Behind Her Eyes episode 1 recap – the opening chapter explained

By Daniel Hart
Published: February 17, 2021 (Last updated: November 5, 2023)
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Netflix Limited Series Behind Her Eyes episode 1 - Chance Encounters
3.5

Summary

“Chance Encounters” embeds the mystery; at this stage, nothing is apparent. Nothing is inevitable, and the characters are doing well in keeping cards close to their chests.

This recap of Netflix Limited Series Behind Her Eyes episode 1, “Chance Encounters”, contains spoilers.

The opening episode of Behind Her Eyes only teases the audience of what’s to come; “Chance Encounters” tends to play the characters innocently, so that when the twists come, they will be more effective.

Episode 1 opens by introducing the audience to Louise, who is trying on different dresses for a night out; she leaves her son Adam with Laura, who is babysitting. She’s nervous; she must barely go out, but it’s “only a drink with a mate”. When she gets to the bar, her friend cancels on her. She’s fuming. As she leaves, she accidentally spills her drink over a man named David and pays for a drink for him. The accident turns into them both having a drink. It’s instant flirting. Louise enjoys his Scottish accent but clarifies that she’s not going back to his place. When they leave the bar, there’s a suggestion of increased sexual tension, and they kiss, but then David withdraws and hurries off. They always say the unexpected nights turn out to be the best.

Louise has an awkward day at work

The next day, Louise is made aware of her new boss. It’s David, and he’s seeing Dr. Sharma on his first day — a woman named Adele is with him, and they are in a marriage. Louise absolutely sh*ts herself and locks herself in the toilets. Later in the evening, Louise tells her friend Sophie about David at work, and they laugh about it. While asleep, Louise has a night terror and believes she is losing Adam; when she awakens, she’s stood in the bathroom, and she’s shaky. From my own experience, night terrors are absolutely terrifying as an adult — this felt oddly realistic.

The next day, Adele wishes David luck at his new job. There’s a strained tension between them, and before he leaves, he watches her take her medication. It’s almost like he’s waiting for her to swallow before he can go. This is a broken marriage. It’s abundantly obvious.

David and Louise finally bump into each other at work

At work, Louise drops tomato ketchup on her white shirt while eating a bacon sandwich, and she panics; she wanted to make a good first impression with David at work. She comically dries her shirt under the bathroom dryer. Eventually, she bumps into David in his office, and she goes into panic mode and asks if they can act like nothing happened. Louise then reveals she is his secretary for three days a week. When these characters are around each other, they are immediately nervous. David expresses that he feels terrible for what he did.

When they both calm down, David asks Louise for her thoughts on the area, and he gets out a map and starts marking different places — he’s looking for places where there’s high addiction. Louise reveals she has a son and is divorced. Davis wonders if Louise “thinks he’s a s**t”. He seems very concerned about what she thinks.

Dinner with work

Behind Her Eyes episode 1 delves into David’s marriage with Adele — this is a two-pronged story.

Later in the evening, David and Adele have dinner with colleagues and family. There’s tension between them on the table — it’s almost like they secretly hate each other. When they get home, David thanks Adele for coming to the work dinner. Adele tells David that she’s ready for a new start and kisses him, but then he says he cannot do this again, and “wants it to be the last time”. Adele promises him it will be and leads David to bed to have sex. During sex, Adele tells him that she loves him, but he’s struggling to say it back. The couple switches to doggy position, and it’s obvious why — David wants to reduce eye contact and intimacy. At this stage of the series, it’s difficult to gauge who the problem is in this marriage.

Adele was once a patient

A flashback occurs, and it flits to a psychiatric home. Patient Rob introduces himself to Adele; she’s one of the patients. It then flits back to the present; David and Adele enjoy breakfast together. He shows her a phone and credit card and tells her she can have them again and she’s over-the-moon. David then tells her that he’s going to do an outreach program for addicts — he wants to know if it’s an issue, and Adele assures him it won’t be because he’s a good man. This is turning creepy rather quickly.

Louise has a spat with her ex-husband

Louise’s night terrors continue where she’s chasing after Adam who sounds distressed. This time she wakes up, and she’s on the balcony. These terrors are getting dangerous. The next day, her ex-husband Ian wants to take Adam to the South of France for the summer and that his partner Lisa is pregnant. He wants Lisa to bond with Adam. Louise is upset, but it sounds like her son has already agreed to go with his father to France.

The ending

Later on, Sophie tells Louise that it’s better to let Adam go to France than to stay behind and be miserable. She wants her friend to use the time away from her child to discover herself. Louise gives in and tells Adam that he can go to France. After Louise drops off Adam, she accidentally knocks over Adele in the street. She tells her that she works for her husband. Adele asks if she’d like to go for a coffee. This has gotten complicated very quickly.

Behind Her Eyes episode 1 embeds the mystery; at this stage, nothing is apparent. Nothing is inevitable, and the characters are doing well in keeping cards close to their chests.

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