As the first episode of The Pact begins, we see Anna (Laura Fraser) running through the woods with sirens and flashlights in the distance. She trips and falls to the ground busting her nose. After the intro, she drives to Evan’s Brewery and goes inside where the others wish her luck and tell her to knock him dead. Nancy (Julie Hesmondhalgh) fixes her outfit and confirms she looks great. Anna approaches Jack Evans (Aneurin Barnard) and reminds him that her interview is at nine. As they walk along, Anna explains that the supervisor job is something she is passionate about and she knows she can do more. She tells him about raising two kids and helping her husband through a career change. She wants something for herself and she believes she can make the workplace happier and more productive.

Anna tries to tell Jack how things have changed since he took over before he reminds her that he isn’t his father. They step outside and Jack signs for a fancy car. Anna approaches and suggests there is a divide between Jack and the workers but she can fix it. He asks her about the new suit before encouraging her to never pretend to be something you’re not. After the interview ends, Anna tells Nancy about it and admits she spent three hours rehearsing for the interview. She says he can shove his party because she isn’t going. Anna and Nancy join Cat (Heledd Gwynn) and the others. Nancy says it is going to be nice to see Arwel (Eddie Marsan) tonight. Tish (Abbie Hern) interrupts wearing a red dress and explains that she has an interview for the supervisor job.

She apologizes to Anna who says it is fine before wishing her good luck. When Tish steps away, Cat says she is two-faced but Anna encourages her not to be like that. When Anna returns home, she ignores her husband who asks about the interview. She is asked what she would do if Tamsin (Gabrielle Creevy) or Ryan (Aled ap Steffan) had messed up an interview. She claims she would have sent them to bed without dinner. He suggests otherwise and says Anna would tell them that there will be other interviews and other opportunities. She isn’t sure since half of the country is bankrupt but he believes it’ll get better. During the party, Cat tells everyone that Jack is charging employees for drinks. When Tish enters, she ignores the women and Nancy says she is dressed like a Love Island reject.

Anna approaches her and asks how the interview went. Tish says she thinks it went okay before apologizing for not saying anything but Anna says it is okay. Tish says he’ll likely give it to Anna since she has been with the company way longer. Then, she agrees to buy them a round and the drinking continues. Jack interrupts and introduces everyone to the new supervisor Mandy (Sophie Melville). Nancy isn’t impressed and calls her COVID Mandy since she is only good at infecting people. Jack jokes about getting rid of deadwood. He dances with Mandy and cops a feel of her backside. Once outside, Anna stews on everything that has happened and contemplates keying Jack’s new sports car. She scraps both sides and leaves. Tish hides in the bathroom and only leaves when Cat offers to buy her a drink. Moments later, Arwel arrives outside.

Jack calls him and reminds him that he told him to stay away but Arwel says people are expecting him. He asks what he should tell Louie (Eiry Thomas) while Jack threatens to make a scene. Jack says it is his business now and the least Arwel owes him. Arwel tells the driver to take him back to the house. Jack goes to the bathroom to snort drugs before Louie enters and confronts him about using cocaine. They argue about Jack’s behavior and what Arwel would think. Jack says it is his business now but Louie says it won’t be a business much longer. When she wonders where Arwel is, Jack questions whether she is going to tell tales. Louie says she covered for him once and won’t do it again. Jack calls her a train wreck and says that is why she didn’t get the business. Jack gets angry with her and rips the jewelry from her neck.

He goes on to say that he doesn’t want her in the brewery anymore and fires her. Meanwhile, the others dance and drink. Louie returns and lies to Anna about her necklace. Mandy interrupts and asks if anyone has seen Jack. Louie and Mandy poke fun at one another before Anna calms Louie. Once Mandy is gone, Louie admits she thinks Jack fired her. Cat can’t believe that is possible since her dad owned this place and suggests telling Arwel. Louie doesn’t think it’ll help since Arwel is no longer in charge. She orders another drink. Jack watches as Tish gets a phone call and struggles to hear the caller. Anna and the girls finally leave the party. They hear Tish telling Jack to get off of her and stay away. She pushes him away from her.

