This is a story recap of Netflix’s Pieces Of Her season 1 and contains spoilers as it details what happened.
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Pieces Of Her season 1 tells the story of 911 call operator Andy, who strives to uncover the many secrets of her mother’s mysterious past. The series jumps between multiple time periods as the entire story is mapped out in fragmented pieces. As with any intricate story, there is a lot to unpack, so let’s get started.
Story recap – what happened in Pieces Of Her season 1?
Episode 1
Laura takes her daughter Andy out for a meal to celebrate her thirtieth birthday. At the diner a crazed gunman shoots and kills three people and then heads over to Andy in her police uniform. The killer wants Andy to retaliate, but Laura explains that she is unarmed. Laura manages to deflect the gunman’s shots and instead is stabbed with a knife. Using this knife, she slits the gunman’s throat. Someone films the whole altercation and the footage goes viral. Dangerous criminals from her past see Laura all over the news and are dispatched to sunny Belle Isle. One intruder starts to torture Laura, but Andy is on hand to save her. With the criminal shot and believed dead, Laura sends her daughter on a mission far from the crime scene.
Episode 2
In this episode Andy strictly follows her mother’s instructions. She finds the getaway car, a suitcase full of money, a gun and Laura’s multiple fake identities. An anxious Andy is pursued by hooded figures and checks into a motel. That night she befriends a man called Jack, who teaches her how to use this new gun. Meanwhile, Laura deflects questions from detectives and requests her ex-husband’s assistance. Together they move their hostage, but he has a seizure and dies anyway. Laura is hounded by news reporters and decides it is time to tell the world what happened at the diner shooting.
Episode 3
Laura is interviewed by a news reporter about the Crab Shack massacre and is seen as a local hero. She uses the interview to subliminally contact her enemies and asks for a truce. Andy unearths more of Laura’s past and fearing for her own safety goes to Charlie Bass’s house. This is an old friend of her mother’s, but even he can’t be trusted and she flees. Further investigating brings up a terrorist called Paula Kunde, who was involved in the murder of billionaire Martin Queller. Andy tries to get a meeting with Paula’s attorney, although she is denied. She takes an employee’s ID badge and dresses in a disguise. The episode ends with Charlie kidnapping Laura.
Episode 4
Andy visits Paula in jail, showing her the fake ID’s and a photograph of a young Laura. Paula recognises the image and calls the woman in the photo Jane. Later, Andy discovers that her mother is in fact called Jane Queller and is billionaire tycoon Martin Queller’s daughter. The man from the bar, named Jack, stalks Andy around town. Jack explains that he is actually a US Marshall called Michael Vargas, sent to keep an eye on her. He tells Andy that she is part of the Witness Protection Program, along with her mother. Laura asks to leave the program and signs the paperwork. Meanwhile, Andy meets with Jasper Queller (Laura’s brother) and ends the episode leaving in a car with the man.
Episode 5
Andy spends time with her Uncle at his mansion and unearths video tapes of her mother playing piano to captivated audiences. One tape shows Jane flirting with her lover Nick. In flashbacks, it becomes apparent that Nick is the leader of a cult vigilante group, who want to topple Martin Queller’s empire. They plan a protest at a forum where Martin Queller is a speaker, but instead he is assassinated by a rogue member. Jasper records Andy’s phone conversations and she escapes the mansion once it becomes clear he can’t be trusted. Andy is convinced that Nick is her father and plans to meet up with Michael Vargas for an update. As the two are talking in public, Michael is attacked and collapses.
Episode 6
Laura hunts for her missing daughter and interrogates Jasper at his headquarters. Andy finds the suitcase in Michael’s hotel room, but the criminals manage to get their hands on it first. She follows them in a cat and mouse chase across town. In the end she retrieves the suitcase and takes it to her reunion with mother Laura. At this meeting Laura is apologetic, yet she takes the suitcase and runs. In flashbacks the vigilante group are on the run from the FBI, after the assassination. Jane’s brother Andrew is shot and they must go into hiding.
Episode 7
In this episode, Andy asks for Charlie’s help. The two are involved in a car crash and Andy wakes in her childhood home. Suppressed memories from her youth return to Andy as she remembers her troubled upbringing. Back in the eighties, Jane cares for her dying brother in a safe house. Nick gets violent and attacks a now pregnant Jane. She escapes with her brother Andrew, but he dies in hospital. Jane decides to confess to the police and joins the Witness Protection Program. Another flashback reveals the time when Laura had cancer and she confesses her double life to a dying patient. The episode ends with Andy walking downstairs in her childhood home to be met by her father Nick, the fugitive.
Episode 8
Laura takes the suitcase full of money to the house in the woods, joining Nick and Andy. It is revealed that the suitcase contains an incriminating recording that Nick and Jasper want to eradicate. The tape keeps Laura safe as she can use this to blackmail her enemies. Nick takes the tape, but Andy causes a fire and they fight for the evidence. Laura manages to grab Nick’s gun and chases him into the woods. The police arrive before Laura can kill Nick and he is arrested. The mother and daughter struggle to readjust to normal life. Andy discovers that Laura was the one who persuaded Grace Juno to kill Martin Queller and a flashback confirms this. Jasper also finds out this vital information and phones Laura to let her know she’s in trouble. Laura looks ready to run again but instead walks to the beach. The series ends with Laura and Andy standing in silence looking out at the ocean.
And there you go, that’s the story recap of what happened in Netflix’s Pieces Of Her, season 1. What are your thoughts on the story? Please comment below.
