Why Are You Lying? – As the fifth episode of The Midwich Cuckoos begins, Zoe Moran (Aisling Loftus) writes about being an alien mommy. It is like living under occupation, but the prison guards are children. Jodie (Lara Rossi) and Paul (Max Beesley) have been in bed together. Zoe writes that they’ve been too frightened to admit the truth and what might happen if they speak up. She won’t stay quiet anymore because she wants the world to know what is happening in Midwich. Hannah (Scarlett Leigh) enters to ask what her mother is writing. Zoe says nothing before they hug. In the morning, Sam (Ukweli Roach) learns that Zoe has finished with the writing. He questions whether it is going to work, but Zoe insists it has to work. Dr. Susannah Zellaby (Keeley Hawes) sits at home alone while looking at items from her past. Zoe prints off the manuscript twice and puts each into a separate folder.

She hides one in her room above a cabinet. During a meeting, Geraldine asks Rachel (Hannah Tointon) whether there is anything she wants to share with the group. Rachel says Joe has made an effort with his brother since that incident so everything has been much better. Mary-Ann and Sarah agree that they all have made more of an effort. As for Curtis (Lewis Reeves), he is still behaving the same. Rachel knows there will always be bumps in the road so you have to stay strong. Zoe approaches Bryony (Cherrelle Skeete) admits she is trouble and gives her one of the envelopes. Cassie (Synnove Karlsen) doesn’t want to share anything with the group. Mary-Ann believes she just needs some time. Bernard (Samuel West) tells Paul and Bryony that Amrita was three times over the driving limit.

It is believed she dropped the kid off before going back to the motel to empty the minibar. She tried to drive off in a stupor and ended up in the wrong vehicle. Bryony confirms there hasn’t been another incident since that day. Bernard wants to keep Susannah’s active imagination out of things for now. In private, Bernard asks Bryony what is wrong with Paul and whether it is personal issues. She shows him the manuscript that Zoe gave her. She is threatening to publish it unless they meet with her. Susannah tries to call her daughter who doesn’t answer. Cassie talks to Evie (Billie Gadsdon) about her day and how Sam is such a bad singer. Evie says they have to go this way because they’re in the new house now. She likes it so much more there. When Paul gets home, he learns that Nathan (Jude Ible Thompson) is sulking because he doesn’t like his mom’s nose ring.

Jodie says he doesn’t get a choice in her wardrobe so he’ll have to get used to it. When she walks away, Nathan makes it clear that he won’t get used to it. Susannah gets an email from “Earth Monitor” telling her not to give up or they’ll hurt someone. When she clicks the link, she sees the word NORDOSK. Jodie tells Paul that he is finally asleep. She wonders when they should tell him although he’ll likely sense it anyway. He asks if they can wait a while. After he asks why she put the ring back in, Jodie says she might want Paul to know who he is kissing. In the morning, Zoe gets a message confirming they want to meet. Sam leaves with Hannah moments later. Zoe runs into Sarah who reminds her that she never comes to the meetings anymore. Sarah believes it would help with whatever is worrying her. When Paul hears Jodie screaming from inside, he runs up to see what is going on.

She claims Nathan made her pull out the nose ring. Once he confronts Nathan, the boy says he just made her mommy again like Paul wants. Nathan hugs him, but Paul grabs him and forcibly puts him back on the bed. Then, he runs over to Jodie, hugs her, and says it is what he wants. Zoe meets with Bernard and Bryony to tell them that she wants to leave. Although the children will let her leave, they won’t leave Sam leave. Zoe believes they can leave if they stop the kids from coming after them. Hannah can live with someone to help her forget them. Bernard reminds her that she signed the Official Secrets Act. She warns them that she has another copy of what she wrote in case she needs it, but she’ll destroy everything if they help her.

