Adoration – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Missing

Adoration episode 1 starts with someone driving a car. The scene cuts to a young lady running up a flight of stairs. We circle back to 12 hours before the first scene. Here we are introduced to two best friends, Elena and Vanessa. They shoplift some earrings from the mall and run away.

They get on a bus and decide to wear one earring each. They head to school where Elena learns she failed the exam and Vanessa passed. The news frustrates Elena, who lashes out at Vanessa. She accuses Vanessa of being ashamed of her and happy they won’t be in the same class after the summer break. The poor girl tries her best to calm Elena down. At the school, we also meet Diana and Vanessa’s cousin, Vera. They are best friends, and they don’t like Vanessa. 

Elsewhere, we meet Enrico, Elena’s boyfriend. He is not happy that he found out about Elena’s exam results from his friend Giancarlo. Giancarlo is Vanessa’s boyfriend, and he is skipping rowing practice to be with Vanessa. The boys convince the coach to allow Christian back on the team since they are one man short. 

In the meantime, Elena and Vanessa take another bus and fight again. However, Elena quickly apologises and promises to attend Vanessa’s birthday party. Vaness goes home to share the good news and her mom, Manuela, is excited to start preparing for Vanessa’s birthday. Later, Melissa quickly visits to give Vanessa a gift and Giorgio hides from her. Vanessa asks Melissa to come to her party and talks to Giorgio to have a decent conversation with Melissa. It turns out that Giorgio is dating Melissa but has been avoiding her for weeks. On the other side, Diana likes Giorgio and tries to get his attention. 

On her way to work, Elena gets a call from Enrico, and she asks him to concentrate on his upcoming exam instead of picking her up. At the same time, she texts another guy and asks to meet up later. At work, Elena tries to sneak some leftovers for the homeless man, Ricotta, but her boss, Diletta, stops her.

Diletta forces Ricotta to leave and gives Elena a final warning about helping the man. After her shift, Elena sneaks out some leftovers for Ricotta and takes it to him. He tells her that Enrico is waiting for her and Elena is forced to text the other guy and postpone their plans. 

Enrico drives Elena home, and they make love. Vanessa drops by and sees Enrico’s car outside, so she sends a voice note to Elena, promising to see her next time. Elen responds and lies that she is heading to Cassino with Enrico. After Enrico leaves, Elena gets ready for her date with the mysterious guy, who picks her up. Ricotta sees her leaving but minds his business. Meanwhile, Vanessa tries calling Elena, but she is unreachable. The scene switches between Elena running for her life and talking to the mysterious guy about Vanessa. 

In the meantime, Vanessa gets into a fight with her cousin Vera. Vera is excited about going to Rome, but Vanessa doesn’t think it will happen. The next morning, Vanessa wakes up to an array of happy birthday messages on her phone. Giancarlo surprises her with flowers and a public declaration of love. However, Vanessa is worried since Elena has yet to wish her a happy birthday. She assumes that Elena is still angry about their little fight.

As the day progresses, Diana calls Vera to ask about Elena, since she missed her shift and is unreachable. No one can reach her, but they assume she is acting out. Diana later drops by Vera’s house, and they pick a dress for her. Vanessa’s birthday is coming up later and Diana wants to look great. However, she is sad that Vera is leaving to be with her dad. 

In the meantime, Vanessa and Enrico start looking for Elena. Vanessa finds Elena’s phone at her house. They call the police and report Elena missing. Police officer Chiara takes the case and tries to find out what happened. Vanessa tells Chiara that Elena had mentioned running away. Enrico explains he left her at home when she complained of being sick and left for Cassino. Chiara finds it odd that Enrico and Elena used an app to keep updated about each other’s location.  

Vanessa tries to focus on her birthday and Giancarlo encourages her to enjoy the day and forget Elena, the drama queen. He gifts her two tickets to Mykonos. The others assume that Elena is up to her usual antics and get ready for the party.

Vera gets a call from her dad, informing her that something has come up. He can no longer be with her over the summer vacation. Vera is hurt and disappointed. She heads back and drops by Vanessa’s birthday. She causes a scene and sleeps with Christian.

At the same time, Diana kisses Giorgio and he turns her down. Vanessa tries to get into a party mood but fails. Her mood worsens when she sees a comment made on Elena’s last social media post. She asks Giancarlo to take her home, and he agrees. Upon getting inside his car, she spots Elena’s earrings and asks him what he did to her best friend. 

The Episode Review

Giancarlo is starting to look suspicious. His car seems similar to the one that picked Elena up. Her earrings were found in his car. So far, he is our prime suspect if something indeed happened to Elena. Based on the flashbacks of her running from her life, she knew her attacker. Were the two having a steamy affair before things got out of hand and Giancarlo killed her? 

The premise of this show follows this gang of friends and we gotta admit, they have a lot of drama going on. Everyone is doing something ratchet behind each other’s back and we love a good messy show.  Let us see what the rest of the season has for us.