The Slap Episode 1.03 Anouk

The immediate fallout from the slap, coupled with Anouk's eyewitness account of Hector and Connie's intimate moment that distracted her from the event itself, leaves Anouk troubled. Specifically, she wonders why anyone would want a relationship with another person, let alone choose to raise children. For Anouk, this particular complication manifests in her own life in the form of a man more than 10 years her junior, the budding TV star Jamie. He currently occupies a space somewhere between Anouk's boyfriend and her lover, and Anouk's uncertainty and fear drives her motivation to attempt to push him away after they leave Hector's party. Jamie refuses to go home separately, and Anouk relents. They end the evening under the sheets in the throes of passion.

Anouk joins Aisha and Rosie on a lunch date some time later, and conversation immediately turns to Harry's recent arrest. Despite Rosie's eagerness to exact what she deems justice, Anouk argues against any sense of clear-cut victory. Never mind Hugo's brief brush with physical violence, won't a legal case cause long-term rifts among the adults? Rosie balks at Anouk's suggestion - after all, how could Anouk offer advice on the subject of parenting, something she knows nothing about? Rosie's assertion sends Anouk out the door, too angry to continue the discussion.

Under the weather, Anouk visits her mother, Virginia, an academic and trained psychiatrist. Although their relationship often causes Anouk stress, she nonetheless asks her mother's advise regarding Hector and Connie's moment. Should she tell Aisha? Virginia suspects the better angle would be to approach the culprit, and Anouk in turn heads to Hector's house knowing full well Aisha would be gone. The two friends discuss Jamie before Anouk focuses on the purpose of her visit. She expresses her thankfulness for Hector and Aisha's role in her life - then warns him about furthering a relationship with Connie.

That night, Anouk attends a concert where Jamie's band performs. Her simmering illness leads her to the bathroom where she gets sick. A stoned Jamie still manages to pick up on her condition and accompanies her to a corner store for aspirin - except she covertly purchases a pregnancy test. In private, she watches the results... and learns she's pregnant.

She withholds the news from Jamie, and they both go to Virginia's birthday-party dinner at the house. Although the other guests far exceed Jamie in age and academic acumen, he holds his own at the table as conversation shifts to different topics. Virginia halts it altogether when she makes an announcement that shocks Anouk - she's moving to Scotland to take a position at the University of Edinburgh. Anouk confronts her mother in the kitchen, irate that she would tell a whole group about new plans before informing her own daughter.

On the heels of this news, Anouk and Jamie share a moment alone on set, and he reveals that he knows about her pregnancy... and embraces the prospect with open arms. His kindness to the idea of marriage and children (he suggests the name "Olive") terrifies Anouk, and she rejects his optimism by breaking up with him right then and there. She cries through the moment - perhaps more as he walks away - and her sincerity comes into question. That is, until she visits Aisha's clinic with a firm directive for her best friend to provide her with an abortion. Aisha presses Anouk for context, and Anouk blurts out her true worry: fear of being an awful mother. She divulges sensitive details about her past - Anouk's mom didn't want custody of her during a divorce, but her father's sudden death forced the issue. In other words, Virginia never wanted her. Aisha, forever calm and collected, advises Anouk to let the past go and at least sleep on the decision.

Anouk returns to her mom's house and discovers her computer's history full of searches for information on brain tumors. Based on Anouk's quick research, her mom faces an imminent death. When she and Virginia finally reconnect, the truth emerges on both sides without ever quite leaving their lips - a bittersweet goodbye between two women in transition.

The next day, Anouk visits Rosie's apartment where she apologizes for the abrupt end to their lunch date. She maintains her same stance and still believes the court case could scar everyone involved, but wants Rosie to understand that she appreciates and recognizes the deep love Rosie shares with Hugo. That, Anouk tells her friend, is beautiful.

At long last, she seeks out Jamie at a bar where he sits at a piano. He appears distant and sad, until she rests her head on his shoulder and guides his hand to her stomach. Anouk instructs him to meet their child - Olive, or perhaps Oliver, depending. They end up in a warm embrace, ready to tackle the world at large. Or, at least, to endure it.