The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart – Part 4: River Lily

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

A young adult woman angrily rummages through papers in June’s office. After ransacking for clues, she packs up her belongings at Thornfield and get in her truck. We learn that some time has passed and this is now an adult Alice (Alycia Debnam-Carey) leaving Thornfield. With Alice travelling as far away from Thornfield as possible, Twig (Leah Purcell) and a recovering June (Sigourney Weaver) find the ransacked office. But June notices that Alice has left her a parting gift: a flower that holds the meaning of “betrayal.” Desperate for answers June tries reaching out to Salley (Asher Keddie) and John (Alexander England) for answer. But as the Morgans get a call from June, they ignore it as they are at a doctor’s appointment with a teenage boy.

Wanting to erase all existence of Thornfield from her truck, Alice makes a stop to spray-paint over the logo on the door and cover it with butterfly decals. During her painting she encounters a dog being picked on and quickly rescues it. Instead of leaving the dog there Alice takes them along on her journey.

Curious about June’s call, Sally calls her back. June questions Sally and learns that Alice has not contacted the Morgans since she cut them out of her life. When Twig and Candy (Frankie Adams) question June about her phone call, she lies to them. Later, June dreams of Alice uncovering the truth behind her decisions. Upon waking up and starting her day, June finds that she is still in pain from her recent surgery and tries to heal it with the honey from her bees.

While on the road Alice takes notice that the dog has started bleeding. Hoping for answers, she makes a stop at the animal clinic in the nearest town. There the local vet Moss (Xavier Samuel) takes the dog in for examination and observation. On the way back to her car Alice passes out. When she comes to Moss is there and tries to recommend a place for Alice to stay while the dog recovers.

Eventually, Alice finds a hotel to stay in town. Unpacking and cleaning up the items that the dog got messy, the deceit is finally revealed. Alice and Oggi (Ben Bennett) had become a couple as they got older. But Oggi shares a huge fear: since his mother fled to this country illegally he could face deportation back to Bulgaria. To help out Oggi, Alice proposes that they get married to prevent deportation and a plan is set. Unfortunately, Oggi does not show up at their spot one day and Alice learns from June that he has been deported. Through the years Alice receives no correspondence from Oggi until she finds a letter from him that was hidden in June’s office. There she finds out that June has kept them apart and Oggi’s recent letter reveals he is getting married. In present day Alice’s rage erupts after lots of drinking and she smashes the hotel mirror. Later, Alice calls Candy and tells her about June’s deceit.

Deciding to leave her room and explore, Alice finds a walking trail that leads to water for swimming. On her walk she encounters a young man named Dylan (Sebastian Zurita). Dylan advises Alice of the dried up swimming holes but suggests a better place that they could meet during “magic hour.” Intrigued, Alice heads back to her room to get ready for her date. But as she heads out, Moss has arrived at her room to let her know about the dog and invite her out for a drink. Alice’s plans with Dylan are derailed but she instead gets drunk with Moss and invites him back to her room. Even though she is still haunted by Oggi, Alice persists and they sleep together.

Meanwhile at Thornfield June tries to find clues in Alice’s room. Elsewhere, Candy takes the conversation with Alice to go look for clues…and is caught by Twig. Candy explains that Alice had called her and according to what she found Alice told her the truth. Twig finds June and explains that she needs to fix what she did. To get help, June calls John Morgan but the teenage boy Charlie (Jeremy Blewitt) answers the phone. Excited to talk about his clean bill of health with June, she instead snaps at him and asks for John. This exchange rattles and hurts Charlie as he wordlessly hands the phone to John and walks away. June admits to needing help finding Alice, but instead finds herself needing the help as she collapses in her house.

Alice is having the time of her life, especially when she invites Moss to the swimming hole that was recommended to her. They have fun and later find themselves drinking at the local bar….where they are bombarded by Moss’s friends. One of them, a woman named Lulu (Vivienne Awosoga), takes a liking to Alice and befriends her. Lulu ends up inviting Alice on the sunset tour and tells her to bring Moss. Also at the bar is the guy Dylan that Alice stood up, who is friends with the group. Outside, Dylan approaches Alice as she smokes and intrigues her further when he able to identify the plant on her locket. That night in bed, Alice tells Moss she was invited on the sunset tour….but there was only a ticket for her.

Charlie’s continued silence prompts Sally to call June….who is at the hospital. Twig ends up picking up the phone and quickly learns that Charlie is June’s grandson and he is very much alive. Leaving Candy with a sleeping June, Twig heads back to the house and finds out that June had Charlie adopted by the Morgans. In that evidence, letters that Charlie had tried to send to Alice were also kept from her. When June wakes up, Candy explains that Twig is now aware of the truth about Charlie. Upon Candy and June’s return from the hospital, they see Twig cutting down the tree that she had planted in memory of Charlie. Later, Twig unloads her fury on June for lying.

While Alice heads off to enjoy the sunset tour, June tries to put together the largest apology of flowers for Twig. When Twig sees the bouquet, the meaning is “Forgive me. Without you, I’m nothing.” On the tour, Alice catches the eye of Dylan and feels drawn to him. But for June, she is crying over the destroyed bouquet that Twig left her. While June’s life appears to be falling apart, Alice is finally finding peace and reconnecting with the memory of her mother.