Unbelievable Episode 1 Recap

As the episode begins, Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) and Judith (Elizabeth Marvel) wait for an officer to arrive. Officer Curran (Jon Beavers) enters the apartment and learns that Marie has been raped. He hears that Judith is Marie’s foster mom and that Marie had her hands tied behind her back. She claims that the man placed something on her stomach before snapping a picture. She says she called her boyfriend Connor too. Marie tells the officer that the man was wearing a sweater. Most of the items used for the assault were taken from the culprit’s backpack. He used a knife from the apartment and Marie’s shoelaces to tie her up. Before too long, Marie’s counselor shows up and sits with her.

Detective Pruitt (Bill Fagerbakke) and Detective Robert Parker (Eric Lange) enter the apartment and we listen to Marie’s story once again. Marie is eventually taken to the hospital so she can get examined and she tells the nurse her story once again. The investigators find two partials on the sliding door but little else in the way of evidence. Marie sends Judith to the school to get her other child. She stays at the hospital alone to finish the exam. After the exam ends, Marie is interviewed by Detective Parker again. She says that the man’s voice was normal. This time, she says the man was wearing a hoodie and not a sweater. She was vaginally raped.

Marie tells the detective how she managed to escape the shoelaces. Before Marie leaves, she is told to give a written statement. Marie returns and receives hugs from her friends. She tells them to keep their doors locked and stay safe. She moves in with her girlfriend but says that she’ll have an apartment of her own soon. During this time, she calls her good foster mom Colleen (Bridget Everett). Colleen tells her husband, who is smacking his lips eating, about the rape. Later that night, Marie calls Connor (Shane Paul McGhie). The investigator goes through the pictures of Marie. Colleen visits and finds her daughter cleaning out her apartment.

They go to the store and Marie wants the same sheets she has before. She causes a scene and gets rude with the worker there. When she returns home, she continues acting odd like a brat. Ty (Charlie McDermott) arrives to take some items away before leaving. Marie will not listen to anything Colleen tells her. Colleen tries to get Marie to talk about the incident but she will not open up. Colleen becomes worried that Marie might be lying about the rape. The investigators obtain a copy of the DCFS file regarding Marie. Judith calls Parker and tells him that Marie might be fabricating the details of the rape. He meets up with her and she goes into greater detail about her beliefs.

Marie finishes the witness statement and takes it to Parker at the station. He speaks with her about the events after the rape. She claims she made two calls before cutting herself free. Parker goes to Connor and learns that Marie supposedly dialed the phone with her toes. The child services files are delivered and this leads the investigators to believe that Marie made everything up. During this time, Marie messes up at work. She is out of it and can’t seem to focus on anything else. She gets a call from Parker asking for another interview. She asks if she is in trouble and this raises more suspicion among investigators.

When she meets with Parker and Pruitt, she is pressured until she admits that she lied. She gives another statement claiming that she dreamed she had been raped. It felt so real that Marie believed it had happened. The investigators are confused since she said there was no rape. Pruitt basically tells her that she is wasting their time and preventing them from protecting the public. Marie gets angry and says that she is pretty positive that it happened but the detectives do not believe her anymore. She says that she should get counseling. She says okay and agrees to write the statement that they want.

Later that night, Judith finds Marie taking her bike. Marie confronts her about telling the police that she was lying. Judith says that she only told the police about her background and nothing else. Nevertheless, Marie rides out into the night rain. The following day, Ty asks to speak with Marie. She tells Becca that she wasn’t lying and that she was telling the truth the first time. She says that she was tired and the cops kept pressuring her. That is why she decided to lie to them. Marie is told that she needs to go back to the police and tell them the truth.

She does and Pruitt agrees to accept her statement again. This time, she is interviewed by Detective Parker and Sergeant Rheinhart. Pruitt believes that Marie changed her story because others gave her a hard time about lying. Marie recalls the man being on top of her but Pruitt isn’t willing to listen to her this time. Marie offers to take a lie detector test. She is told that she could be charged with making a false statement if she fails the test. Marie says maybe she was hypnotized so Pruitt agrees to the polygraph. He tells her that she is going to be asked one question only and nothing about being hypnotized.

Marie is told that she will lose her stipends if she has a criminal record and she knows the risks. She leaves without taking the polygraph. Pruitt tells Becca and Ty that she totally made it up and didn’t think it would turn into a big thing. The others become angry and lash out at Marie during a meeting. Marie is asked if she has anything to say. She doesn’t say anything and everyone leaves. Late one night, she goes to a bridge and contemplates jump over. She climbs over the ledge and stays there for a few moments before the episode ends.

 

Unbelievable Review

Let me get this out of the way. The story here is fascinating. I hadn’t heard about it before and will be interested in going back and reading through the details. Here is the problem. The show doesn’t match the quality of the story. The flashbacks were obnoxious there in the beginning. On top of that, some of the acting is hit and miss. The Pruitt character was over the top and the foster mothers were odd as well. Don’t get me started on Colleen’s husband chewing like a banshee.

Was that really necessary? The show just doesn’t feel authentic to me. I don’t think things are too slow by any means. But, the show does pale in comparison compared to true crime series produced in the UK. There is something off here that makes the show feel unrealistic. I think it might be trying too hard. Not sure why they felt the need to drag this out over 8 episodes either. It would be better as 3 episodes or a Netflix original movie.

I feel that things are going to get terribly slow in coming episodes. The story is very interesting but the show doesn’t deserve the 8s it is getting on IMDB. I am finding it hard to connect with any of the characters and that isn’t going to help matters either. The first episode was mediocre. A 6 out of 10 is deserved.