Netflix's The Stranger season 1, episode 2 recap: Complicated secrets

Corrine’s disappearance may be more complicated than it seems as Adam uncovers more secrets as he searches for his wife on The Stranger.

Joanna’s best friend Heidi (Jennifer Saunders) is approached by the Stranger and her friend (Lily Loveless). They reveal that her daughter Kimberley (Callie Cooke) has been working as a prostitute through a website called FindYourSugarBaby.com on The Stranger. They have proof and pictures, and unless Heidi agrees to pay 10,000 pounds, they will release the proof and ruin her professional future. The Stranger’s reign of terror continues.

Meanwhile, Adam still has no word from Corrine. Her silence is so unlike her that despite the unusual circumstances he knows something is wrong. But what could he tell the police that they wouldn’t immediately dismiss him?

Corrine’s schedule says she’s doing breakfast club at school, so Adam heads that way to see if she’s there. Along the way, he gives his neighbor Doug Tripp (Shaun Dooley) a ride. Doug is also Mike’s dad and just as much of a character as he is. He talks constantly, gets into Adam’s business, and ends up belting the Boss and giving Adam a well-deserved laugh.

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Unfortunately, Corrine is not at school. Vicky (Jade Harrison), Corrine’s co-worker and friend, is covering her breakfast club after receiving a short text from Corrine. When Adam confronts Vicky, there is more going on than just Corinne’s disappearance. Someone has posted photos of her daughter Ella’s privates online and she doesn’t know what to do. What is all this drama happening in this community? Ella says that they aren’t photos of her, but someone is claiming they are. Either way, Adam advises Vicky to go to the police, because regardless of whether the photos are of her or not, someone has done this to her and it could be considered child abuse.

Vicky doesn’t know anything about where Corrine is, only that she’s been tense the last few weeks. She assumed it had something to do with Adam, but their marriage had been fine up until the fake pregnancy fiasco. No leads there.

Adam briefly thinks about DNA testing the boys but can’t bring himself to do it. In the book, it’s because he realizes it doesn’t matter whether they’re biologically his or not because they’re still his sons and he loves them. One thing I sorely miss from the book is Adam’s inner commentary as he works through his feelings about Corrine and the fake pregnancy.

On top of Corrine’s disappearance, Adam still has his job to worry about. He has a meeting with the developers who want to tear down his client’s house so they can build new apartments. The developers are represented by their silent partner, a beautiful, blue-eyed, eloquent, and elegantly dressed older gentleman (Anthony Head) who, big surprise, ends up being Adam’s dad. I guess gorgeous men run in the family. Unfortunately, Adam’s dad was also absent and philandering. He spares very little time for Adam or his grandsons in favor of his career and new young family.

Meanwhile, Adam’s client Martin Killane (Stephen Rea) is an ex-cop and agrees to help him track down Suzanne Hope, the woman who inspired Corrine to fake her pregnancy. He’s good at this kind of thing and spends his free time looking into cold cases. His own wife disappeared some years ago and he doesn’t want to leave the home they shared together.

When Adam goes to speak to Suzanne, he gets chased off by her husband who has an angry reaction to Corrine’s name. Weird. He doesn’t get any further with Suzanne before his son calls him home. The police are there looking to talk to Corrine about money missing from the local football club. So now she’s an embezzler?

In other weird local drama, which may or may not be connected to anything, Mike is the one who decapitated the alpaca after the rave while he was high on something and he’s still having disturbing drug-induced flashbacks. Now Mike, Tom, and Daisy have to figure out how to get rid of the head without getting in trouble.

Dante is still in a coma and his toxicology report shows signs of alcohol, marijuana, and MDMA. Dante’s parents swear he wasn’t into drugs beyond “homegrown weed in moderation,” so what was a serious drug like MDMA doing in his system?

Joanna and Wes track down the site of the rave and question Tom, Mike, and Daisy when they encounter them visiting Dante at the hospital. They won’t admit to anything, but it’s pretty clear that they’re nervous and evasive. When the trio goes out into the woods later that night to bury the alpaca head, Jo and Wes can track their movement on Dante’s phone through an app. The trio gets scared off when it looks like someone is watching them, but the police are able to pick up Mike and bring him in for questioning.

Heidi confronts her daughter about FindYourSugarBaby and the people who are blackmailing her, but tells her she’ll take care of it. Before she can do anything about it, though, she gets killed by a man posing as a police officer. Only he’s not posing, he works with Joanna as a cybercrimes specialist. How does he fit into all this and why did he kill Heidi?

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There are lots of strings intertwining in this mystery and it’s unclear which, if any, are connected to Corrine’s disappearance. And now there’s a murder to solve too!

What did you think of this episode of The Stranger? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!

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