The Hive – As the third episode of The Midwich Cuckoos begins, Zoe Moran (Aisling Loftus) writes that they lived a secret life for two years after the births. They told no one what they were going through and their worlds became smaller. Their worlds became Midwich. They got used to the rules and realized their children were special. While their kids weren’t normal for their age, they loved them anyway. They told themselves everything was okay and they were happy until everything changed one morning. Hannah, Sunny, and the other kids place their hands against the glass of the window as Sunny says, “I’m coming”. After the intro, Paul Haynes (Max Beesley) plays hide and seek with the kids. He finds Jodie Blake (Lara Rossi) hiding in the closet with Nathan.

While Bryony (Cherrelle Skeete) watches from elsewhere, Jane Colter (Marianne Oldham) walks the children through the school to help them get ready for the start next week. Susannah (Keeley Hawes) and Cassie (Synnove Karlsen) arrive with Evie who says she likes it. The school is designed to specially cater to the children and their desire to take a nap in the middle of the day. Nathan looks at the pictures on the dresser. They learn that the place was used by the children who were evacuated from Birmingham during the war. You can still see the air raid shelters under the school. They go to the main hall so the kids can get their uniforms. Amrita (Anneika Rose) takes her daughter to the McLean house where they briefly talk to Charlotte (Amelie Bea Smith).

When Stewart (Mark Dexter) comes outside, Amrita claims her daughter, Sunny, made her come. Susannah talks to Zoe who claims Sam (Ukweli Roach) loved giving the tour and being the center of attention. Zoe thanks her because she really struggled at first while Susannah suggests this was a needed gift for Cassie. She was a natural. Zoe had to work a bit harder, but Hannah is all she wants now. When the lights flicker, all the kids approach the window. Paul isn’t sure it was just the light bulbs while Bryony’s screens mess up too. All the kids walk outside as Sunny and Charlotte approach them. Nobody knows who Sunny is. Charlotte tells her mom Sarah (Amy Cudden) that a woman came in a car and it is her little girl. She says daddy wanted to talk to the woman alone.

Sarah takes her away. Paul calls the office to tell them something is going on down here. When the dog barks and approaches the kids, it is stopped before it can get too close. The kids seem to control it using telepathy. Zoe watches as Jane rushes outside to calm Tilly. The kids don’t like it when Zoe tells Hannah she doesn’t know this girl before dragging her away. Susannah goes to the McLean residence to talk to Amrita and to return her daughter. Susannah asks Amrita whether she was there in Midwich on the night of the blackout. Paul tells Bryony that Susannah is with the other. He is told they’re getting the paperwork sorted out so they can’t let her leave. Bryony knows she worked as a consultant on Stewart’s council campaign. At home, Sam and Zoe try to find out how their daughter knew that girl, but Hannah says they always knew her.

Amrita tells Susannah she didn’t want to have the baby in the first place. Although she went to the clinic, she couldn’t do it. Stewart agreed to give her money to allow her to bring the girl up on her own. She is glad she kept Sunny who has never been any trouble. While the girl is growing quicker than normal, Amrita took her to two doctors who said everything was normal. Cassie notices that the girls freak out when a plane flies overhead. Paul tells Amrita they want her to stay in Midwich for a while because they want to run tests on Sunny. Susannah insists this is a carefully guarded secret, but Amrita isn’t going to cooperate. Sunny tells her mother that she wants to stay here and see the others. When Susannah asks which others she is talking about, Sunny mentions Hannah, Joe, Connor, Lily-Grace, Mason, Ezra, and the other kids.

Susannah tests the kids by asking Evie to choose one of the pictures on the computer screen. Then, the others are asked to pick the same picture. They do successfully. Sunny is asked to pick a different picture. Bryony is surprised when the kids pick Sunny’s picture too. Rachel (Hannah Tointon) asks Jodie why they’re there since nobody is telling them anything. Jane talks to Mary-Ann (Rebekah Staton) about Stewart’s affair and Sarah possibly kicking him out. Zoe sneaks outside. She watches Bryony talking to Amrita through the window. After that, she sneaks inside to ask Amrita if she is the mother of the kid from the cricket pitch. Amrita doesn’t like being called a blackout mom. She would prefer to leave but admits they’re not letting her go. Zoe tells her that this place is called Ward 300 and it is used to test the children while monitoring their development.

