As the episode begins, Joseph (Stephen Graham) rides in a car with his buddy. His buddy complains about his wife not getting up to help with the baby. Joseph doesn’t seem particularly interested in his complaints. Joseph returns home. It is clear that he is sad about something. Joseph heads out into the night. Soon, he arrives at his destination. He knocks on the door. David (Vauxhall Jermaine) lets him in. Joseph sits down for dinner with his ex, her new husband, and his son.

Soon, we learn that Debbie (Juliet Ellis) has decided to take Shea (Shea Michael-Shaw) to Australia. Joseph begins to tear up. He is having a rough time with it. After dinner, Joseph speaks with Shea alone. He promises that they’ll keep in touch with Skype. Joseph tries to be strong for his son. After the conversation ends, Joseph tells Debbie that he was a bit confused. He wanted to know why Joseph couldn’t come along. When Joseph leaves, he hits the bar. Things start off fine.

However, Joseph is soon buying drinks for everyone. He manages to pay the bill, but he gets a little too hammered. After he leaves, he hits up several other drinking spots. Finally, he runs into a street preacher of sorts. It brings back horrible memories for Joseph. In the morning, his buddy comes looking for him. Joseph is hungover and laying in puke. He ignores his co-worker at the door. He manages to clean himself up. He looks at an old picture on the wall. Then, Joseph makes a big decision.

He heads to an ATM and withdraws his last 140 pounds. He rides on a bus. During the ride, he gets a call from Shea. For the time being, he ignores it. Then, he tries to buy a ticket on the ferry. He wants to make it to Ireland. He is forced to upgrade to the deluxe cabin. That leaves him with just 4 pounds to his name. At a cafe, Joseph answers a Skype call from Shea. He pretends everything is fine. He says he was in the hospital because he got hurt at work. Joseph continues his journey.

He makes a stop at a park bench. We see that he has alcohol. When he hears the child playing nearby, he refuses to drink the alcohol. Instead, he ends up throwing it away. He takes the ferry while we see flashbacks of Joseph’s past. He looks at the old picture.

 

The Virtues Review

I had to read the description of The Virtues to find out what was going on. This episode didn’t do a very good job explaining things. In fact, I was a bit disappointed with it. After reading the description, my opinion has changed. The opener wasn’t the best. Nevertheless, things could get very interesting here on out. I am curious as to what happened in the past and how Joseph is going to come to terms with it. I have a feeling that The Virtues is going to get really deep very quickly.

If that happens, it could be an emotional thrill ride. The opener scores a 6.5 out of 10. I hope that improves with future episodes.