As the first episode of Rules of the Game begins, we see police officers outside the headquarters of Fly Dynamic. Inside, a forensics team begins collecting evidence and taking pictures of the crime scene. Sam Thompson (Maxine Peake) is shown sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a foil blanket. We see a flashback of Sam in her pajamas walking into the Fly Dynamic building and making the grisly discovery. DI Eve Preston (Susan Wokoma) walks into the building and immediately asks how many people screwed up her crime scene this morning. DS Peter Alan (Dario Coates) ignores that remark before saying the victim fell from the second floor. He gives her the note they found as she comments she has never seen the back of a victim’s head look like it has been smashed like a watermelon. They discuss the witnesses including COO Sam Thompson who discovered the body.

Sam is taken down to the station where she changes her clothes and is given a drink. Eve says women like using pills to commit suicide while men blow their brains out. As for jumping, it usually involves high buildings and bridges so something is off here. Sam anxiously puffs on her vaporizer as Eve promises she has nothing to worry about if she did nothing wrong. She asks Sam to trust her and start from the very beginning. We jump back in time as Sam Thompson tells Beth Taylor (Tanya Vital) she is a bit on edge because they’re getting a new HR girl today. Gemma has started cycling to help reduce fossil fuels. Before Sam leaves home, Beth promises to take care of her son Adam (Isaac Lancel-Watkinson). In the parking lot of Fly, Maya Benshaw (Rakhee Thakrar) listens to motivational speeches and tells herself that she is enough and all powerful.

When that doesn’t seem to work, she contemplates taking a few Alprazolam or anti-depressant pills. It is not shown whether she does. Instead, she walks into the building where she is greeted by Sam a few seconds later. Sam believes it is going to be a big change for Maya since she is coming from the Big Smoke. She begins explaining more about the unique family culture they have at Fly Dynamic because most have been there since Owen and Gareth took over the business. While they started as a market stall, the company now rivals JD Sports. Sam believes Maya will see a lot of activity in the next few weeks as the company implements its plan to go public on the stock exchange. She started there at 16 and never thought the company would go global. Maya is surprised she has never worked anywhere else, but Sam says they pride themselves on their exceptionally low turnover.

Maya explains that isn’t always a good thing because it can get stale. She specializes in identifying institutionalized issues like this and changing the work culture for the better. Sam argues they don’t need to change the work culture. When Maya claims she is just there to ensure the continued success of the company, Sam corrects her by saying she is there because the bloke who had the job screwed up. Maya is encouraged not to do the same. After that, Maya is introduced to Owen Jenkins (Ben Batt) who is the CEO of Fly Dynamic. Sam watches as the CFO Gareth Jenkins (Kieran Bew) walks over to join them. Gareth explains he is on the phone with his wife Carys (Katherine Pearce) because she is crying hysterically about their daughter’s first day at a nursery. Owen and Gareth are brothers. Before the conversation ends, Owen tells Maya that their gender-neutral bathrooms are right around the corner.

Meanwhile, Carys hangs out with Vanessa Jenkins (Zoe Tapper) during a visit to a beautician. Vanessa admits she likes the feeling of the needle when it enters the skin. Once she is finished, she tells Carys she is next, but she isn’t interested. Vanessa encourages her to get something done since Owen is paying for it. Carys reveals they’ve had problems with sexuality for a long time and not just a few months. Vanessa insists she should ignore them before shagging them like a porn star when they’re in despair. Meanwhile, Sam watches a video of Tess Jones (Callie Cooke) having sex with some guy in the workplace. Owen says flotation would be over if one of their advisers walked in on this. Gareth says it is a new CCTV system so they likely weren’t expecting an audience. Sam wants to run it through HR and recommends Duncan Stephenson (Dominic Vulliamy), but Owen says they should use the new girl, Maya.

Although Sam doesn’t like the idea, Owen quickly calls her so they can talk about Tess Jones. Tess is shown sleeping in bed as her mother knocks on her door. She claims she is sick although her mother finds a condom on the ground. She is told she can go to work if she can shag. Outside, Gareth finds that Sam is back to smoking cigarettes as they begin talking about the new HR director. She admits she would’ve preferred to have a man, but she had no choice because of Hugh and the flotation. Maya has great references and a degree in psychology so it is surprising she ended up at Fly Dynamic. Gareth says Sam is the expert and the company is roaring into the 21st century as she was promoted. Sam believes it came 20 years after everyone else. Gareth is told not to try to shag Maya unless he wants a lecture in feminism. Next, Sam runs into Tess who asks for some paracetamol. She receives some and is told to come to HR immediately.

