The Act season 1 premiere recap: La Maison de Bon Rêve

Jerald Raymond Pierce

The Act — ” ” — Dee Dee Blanchard (Patricia Arquette), Gypsy Rose Blanchard (Joey King) shown. (Photo by: Brownie Harris / Hulu)

The Act gives us a story based on true events. A little dramatic, a little horrifying. If the first episode of The Act teaches us anything, it’s that you will be hard pressed to trust anything you see.

The first episode of The Act opens with a phone call to 911 on June 14, 2015. Lacey is calling for help after finding some concerning posts on Facebook and not being able to get in touch with her neighbors.

As the discussion with the dispatcher continues, Mel is pounding on the neighbor’s front door, calling out to Gypsy and Dee Dee. But she gets no response. She eventually climbs in a window, still calling out, as police sirens pull up to the house.

The Act then flashes back to seven years earlier. Gypsy and Dee Dee are in the middle of a television interview in their new home, provided to them by Habitat for Humanity. Dee Dee talks about how receiving the house was like a Disney movie or a fairy tale, especially since they were left homeless after Hurricane Katrina.

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There’s an odd moment when the reporter directly asks a question to Gypsy about making new friends. Dee Dee cuts her daughter off, answering in her stead. After prompting from the reporter, she lets Gypsy speak, but only after Dee Dee shares a look with Gypsy.

Gypsy then makes sure to say her mother is her best friend.

After the interview, Gypsy turns to her mother and asks if she was “good.” To which, Dee Dee says she was perfect.

The opening credits roll, showing various pictures from Gypsy’s childhood, including hospital stays. When the episode rejoins the action, Gypsy is sitting in a sink as her mother re-shaves her head. Gypsy wonders what it’ll be like if it grows in.

As they talk, Gypsy hopes that they’ll be able to actually stay in this house. Their last house was owned by the government, so they had to leave. Dee Dee assures her that this house is theirs forever and there are no hurricanes in Missouri.

During this, Dee Dee has prepared a medication concoction that she then injects into Gypsy’s stomach via a long tube.

At night, Dee Dee and Gypsy share a sweet moment where Dee Dee says that she protects Gypsy and Gypsy protects here, like angels.

After leaving her daughter to sleep, Dee Dee opens a closet door to a closet full of medicine bottles. She sifts through and finds some she decides to take, including one with “sleepy baby” written on it by hand.

It’s morning now and the episode shifts briefly to Lacey and Mel’s house where Lacey is trying to convince her mother to visit the neighbor’s house with them. Mel is uninterested, saying that just because they were on tv, it doesn’t mean they’re special.

Over at Dee Dee’s house, Lacey is invited in. She explains that she volunteers at a hospital giving makeovers to little girls and asks if Gypsy would like one (after all, Lacey needs the practice). Dee Dee hesitantly agrees.

As Lacey and Gypsy talk, they start to bond. Gypsy talks about how she likes to go to conventions where she can dress up as Disney princesses and Lacey talks about her boyfriend, Luke. Gypsy reveals that she used to be able to walk when she was younger and her dad, who is no longer in the picture, used to make fun of the way she walked. She says she doesn’t really remember, but that’s what her mom says.

Just outside the bathroom where Lacey is finishing with Gypsy’s makeup, Dee Dee stands and listens. She seems particularly interested and worried when Gypsy asks Lacey if the two of them can be friends.

Later, Dee Dee hands Gypsy a wet cloth and tells her to scrub the makeup off of her face, much to the dismay of Gypsy. Dee Dee says she’s too young to be wearing the makeup. She reminds Gypsy that she’s not like other girls and that she’s special. Gypsy reluctantly removes the makeup.

Another day. Children are outside playing and Lacey and her boyfriend are washing her mom’s car. Dee Dee takes Gypsy over to say hi and meets Mel in the process. Mel is a bit brash and rude, but Shelly (who is sitting on the porch with Mel) invites Dee Dee to sit with them.

As they talk, Dee Dee talks through all of the illnesses Gypsy has, including paraplegia, epilepsy, anemia and a heart murmur. It’s the reason, she explains, that she can’t practice “tough love” like Mel says she likes to. Gypsy can’t fend for herself. Shelly is amazed by Dee Dee strength and Mel says Gypsy is lucky to have Dee Dee.

Everything comes to a screeching halt when Lacey tries to let Gypsy have some of her Coke. Dee Dee rushes over, stopping them. She says Gypsy is allergic and having too much could send her to the emergency room (which would be the seventh time this year—and it’s only the summer).

Back home, Dee Dee reviews the dangers of having too much Coke with Gyspy—describing in excruciating detail the pain and reaction that could come with making that mistake. Gypsy apologizes and Dee Dee promises that they’ll find something tomorrow to do that’ll cheer them both up.

The Act — ” ” — Dee Dee Blanchard (Patricia Arquette), Gypsy Rose Blanchard (Joey King) shown. (Photo by: Brownie Harris / Hulu)

This transitions to Gypsy and Dee Dee at a mall. While there, Gypsy spots a necklace that looks like the one Lacey has and she asks her mom for it. But rather than buy it, Gypsy acts as a lookout at Dee Dee slips the necklace into her purse. It isn’t until the last second that Dee Dee spots Mel looking on from the floor above them.

Dee Dee quickly wheels Gypsy away and out of the mall.

Later, Gypsy is outside with her mom as Dee Dee gardens. Mel comes out of her house across the street. She responds to Gypsy’s hello, but not to Dee Dee’s. Dee Dee tells Gypsy to go inside as she hurries over to talk to Mel.