Amrita always knew her daughter was different because she had a hold over her. It was like a spell that made her feel like she only needed her daughter. Zoe confirms they’re paying everyone and monitoring them all the time. None of them have left Midwich since the children were born while Zoe has given up work and old friends. Family visits are kept to a minimum. Although they pretend like it is a choice, Zoe admits it isn’t. Amrita gets closer so nobody can hear them and says a man came to the house once. He said he was a doctor even though she didn’t believe it. The man spoke to Sunny for an hour before he left. Amrita wonders why they wouldn’t say something if they knew about her all this time. They quickly exchange numbers. Zoe tells Amrita she should go while she can if she wants to leave.

Once Zoe leaves, she hears Susannah say once one child learns something they all know it. It is a hive mind meaning the knowledge transmits without the need for language or expression. They didn’t know because it didn’t happen before or the kids hid it. Moments later, Susannah returns to the parents to tell them their children are coming. Jodie asks Paul how her son did. Paul says bloody brilliant while Nathan says he got them all right. Susannah tells her daughter she has to go back to check on the new mother. Cassie asks what is going on. Susannah admits they’re not sure yet although it seems like some type of subliminal communication between the children. Susannah asks her daughter to keep that to herself for the time being. Someone finds something in the water. Zoe takes Hannah out as they watch Tilly’s body being pulled out of the water.

At home, Cassie asks why Evie is wearing that jacket when they don’t start school for another week. Evie says she wants to wear it. Cassie tells her daughter that her drawing is pretty. She asks Cassie whether granny told her about them. Evie explains that she just hears her friends’ thoughts. Cassie insists it doesn’t scare her. She loves Evie more than ever. When Cassie walks away, we see that the picture is that of the dog in the water. While looking through the results, Paul remembers what Susannah said about them having a hive mind. Bryony interrupts to say she is going to see Westcott before asking him to arrange a meeting for Monday. Paul admits he is fond of the boy. Bryony asks about the mother and says it is okay because she isn’t judging him. Before Bryony leaves, she is shown a video of Amrita and Zoe talking.

Zoe tells Sam about the dog. Although he says it could’ve been an accident, Zoe says he wasn’t there and didn’t see her face. She tells him what she heard them talking about the hive mind. Zoe questions why they ever agreed to this, but Sam tells her to calm down because their daughter is an amazing kid. After Zoe leaves, Hannah claims her mother doesn’t love her anymore. Sam quickly tries to convince her otherwise. Hannah thinks only Sam loves her now. Later, Susannah apologizes for keeping Amrita in the hotel although it’ll be a few more days. Susannah goes with them because she has been ordered to make sure they’re okay. Nathan asks Paul if they can play hide and seek. Jodie recommends playing with Lily when she comes over.

Nathan claims that doesn’t work because Lily will know where he is hiding. Once Jodie questions what he means, Nathan tells Paul that he should explain it to her. While Zoe cooks inside, Curtis (Lewis Reeves) talks to Sam outside about the new girl. He calls them amateurs for not knowing about her. Sam asks about the development with the children although Curtis isn’t sure that has anything to do with them. Curtis says he’d kill and die for his son, but the other one is just 30 grand tax-free a year from the government. He is only here until the money runs out. Hannah comes down and tells her mother that they didn’t hurt the dog. She seems to control her mother who places her hand over the hot cooker until Hannah stops. She again denies that they hurt the dog. Sam rushes to help Zoe while telling Hannah that she just hurt herself.

Susannah tells Amrita she knows this is difficult, but she should’ve been a part of this a long time ago. Amrita is scared. Susannah says they all are and that is why she needs to give them a little more time. Amrita agrees to trust her. When they go inside the hotel, Sarah stops them to say she wants answers from Amrita. Susannah agrees to take Sunny while Amrita talks to Sarah who has a right to know. Sunny watches her mother as Susannah gets them a drink. When Susannah asks her how long she has known the other children, Sunny says since always. She didn’t need to come back to be with them before, but she does now. Amrita gets loud as she says it was three years and was a stupid fling. Although Stewart knew she was pregnant, he didn’t care about her or the baby. Amrita argues it wasn’t her choice to be here. When Susannah gets up to approach, Sunny leaves the room.

