“I See You’ve Played Knifey-Handy Before”
Episode 1 of Pieces of Her begins with a young woman named Andy finishing her shift as a call operator and heading home. She’s moved from NYC to this rural town, which explains her nonchalance and boredom at work. She’s there to look after her Mum, who happens to be working as a speech therapist.
There’s definitely uneasiness between the pair, with Laura encouraging Andy to try and pursue something she wants in life. Andy though, is quite content to drift.
While they head out for lunch together, celebrating Andy’s 30th birthday, she likens herself to her father, Jerry. Andy believes she gets her “f*ck up” gene from him.
Despite being better now, Laura blames herself for upending Andy’s life, encouraging her to head back to NY. The thing is, Andy was actually juggling several part-time jobs there so going back isn’t really all that appealing.
In a café, a deranged gunman suddenly stands up and shoots a woman named Shelly dead. He also shoots her mum too, as the rest of the customers all hide under tables and drop to the ground. Among those are Andy and Laura, with the former forced to stand up after being called a pig.
Laura tries to stop the gunman, talking him down. Only, he stabs her straight through the hand. Instead of passing out though, she doesn’t seem too phased and swipes back and slits his throat, killing the man and stopping his rampage.
Laura has lost a lot of blood and as she’s taken down to the ER, she tells Andy: “Is it snowing? I’m so cold. He’s coming back. Don’t talk to the police.” Quite what this means though is a mystery for now. It’s particularly disturbing given this area actually has the lowest crime rate.
Naturally, this brings in Detective Wilson from Savannah police department. Alongside Andy is Gordon Oliver, who happens to be Andy’s stepfather. He’s divorced from Laura too but the pair have a good relationship, if their chat in the waiting room is anything to go by.
Now, it turns out someone actually filmed the whole incident, which appears to be motivated by a simple break-up. Shelly broke up with Jonah and he obviously hasn’t taken it well. He was banking on Andy having a gun and shooting him down, but that obviously hasn’t materialized.
Off the back of what’s happened, Laura is unhinged and kicks Andy out the house. She wants her to start acting like an adult and that includes staying at Gordon’s place for a while.
With a half a million views clocked up on the video of Laura’s extraordinary confrontation with the gunman, a mysterious figure watches and phones someone, telling them they have a problem. There’s something big going on here but what? I’m sure we’ll find out soon.
With the rain pouring downs, Andy collects up her stuff and heads out. Only, a strange guy in a hoody starts lurking about, smashing the glass to Laura’s front door and interrogating Laura. With her tied up to the chair with a bag over her head, Laura pleads for her life while her daughter grabs a lamp and manages to distract him.
It’s enough time for Laura to break free from her binds, just as Andy knocks out the gunman. However, just prior to this she’s also phoned the police, prompting Laura to immediately perk up and organize traffic.
After handing over his phone to Laura, a distraught Andy tries to listen to her mum’s instructions. She tasks her with taking the car and driving to Carrollton.
With money and key cards in hand, she’s to head to Unit 320 at the Get-And-Go Storage unit. She’s then to switch over to a car stored there and drive up North to Maine. She urges Andy not contact anyone and to leave. Laura promises to call as soon as it’s safe but right now, it’s not and she needs to go.
With police sirens wailing, Andy follows her mother’s instructions, ducking for cover in the car. Leaving her old life behind, Andy heads off and prepares to follow her mum’s instructions.
The Episode Review
Pieces of Her gets off to a great start here, with a really nice vibe, a show that feels a lot like The Sinner in the way it presents a shocking murder and then tries to make sense of it.
Unlike that show though, this one leans a lot more into the idea off there being a big secret that Laura is keeping from her daughter and everyone around her. It seems like she’s got a secret life, and that’s something that I’m sure will be explored in more detail in the episodes ahead.
The acting in this show is great and the 39 minute run-time works really well to ease into the story and set the scene for what should be a very enticing series to come.
Andy has officially dived head-first down the rabbit hole. But how far does that go?
- Episode Rating
Surviving a shooting would be traumatic enough, but for Andy Oliver, that’s just the beginning of the harrowing journey that will soon upend her entire life.
Based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Karin Slaughter, Pieces of Her (all eight episodes are now available on Netflix) tells the story of Andy Oliver (The Man in the High Castle‘s Bella Heathcote), a police dispatcher in a small Georgia town, and her mom, Laura (Unbelievable‘s Toni Collette), a speech language pathologist in a veteran rehab facility. Andy is stuck in her dead-end job, and with her dad out of the picture, she gave up her life to move home after her mom got sick.
The mother/daughter duo hit a diner to celebrate Andy’s 30th birthday and discuss her future, but another pair of women stop by their table for a quick hello, Andy excuses herself. Moments later, a disturbed man rises from his seat, shooting and killing Laura’s tableside visitors. Laura rushes to Andy and tackles her to the ground, as another patron is killed while trying to call for help.
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The shooter turns his attention to the “pig” on the floor (Andy, who’s still in her work uniform), but Laura stands up and diverts his attention. He attempts to fire again, but Laura knocks his arm away, causing the shot to miss. Out of bullets, he pulls out a large blade and stabs her directly through her hand (gross!), and after a few shocked seconds, she slashes the man’s throat with the knife that’s still impaling her hand. While they await the authorities, Laura mumbles to Andy to not talk to the police, and strangely asks if it’s snowing.
At the hospital, Laura’s ex-husband Gordon (Power‘s Omari Hardwick) arrives. While Laura awaits the surgeon, she gets a call from a man named Charlie. Officers ask Andy if Laura ever served in the military. Andy shakes her head no. Laura refuses to speak to the cops, and as they prep to go home, a video of the throat-slashing is all over the news and quickly going viral.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, an older gentleman sees Laura’s face on TV. He makes a phone call. “We’ve got a problem,” he tells a mysterious someone. “It’s her.”
Though the plan was for Andy to crash at Gordon’s for the night, she texts him and declines. She gets dressed and heads to the garage. She bends down to reach for her dropped phone, and as she does, she spots a man in a hoodie peering through the window above her. She slowly makes her way back inside the house, and hears her mom talking to the man. Laura is tied to a chair, as the man suffocates her with plastic. Andy texts 911 with her mom’s phone, then grabs a paper towel holder and thwacks the guy in the head. She reaches for the man’s gun, but he overpowers her. As Laura frees herself from her restraints, Andy’s able to land one more heavy blow to the man’s head, which ultimately knocks him out.
Laura seems disappointed when she learns Andy contacted the cops. She orders her daughter to go through the man’s pockets, take the man’s belongings and hop in his car. She gives her specific instructions to go to a storage unit, swap cars and drive to a motel in Maine. Mom promises to call her as soon as it’s safe. Though she’s in a state of near shock, Andy does as she’s told. As the cops whiz by her, she hits the road, crying and confused.
What kind of deep, dark secrets is Laura hiding? Grade the premiere below, then tell us your thoughts in the Comments.