As the episode begins, Nathan (Russell Tovey) empties a bottle of pills onto a table and pours a cup of liquor. He watches the news while drinking. Then, he begins downing the pills until a news report about a missing girl, Elise, stops him in his tracks. Holly Fox (Amrita Acharia) pleads with someone to come forward and give them answers about Elise. This causes Nathan to drop the pills. We jump forward seven years and Nathan receives a visitor. He answers the door to find an unkempt Bob (Bertie Carvel) standing outside in the rain. Nathan isn’t happy to see Bob and tells him that they agreed he would stay away but Bob warns him that they’re digging up the woods.
Nathan tries to slam the door but Bob grabs it. He tries to get Bob to leave because his wife will be coming home soon but Bob finds a way inside anyway. He steps inside and reveals that they’re breaking soil for a new housing development called Newbeck Green. Nathan receives paperwork with details about the development before Bob’s attention turns to the pictures on Nathan’s wall. He sees Elise and asks Nathan what he has done. When Nathan’s wife arrives outside, he pleads with Bob to leave but he doesn’t. Holly arrives and is promptly introduced to Bob. He tells Nathan that he’ll give him a call before leaving.
After Bob leaves, Nathan tries to explain away Bob. Holly changes the subject and wants to know more about Bob’s girl who has been giving him trouble but Nathan doesn’t have an answer. Nathan escapes to the bathroom in hopes of collecting himself. In a flashback, we see Nathan running through the woods. He gets sick and vomits before Holly offers to get him something for it. She leaves him in bed to recover. When she is gone, he checks out the paperwork about the new housing development. Nathan checks the Internet and finds out that construction is set to begin on the controversial housing development after the campaigners lost their final opposition bid.
Nathan calls Bob to discuss the matter. Bob suggests they move her soon and says they don’t have much of a choice. Bob asks if it has arrived yet but Nathan hasn’t received anything. When the call ends, Nathan heads downstairs and checks the mail. He finds a strange envelope with a CD inside. On that CD, it says “destroy after playing” and “play loud”. Nathan leaves in his car and drives to a wooded area before grabbing the CD he just received in the mail. He puts it into his car’s CD player and listens to Bob. Nathan listens to it and hears someone talking between the white noise. It sounds like someone says “I am not dead”. Nathan gets flustered and drives away.
We jump back in time and watch as Nathan stalks Holly. He gets her phone number and tries calling her but hangs out when a guy answers. He calls back and asks to speak to Holly. He tells her that he was looking for somewhere to live before answering a few other questions. She invites him to visit so they can discuss his preferences and budget. He agrees to meet her at 9:30 before she asks how he knew her name. Nathan lies and says she was recommended by a friend. Next, Holly makes it home and finds Nathan sleeping so she surprises and scares him. They chat a bit before Nathan asks about Newbeck Green. Holly thinks it is a disgrace that they’re digging up the woods to build the development.
Nathan tells her that he is going to pop out later tonight to meet with Bob. In the past, we watch as Holly takes Nathan to a house so he can check it out. He offers her a cigarette but she gave up smoking. He explains he gave up for two years but started back before they discuss the stress of being a real estate agent. They share a laugh before Holly leaves. That night, Nathan visits Bob at his place. We jump back to 2009 and join Bob and Nathan. We see that Nathan helps produce a radio show and Bob is a guest so he can talk about things that go bump in the night. A caller by the name of Simon says he saw his dead mother. Bob tries to explain what he experienced as Nathan listens intently.
Back in the present, Nathan drops the CD on the table and claims there is nothing on it. Bob tells him he needs to listen through the noise and he knows that Nathan heard it too. Bob goes on to say it is an EVP. He claims the CD contains voices belonging to someone dead. He says it was the first time he got one voice and a voice he recognized. Bob wants to listen to it again but Nathan threatens to break his arm if he does. He doesn’t want to believe that it was Elise’s voice. Then, Bob asks why Nathan would marry Holly. He says they need to dig her up and move her before they can find her. Bob suggests it would be terrible for Holly if her sister was discovered. After a break, Nathan returns home and finds Holly sleeping on the couch.
Again, we jump back to 2013 and watch as Nathan enters a pub and sits with Holly. She has been drinking and Nathan joins her. Holly struggles to tell Nathan something. She explains she lost her little sister three years ago. She went out to a party one night and never came home. We jump further back to 2009 New Year’s Eve. Elise wanted to stay at the party so Holly and the family left her there. The police searched for Elise and thought they knew who did it but there was never enough evidence. Then, Holly tells Nathan about discussing the date with her mother and crying after that. She thanks him for the drink before trying to rush away. He offers to call but she suggests otherwise.
We jump back to the 2009 party and Nathan notices Elise. Bob arrives and asks Nathan how he is doing. After a break, Nathan checks his phone and finds out that he has 10 missed calls. Holly enters and Nathan knows something is wrong. She asks him if they can sit down and chat later that night. He tries to find out what is wrong before she says she got her period. He agrees to get curry and chat about it later that night. At work, Nathan learns that someone is in reception waiting for him. He finds Bob there and Bob wants to know why Nathan isn’t answering his calls. He tries to convince Nathan that their problem isn’t going to go away.
Nathan steps outside with Bob and encourages him to get away from it for a few days. Nathan isn’t sure Bob has any evidence and says they should leave her where she is. Bob says she has been haunting him and he believes Nathan has been seeing her too. Bob demands that Nathan help him do it today or he will talk to Holly. Nathan says it would kill his family if they knew about it. Bob implies this is more of a reason to help him but Nathan doesn’t want to cooperate. He tells Bob to go get help before leaving. Nathan returns home to an empty house. He calls Holly but she doesn’t answer. He hears creaking in the distance and a thud. He follows the sounds around the house.
He tells them to do something if they’re there before a light turns on outside. Then, we watch Nathan run in a flashback. Bob pulls Elise’s body from the car and asks Nathan what he did before the episode ends.
The Sister Review
Despite receiving mediocre scores on IMDB, I enjoyed the first episode of The Sister. I didn’t find it creepy or scary but I am eager to see how things are going to pan out and what happened to Elise. The relationship between Bob and Nathan drove the episode and the performances from the leads were pretty good. At the very least, The Sister is original so I can appreciate that.
I’ll stick around and see what happens and what happened. The opening episode was pretty good. It scores a 7.5 out of 10.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
