The Better Sister – Season 1 Episode 7 'Back from Red' Recap & Review

The Review Geek

4 days ago

Episode 7
Episode 7 of The Better Sister begins with a flashback to the day before Chloe's event. Adam is tired of their celeb life and picks a fight over it. He pushes her and blames her for his anger. Ethan is talking to Nicky and sees everything. At present, Chloe tells Ethan that while she was angry, she didn't kill Adam.
In the morning, Ethan is amused as Nicky and Chloe reminisce about their childhood. They had turned a prayer into a ghost story. For Chloe, the prayer would end in Wallace Lake while Nicky preferred Shadow Lake.
The cops are back to square one as Jake has a strong alibi. The lieutenant insists that they need to find a killer as it is a high-profile case.
Michelle hangs out with Jake and there are no hard feelings between them. They joke about how messy and dark white rich people are and she warns him to stay away from the Macintoshes. Chloe has come to apologise and she overhears. Once Michelle leaves, Jake looks defeated. He is upset that Chloe weaponised his feelings for her. It is confirmed that they didn't have an affair and the sex before the second hearing was the first time they did anything. He tells her to leave.
On her way back, Chloe runs into Matt who reveals that he has been following her. He tells her to be careful about Olivero and she is weirded out by his obsession.
The cops finally get a lead when Clark reveals that Arty was kicked out of the bar at 7 after a fight. A flashback shows Adam hiding at the bar instead of going to Chloe's party. He spots Arty and expects him joke about Chloe's controlling nature but it backfires. Arty is protective as he is aware of their shouting matches. He threatens Adam should he hurt Chloe and Clark kicks him out.
Nancy heads to her psych eval and we learn of her trauma. She was after a trafficker and finally cornered him after a frustrating investigation. She attacked him instead of waiting for backup and almost died because of it. The therapist explains that she needs a support system that will understand her.
Back at the NYC apartment, Arty is glad to see Ethan home. Chloe thanks him for looking out for the boy. She then checks Adam's computer and is annoyed to learn that Bill has deleted all files related to Gentry.
Ethan decides to scatter Adam's ashes and gives a eulogy. Adam was an angry father and Ethan was quite scared of him. But he did love him.
Nancy hounds Nicky next by showing up at the AA meeting. She nicks Nicky's cigarette for a DNA test but Nicky one-ups her. She ropes in Kevin and follows Nancy secretly.
Meanwhile, Chloe tells Catherine that she is ready to come back to work. Catherine is sympathetic to Nicky's case. Chloe confesses that cutting off Nicky was practical but she regrets it. Catherine suggests writing a book about it to win over the board. And by giving the royalties to Nicky and letting her into their elite circle, Chloe can try and make it up to her.
As for Nicky, she arrives at an assisted living facility where Nancy is visiting Eddy, a disabled man. She asks a nurse who reveals Nancy is responsible for Eddy's injuries and checks in on him at times.
Back to Chloe, she meets Bill who insists on a fresh start. He assures that he didn't delete any files and warns her to stay away from the FBI. She doesn't buy his concern and he schemes with his assistant once she leaves.
He is partially right as Agent Olivero shows up at Jake's. He has been blackmailing Adam and Jake into finding dirt on Gentry. Jake tries to refuse and Olivero roughs him up.
Elsewhere, Nancy confronts Arty about his alibi and he claims that he has been having an affair. It checks out but what shocks her is when Arty reveals that Nicky is taking care of Adam's mother in Ohio. At the same time, Olivero meets Matt.
Chloe gets the usual death threats and Nicky tries to lighten the mood. They are interrupted by Ethan who had put in a request for the files of the pool incident. The report claims Ethan was cold but he hadn't swallowed water. Nicky had a couple of pills and alcohol in her. Adam shared that Nicky was rambling the Wallace Lake prayer when he found her.
The trio is shocked as this means Ethan didn't drown. And Chloe had told Adam about the Wallace Lake joke, he didn't know that Nicky had her Shadow Lake version. They realise that he lied.
A flashback shows Nicky putting Ethan in a float and hanging about the house. Adam arrives and is upset that Ethan is floating alone in the pool. He roofies her lemonade and once she drinks it, she passes out in the pool. He calls the cops, claiming that his wife and son are drowning.
At present, Chloe argues with Hallucination Adam who claims it was a matter of time before Nicky would have killed Ethan. He did it for his son. He also points out that Chloe's life would not be what it is had Nicky been in the picture. Chloe regrets the involuntary hold and cries.
Nicky comforts her and reveals that she saw the files a few years ago. She was angry with Adam but knows Chloe was the better mother to Ethan. She was heartbroken when Adam ruined Chloe's life too. It is why she came back to protect her. Chloe is shocked by the confession and The Better Sister Episode 7 comes to a close.
The Episode Review
It looks like the Amazon Prime show has been sleeping for five episodes straight and now that the finish line is close, they are rushing to churn out their potential ideas into storylines. The Better Sister Episode 7 crams in several such plotlines like Arty's friendship with Chloe and Ethan, Nancy's trauma, Olivero's 'psycho' strategy, Jake's exploitation, Bill's shady behaviour which still has yet to reach a culmination point and Ethan's feelings about his father.
We get that Adam's abusive and manipulative behaviour is the big reveal for the final conflict but the rest of the storylines could have easily been integrated from the beginning of the show.
But in trying to keep up the suspense, the first six episodes resort to vague clues, suspicious behaviours and several red herrings which can end up boring viewers. These aspects are mostly fillers for when the episodes are not showcasing the sisters' estranged relationship. Had the writers paced out all the different subplots uniformly over the eight episodes, it could have made for a better thriller drama.
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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!