The episode begins with Pete Riley (James Norton) and Maddie Wilson’s (Niamh Algar) lawyer, Anika Chowdhury (Sunetra Sarker), telling them that a custody order for Theo Riley (Alban Guo) was filed 8 weeks ago, meaning Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy Lambert (Jessica Brown Findlay) have been lying to them from the beginning. The meeting only gets worse when they learn that the Lamberts have also legally changed Theo’s birth certificate and applied for a child arrangement order. If this is granted, they get to decide where Theo lives and how much he gets to see of them. The lawyer claims they can only do this because mediation failed, even though there was no official mediation. Things begin to look up when Anika tells them they can counter with mediation in the presence of a neutral third party.

When Pete fails to take Theo to his shared nanny visit, Miles shows up to collect him like nothing is wrong. While he’s there, he also gives Pete an invitation to his and Lucy’s fundraiser. Pete practically slams the door in his face.

Things are not going much better for Maddie at the restaurant when she blows up on Ollie (Theo Ogundipe) over a bungled order that was her fault. He follows her as she storms off and not only comforts her but tries to convince her to save face and take the day off. She does apologize to him.

Sometime later, Maddie and Theo are at the public pool when they unexpectedly run into Lucy and David Lambert (Fraser Cornelissen). Maddie approaches Lucy with the utmost respect and even offers her help, but Lucy practically ignores her.

At the mediation, Miles and Lucy try to get possession of both Theo and David, whereas Pete and Maddie try to honor the initial arrangement. When asked if he will honor the agreement, Miles claims that the Riley household isn’t a suitable home for either child due to Pete’s drug use and Maddie’s drinking. At one point, Miles even throws Maddie’s postnatal depression against her. The mediation turns out to be a complete waste of time, and by the time the session is over, Pete is so riled up that he attacks Miles in the parking lot.

Pete and Maddie meet with Anika again to learn that the Lamberts want Theo to continue visiting their house during the weekdays until the courts are settled. They have agreed to let Pete and Maddie see David twice a week under supervised visits. They have also spun everything to make it look as if Pete and Maddie were the aggressors.

Maddie arrives for her supervised visit to learn that the Lamberts have fired Tania (Jude Mack) and installed cameras everywhere. They also hired a new nanny who watches Maddie’s every move. She relays this to Pete later that evening and also tells him that she wants to fight for both boys. He practically ignores her until she gets mad enough to break a glass. Matters aren’t helped when she minimizes his contributions to their family. Theo shows up in the middle of the night in Theo and Maddie’s room to claim there are monsters in his room. Theo lets him sleep in their room.

Pete briefly stops by John Riley’s (Phil Davis) house to collect some of his old toys for David. While he’s there, he also tells John that he can no longer get the cannabis gummies for him. Sometime later, Maddie and Pete have a nice visit with David. It is after this visit that they decide to do whatever is necessary to get custody of David.

Stella (Rebekah Murrell) visits Pete at work for help with the hospital. Apparently, she has been suspended from the hospital and is being blamed for not properly tagging the babies. Pete apologizes but refuses to help and says he honestly doesn’t remember seeing the tags. Despite this, Pete later tells the hospital investigator that Stella put the tag on. Maddie clearly doesn’t believe him and calls him out on it later after the meeting. Even though Maddie goes through her photos and finds proof that he is lying later that night, she doesn’t confront him until the following morning.

After picking Theo up from a visit at Mile’s house, Pete takes him for an ice cream and a visit to the lighthouse. While there, Pete learns that Miles has been teaching Theo to call him Dada. Things only get worse when Pete arrives home and receives a call from Kiera (Posy Sterling) telling him that his ‘Baby Swap’ article has been selected to be published. He practically hangs up on her and calls Miles. Miles hangs up on him. Pete is right in the middle of calling Miles back when Maddie shows up at the front door all dressed up for the fundraiser. She tells him to go get dressed because Jen (Amy Morgan) will be there in a few minutes to watch Theo.

Right before Miles addresses the crowd at the fundraiser, Pete learns that Miles is opening a new restaurant near Maddies. Maddie learns about this just as Lucy takes the stage. Lucy briefly talks about her career, motherhood, and why she and Miles decided to start the David Foundation. After the speech, Maddie and Pete not only confront Miles but they let him know they are fighting for both David and Theo.

The following day, Maddie and Pete are at home enjoying an afternoon with Theo when DS Ridley (Alisha Bailey) and DS Chopra (Akbar Kurtha) show up at the door to announce they are investigating the alleged abduction of Theo Lambert.

The episode ends with Pete being dragged down to that station.

 

Playing Nice Review

Unfortunately, the second episode wasn’t much different than the first, which is both a good and bad thing. Once again, the acting was incredible and the story is intriguing, despite being the furthest thing from original. The failure is in the execution. I get there are only four episodes and the writers probably felt rushed but things feel rushed, discombobulated, and at times, all over the place. It would be nice if some of the scenes were set up better. That said, I enjoyed the episode and would have to give it an easy 5.2 out of 10.

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