pete is telling her about his new job and they discuss David, there is a loud crash outside. Pete goes to investigate and discovers a turned-over trash can. Right after he tells Lucy that it must have been a badger, he is jokingly tackled by Miles. They laugh it off before retiring back inside to have beers. Over beers, Miles tells Pete that they should share David’s nanny. Pete is hesitant and says that he couldn’t afford it. Miles lets him know that it wouldn’t cost him a thing before also telling him that he finished reading his book. Pete admits that because of their situation, he’s been writing again for the first time in ages. Miles says that he would love to read it if Pete didn’t mind sharing. Pete doesn’t have a problem with it.

Maddie isn’t happy to learn that Pete left Theo at the Lamberts for the evening. She’s even less happy when he tells her about the nanny share and admits to not telling them they won’t be going to Norfolk with them. Pete swears he will tell them as Maddie storms off.

At work the following day, Maddie remembers having problems getting Theo to breast feed and storms out. A coworker notices her storming off and follows. Miles just happens to be outside the restaurant at the same time and sees Maddie walking off with her male coworker. Miles shows up at Pete’s place later that night with a brand-new baby monitor. Before leaving he casually mentions seeing Maddie with her coworker, Ollie (Theo Ogundipe). Instead of trying to deny it, Maddie tells Miles that they won’t be attending the Norfolk trip because Pete’s sister, Emma, is coming in from France. Miles says that they can come as well but Maddie turns down the offer.

While Miles and Lucy are supposed to be away in Norfolk, Pete and Maddie have dinner with Jen (Amy Morgan) and Maya (Witney White). Out of the blue, Pete spots Miles and Lucy. Before he can remember Maddie lied to them, he waves to them. Before they approach, he convinces Jen to play the role of his sister. When asked, Miles says he and Lucy decided to postpone Norfolk to another time. Although Jen and her friend do an amendable job of lying, Miles puts two and two together. After Maddie comes out and admits they lied, Mils and Lucy storm off. Later that evening, Pete and Maddie are served papers, stating that Miles and Lucy are coming after Theo.

 

Playing Nice Review

Not a bad way to start a new series, although things were a bit predictable. It might not be hard to tell how things are going to end up and the story might not be original, but I felt the acting was superb. I do and do not times like the major times jumps. I can understand them because this is a miniseries and things need to progress but it can certainly make things confusing at times.

I can’t wait to see where things go from here, but I somehow get the feeling that there is much more to Maddie’s side of the story. I am almost betting she is having flashbacks because she had something to do with the switch. I’d give the first episode a 5.6 out of 10.

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