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Female-centric drama was established as the central concern of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart from the beginning of the first episode. And episode 1×04 thrusts the viewer into adult Alice’s life with the same heavy interpersonal conflict that defined her childhood.
Young Alice went through a lot during the first three episodes of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. A LOT. All of the physical abuse she and her mother Agnes (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) suffered at the hands of her father Clem (Charlie Vickers) had to come to a head.
And, of course, one day it did. After a fire–which we still don’t know the details about– Alice’s parents are dead and she must go live with her grandmother, June (Sigourney Weaver). Alice learns the language of native Australian flowers on June’s flower farm. However, Clem’s violence overshadows Alice’s life and June’s decisions as time goes by.
A time jump abruptly introduces 23-year-old Alice in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart 1×04, and more than any episode so far, this one emphasizes how bad decisions can take on a life of their own. Both ones in the past and possible ones yet to come.
“Betrayal”
The time shift makes for a jarring start to this episode. Alycia Debnam-Carey now plays older Alice. She is tearing through June’s office, looking for something, and she is obviously distraught. She throws a bag into her truck and leaves. It doesn’t take long for the writers to reveal the source of Alice’s anger.
Alice had a childhood friend who she began dating in her late teens, and they wanted to marry to allow his Bulgarian family to keep citizenship. Well, June had them deported and kept his communication from Alice.
Now, he has finally written again to tell Alice he is getting married and Alice managed to get the letter. June’s actions are completely in character with what we’ve seen so far but there’s plenty more to come.
Sally and John Morgan (Asher Keddie and Alexander England), the couple whose marriage was tested when she revealed a past affair with Alice’s father, are now parents of a 14-year-old boy, Charlie (Jeremy Blewitt). Alice’s mother was pregnant when she died, and by sheer luck, the baby did not die and June arranged for the Morgans to adopt him.
No one else knew. But now June’s wife Twig (Leah Purcell) has found out after a call from Sally while June is hospitalized. Neither June’s illness nor her insistence that she did everything in the best interest of the family keeps Twig from leaving.
“Forgive me, I’m nothing without you.”
While all this is going on, Alice has settled into a hotel near a place with the same name as her mother. She has also rescued a dog that needs medical attention. Hello, cute young veterinarian (Xavier Samuel)! Alice may be (understandably) angry with June–and she doesn’t even know about her little brother yet– but that doesn’t stop her from connecting with this new guy.
However, viewers might not want to get attached to him. Alice also meets another attractive stranger (Michael Gillan) and locks eyes with him. Alice, girl, please don’t be stupid.
We know you’ve been through a lot and emotions are high for you right now but the vet is a good guy. You laughed and smiled with him! Don’t throw that away! This is one case where we wish fictional characters could hear us when we yell at them.
Alice’s story is nowhere near over so I’m sure there is more drama in store, both from Alice’s own choices and elsewhere. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart 1×04 makes the overall narrative of this series a bit disjointed and is still heavy on melodrama. The adult part of Alice’s journey has begun, though, and there’s no turning back.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is streaming on Prime Video.
