Summary
Keeping the audience at arm’s length, the opening chapter leaves just enough to warrant our interest.
This recap of the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers Season 1 Episode 1 contains spoilers.
Welcome to this new weekly series on Hulu that will compel viewers with a mystery. Health and Wellness resorts always pop up in various forms of media, and it has become easy to make it into a tantalizing experience narrative. It’s still early days for Nine Perfect Strangers, but it’s already eery.
Nine Perfect Strangers Season 1 Episode 1 Recap
The opening scenes show the city dwellers discussing their attendance at the boutique health-and-wellness resort. There’s a sense of anticipation as each character makes their way to the resort. The whole point of seeing each character making their way is to understand each internal issue — it’s evident we are receiving a variety of characters, all attending for different reasons.
When we arrive at the resort, the first rule is no phones, which shocks Jessica, Ben, and Francis; they struggle with that concept. Francis tries to resist “no phones,” but she has no choice. The opening chapter brings light music to make the resort seem homely and enlightening. When Francis introduces herself to Napoleon and his family, she notes how they look perfect, which offends Heather — “why would you say that?”.
Lars learns there’s an MRI machine on-site, which seems strange for a wellness resort, but he is impressed. He is given a confidentiality agreement to sign. He signs it pretty quickly. As part of the agreement, participants have to give a blood sample every few days.
Eventually, we meet the resort leader, Masha, who introduces herself to Francis — she asks Francis why she is crying, who explains that she has menopause and her career is crashing. Masha assures Francis that they will get her “well” because she can sense she is suffering.
As they settle, Heather asks Napoleon why their daughter is in another room while they have a room to themselves, hinting that their marriage has a problem. Suddenly, Heather has a small panic attack, so her husband calms her down. Meanwhile, the daughter, Zoe, bumps into Lars in the forest. She sees he has a secret phone on his wrist.
With everyone settled and dealing with their nuisances, Masha looks at all the city dwellers on the CCTV, analyzing them. In the hot spring water, Ben tells Napoleon that when the resort is over, he will give a spin in his Lamborghini. Ben suggests that Napoleon also wants his wife, Jessica, but Napoleon quickly denies that and states his wife Heather is beautiful.
Later on, the city dwellers are asked to gather in a large hut. Masha eventually joins and welcomes them to the resort. She tells them in 10 days, they will leave a different person. Tony learns that the resort has looked through their bags and taken the toxic things. Masha strokes Tony’s face and asks, “does this feel random to you,” and her words move him. Carmel suddenly cries and says, “I am so happy.” Lars asks Masha what her story is. Masha explains she died; she came from Russia and worked a lot and consumed until she was shot dead in a parking garage — “clinically dead” — she points to Yao and says he saved her (Yao was working for the health service). She explains there can be birth in death.
As Masha continues explaining the story of her death, Heather says that this is not appropriate, and then her daughter Zoe runs off. Masha asks Heather to step into the center and tells her not to upset the group. She explains that this is “tranquilum” and that she’s there to “fuck with all of them.”
Additional points
- As she makes her way to the resort, Francis hears that her book deal has fallen through and someone wants to buy her company.
- Tony leaves a message for his daughter, and then one of the resort staff asks for his phone.
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