In this episode, Alison, after being what I would consider emotionally beat up by her mother-in-law Cherry, cuts her leg very deeply and has to go to the hospital for stitches. Self-harm is one of Alison's go-to coping mechanisms when she's emotionally overwhelmed. A very kind and compassionate doctor, who apparently was a medical colleague of Alison's, gets her to open up about Gabriel's death and tells her it wasn't her fault. We get what feels like the whole story about Gabriel's death for the first time, and Ruth Wilson absolutely eviscerates. I don't really love the character of Alison, but Ruth Wilson is so talented, I find that I can still care about this character, even if I don't like her. That's acting talent I think- to make the unlikeable still human enough for us to care about them.
Review of Episode #1.9