Tish says she told him she didn’t want to so Louie smacks him across the face. She warns him to never touch a woman like that but Jack only laughs. Jack falls to the ground and struggles to get up so Cat believes he is helpless and anything could happen. When Nancy joins them, she finds that they’re going to put Jack into the trunk of the vehicle. It was Cat’s idea and she wants to take him somewhere and snap compromising pictures of him. They believe they can use the pictures to get rid of Jack and convince Arwel to come back, but Nancy doesn’t like the idea. They take Jake out into the woods and lead him deeper as he tells them to take him back to the party. Cat begins stripping him but Louie doesn’t think they should remove his boxers. Cat relents and takes picture of him with his pants down but boxers still on. Then, they discuss taking him back or making him walk back.

When Nancy says she needs to wee, Anna follows her and that leaves Jack alone. While Nancy uses the bathroom, Anna tells the others that they shouldn’t leave him. Cat doesn’t want to go back because there might be wolves down there. Nancy joins them and they leave in her vehicle. Cat and Louie are dropped off first. Louie tells her she likes living there which is why she isn’t living with Arwel in his mansion. Cat enters her house and we see lots of odd drawings on the walls. Nancy stops the car and Anna says they can’t just leave him out there. They go back and find Jack still in the same spot. They believe they’ll have to carry him since he is sleeping. When Anna gets a closer look, she confirms that Jack is dead and immediately tries to call an ambulance. She can’t get a signal so they have to walk back.

Anna thinks they should call the police and claim it was an accident. Nancy is worried that they won’t believe them, but Anna thinks they will since they’re not murderers. Anna gets upset and tells her to get into the car but Nancy wants to think about it first. Nancy says they should get the others before deciding what to do. She reminds Anna that Cat is still on parole and could go back inside because of this. Nancy goes on and on until Anna realizes it could be manslaughter. They pick up Cat and she tries to find out what happened. They get Louie and convince her to join them. They all get into the vehicle and Anna tells them that Jack is dead. They don’t want to believe it. Louie demands to be taken to the woods so she can see her nephew. They go there and Jack’s body is still in the same spot. They wonder whether it was a heart attack or an overdose.

Again, Anna wants to call the police but Nancy suggests that wouldn’t be a good idea. Cat tries to stage the body before Louie tosses her to the side and fixes his tie. Then, Nancy says it impacts all of them so they need to decide what to do as a group. They leave and go to a place where they can discuss their next move. Cat doesn’t want to go back to prison and they would prefer Max not to lose his job. Louie is worried about leaving Jack on his own but they remind her that he is gone. Anna freaks out when she gets home and Cat begins deleting the photos from her phone. Nancy takes care of Louie. Richard (Adrian Edmondson) scares Nancy so she tells him that Louie had too much to drink and needs to be alone. When she goes to her bedroom, Nancy drops down and prays. Anna gets into bed and says nothing. She has a nightmare and images that Jack woke up.

She wakes her husband and tells him to go back to sleep. The next day, Nancy says they need to go to work to make everything look normal. Louie wonders when he’ll be found before Richard enters and says he’ll be starting late. A man with a dog finds Jack’s body in the woods. Anna sits with her son while looking for news stories about Jack’s disappearance. She learns that he changed his mind about what he wanted to do the night before. When Anna’s husband Max enters, we see that he is a police officer. Before Max (Jason Hughes) leaves, Anna recommends that he get some breakfast. Anna says she is a bit hungover but she can’t let the girls down and will go to work anyway. When she arrives at work, she spots Jack’s new car out front.

The others arrive. They try to pull themselves together before heading inside. Cat checks on Tish who says she is okay. They learn that the orders won’t stop rolling in so Jack must’ve charmed a lot of people last night. Jack’s body is taken away by authorities and Max helps guard the scene. DS Holland (Rakie Ayola) approaches and learns that Max’s wife works at the brewery. Max isn’t sure whether he was a drug user though. They’re not sure if it was an overdose and Max doesn’t understand why he’d leave the party and come out there. She asks Max how he’d feel about stepping up since Lawson has gone north and they’re searching for a new DS. He thanks her and says he won’t let them down. During lunch, Anna says it isn’t too late to go to the police. Cat gets sick when the manager gets a call and they believe something is happening.

