The ten-episode espionage series “The Spencer Sisters,” helmed by Alan McCullough, is currently streaming on CTV and features Stacey Farber (Darby Spencer) and Lea Thompson (Victoria Spencer) on screen. The mother-daughter duo are the protagonists of the show, who will solve mysteries together with their outstanding analytical power. They have unique understandings, clashing temperaments, and a complex relationship, yet they nevertheless launch an attack on the most unlikely of endeavors: starting a private investigation bureau. The first episode, titled “The Scholar’s Snafu,” depicts how the bribery case in Alderwood becomes trouble for Kaia (Jennifer Hui), a close family friend of the Spencers.
Spoilers Ahead
Mister Before Sister
The first episode begins with Darby sleeping next to her boyfriend, Chase. She wakes up in a hurry and rushes towards her work. Darby is working as a cop under Detective O’Neill (Kevin McIntyre). The cops are fishing around a tall man in a green hoodie inside a residential area. Sooner or later, Darby reaches and runs into Gabby, who alerts her that it is just another burglary case, but the same criminal is involved. The detective suspected the criminal would flee down the laneway and asked his team to follow that path. However, Darby questions him as it seems not such a brilliant idea to her to chase the criminal over the dead end. Gabby warns her not to raise any questions; it would be better if she followed the order. At the same time, the overly proud detective boasts about his skills and forbids her to propose any principles as she is not a detective. But Darby is dedicated when it comes to her job; she chooses to steal a glance at the parking area, which she wasn’t supposed to do. And actually, she is right! Darby caught the defendant, knocking him down with the shopping trolley before putting him in chains. And all we expect after a great accomplishment is appreciation, but it turned out to be a frustration for Darby. The detective doesn’t want her to use her freestyle on his crime scenes, but that is what Darby does. The commanding officers are displeased because she went against the lawful order. But Darby senses a misogynistic vibe from them; she knows that those people could never be satisfied to see women taking decisions. She makes some backhanded compliments and quits! Somewhere it is the patriarch system that totally let her down, and she literally moved out of the holy grail.
A Breakup Leading To A Startup?
Not every morning could be as bright as a rainbow cake, and it is one of those challenging days for Darby where everything goes wrong. When she returns to Chase, she finds him with another woman in the bedroom, and that is enough to ruin her mood. She makes a call to Zane (Thomas Antony Olajide), one of her closest buddies, to ask for shelter on his couch. But he is already preoccupied with his little baby girl. Now, she has only one option: to call her mother. Already, Darby had ignored most of her mother’s calls, and neither of them were on very good terms. She drives to Alder Bluffs, the place where her mother (Victoria) lives in a vintage villa. Darby justifies her excuses for not replying to her mother’s phone calls and texts. Victoria Spencer is a best-selling author for her detective novels; in addition, she has received prestigious awards. She assumes that Darby is here to join her book reading session that is going to be held the next morning. But Darby goes straight to her room to sleep after some disagreements with Victoria. Darby keeps on reminiscing about how she had always wished to follow in his father’s footsteps, a committed commissioner who died on the front line while on duty. The next morning, she comes across Sarita Stark and Victoria talking over the book launch party and promises them to be there on time. Then there is Zane and his man, and Darcy shares all her problems with these guys. She admits that being a cop is definitely her dream, but she wants to work independently without being pressured by orders.
As soon as she reaches Victoria’s bibliophile event, Victoria welcomes her daughter with overwhelming joy. While Darby is having a conversation with Kaia, Kaia picks up a call and goes berserk in front of all. She learns that she has been expelled from the university due to the plagiarized content in her dissertation, which is nearly impossible from her side as she is a diligent scholar. The authority informed her that her paper was reported and flagged; with this, Victoria and Darby decided to help the poor girl. Though Darby seems pissed off with her mother, she still teams up, and here the “Spencers Sisters” are on their way to rock!
Mission Alterwood
Of course, it’s a great pair when Darby has spent her time tracking the real criminals, and on the other hand, Victoria is the Agatha Christie of the show. They visit Dean Wanda, who tries to convince them that Kaia has put some money into some article and paraphrased it, so basically, that goes against the rules of the institution as it is not her work. She also provides some proof. Later on, Kaia informs Darby and her mother that she is not aware of such websites, and the proof is not even the piece of work she had submitted. Jerome Callaghan, one of the guys on her campus, was using a performance-enhancing drug, and she wanted to discuss how it affects athletes and causes depression in them. Even a few days back, her computer was also misplaced; hence she has a feeling that at that point, all her data had been flagged by Jerome. The next day, Darby meets Jerome while her mother peeps into the locker of the guy, where she finds some pills. It was not a smooth way to have a conversation, as the basketball coach directly asked Darby to leave the place. Victoria is quite excited about her victory. Darby took the pills to one of his doctor friends, Lucas, to confirm it. He reveals that those are the medicines for erectile dysfunction, and now it is evident why Jerome was shy to have a talk with Kaia earlier. If it is not Jerome, then who? The name of Michael Fletcher pops up among all who have never been cross-examined by the administration but are already registered in the documents. Kaia claims that Fletcher was selected from Vancouver, and it was his skills that helped him secure a position on the team. But Kaia doesn’t remember seeing him on campus. Darby asks Jerome as well, but he has no information about any student with that name. While Darby is trying to connect the dots, she has an argument with Victoria that finally reveals the truth that she has been hiding for the past five days. Eventually, Victoria becomes acquainted with the news of her daughter’s breakup and resignation from the job.
Between Motion, Emotion, And Devotion
In the next scene, Zane tries to make Darby understand that she should not be so hard on her mother. But Darby has stronger points against Victoria. She complains about how her mother had been so judgmental and narcissistic when she needed her the most. But when your mind is occupied with a mission, you always gravitate toward that, not the other way around. She runs to her mother to discuss the matter of Fletcher. It is not just Darby’s life that is damaged; Victoria is also exhausted by some negative comments from critics on her recently published book. But the duo is very quick on their uptakes. Darby decides to check up on the fake admission file on Doc. Cagney’s desk, while she sends Victoria and Kaia to meet the coach and draw some details from him. Darby decodes the password of Cagney’s device and learns that the dean herself is involved in the scam, also informing Kaia. At the same time, the coach shares the truth about how he did a favor for Michael Fletcher for the sake of his close friend. At that very moment, it is Cagney who is on her way to visit the coach when Kaia stops her. Kaia tries to abstain from going inside the coach’s house because Victoria is already on a mission. But Cagney goes inside and is shocked to see Victoria having a conversation about the admission of her son. The dean is already privy to the fact that Victoria has no son, and it is all pre-planned to disclose her deception. She takes out the recorder from Victoria’s purse. The whole situation is a mess; in the meantime, Darby comes and shows all the evidence she gathered, thus ending the corrupted admissions game for Cagney and the coach. Kaia put her mobile phone inside Cagney’s bag while they had a talk outside, and it led directly to the police. They are both taken to prison.
Cheers to the first win for the Spencer sisters! But is it really that? In the last scene, Darby is about to leave her mother as she has a lot of pending tasks to complete. She gives a warm goodbye hug to Victoria. But she drives back within a few minutes to have a drink with her mother—is that a clue that she will settle at Alder Bluffs? Though they solved the case for Kaia, the show left us with a lot of unresolved questions about the relationship between Darby and Victoria.