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The entire journey of Alice Hart, despite the distressing subject matter, had a glimmer of hope waiting on the horizon. Even if it was just the native Australian wildflowers adding visual beauty to the imagery, it was there. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart 1×07 concludes Alice’s story with a hopeful and emotional resolution.
Physical abuse characterized Alice’s childhood. The treatment Alice and her mother Agnes (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) suffered at the hands of her father Clem (Charlie Vickers) was horrific. But history repeated itself in Alice’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) adult relationship with Dylan (Sebastian Zurita). Red flags of abusive behavior didn’t penetrate Alice’s haze of attraction to him and then it was too late. The terrifying moments when he hits her and then pursues her after she’s defended herself are a lot for any viewer to handle. But they did make me eager for an emotionally satisfying payoff to come. Not just for Alice but for the other characters as well.
Though they could sometimes make frustrating decisions, the women of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart have made a memorable impression and the finale of their story in 1×07 is a resonant one.
“Have courage, take heart.”
The direct aftermath of Dylan’s attack makes for a downbeat start to this episode. The need to yell at Alice to NOT answer his phone call is followed pretty quickly by appreciation for the way Lulu (Vivienne Awosoga) supports Alice when she sees what happened to her friend. The way Alice tries to minimize his actions is infuriating but gives a complete picture of an abusive situation. Of course, the bulk of anyone’s anger will be directed at Dylan and there’s more of that to come.
When Alice tries to report Dylan at the national park where they both work, she finds out that he has beaten her to it. He has used her defense of herself against her by claiming that she attacked him. This is straight out of the abuser playbook. It is enraging. Though they call it a suspension, we know Alice has essentially lost her job when she takes out her stress on a park visitor who breaks the rules by picking flowers. But again, I have to praise Lulu. Get yourself a friend who will quit their job in solidarity with you.
Finally, Alice does what we’ve been rooting for her to do for a while. She gets back in touch with her grandmother June (Sigourney Weaver) to come back home. There is one more secret that June has been keeping from Alice, though, and it’s time she tells her. The shock Alice feels when she finds out her unborn little brother actually survived the fire that killed their parents is only surpassed by her anger at June. But this information is the path toward better days for Alice.
“My love forever.”
Alice doesn’t go back to June’s flower farm. Instead, she wanders back to the library where she met Sally (Asher Keddie) when she was a kid. Sally and her husband John (Alexander England) are the ones who adopted Alice’s little brother, Charlie (Jeremy Blewitt). Sally immediately goes into caretaker mode like her character always has and she recognizes that Alice needs to know the truth about her parents’ deaths. This is a mystery I’ve always wanted solved. It’s also a cathartic release for Alice to know that she isn’t responsible for the fire and that her mother was trying to protect her and her unborn brother.
While Alice is getting to know Charlie, Dylan contacts her. It’s difficult not to side-eye her when she texts back that she misses him too. However, she assures Sally that she’s not going back into that situation. And then Alice tells Charlie that there was good in their father too. This makes us realize that her being with Dylan might have had more to do with guilt about her father and that now she can let that go.
Alice has more important things to focus on anyway. After getting worse for a while, June at last succumbs to her cancer. Now we see the poignant culmination of this show’s themes of abuse and intergenerational trauma. June’s memorial is attended by a large number of the battered women she sheltered at her farm over the years. She also leaves Alice a handwritten record of all their stories. The preservation of their voices emerges as the meaningful purpose of the storytelling here. Overall, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart 1×07 is an ending that contributes substance and shows respect for its serious themes.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is streaming on Prime Video.
