Hard Broken – Season 1 Episode 2 “Once Upon A Time” Recap & Review

Once Upon a Time

In Hard Broken Season 1 Episode 2, we go back in time. We meet Adam, a little boy who discovers his mother having an extramarital affair. When his dad finds his mom with another man, he ends up having a heart attack.

It is the present day, and Adam has just seen Yasmine’s corpse for the first time at the mortuary. The sight of her in that condition has deeply hurt him.

Adam’s mum makes another visit to see his daughter Sarah. He tells her to go and never come back, as is his customary behavior. However, she can’t bear the thought of abandoning her granddaughter.

Saad is yet again being questioned by the authorities. He says that he and Yasmine dated back when they were both in college. He goes on to tell the investigators that Yasmine came across as innocent, but she was far from it.

Saad also reveals that Adam had suspicions that Yasmine was having an affair when they were married. He goes on to say that Yasmine didn’t approve of Adam hanging out with Saad because she feared he’d turn out to be just like him.

When Saad attends Yasmine’s funeral, Adam confronts him. He then presses him for details about his possible role in Yasmine’s death. However, Saad says he wasn’t involved, and he’s wounded that his friend doesn’t believe him.

Yasmine’s past is shown to us through flashbacks. We find that she and Surraiya were the best of friends. Saad, despite this, was seeing Surraiya after his breakup with Yasmine.

Surraiya is summoned by the investigators for questioning. After further questioning, she admits that she was envious of Yasmine when she was dating Saad because of his high income. She also reveals that Yasmine and Saad’s relationship was a secret for a long time.

The investigators visit Adam to question him about Yasmine. The detectives want to know if he suspected Yasmine of having an extramarital affair. Adam says no to protect the honor of his late wife and his own reputation. Despite this, he begins to exhibit signs of doubting her after probing further.

Sarah finds Yasmine’s hidden phone in the episode’s concluding minutes. When Adam realizes that Sarah is holding Yasmine’s phone, he takes it from her, and the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

This episode reveals details about Yasmine’s past, her possible infidelity, and her friendship with Surraiya. This episode provides some insight into the shortcomings of Yasmine and Adam’s otherwise picture-perfect marriage.

The episode moves the plot along and provides some background on Yasmine’s life growing up, including her friendship with Surraiya, her passionate relationship with Saad, and her tumultuous marriage to Adam. Although it is never explicitly stated, the episode seems to imply that Yasmine had an extramarital affair.

Adam’s early life is depicted as he accidentally walks in on his mother having an affair. This event appears to have permanently damaged his relationship with his mother and may account for his dislike of her in the present. Adam’s current strained connection with his mother is only exacerbated by the fact that his father experienced a heart attack when he was little.

The episode attempts to set up a whodunit, but doesn’t succeed very well. Unfortunately, the show’s tendency toward overdramatics makes it difficult for us to take it seriously.

What’s worse is that the character arcs don’t feel particularly fleshed out. Not being able to relate to the characters because of poor character development undermines the show’s goal of creating an emotional connection with its audience.

In its current state, the show is below par. This episode is a bit of a letdown due to its weak plot, uninteresting characters, and over-the-top dramatics.