Summary
“The Encounter” takes pride in its direction and attempts to reel in the audience with half-measured answers and eeriness. It’s not the story it wants to be yet, but it has promise.
This recap of Apple TV+ series Losing Alice season 1, episode 1, “The Encounter” contains spoilers.
Despite the pandemic, Apple TV+ is getting off to a strong start in 2021 — Servant Season 2, Dickinson Season 2 and now Losing Alice‘s premiere. While we understand the general premise of this series, we must be prepared for more to unravel as the episodes progress, as the premiere keeps most of its cards close to its chest.
Losing Alice season 1, episode 1 introduces to the audience a girl named Dana walking into a hotel reception area. She asks the receptionist if she can see her father, Amir Ben-Dor. She requests if she can stay in his room. The reception rings her father for permission and then gives her the keys to room 209 (the room number is important). Dana enters the room and flicks through TV channels; she stops at a music channel, with Rihanna blaring in the background. Dana picks up a pistol, takes off the safety, and kills herself. Talk about an opening, folks.
Alice meets a woman named Sophie on the train
From that brutal opening, “The Encounter” then flits to Alice, who is silent at the back of a taxi. She hops on a train; there’s a feeling of tiredness emanating off her. A woman across from her recognizes her as Alex Ginor and calls her an amazing artist. The woman claims she wanted to study film because of her and that she’s an inspiration; she feels she raised the importance of sex and feminism. She then asks if what happened in one of her films really happened. Alice states that everything has a “kernel of truth”. Finally, the woman introduces herself as Sophie. She’s an eager person, and it’s clearly caught Alice off guard. Sophie talks about her script and how she submitted it to an actor named David, and the writing blew his mind.
Sophie heads to the train toilets and asks Alice to help keep the dodgy door closed; she reveals she has nearly finished her script for a film. Alice needs to leave as it is her stop and asks Sophie if she can handle the door herself. There’s no response, so Alice assumes she’s okay and leaves. The entirety of this scene will likely remain important for the remainder of the series; it’s clear the impact Sophie has on Alice immediately — there’s a connection between them almost immediately.
Introducing actor David
The audience is then introduced to another character — the actor David. There are women outside talking about how hot he is, and one of them is tempted to head into his changing room and give him a blowj*b. His stylist walks in and flirts with him intensely. David is not interested and tells her he will be out shortly.
Getting home and reading the script
And then the series links the characters up within a few scenes. Alice finally gets home, and it is revealed she’s in a marriage with David. Alice asks if she ever received a script that “blew his mind” from a student named Sophie. He’s aware of who she is. David reveals she’s not really a student and her film will be produced by a major studio. He delves into the script; Alice clearly has a vested interest in Sophie and her film script and asks for a copy of it. She reads it in the dead of night, and she’s blown away by it. She asks David if it’s a true story. Alice starts crying; David comforts her and reminds Alice that he’s still crazy about her. This leads to a moment of passionate sex, but then their daughter walks in and claims something is in her room. Alice looks outside her daughter’s window and tells her everything is okay. This is the first time Losing Alice brings an edge of eeriness to the audience; there was something purposefully off when Alice looks out of her daughter’s window.
The neighbor is worried about big rats
The next morning, Alice’s neighbor Karen makes her aware that work on their house will take a few more months. She explains how when digging the pool, there were loads of big rats, and she isn’t sure if she and Tamir will get through the renovation together. After this brief conversation, Alice starts rereading Sophie’s script — Room 209 (remember, the hotel room at the start of the episode). Outside, drilling is loud, but she tries her best to focus amongst the noise, but she gets frustrated and walks outside and tells the construction men to stop working. Tamir tells her to calm down. He tells her that his IVF with Karen has failed again. There’s a weird friendly vibe between Alice and Tamir; it’s hard to tell if they are flirting or not.
Director Hilik is a no-show
“The Encounter” then flits to David complimenting Sophie’s script; he’s sincerely impressed. They are waiting for director Hilik to arrive, but he’s late. They reckon he’s disappeared as no-one knows where he is. Sophie cannot believe Hilik has not shown up and tells David that he’s the most talented actor she’s ever seen. She then brings up that she’s met his wife.
The ending
As we reach nearer the end, it’s apparent we are getting one of those none-endings that will leave the audience thinking.
David and Alice attend a premiere; it’s David’s latest film. Alice didn’t want to go as she’s not feeling up to it but goes anyway. As she walks around, someone bumps into her and a drink spills all over her dress. She heads into the bathroom, and she is not coping well. Surprisingly, Alice is in the bathroom, and she calls her beautiful as she checks out her dress. Alice brings up Sophie’s script and calls it impressive.
During the film at the premiere, David asks Alice if she likes the film. She says he comes across well and apologizes but does not explain why she’s apologetic; as the film finishes, the couple kiss and Sophie looks back at them smiling from a few rows down. The scene then moves to hotel room 209 and Sophie is leaving it, holding her pregnant stomach, blood on her dress. There’s plenty of interpretation to take from “The Encounter”, and I’m sure audiences will flesh out more answers as the series progresses.
Losing Alice season 1, episode 1 takes pride in its direction and attempts to reel in the audience with half-measured answers and eeriness. It’s not the story it wants to be yet, but it has promise.
