Episode 1 of "The Last Night at Tremore Beach" unfurls with an enigmatic prelude, featuring a disarrayed man at the piano. As his fingers inadvertently stumble upon a discordant note, his demeanor transforms abruptly, lashing out in frustration and injuring his hand amidst the piano's keys. His wife and children, startled by the commotion, rush to his side.
The protagonist, Alex, an acclaimed pianist and composer, resides in a tranquil yet isolated coastal hamlet. His journey into the town's heart leads him to an invitation for dinner at the abode of his neighbors, Leo and Maria. Subsequently, he visits a hostel, unveiling his clandestine relationship with Judy, a former nurse who, upon arriving in Tremore, found her heart rooted there. Alex, estranged from his former spouse, shares custody of his children with her in Amsterdam.
Later, Alex and Judy venture to his former abode, nestled in a desolate locale, where the narrative's ambiance shifts eerily. Alex experiences hallucinations of Judy, asleep yet insistent in his mind, warning him against venturing out as a tempest looms. Disregarding her phantom plea, Alex proceeds to Leo and Maria's dinner, where a sudden blackout plunges the evening into discomfort. Upon the lights' restoration, he hastens back home.
En route, a lightning bolt fells a tree across the path. Alex ponders an alternate route but, determined, attempts to displace the obstacle. In that fateful instant, lightning strikes him. He awakens in a hospital room surrounded by Leo, Maria, and Judy, who had grown anxious over his overnight absence.
Alex and Judy confront the lingering aftermath of his lightning strike—disorientation, headaches, nightmares, and other distressing symptoms. Alex's dreams become a recurring nightmare of that harrowing night. Upon returning to their house, he's haunted by visions of Judy on the roadway, echoing her urgent plea to remain indoors, much like the night of his accident. Leo soon arrives to install a radio, linking Alex's home to Leo, Maria, and their burgeoning radio network.
Beneath the surface, tensions brew in Alex and Judy's relationship. Alex harbors a desire to depart Tremore, while Judy is steadfast in her wish to stay. Leo offers reassuring words, drawing parallels from his own unconventional union with Maria—a corporate lawyer and a painter/hippie whose bond, despite infertility, thrives amidst challenges.
That fateful night, amidst the throes of his composition, Alex discovers that the tempest has once again unleashed its fury, accompanied by an eerie spectacle of fish raining from the heavens. As his eyes scan the horizon, he beholds Maria's entrance, her form marred by wounds and a stab that pierces through her. With urgency, Alex dashes to summon Leo, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of an intruder's shadowy figure lurking within their abode.
Upon Leo's arrival, he endeavors to soothe Alex's frayed nerves, disclosing that the harrowing sequence Alex witnessed was most likely a figment of his imagination; Maria stands unharmed and vibrant. There is no tempest to speak of, no celestial deluge of fish, and no telltale scar marring Alex's wrist as he had vividly envisioned.
Returning to the sanctuary of his home, Alex fixes his gaze upon the mirror, which in turn reflects a grotesquely distorted likeness of his own visage. The episode culminates in a harrowing moment of Alex's psychological disintegration, as he stares into the abyss of his reflection, grappling with the fragments of his shattered reality.