She promises that they’ll never hear from either of them ever again. Paul visits Susannah so they can talk about Amrita who is dead. Paul tells her how Amrita’s body was found and insists he needs her help. He didn’t say anything because he had orders from above and they’re trying to make it look like a suicide. When he claims it isn’t a suicide, Susannah immediately suspects that Nathan might’ve done something. She reveals she told Amrita she’d be safe here. Paul argues it isn’t her fault, but he’d like to know if there is anything she knows. As Sam walks with the kids, he talks to them about who decided plants would make the air people breathe. The kids think it was the plants’ idea so they wouldn’t kill them. Sam gets a message from Zoe who says they’ve agreed for it to happen tomorrow. Sam tells the kids not to touch these berries because they’re very poisonous.

Zoe walks by Mary-Ann who is busy selling a home before suspecting she might be pregnant again. Susannah plays the recording for Paul in which Nathan tells her it was Amrita’s fault. Then, the recording changes and they can’t find out what he is saying. She shows him the NORDOSK thing that someone sent her yesterday. Although she searched for it, nothing came up. She can’t imagine who would send her that. Paul asks if he can take the recording while promising that she can trust him. She agrees to let him take it. Susannah confesses that she hid that from Cassie for all these years when she shouldn’t have. Paul encourages Susannah to talk to her daughter about it. He takes the recording to Steve to get the audio cleaned up. When Hannah returns home, she tells her mother about the picnic tomorrow. Zoe uses a pregnancy test in the bathroom.

Paul and Steve find out that the kids are chanting “Pojalista”. Steve suspects it is Russian. They also hear one of the kids say NORDOSK. Zoe plans the departure with Sam. She says he’ll take Hannah to the picnic and step away when she texts him. She doesn’t think the children will know as long as he leaves when she tells him to. Zoe warns him that he can’t say anything to Hannah and no goodbyes. Jane (Marianne Oldham) and Rachel talk about the upcoming picnic before Jane admits she doesn’t know how Rachel copes with Curtis. It isn’t right how he treats her, but Rachel suggests that is how it is when you love someone. Jane doesn’t remember since she hasn’t had a partner since this started. Bernard stands nearby watching the kids on the swings. The kids turn around to stare at him.

Jodie pleads with Paul to come home early because she doesn’t want to be alone with Nathan. Joe (Jimmy Bone) listens to Curtis and Rachel argue about the picnic and seems to notice Zoe hiding her writing in the bedroom. Hannah and Sam prepare for the picnic while Zoe tells her daughter that she won’t be coming since she doesn’t feel good. Hannah and Joe seem to communicate before she yells that she is going to get her bag. She goes into the bedroom where Zoe hid the manuscript. Cassie calls Ryan to say he was supposed to come yesterday. Now, she has run out and she really needs it. Evie shouts that there are no clean plates. When Cassie tells her it’ll be a minute, Evie tells her to come now. Cassie believes her friend is outside, but it turns out to be her mother. Susannah asks who hurt her. Cassie won’t say and insists she needs to go when Nora arrives with her daughter.

She agrees to send Evie with Nora so she can talk to her mother. As Sam walks with Hannah, the girl suggests there is something he isn’t telling her. She goes on to call him a bad liar. Paul asks Carol (Caroline Ginty) to not let Bryony know he is there. Susannah tries to find out why Evie hurt Cassie who claims she didn’t. Sam and Hannah make it to the picnic while Cassie asks her mother not to sound like a doctor for a change. At the picnic, the kids begin staring at Sam. He sends a text to Zoe telling her he thinks they know they’re leaving. Susannah confesses to lying to Cassie before admitting she should’ve told her about the trouble she had. Cassie wonders if her mother didn’t want her to feel unloved.

Susannah knew within weeks of having her daughter that something was wrong and she was working too hard. Since her dad had left and Susannah’s mother was impossible, there was no one left to help. She became scared of her daughter and herself. She feared what she might do so she gave Cassie up for a year to foster parents. Although they had the option of adopting, Susannah got help, started feeling much better, and missed her daughter. She didn’t tell her because she was ashamed. If she was unwell then, Susannah swears she isn’t now. Susannah is convinced that something is really wrong. Zoe texts Sam to tell him to come now. Sunny asks Sarah if they can go for a walk in the woods. She gives them permission to do so. Sam makes an excuse to leave while the others blame Zoe for his troubles. Susannah tells Cassie that the children are controlling her.