Tish checks with them to see if Cat is okay while Anna comforts her in the bathroom. Mandy enters and asks about her purse from last night. Arwel shows up moments later and Louie asks him where he was last night. Arwel claims that his flight was delayed. He talks to his sister alone and breaks the news. Then, he steps into the room with all of the employees and tells them about his son’s demise. They decide to close the brewery out of respect for Jack. When asked, Anna agrees to help. Mandy asks what is going to happen with her promotion. They put her in her place before she calls them hypocrites. Then, Cat asks Tish if she told anyone what happened in the car park. She says she hasn’t so Cat tells her not to tell. They all meet outside and Cat confirms she deleted the photos on her phone. Nancy says they should talk in person and not text or email.

She wants Anna to get answers from Max without being suspicious. Cat accuses Nancy of enjoying this but she denies it. They don’t think the CCTV got them since it only covers the entrance before Anna gets a call from her daughter’s soon. Nancy is told to clean the car and everyone splits. Anna picks her daughter up at school. Tamsin promises that it wasn’t her fault and Stacey Hughes started it. Anna tells her daughter she is lucky she only got suspended but she claims Miss Pope only took Stacey’s side because her dad is on the school board. Anna reminds Tamsin that she swore to her that it was over but she is accused of taking Stacey’s side too. Anna tells her daughter that life is tough enough without turning on your friends and the girls should support one another.

The conversation turns to Jack and Tam reveals that he is now a hashtag. She freaks out at her daughter and yells while Nancy works to clean up the evidence in her vehicle. Back at home, Max tells Anna about Arwel having to identify his son’s body. She tries to get answers from Max but he only says they’ll know more once the postmortem is finished. When asked, she admits he was likely doing drugs last night but she didn’t see him with anyone. Max says they don’t think he went into the woods alone. The conversation changes when Max wants to know more about the Stacey situation. Anna reveals that she has to write an apology to Stacey so Max puts Ryan in charge. Anna learns that the police have a theory that Jack was meeting someone for drugs or sex. They’re not sure why he would be in the woods otherwise. Max reveals they want him on the case.

After the congratulations are over, Max mentions Jack’s new car being keyed. Anna pretends not to know how that was done. Anna grabs her car keys and scrubs them vigorously to get rid of potential evidence. Louie hangs out with Arwel and they talk about Jack. Arwel wants to know if Jack was doing drugs again so she tells him the truth. He says Jack started resenting him when he took him to rehab. Cat joins Nancy at the church and tells her why she used to be afraid of churches. Nancy tells her she is a good person and doesn’t need to be afraid. Next, the police find a credit card in the woods. Arwel wants to restart the brewery. Mandy begins collecting donations for the family although Nancy thinks she is just trying to get a promotion.

Max and the other detectives enter and prepare to interview the ladies. Detective Holland asks to speak to Mandy first. Mandy says it is a mistake since she doesn’t know anything but Holland wants to take her to the station anyway. Anna follows Max outside and learns that forensics found Mandy’s credit card in the wood. Then, she tells the others and they wonder if Mandy followed them into the woods. Nancy encourages them not to panic and stick with the story that they last saw Jack in the canteen. Tish looks at them from around the corner. Richard notices that Nancy has been burning stuff in the yard. Anna goes home and watches a news report about it while Cat sketches Jack’s face. Louie throws Mandy’s purse in the garbage. Then, all of the women get something startling on their phones. It is a message from someone who knows what they did and they want money.

 

The Pact Review

Overall, The Pact had a decent opening episode. Although it was interesting, the episode was a bit long-winded. I think it went on 10 minutes too long, but I think The Pact has the potential to get better as it goes on. It had a glimpse of excellence when Anna freaked out, grabbed her keys, and scrubbed them to remove evidence. I had to chuckle at that moment.

Nancy has managed to keep her cool so far but I am confident this is going to change pretty soon. After all, Richard seems suspicious that something is going on. I really hope all of the characters are pushed to their breaking points because it would be great to watch that unfold. The only thing that annoyed me this episode was Anna unrealistically pleading with Nancy to go to the police.

It is slightly understandable since her husband is a cop but annoying nevertheless. The episode was good but not great. I’d give it a 7 out of 10 just to be generous and because it is the pilot episode. Future recaps of The Pact will be available on Reel Mockery here.