We Were The Lucky Ones – Episode 1 “Radom” Recap & Review

Radom

Episode 1 of We Were The Lucky ones opens with Halina in 1945, standing in line to get information on her family, with many, many others. The distributer sees her and immediately calls out to her. She gives her a letter and it seems to have good news. 

Meanwhile, we jump back to 1938. It’s the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Kurcs are expecting their darling Addy, now a composer in France, back for the holiday. We meet Halina who is working as a lab assistant for her brother-in-law’s research practice. Her sister, Mila is expecting. 

Halina goes to the train station to meet Addy (Aa-di). They come across a woman who used to buy from their mother’s garment shop but now, she goes to Paris for shopping. It shows how anti-semitic feelings are stirring up in Poland. Hitler is at his peak in Germany already. 

Halina and Addy go back to the house. The entire Kurc family is present for the celebration. Sol and Nechuma, the parents. Halina’s siblings – Genec, Jakub, Mila, Addy. Jakub’s girlfriend Bella; Selim, Mila’s husband; and Adam, the Kurc’s neighbour, whom Halina is interested in. From Halina and Addy’s conversations, we find that Genec is also courting someone and it is serious. Halina is at the stage in her life, where she isn’t sure of anything and expresses her desire to go to Paris with Addy someday. 

Time passes by, and it’s 1939. Trouble is stirring in Europe with Hitler’s aggression. Nechuma sends a letter to Addy and tells him not to come for the Passover as it’s unsafe. However, Addy decides to go home but isn’t let through by the Polish consulate – letting him through means his death. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, Halina is in a relationship with Adam and while they are in a restaurant, she notices a boy, badly beaten up with bruises on his face. Elsewhere, Genec is optimistic that they are safe still. He goes back home to Herta, who is now Genec’s wife. They seem to be taking preventive measures in order to not get pregnant, lest the war breaks out. Genec, a lawyer, tells his wife that he was demoted for no reason in the office and so, he resigned. The Jews are being removed from holding positions of authority now. 

 It’s Passover and the entire family are united without Addy. The atmosphere is gloomy. We find that Mila has a daughter named Felicia and she’s having a hard time being a mother. Even though she had wanted to get married and have a baby all her life, her mum suggests to get help from their domestic carers. 

Halina and Adam kiss in the dark and we understand that Halina does not want to get married. Adam proposes to leave Random but Halina comments that her parents did not leave during the Great War and they certainly wouldn’t leave now. 

It’s September 1939 – Germans invade Poland and the allies declare war on Germany. World War II has begun. Jakub runs to Bella’s house in the dead of the night amidst sounds of bombs and fighting in the distance. He tells her that the men have been called to leave for Lvov (southern Poland) to fight. They need to report by midnight. Jakub, Genec, Adam and Selim leave. 

The next morning, the Kurcs do not open their shop and stay home, and the German army marches into the city and overthrow the administration. Mila goes home to find Felicia by herself and it seems Dorota has left. Halina goes over to Mila to take her back home. 

Meanwhile, in Paris, Abby is taking trips to the Polish consulate but to no avail. He comes back home and turns on the radio. The BBC news reports that Poland has fallen to the Axis powers. Germans and Soviets have divided the country into two, taking western and eastern part of the river Bug respectively. Unfortunately, Radom is under German control. 

Elsewhere, Mila meets Herta, who is leaving for Lvov to be with Genec. The Kurcs gather up their most expensive belongings from the shop and hide them under their floorboards. The shop has to be taken over by the Germans. The Jews are to report to labour from the next day, not going means instant death. Mila is concerned about Felicia and decides to take her to the factory and hide her there. 

Halina is taken to a farm as a farm maid. She witnesses horrifying beating of a woman who asks the soldiers for food for her family. The Jews are not paid. There is no food. Halina’s father steal some potato for them to have at dinner. Halina is shaken up by what she saw and breaks down, urging them to leave but to no avail. 

There’s a knock at the door and it turns out to be Bella. She brings news from Jakub that Selim is missing. Apart from that everybody is fine.  Bella stays the night and tells Halina that she is leaving for Lvov, where life seems liveable. The soviets aren’t Germans and there is work and food. The episode ends with Halina agreeing to go with Bella. 

The Episode Review

“It’s getting worse” succinctly summarises the entire episode. It began with a sense of hope, moved into feelings of happiness with sprinkles of concern, and ending with a feeling of dread and anxiety. The quickness of the change that is brought between 2 years, 1938 and 1939, is also represented by how the episode divides itself – short distinct stages of time with the situation worsening in Radom in each stage. 

The episode title itself –  “Radom” – shows that the city of Radom is at the centre of the action right now, the Kurcs live in Radom, with Halina’s parents refusing to leave the city, even when the situation is dire – the feelings of connectedness with the “home”. 

Moreover, the episode 1 is very personal and evocative. Not only are the situations around the Kurcs changing – German invasion of Poland, Jews being treated as pests with no food or work – but the family is changing. People are ready to take drastic measures to survive. It’s heartbreaking and anxiety inducing, even now as we watch the characters on-screen.

What’s even more noteworthy is that this episode induces a sense of terror – but not by outright violence. It creeps into us, from little things, like glances of a boy with evidence of what’s coming on his face, as Halina notices outside the restaurant. Moreover, We Were The Lucky Ones might just possibly be Joey King’s best role as Halina.

All in all, the first episode of We Were The Lucky Ones is spectacular and extremely touching. We will meet you in the second episode recap, make sure to savour each and every moment of this phenomenal series.