The Girlfriend Totally Falls Apart in Episode 4

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This article discusses the first four episodes of Prime Video’s The Girlfriend.

To appreciate shows like “The Girlfriend,” it’s crucial to be open to a degree of unlikeliness, as these domestic thrillers often depict long-standing rivalry between a wealthy matron and the attractive women her son introduces, regardless of their social standing. It’s also important to accept that a reasonably intelligent person might live with a psychopath for years without suspecting anything unusual. If you’re accustomed to consuming such content, as I unfortunately often am, this shouldn’t hinder your enjoyment during a satisfying binge-watching session. This six-episode series is currently available in its entirety on Amazon.

Midway through the show’s season, “The Girlfriend” presents a series of implausible turns that not only contradict common sense and everyday life logic, but also the established rules of its soap opera alternate reality. One of the two primary characters, usually at odds, performs an utterly reprehensible act – initially seeming out of character for her. However, the actions of her rival in response are so unexpected that they go against our understanding of this particular character, creating a plot hole large enough to potentially disrupt the entire series continuity.

Originally penned by Michelle Frances in her novel “The Girlfriend“, this series presents a well-trodden plotline. The character, Daniel Sanderson (portrayed by Laurie Davidson), is determined to introduce the woman he truly cares for, Cherry Laine (Olivia Cooke), to his parents. Cherry is a real estate agent who matches her outlandish name with her flaming red hair and preference for attire in shades of cherry red and burgundy. At the onset, the details of her past are obscure, yet it’s evident that she’s an unfamiliar presence in Daniel’s wealthy circle. His father, Howard (Waleed Zuaiter), is a hotel mogul; his mother, Laura (executive producer Robin Wright, who helmed half the season), runs a gallery. Although Daniel is 27 years old, he continues to reside in his parents’ lavish London home, and he enlists Cherry’s help in finding him a place of his own.

In one of the early scenes of the series, he playfully jumps onto Laura in their indoor pool, creating an immediate impression of some Oedipal tension between mother and son. However, it’s Cherry who first seems suspicious. From Laura’s protective viewpoint, this ambitious woman who has caught Daniel’s attention is manipulative, overtly sexual, potentially a thief, undeniably a liar. It appears that neither Daniel nor Howard notice what Laura sees, fueling her growing desperation to keep Cherry away from their family. Admittedly, Cherry displays some questionable behavior. Yet, the main premise of “The Girlfriend ” lies in its alternating viewpoints between Laura and Cherry. As we delve deeper into both characters’ lives, it becomes increasingly clear that Laura, who soon reveals an intense obsession with Daniel, might be the more threatening of the two women.

The suspicion I had was validated (or it turned out to be true for me at least) towards the end of Episode 3. Daniel, who had fallen from a mountain during a rock-climbing trip with Cherry, ended up in the hospital, severely injured and hanging onto life. Although it’s clear to viewers that his injury was an accident-and if anyone, Daniel himself was responsible-Laura instructed Howard to keep Cherry away from Daniel’s bedside. Despite her persistent requests for updates on Daniel’s condition, Laura refused to respond. Eventually, Laura answered the phone. She expressed her condolences to Cherry: “I’m so sorry,” she said, “Daniel is gone. He passed away this morning.” In reality, he had been taken off the ventilator and was now breathing independently.

Only someone cold-hearted or cruel would fabricate such a huge lie, but characters like these are common in shows similar to this one. However, it seems that even Laura, who told the lie, is starting to realize she’s overstepped her boundaries. In episode 4, we see Laura’s perspective as she drives to Daniel and his girlfriend’s apartment to confess the truth – that Daniel is still alive. Upon arrival, Cherry appears to have been partying all night, which complicates matters. Laura also finds Daniel’s credit card, suggesting it was recently used, and, finally, Cherry tells her that Daniel had proposed before his fall – leaving Laura unable to confess. To make matters worse, she lies further by claiming a family funeral for Daniel already took place, but Cherry wasn’t invited.

It’s hard to believe how Cherry reacted to the lies told by her would-be mother-in-law. After feeling grief, she bought Daniel a suit for a funeral that hadn’t been announced yet (a questionable explanation for the credit card charge and her tardy, disheveled appearance when meeting Laura, but still plausible). She pursued Laura to reprimand her about excluding Cherry from the memorial. She sought solace in clubbing as a way to ease her sorrows, but ended up running into Daniel’s friend Brigitte (Shalom Brune-Franklin), who thought that Cherry had deserted him. They exchanged vague words about his situation without either realizing that Laura had given them conflicting information. And when Laura, who was secretly nursing a recovering Daniel at their home in Spain and intercepting his messages to Cherry, hacked into Cherry’s social media account and posted a rant that led to her losing her job, Cherry moved back home and began working at her mother’s butcher shop.

It’s never shown that Cherry searches for an obituary of Daniel Sanderson online, even though there likely would have been one given his lineage and prominence in the art world. Moreover, the passing of a young, well-connected individual like Daniel usually triggers a flurry of social media posts and tributes, which Cherry hasn’t seemed to miss. However, it is hinted that Laura might have hidden Daniel from Cherry’s Instagram feed (or an equivalent platform), but this does not equate to erasing him entirely from the internet as Cherry understands it. Furthermore, Cherry wouldn’t stop reaching out to people who knew Daniel, such as Brigitte and Howard, in her attempts to find more information about his supposed death.

Due to the character traits we’ve observed in Cherry – her obsession, mistrust, and extreme nature – it’s quite plausible that she would take independent measures to confirm Daniel’s demise. An amusing yet improbable scene in the premiere showcases this, as Cherry, a real estate agent, secretly mixes a giant, bleeding animal heart into the wedding cake of her rival Laura’s ex-husband, causing quite the scene. Despite their ongoing feud over Daniel since their initial encounter, it’s clear that Cherry would not back down from verifying Daniel’s death on her own terms.

In simpler terms, “The Girlfriend” wasn’t intended to be a sophisticated piece of art. I found it entertaining enough to keep watching till the end. The performances by Wright and Cooke were lively and engaging, making it worthwhile to binge-watch. However, after episode 4, I started doubting if the storyline would follow its own internal logic or make any sense considering the characters’ unhinged behavior, which is the core concept of the series. There were no longer any reasons to anticipate unexpected plot twists that might not have a solid foundation in the previous events. This took away some of the enjoyment from watching it. A show doesn’t get a free pass for being unrealistic; it still needs to make sense, even when it’s not striving for realism.

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2025-09-11 00:06