Sam asks why she does this to herself before reminding her not to say anything she wouldn’t. Her sexual partner is told he is next. Maya greets Tess as she enters the room. When Sam insists on sitting in on the interview, Maya asks her to leave since they legally need confidentiality. As Sam leaves, Maya thanks her. She steps out of the room and reminds Owen that she warned him. She tells one of the other workers to get Hugh’s name removed from the door. Tess is shown the CCTV video while being told that Khalil Ibraham (Mohammed Mansaray) is a junior member of the team so she would be his superior. While they can’t control what happens outside the workplace, they are concerned about what happens inside it. Maya suspects she has been drinking at work, but Tess says she drinks all night to ensure she can make it through the day. She is going to look into an occupational health referral and says they should develop a wellness action plan together. Tess alleges they hired Maya because she is going to tick all the boxes before joking about changing the UK’s attitude toward mental health.

Since Tess has been here before, Maya wants to find a way to change that. Otherwise, people won’t believe they’re a happy, healthy company that they should invest in. Tess argues there is nothing happy or healthy about Fly. Maya tries to get her to talk about it as we see a flashback of Tess at a party drinking with someone. Tess admits her friend died ten years ago today. She suspects everyone is aware that this is a difficult time for her, but they don’t care. She also thinks they would dance on her grave if she died today. Maya listens carefully as Tess confesses she has thought about killing herself and spill it out all over Sam’s desk. The only problem is that she wouldn’t be there to see Sam’s face when she found her. When Maya says she is just trying to make sure she doesn’t lose her job, Tess claims they’ll never get rid of her because she knows too much. Before she leaves, she makes a gun with her fingers and pretends to fire it at Maya. When Sam goes to lunch with Gareth, he says they should’ve invited Maya since it is her first day and she knows no one.

Sam says has two female friends, Beth and Carys. However, Carys only calls when she wants to snoop on her husband. Sam ignored her call yesterday because she doesn’t want to talk to a 1950s housewife she had nothing in common with. Vanessa approaches and finds out that her sexy husband is outside negotiating some international jockstrap deal. When Sam excuses herself, Vanessa tells Gareth that whatever is going on with him needs to stop. She encourages him to hire a hooker, take some Viagra, and get it out of his system because his wife is getting suspicious. In the bathroom, Maya tells Sam she gave Tess a warning and learns she is indeed an alcoholic. They’ve already tried getting her a shrink although it didn’t work.

Maya believes she needs professional help and that her predecessor didn’t handle it properly. In the present, Sam tells Eve there was no point in Tess going anywhere because she had been in and out of treatment for years. When she is accused of being responsible for Tess not getting help, Sam insists it was never black and white. As Sam goes to the bathroom, we see a flashback of her calling someone and telling them it has gone really wrong. She tells them she needs help. Duncan catches up with Maya to give her a gift basket that needs to be delivered to the family of Tess’s friend who died. He would do it, but he has an emergency dental visit right after work. He agrees to get Tess’s file for her. Outside, Gareth tells Sam they should go to Thailand together using his secret bank account for emergencies. She jokes that his emergencies would be his favorite pub closing or PornHub going down. When Gareth says Owen doesn’t run his life, Sam urges him to stand up to him occasionally.

She starts by saying he should’ve stopped Owen when he involved Maya in things that didn’t concern her. Gareth tells her to shut up before quickly apologizing and asking why she doesn’t take him seriously. Maya goes into Sam’s office, looks at a picture of her family, and knocks a bunch of envelopes to the ground. When she picks them up, she notices they’re all addressed to Hugh Evans (Rory Keenan). When Duncan delivers the file, Maya is busy trying to research Hugh. He reveals Tess flips out at this time of the year and nobody knows how her friend died. However, Amy Dixon (Amy Leeson) was a pill head so that might have something to do with it. Duncan suggests she was using drugs to forget she was in Cheshire which is a little town where everyone knows everything. Since there is nothing to do, Duncan usually stays in and watches television with his boyfriend. She is surprised that there is very little in Tess’s file. Next, Owen returns home where he finds Vanessa cooking and hanging out with his mother Anita (Alison Steadman).

Owen jokes they need to stop Danny from going to computer club since he shouldn’t be sitting on his butt all day with spotty boys. Anita says she will come to them since they won’t come to her. After Owen asks about her companion, she says Lydia is fine. She admits she is there to talk about the new HR girl although Owen isn’t eager to discuss that with her. He says it looks good to have Maya and Sam is handling everything perfectly. He promises to handle Khalil, but her mom says she is worried about someone else. Maya visits Rachel (Jennifer Hennessy) and Dave Dixon (Rick Warden) to give them the gift basket. They’re used to seeing the gay bloke and have never received an apology from Fly Dynamic even though it has been a decade. They also don’t understand why nobody from management came to the funeral or visited them. Although they felt that Amy didn’t matter, Maya suggests they weren’t trying to intrude on their grief. The parents claim their daughter changed when she started working there because she dumped her boyfriend, stays out all night, and smells of cigarettes and booze.

