As the first episode of The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window begins, Anna (Kristen Bell) cooks at home. She opens the oven and reaches in without using oven mitts. As she pulls out the bowl, we see multiple violent flashbacks before Anna drops the bowl and screams in agony. She sits in a chair next to the window with frozen pea bags on her hands while saying her husband told her she had an overactive imagination. He also said she drinks too much and can’t let go of the past. She sometimes speaks with a British accent although she isn’t British. Anna admits he was right about everything and that is why he decided to leave her. When she sees the neighbor getting her kids in the car, she screams for Elizabeth (Appy Pratt) to get ready because she is going to be late for school.

Once she drops her daughter off at school, she mentions the lies they often tell children including not believing in monsters. She wonders why they don’t tell them the truth that there are monsters although they don’t live under the bed. Carol approaches to ask how she is doing. Anna says good even though she is still wearing her robe. She is asked about her date with Mark tonight. Although Anna doesn’t seem eager to go, Carol insists she needs to move forward at some point. Once Anna relents and agrees to go, Carol says she’ll tell Scott and creates a reminder using her smartphone. As she returns home, she sees someone moving across the street. She asks Buell (Cameron Britton) how the mailbox is coming. He admits it is tricky, but they’re getting there. Anna goes inside and immediately opens a bottle of wine.

She sits down by the window with a full glass of wine and looks at pictures of Douglas Whitaker (Michael Ealy) on her phone. Anna finds the same four photos and realizes she isn’t the only one who hasn’t moved on yet. She dances with him on her wedding day in a flashback before the man across the street catches her eye. Although he has a little girl, he doesn’t seem to have a wife. Sloane (Mary Holland) calls Anna to say she is worried and wants one of her paintings for her upcoming show although Anna claims she has stopped painting. Anna listens to her, but never answers the phone. She looks at her paintings while telling herself she was so talented once. Later, Anna gets dressed and asks Elizabeth how she looks. Her daughter won’t say anything though. When Anna asks her to give her a kiss before she goes, Elizabeth says she can’t because she is dead. She looks in the room again and finds it empty.

She wonders how she keeps forgetting that. As she soaks in the bathtub, she suggests she is stuck in the present with her past and can’t have a future. She checks her phone. There are several messages from Carol who is complaining about her standing up Mark and how bad it will be for Scott. She checks Douglas’s profile again and finds that he is with another woman now. The attic pull door closes on its own, but she finds nothing when she looks around. She doesn’t check in the attic and instead wants a drink. She looks at the picture of Douglas and the unnamed woman until she sees the father across the street in the top window. She watches intently as he removes his shirt and closes the curtains to stop her prying eyes. She passes out in the chair and only wakes up when someone knocks on the door. The red wine has been spilled all over the chair.

Anna answers the door before Neil (Tom Riley) gives her flowers, but they’re not from him. They were sitting out in the sun so he knocked to make sure she got them. He tells her they just moved in across the street. After an awkward pause, Neil hopes she’ll enjoy her flowers and quickly leaves. Back inside, Anna reads the card from Sloane who wants her to use the flowers as inspiration for her next painting. After that, Anna visits Elizabeth’s grave to tell her about the neighbors across the street. When she returns home, she finds her new neighbor, Emma (Samsara Leela Yett), on her doorstep. After the introductions, Emma says she is selling chocolate bars for her school. She is trying to sell as many as she can to ensure the other kids will like her. Anna agrees to buy 5 boxes for $50. Once she retrieves her checkbook, she learns from Emma that her dad thinks the kitchen is too small and her mother was a better cook.

Emma reveals her mother died. Anna says she is sorry before offering to bring her a chicken casserole for dinner tonight. She makes the check out to Emma’s school which is Madison Elementary and the same one Elizabeth attended. When Anna asks for chocolate with almonds, she learns the lady next door bought them all. Emma says that lady didn’t seem nice. That makes Anna like her even more. Anna burns her hands the same way when cooking the casserole. As she begins crossing the street, it starts raining and that seems to freak her out. The fear paralyzes her causing her to drop the casserole and collapse to the ground. Buell who was working on the mailbox doesn’t help. Instead, Neil rushes out to check on her. He takes her back inside where he asks if she wants him to call someone. Anna insists she is okay although embarrassed. She reveals it was her ombrophobia or fear of the rain.

They briefly talk about the casserole before the conversation turns to Neil’s wife who passed. Neil explains they were up at their lake house when his wife drowned so it was a tragic accident. His daughter saw the whole thing. Anna tells him about Elizabeth who died three years ago. Neil notices the paintings which he calls beautiful. His wife took pottery classes, but she wasn’t a professional like Anna. She hasn’t painted in a while. Neil understands that since grief can derail a lot of things. He can’t share coffee with her right now but agrees to do so at another time. Before he goes, Anna offers to make them another casserole and he welcomes her to come across the street if there is anything she needs. He also urges her to paint again since she is so good at it. Anna climbs into the attic and begins looking around.

When she grabs her palette knife, she is attacked by a bird and uses the knife to poke it. She runs downstairs and grabs a bottle of pills before taking a few. Later that night, she sits by the window, reads, and looks across the street. Neil looks back at her. He comes outside and begins walking across the street. Anna opens the door to let him in. Neil immediately walks in and starts making out with her. As they have sex, Anna realizes she is alone and Neil never came over. The next day, Buell continues working on the mailbox and Anna takes a casserole to Neil and Emma. Once Emma answers the door, she learns about the casserole before telling Anna that she looks pretty. Neil walks over to join them as Anna jokes she only found the casserole sitting in the sun. Anna accepts Neil’s invite to have dinner and wine with them. She admits she likes wine. Emma asks her father if he can be a chaperone during her upcoming school field trip. Then, Emma learns about Anna being an artist so she wants to show her the drawing she did.

When she goes to get it, Neil tells Anna her mom used to do the field trips, but he is now. She believes he is doing a really good job. Emma returns with her duck drawing and immediately shows it to Anna. Once Emma is told to go to bed, she asks her father to read to her. Since he has to do the dishes, Anna offers to do it. She finishes and meets Neil downstairs to say he has a good one. He tells her he cleaned the dish, but he couldn’t remove the spot in the middle. As they point at it, they end up touching hands. As they stare into each other’s eyes, they drop and break the dish. Anna promises it is fine and they touch hands again when trying to clean up the shattered pieces. As she leaves, Neil thanks her for everything. Anna reads The Woman Across The Lake while relaxing in bed. She tries to check Neil Coleman’s profile only to find it has been marked private so she sends a follow request.

Anna says she has gotten so used to nightmares, she has forgotten what it is like to dream about a future when she is no longer alone, she can trust someone again, and monsters do not exist. Neil looks out of his window toward Anna’s. A shadow passes by the window just before the episode ends.

 

The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window Review

It seems viewers either really hated The Woman In The House or loved it. I can’t make up my mind yet since the episode didn’t really convince me one way or the other. The cliches are all there and many of the things you’d expected to see from a Netflix drama like this. Kristen Bell and Tom Riley seem like a dynamic duo while some of the minor characters were questionable especially Carol.

While it is supposed to be a parody, I didn’t really get that. Honestly, I didn’t get much from the first episode besides learning about Anna and Neil’s past traumas. It is likely just too early to develop an honest opinion about the series. Although it wasn’t groundbreaking, it was interesting enough to hold my attention and make me want to watch another episode. I’ll give the first episode a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.