Summary
This is a great start to The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Fabulous characters with a quirky script. If this episode doesn’t convince you to watch the entire season, I don’t know what will.
This recap of Netflix limited series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window episode 1 contains spoilers.
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The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window episode 1 recap
The first episode of The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window begins with Anna (Kristen Bell) as she makes some food. Rain, Rain, Go Away! plays before Anna takes out some food from the oven without gloves, which inadvertently means she drops it. As Anna speaks in a British accent, she informs the audience that her ex-husband Douglas (Michael Ealy) thinks she has an overactive imagination. This is evident when she stops speaking in a British accent and states Douglas was right, and that’s why he left her.
After Anna watches neighbors getting on with their daily lives, she shouts for her daughter Elizabeth (Appy Pratt) to get ready for school. As she questions why adults don’t tell children about monsters, Anna stands outside the school in her dressing gown. One of the other parents, Carol (Brenda Koo), reminds Anna of an event that night, stating that she can’t cancel and that Anna cannot be sad forever.
When Anna returns home, she pours a full bottle of wine for herself as she stalks Douglas’s Instagram account. After she watches the new neighbor Neil (Tom Riley) and his daughter (Samsara Yett) move in, Sloane (Mary Holland) leaves a voicemail for Anna. Sloane wants one of Anna’s art pieces for an upcoming show, but it seems that Anna no longer paints.
As Anna gets ready to go out, she asks Elizabeth how she looks. But guess what? Elizabeth is dead. Three missed calls from Carol later, and it’s clear Carol is livid that Anna didn’t turn up for the event. But Anna is more concerned when Douglas uploads a new image on Instagram with a mysterious woman. After Anna hears some noise in the attic, she goes to investigate. Although, she stops to have a glass of wine.
In the morning, Neil brings some flowers around. (Although they’re not from him, the flowers were left outside; the flowers are actually from Sloane). Anna visits Elizabeth’s grave, and when she returns home, Emma is at the front door. After she buys five boxes of chocolates from Emma, she learns that Neil’s wife died. And so, Anna decides to bring Neil and Neil a casserole.
The ending
When Anna goes to Neil’s house, it starts to rain heavily which results in Anna collapsing on the road. Neil brings Anna home, where Anna reveals that she has a fear of the rain, which is when Anna learns that Neil’s wife drowned. Later that night, as Anna reads a book she watches Neil. But he is also watching her and soon turns up at Anna’s front door. They then have sex. Only kidding! It was all in Anna’s head.
In the morning, Anna brings around a casserole and Neil invites her to stay. Anna, Neil, and Emma laugh and laugh. It’s a great dinner for all three, and after Anna offers to read a book to Emma, she and Neil nearly kiss. (Although the casserole dish gets dropped before they can). Whilst Anna is back at her home, she requests to “follow” Neil on Instagram. Unbeknownst to Anna, there’s someone in her attic.
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