When Mel asks what Dee Dee wants, Dee Dee says she is out of butter and was hoping to borrow some from Mel. Mel slyly responds that she doesn’t have any, but Dee Dee can go down to the store to pick some up.

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As they continue talking (with Shelly in the mix too), Mel starts to gossip about others in the neighborhood. When Shelly tries to stop her, saying Dee Dee doesn’t want to hear about it, Shelly says that, eventually, everyone knows everything about everyone in the neighborhood.

Inside, Gypsy checks out the window to see where her mom is before grabbing her mom’s laptop and opening it. She searches “best friend” and “boyfriend kiss” and clicks through pictures. She hears her mom coming back, so she quickly deletes the browsing history and closes the laptop.

At dinner, Dee Dee tells Gypsy that she doesn’t think Mel likes her and thinks she made a bad first impression. Gypsy suggests they invite her over to try to mend things. Gumbo makes everything better. Dee Dee seems to agree, saying they can throw a party that the neighborhood can remember them by.

The Act cuts to the party where it looks like the whole neighborhood is attending. As Dee Dee makes the rounds talking to people, they’re putting money in a donation bucket for eye surgery for Gyspy.

Elsewhere at the party, kids keep pestering Gypsy with questions. She doesn’t seem to be having a good time. That is until she sees Lacey and her boyfriend. Lacey calls Gypsy over and tells her that she has to help them keep an eye on the things going on behind closed doors.

In her own house, Mel sits watching the news about Casey Anthony and the discovery of Caylee Anthony’s remains.

Back at the party, before they can talk too much with Gypsy, Luke and Lacey say they have to head to a movie with their friends. Gypsy asks if she can come, but Lacey politely turns her down, saying that Dee Dee probably wouldn’t like it.

After they leave, Gypsy rolls herself over to a table of cupcakes. She takes a long look at them before picking one up.

Nearby, Mel has finally joined the party. She still looks at Dee Dee with a bit of a side-eye. Shelly tells Mel that she has to try Dee Dee’s gumbo and goes off to get Mel some. After Shelly leaves, Mel confronts Dee Dee about what she saw at the mall. Dee Dee tries to blame it on Gypsy wanting to take things, but Mel tells her to cut out the “perfect mom” act.

Dee Dee breaks and admits that Mel is right, but says that she just wants Gypsy to have nice things sometimes and disability payments just don’t cover it.

Meanwhile, Gypsy has dipped her finger in the cupcake’s frosting and licks the frosting off of her finger. Dee Dee sees her just as Gypsy starts digging into the rest of the frosting. She rushes over and sticks Gypsy with an epipen and rushes her off saying she needs to get her to the emergency room.

As they leave, Shelly says (mostly to herself) that Dee Dee has gone through so much hell—it makes Mel, who is standing next to Shelly, look a little remorseful for how she treated Dee Dee.

Leaving the hospital, Gypsy and Dee Dee run into Mel who has come to see how Gypsy is doing and drop off Dee Dee’s wallet (she had left so fast that she forgot it). Before Mel leaves, Dee Dee stops her and says that she doesn’t want people to see her the same way they did in Louisiana—a woman with a bad reputation.

Mel says she understands and the two women agree to a fresh start.

This transitions The Act back to 2015 with the police pulling up to Dee Dee and Gypsy’s house. The police, warrant in hand, enter the house with their guns drawn. As they look around, they find the living room full (I mean, full) of stuffed animals and dolls.

As they search, Gypsy’s medicine alarm goes off. One of the officers follows it into Gypsy’s room and finds Dee Dee dead (and rotting), stabbed in the back multiple times.

Across the street, Mel and Lacey hear the police declare the house a crime scene. They rush over and find out that Dee Dee is dead. Lacey, shaking, asks where Gypsy is.

Flashing back again, Gypsy and Dee Dee again go through their nighttime routine. Promising to protect each other and, as Gypsy fades off to sleep, Dee Dee going into the medicine closet to take Xanax.

Back in her room, Dee Dee opens a letter addressed to a Clauddine (presumably Dee Dee’s real name). It contains a check for $1,500. She puts it away and goes to bed next to Gypsy.

Less than an hour later, Dee Dee is asleep, but Gypsy is awake. Gypsy, who has been wheelchair bound up until this point, turns, puts her feet on the ground, and slowly tiptoes her way out of the room.

She goes to the kitchen, pulls out a can of whipped cream, grabs an epipen (and has it open and ready), takes a deep breath and sprays some whipped cream on her fingers. She eat a little, breathes, and then goes back in for all of what was on her fingers.

As Gypsy breathes, touching her throat, checking to make sure her throat isn’t closing, The Act cuts back to a scene at the hospital. The doctor tells Dee Dee that Gypsy doesn’t have a sugar allergy at all.

Gypsy puts the cap back on the epipen and puts it back in the cabinet. Then, looking like she’s still trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not, she puts the whipped cream away. She sighs and cracks her back, seemingly in pain from being in a wheel chair all day.

When she gets back to the room, her mom is sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her. Dee Dee tells her to get back in bed. They both settle back into the bed.

There are going to be a lot of twists and turns in this season of The Act. What lies and reveals do you think will happen this season? Let us know all of your thoughts on The Act in the comments.

Jerald Raymond Pierce

Jerald Raymond Pierce is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in American Theatre magazine, the Seattle Times, the Charleston Post and Courier and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He has his BFA in Acting from Ohio University and MA in Arts Journalism from Syracuse University.