When you turn against them, they react. Susannah argues that this isn’t normal. She claims the children had something to do with Amrita being dead. Although Cassie doesn’t want to believe it, her mother suggests the children could hurt someone else soon. She thinks she can change the children if she can understand why. She has to help Susannah make the children listen. Once it begins raining, the mothers have to find the kids and end the picnic. When Bryony leaves, Paul sneaks into her office and finds something that interests him in the filing cabinet. Sam runs back to the house where Zoe argues this is their only chance and they need to go now. She reveals that she is pregnant and it is his this time. While walking with Nathan, Jodie calls Paul to see if he is coming home because she really needs him. Nathan apologizes for hurting her earlier. They call each other beautiful and hug.

Paul finds information about NORDOSK in the USSR and how it lost its population. Zoe finds out that her manuscript is missing. Evie gets mad when she learns that granny visited her mother. When Susannah approaches, Evie claims she wants to get in the way again, but she can’t stop it. It is too late. While rushing to pack their stuff, Sam sees someone moving around outside. Zoe yells for him to come here. He steps outside to look in the shed instead. When he turns around, Joe is standing in front of him. Joe makes him get the weed killer from the shed and point it toward his face. Sam pleads with him to stop. Zoe searches for Sam. She screams when she finds someone else in the house. Susannah asks Evie if she is planning on hurting someone. Evie says it is the one who doesn’t love them. She goes on to say Zoe is trying to take Hannah’s daddy away so she has to be stopped.

Cassie rushes out once they learn that this is happening now while Susannah tries to get Evie to tell her about Nordosk. Bryony walks in on Paul who wants to know more about this. He complains that she lied to him about the group of children that came to Russia in 1973. He accuses her of killing that woman, getting him to cover up for it, and discrediting Susannah. Bryony admits she played him because she didn’t have a choice before Paul gets a call. He tells Bryony that Cassie believes Zoe is in danger. The children know that Zoe is trying to leave and they’re going to stop her. He asks her to call Bernard to tell him that he wants to know everything. Susannah asks about Nordosk being a place they were at before. Evie admits they thought they would be welcome, but they weren’t. She explains that Susannah killed them in the cold.

Hannah forces Zoe to admit that she was going to leave and take daddy and the baby with her. As Paul calls Zoe, Hannah tells her that cannot happen. Jodie gives Nathan permission to go to bed since he is still full from the picnic. Instead of going upstairs, he walks out of the house. Evie says they picked their world as their home and wanted to be human like them, but she didn’t want us here. Susannah thought they were a danger. She asks Evie to show her how she killed them. Evie explains that she locked them in the school room, everyone left the town, and the planes came. Hannah tries to force her mother to eat the poisonous berries.

Paul arrives and sees what is going on through the window. He tries to throw a plant through the window, but Nathan stops him and tells him he shouldn’t be here. Nathan knocks him out and leaves him on the ground. Evie tells Susannah that they burned alive. Susannah tricked them and they’re not going to let that happen this time. They’re stronger and will defend themselves this time. Susannah promises they don’t want to do that to them. They love them and do not think they’re bad. They can live here with them unless they hurt Zoe. Evie asks if they’ll love them if they agree. Susannah says yes. If anything goes wrong, Susannah will bear the blame. Zoe doesn’t eat the poison, Paul wakes up, and Sam is okay when he leaves the shed. Sam goes inside where Hannah tells him that she is going to have a little sister. Evie tells Susannah that a promise is forever.

 

The Midwich Cuckoos Review

Despite a lot of hiccups, The Midwich Cuckoos has some solid moments, especially some of the acting from the main characters. The show would’ve clearly been more impactful had it only been four or five episodes. Again, they’re going over the same issues in each episode. It is funny that the adults still believe the children aren’t going to find out what they’re doing behind their backs.

While the children perform well, they’re far from being creepy because some of their violent actions are more comedic than they are frightening. I was more interested in finding out what Susannah was hiding in her past, but that turned out to be fairly tame. Ultimately, it just feels like The Midwich Cuckoos could be a lot better, creepier, and more memorable.

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