Rachel argues they should’ve never let girls that young go out with them or gave them drugs. While Maya claims she is there to support them, they don’t want help from Fly and force her to leave a short time later. Gemma (Megan Parkinson) finds her mother smoking a joint so she forces Sam to give her a puff. Sam says she didn’t take it from her daughter’s bag, but Beth did. Then, she reveals that the clinic called and said it would help to do a family session or a quick check-in although her daughter refuses. Sam keeps pushing until her daughter agrees to go if it is only her. At the police station, Sam is asked whether the deceased had any issues or personality conflicts at work. She tells Eve and Peter they’d have to ask HR whether there were any personality conflicts. Back in the past, Maya does yoga before looking at a picture of herself with her husband.

When she receives a visitor, her cat named Audrey runs out the door. She is surprised someone has sent her flowers since she just moved in. She immediately throws them away and begins looking for her cat when the neighbor comes over to introduce herself. Liz White (Kate Lamb) introduces herself and invites her over to their Cheese Club. Maya reluctantly agrees to go. Before long, Vanessa asks her whether she has children. Maya says she doesn’t and although they’re married, they’re separated. Vanessa recommends getting her eggs frozen before it is too late. They learn that she is Hugh’s replacement so they admit they were all sad when they heard Hugh got fired. They don’t want to say he was fired though. Audrey climbs on top of a car’s hood while Gareth refuses to let Carys pleasure him. She wonders if it is her weight, but he says they have a kid and he has a stressful job so he is just tired. She tries to get him to talk to her. He won’t.

Meanwhile, Vanessa tells her husband about meeting Hugh’s replacement earlier. She doesn’t think it was a good idea to hire someone who is going to ask questions. Tess has sex with Khalil again. She complains that he only wants to smoke weed and shag. He agrees to go to her cousin’s wedding for her. Khalil makes it clear this doesn’t mean they’re in a relationship and it won’t until they’re on the Gram. They laugh about that before we jump back over to Fly Dynamic. Maya visits Sam to say she has identified several areas for improvement with the main ones being hot topics like racism, sexism, and casual touching. She also has commissioned a Mr. Whippy van to be outside all day Friday so they can have fun on the first Friday of every month. She isn’t sure whether she should be impressed or ticked off. Then, Maya learns most people eat at their desks so they can leave an hour early. She believes the staff should spend time together to build relationships and trust.

Sam says they can start slow with Mr. Whippy and see where it goes from there. The conversation turns to Tess because Maya is worried she could harm herself. Maya is told to write a report and put it on Sam’s desk. Eve finds Peter discussing personal matters so she asks him about the preliminary forensics report. There was no DNA under the fingernails, no contusions, and no offensive or defensive injuries besides those caused by the fall. Eve asks if he was ever called out to an attempted suicide and explains she trained in negotiation and prevention when she first started. It was stressful so she prefers working on rapes and murders. She doesn’t think people just commit suicide. Instead, they build up courage and work their way up to doing it. She points out that there were no fingerprints on the balcony rail that the victim allegedly jumped from. We see a flashback to the party with Amy and Sam is there as well. Duncan catches up with Maya to say there is some hottie waiting for her at reception.

She tells him not to use terms like that because it is marginalizing. She is surprised to see her husband and gets anxious. He tells her she looks good and healthy since she was too thin before. She threatens to file for a restraining order although he isn’t worried. Duncan returns with a drink for Maya as her husband, Luke (Tom Forbes), tells her how much he loved and looked after her. Sam watches as Maya panics, drops the cup, and rushes off. She enters an office to leave paperwork. Owen is in there so he checks on her and asks her to sit down. She quickly chugs the alcohol he gives her although she doesn’t think Owen’s dad approves. He admits his father didn’t approve of much. He’d be horrified to know how much money they made from their sweat-wicking yoga pants made from recycled ocean plastic. She says he shouldn’t diss the yoga pants because she has 10 pairs. Maya says the job is challenging while he promises they’re a warm and fuzzy bunch beneath it all.

