I May Destroy You series premiere recap: Who is Arabella?

I May Destroy You series premiere recap: How does the show begin?

I May Destroy You is a new drama-comedy series from HBO starring the award-winning English actress Michaela Coel, who fans might recognize from Chewing Gum. In the I May Destroy You series premiere, we are introduced to her character, Arabella. The series is already receiving rave reviews from critics, and after the first episode, I can see why.

Arabella is a minor celebrity who gained notoriety from her book Chronicles of a Fed-Up Millennial. In the opening scenes of the series premiere, we see that she has been spending time in Italy with a handsome guy that doesn’t appear all that interested in her.

When she leaves, he tells her he’ll call her when he’s ready, and they kind of leave things on a weird open-ended note.

I May Destroy You series premiere recap: Content warning for sexual assault

Back in London, she gets a call from her literary agents, Julian (Adam James, Belgravia) and Francine (Natalie Walter), who are eager to see what she has written for her next book. Unfortunately, Arabella has nothing written, although she lies and says she just needs to make a few minor tweaks before its ready.

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He asks her to have it submitted by 6 a.m., which means she has to prepare herself to pull an all-nighter to come up with something that will wow her agent and fans.

Before that can happen, Arabella spends some time with her friends Ben (Stephen Wight, Men in Black: International) and Terry (Weruche Opia).

Terry is an aspiring model, it seems, as she has an audition for a “feminist beauty campaign.” Arabella also tells her friends about her weird relationship with the Italian guy and how she can’t seem to resist him.

Then she leaves to go work on her draft, which is barely written at all when she starts. She winds up procrastinating, doing everything but her actual work. Then her friend Simon (Aml Ameen, Sense8) calls her.

Simon wants Arabella to come out with him, his wife Kat (Lara Rossi, Robin Hood), and his cousin. Basically, it seems like Simon and Kat want to keep his cousin, Derae (Ansu Kabia, Last Christmas) busy with someone so they can have a threesome this girl Alissa (Ann Akin, Electric Dreams) they met through a dating app.

However, it appears that Simon is reluctant to have a threesome, and it is Kat who is pushing for it. It makes me wonder if the question of his consent might come up, and if this moment might spell some kind of doom for their relationship.

Arabella, meanwhile, is still struggling to focus. She sets an hour on her clock and goes out to meet with Simon, Kat, and Simon’s cousin, after all.

The date itself is going well, at least for Kat and Alissa. Simon still appears very awkward and unsure. Alissa then gets a sudden phone call. She says her mother is sick and she has to take care of her. Things get even weirder after that as Kat decides she should leave too, leaving Simon and Derae alone.

I May Destroy You series premiere – Photograph by Laura Radford/HBO /

They leave the area they were at for the date and happen to run into Arabella on the way out. Simon and Arabella are ecstatic to see each other, which is cute. Derae isn’t all that charming when he meets Arabella, since all he can think to say is, “she’s kind of short.”

While they look for a bar, they get stopped by one of Arabella’s fans who asks her for a picture with her. They do some drugs and eat on the way to a local club where an event called Karaoke Kingdoms is ongoing. Arabella gets onstage to compete.

When Arabella is singing, Simon receives a text from Alissa saying, “I told you she wouldn’t suspect. Be there soon.” Major OMG moment.

Alissa shows up, and it becomes quite apparent that Simon and Alissa have been together for a while. Arabella feels a little weird hanging out, knowing that he’s cheating on his wife. Simon starts ordering shots and coaxes Arabella into taking a tequila shot despite her saying she needs to leave to get back to work.

Also, before Arabella enters the Ego Death Bar, Simon tells Alissa “not to say anything” to Bella, which makes me think maybe Simon wants to orchestrate a threesome between them instead of one with Kat involved.

Arabella gets extremely drunk and tries to continue working on her book, and she sends something off to her literary agents. At a meeting the next morning, Julian and Francine are confused about what she submitted because they claim it becomes rather “abstract,” and doesn’t seem to tie-in to the rest of the book.

Throughout the meeting, it becomes increasingly apparent that Arabella is not okay. Julian points out that she’s bleeding above her eyebrow. As Arabella wanders back out into the streets, everything becomes distorted and blurry. She asks a fan for help getting her back home (after pausing for a selfie). The fan gets her a cab.

At home, Arabella enters her bedroom and suddenly has a flashback of a man from the night before, David, thrusting above her in what looks like rape.

It’s a disturbing way to end the episode, although not entirely surprising if you’ve read the plot summary of the series, which will revolve around Arabella’s sexual assault. We also know that someone did indeed spike her drink from the official synopsis, but it’s not clear who just yet.

That said, it’s not entirely clear if the man she saw in her brief moment of clarity was the only culprit, or even one at all, as it seems I May Destroy You intends to add some mystery to its story.

I can’t imagine that Simon and Alissa won’t have some part to play in all of this given they provided some of the biggest surprises of the I May Destroy You series premiere.

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What did you think of the I May Destroy You series premiere? What do you think is the deal with Simon and Alissa? What happened to Arabella at the Ego Death Bar? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

New episodes of I May Destroy You air Sunday nights at 10:30 p.m. on HBO.

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