The opening scene of the first episode captivates the audience with a teenage girl, Andie Bell, walking solitarily down a serene street in the dead of night. Initially, her gait appears to be a mere journey home, but a few minutes later, a chilling revelation emerges as we catch a glimpse of her from behind, revealing a gaping wound on the back of her head, oozing with blood. This is Andie Bell, the young victim whose unsolved murder forms the crux of this intriguing mystery thriller.
In contemporary times, Pip walks home from school, accompanied by her friends. They attempt to procure alcohol from the local shop, but in this sleepy English village, everyone knows each other, and their underage attempt is swiftly foiled. As the teenagers flee from the shop, Pip gets separated from her companions and wanders past the memorial dedicated to Andie, the schoolgirl who perished five years prior.
Back home, Pip engages in casual conversation with her brother and parents, agreeing to take the family dog, Barney, for a stroll. As she traverses another house in the village, she witnesses a group of children knocking on the door and then fleeing. As she approaches, she notices the words "scum family" spray-painted on the wall. It then transpires that this was the home of Andie's boyfriend, Sal Singh, who took his own life after confessing to her murder, even though the police never found her body. The case was subsequently closed.
Despite the summer break, Pip decides to embark on an extended project and decides to focus on the mystery surrounding Andie's murder. She approaches Ravi, Sal's brother, who resides in the graffiti-ridden house, seeking his recollections of that fateful night. However, despite Pip's efforts to win him over with muffins, Ravi is not amused by her probing into the past and slams the door in her face.
Later, Pip wanders through the woods, where the trees are adorned with black ribbons, presumably in remembrance of Andie. She stumbles upon an abandoned shed, and inside, she finds a mattress and graffiti that appears to have been the handiwork of teenagers. As Pip explores the hut, a runner passes by, and her dog, Barney, chases after her. When Pip finally catches up with Barney, she is startled, as the runner resembles Andie. It turns out that the runner must be Andie's sister.
As Pip lingered with her friends, who chatted incessantly about boys and parties, her mind wandered back to the unsolved mystery of Andie's murder. Her best friend, Cara, begged her to refrain from probing her older sister, Naomi, about the fateful night, as it dredged up painful memories. Nevertheless, when Pip ventured into Cara's kitchen for snacks, she stumbled upon Naomi, who unexpectedly opened up about that evening. Their conversation was abruptly cut short by the arrival of Cara and Naomi's father.
Back at home, Pip devoted herself to creating an evidence board in her bedroom, piecing together every shred of information regarding Andie's death. After stalking Andie, Sal, and Naomi's social media accounts, she discovered that they had been in the company of a boy named Max Hastings on the night of the murder. This discovery propelled Pip to confront Max.
She volunteered to serve as a waitress at a party hosted by Max, knowing it would be a prime opportunity to question him. She reluctantly roped in Cara, who was not thrilled about the prospect of dressing up as a celebrity. After observing Max throughout the evening, Pip cornered him in the cellar and grilled him about the events surrounding Andie's death. He confessed that Sal had left his house around 10 pm and he had no knowledge of his whereabouts thereafter.
Pip was astonished when Max admitted that Sal had asked them all to lie to the police and provide him with an alibi, as it coincided with the time of Andie's murder. Despite feeling slightly under the weather from the alcohol Max insisted she consume to get him to talk, Pip recognized that Max and Naomi's accounts did not align. When Cara discovered that Pip had disregarded her request and questioned her sister, they engaged in a heated argument.
Later that day, Pip returned to Ravi's house to apologize for prying into Sal's affairs. He was amused to see her still dressed as a celebrity. He graciously accepted her apology and escorted her to Sal's room, where they sifted through his phone messages.
As Ravi recounted the tale of his brother's ingenious yet text slang-ridden messages, he zeroed in on the one standing out like a sore thumb. It was a message ostensibly from Sal to his father, confessing to Andie's murder, yet it was impeccably crafted with flawless grammar and punctuation—a stark contrast to Sal's usual style. Clearly, this message did not originate from him. So, who was the mysterious sender?
Interspersed throughout the episode were flashbacks from five years prior, when Pip was still a student. In one such scene, Pip caught a glimpse of Andie and Sal in the school hallway. Andie, alone and seemingly fleeing from something, caught Pip's eye and silently gestured for her to be quiet, implying that she wanted to remain unseen. However, when Sal appeared searching for Andie, Pip broke her silence and informed him that Andie had retreated to another classroom. This particular memory seemed to replay incessantly in Pip's mind, leaving us to ponder why.
At the conclusion of the episode, Pip was scrolling through Sal's phone with a sense of relief, knowing that Ravi had pledged to help her clear her brother's name. But as she perused Sal's photos, a flashback emerged of Sal and Andie engaging in a heated argument in a secluded car in the woods. Their disagreement seemed profound, yet when Sal stepped out, Andie followed him, and the two reconciled with a kiss. The question lingering in the air was—what had they been quarreling about?