As they finish drinking and chatting, Sam watches as Owen jokes with Maya and throws the bottle away. Back in the present, Sam is asked if it is normal to drink, do drugs, and have sex in the workplace. Sam reminds her she is there voluntarily so she doesn’t want to be dicked around. She also thinks it is irrelevant, but Eve isn’t sure about that. DS Peter Alan doesn’t think Sam knows anything, but DI Eve Preston suggests otherwise. While at home, Maya puts out food in hopes of convincing Audrey to come back. Liz approaches her to tell her that her friend took the spares from the plant pot, but Maya rushes back inside before she can hear it. Audrey comes back later. Tess goes out for a drink and food while looking at her phone which shows a picture of herself with Khalil. Sam arrives at work and notices that Friday’s Mr. Whippy visit has been successful. Inside, Tess approaches Khalil and asks if his message means their official now.

He makes it clear he isn’t interested in a relationship because he needs to put his energy into his work right now. She knocks his ice cream into his shirt before attacking him. Sam rushes out and tries to get involved, but Gareth tells Tess to go with Maya. Once she enters Maya’s office, she goes on a rant about this being who she is and living like she is still 15. Maya wants her to see her GP about her alcohol intake and underlying conditions. Tess blames work for it since she didn’t drink until she started here. She claims you had to do all these things like the boys to fit in and get ahead, including smoke, snorting, and blowing. Maya wants to help because she knows what it is like when nobody backs you up. She says she lost her virginity in this office as we see a flashback of it. Maya asks who it was with although Tess won’t say. A flashback shows it was likely Hugh Evans.

Maya finds Sam outside and asks her about Hugh being fired even though Sam says he left. Maya refuses to believe it since he is still being paid by Fly. Sam puts her cigarette out in the ice cream and hands it to Maya before walking away without saying anything. After that, Maya visits Hugh at home and introduces herself as his replacement. He doesn’t want to talk until Maya asks about Tess. She asks if he assaulted Tess. He tells her to forget about him and Tess because he is just the tip of the iceberg. Instead, she should ask about Amy. When she leaves, she finds that her vehicle has been scratched several times. Once Sam arrives at home, she tries to get the kids to have a pizza and movie night with her. She receives a call and tells them next Tuesday should be fine because she’ll make sure everyone is there this time. Then, she scolds Gemma for not going to counseling like she promised. Gemma says she forgot just like Sam forgot who her biological father is.

Sam throws down her credit card and tells them to order their own pizza before leaving. She goes to work and finds Gareth there too because he isn’t getting along with his wife. He receives Maya’s report which contains a section about Pajama Friday. Sam admits this is feeling like a witch hunt so she already shredded Hugh’s file after he left. Although it has been 10 years, she can’t stop thinking about Amy. When Gareth asks her not to think about that, Sam wonders if they’re the witches. He begins touching her chest and won’t stop until Sam pushes him away. Then, he places his hand around her throat and she slaps him across the face. She takes his hand and places it back on her neck as they begin kissing and likely having sex. At home, Carys guesses her husband’s password. She checks his browsing history and finds that he has been watching pornographic choking videos.

Sam is shown walking to work in her pajamas as she watches Gareth leave after they’ve finished having sex. At the police station, she is shown the note which says, “Now I am become Death the destroyer of worlds”. She gets tired of being there, but Eve tries to keep her around a bit longer. Peter arrives with an envelope which he gives to Eve. A picture of Amy is placed on the table as Eve asks more about her. We see a flashback of the night of Amy’s likely death. A flashback shows that Eve found her body as well.

 

Rules Of The Game Review

Oh boy. When I saw that Maxine Peake was in Rules of the Game, I suspected it would be at least fairly entertaining. I’ve also enjoyed Ben Batt and Kieran Bew from time to time, but I doubt anyone can save this bloated mess. While I am sure Fowler has an interesting story to tell or many interesting stories to tell, this isn’t it. Where do I even start here? Watching the show was dreadful enough, but recapping it was absolutely grueling because it is so painfully slow and uneventful.

The setting, cast, and dynamics of the show are like something out of a fantasy land since they’re so farfetched. There is nothing innovative or new here because it is the same rehashed cliches. The music just didn’t fit the narrative either. The whole thing is silly considering the new HR person is running around like a detective and the COO is being interrogated like an accused murderer.

Sadly, the show is just ticking boxes with casting choices without telling a worthwhile story or staffing the series with competent, believable performers. Catering to those types of ideologies doesn’t always make a show good or even better for that matter and often has the opposite effect. I’d be surprised if viewers can force themselves to consume all four episodes. I won’t make it through it unless there is a demand for recaps.

The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Rules Of The Game can be found on Reel Mockery here. Enjoy what we do here at Reel Mockery? Learn how to support our project here.