Amrita begins looking for her daughter who comes back in to hurt Sarah. Sunny says mommy while hugging her. Amrita rushes in and yanks her daughter away from Sarah. Meanwhile, Jodie asks Paul when he was going to tell her about the kids. Paul explains that they were going to tell everyone on Monday, but Jodie thought she was different than everyone else. Paul has a lot going on at the moment so he could do without this. Jodie tells him that she didn’t have to live here because the government would’ve paid her rent, but she knew how much Nathan meant to him. She argues they’re going to have a problem if he can’t trust her. Paul insists he trusts her although there will always be things he can’t tell her. When she suggests he would’ve told Deborah, Paul tells her not to go there. Jodie threatens to call Mary-Ann in the morning to see if she has any decent apartments available.

Once Nathan walks in, Jodie pretends they weren’t fighting. Nathan tells them he has been looking at pictures of mommy and daddy. Susannah finds Nora (India Amarteifio) and Cassie conducting an experiment on Olive and Evie. In private, Susannah reminds Cassie that they agreed not to say anything. Cassie says they didn’t because Evie told her. Since they always knew they were special, Cassie doesn’t think it has to be a dirty secret. Susannah gets a message from Zoe who wants to visit. Zoe arrives and goes into Susannah’s office since the kids are sleeping upstairs. She knows it sounds crazy, but Zoe believes Hannah made her hold her hand over a pan of boiling water. She thinks Hannah sees her as a threat. Amrita wakes up Sunny to take her home. Evie wakes up. Zoe explains it feels like her daughter has been lying to them all this time.

Now that this other child arrived, everything has changed and Amrita sensed it too. Zoe doesn’t trust any of them, especially after learning they have a hive mind. Susannah says there have been no incidents in two years. Zoe thinks she doesn’t believe it like Sam doesn’t. She gets mad and leaves in a hurry. As Amrita leads her daughter through the hotel, she calls Zoe to tell her what she is doing. The lights and television flicker at Susannah’s home. Evie looks out the window while Sam irons his clothes. Paul finds Nathan standing outside looking into the distance. Susannah checks the bedroom where she finds Olive and Evie staring out of the window.

Sunny stops in the parking garage and refuses to get into the car with her mother. Amrita tells her to get in the car as the car alarms turn on around them. Once Zoe makes it home, Bryony is there to ask her about being in the restricted area earlier. She claims she got lost and spoke to the new mother because she wanted to be friendly. Bryony asks if Amrita said anything they should know about, but Zoe says she did not. Zoe is instructed not to do it again. Once again, she tells Sam she didn’t tell him because he didn’t want to know. Susannah goes to Sarah’s place later because Sunny showed up and said her mother just dropped her off. They go inside where Susannah learns Sunny hadn’t been fed and Amrita isn’t answering her phone. Susannah wants to take her to Ward 300, but Sunny wants to stay here where she began.

Paul calls Susannah to tell her there is something she needs to see right now. They go to the parking garage together and find the doors to Amrita’s car still open. Zoe gets Amrita’s message about leaving town. She checks on Hannah who puts her finger over her mouth and shushes her.

 

The Midwich Cuckoos Review

While the underlying story of The Midwich Cuckoos is gripping, the show hasn’t managed to hit its stride so far. It still feels like it is just going through the motions without being able to reproduce the creepiness of the novel or movie. One issue could be the bloated cast. There are so many kids and parents with all of them competing for the same screen time.

It is also odd that Cassie would call her daughter’s drawing of a dead dog pretty or beautiful. Truthfully, The Midwich Cuckoos could’ve been condensed to four or five episodes and it would’ve been far more impactful for it. The runtime is too long meaning there is a lot more filler that adds to nothing. The writers haven’t been able to capture the creepiness of the story so far although that may change in future episodes.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Midwich Cuckoos can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.