'I May Destroy You' Episode 1: Did Simon sexually assault Arabella on her night out?
Spoilers for Episode 1
Michaela Coel's brand new HBO limited series 'I May Destroy You' just premiered, and while it firmly established what a beaming talent to watch out for she is, the plot has left us with more questions than answers, after the protagonist, Arabella (Coel), was sexually assaulted on a night out. From the how and other exact details and specifics of it to the who — everything is just as much a blur to us as it is to our main character since the jagged narrative shows things from her point of view for the most part.
Perhaps it is someone we haven't been introduced to as of yet, but if the pilot is to be trusted, there's reason enough to find Arabella's friend Simon (Aml Ameen) a fair bit sketchy. We meet Simon soon after Arabella returns from her trip to Italy, where she was supposed to write her next book after a typically millennial debut one blows up. While on a tight deadline to give something to her publishers, Arabella decides to pull an all-nighter at their London office but ends up getting distracted by Simon's invitation for a night out of heavy drinking.
Simon himself is quite an interesting character. He is married to the gorgeous Kat (Lara Rossi) — or in a relationship with her long enough to cause their romance and spice to fizzle. To the point where Kat initiates the ideas of threesomes, and like the devoted and hesitant partner Simon seems to be, he keeps dodging the prospect of going out with her and the Tinder match in question.
To avoid awkwardness at the table, Simon invites a braggy cousin of his, along with Arabella who initially refuses, and up till that point, Simon's date is a disaster. The Tinder girl — Alissa (Ann Akin) — seems interested, but an aloof Simon hits her the wrong way. She gets an emergency call and leaves, and soon after Kat takes a ride home too. This is when Arabella finally decides to join Simon's party, and as they arrive at the pub, Alissa joins them all of a sudden.
It becomes obvious that Simon is cheating on Kat with her or it was just a set up to ward Kat off their little tryst. When not making out with Alissa, Simon is busy flirting with Arabella — talking about how great she is in bed and the likes of it. That Simon is into Arabella is no secret, but she just keeps blowing him off under the pretext of being long time friends.
But should she be trusting of a friend who can't stop making advances at her? Should we trust him enough to know his intentions towards Arabella aren't evil? Arabella was most likely assaulted in the pub and she has no memory of what happened whatsoever. At least whatever she can piece together is very blurred and vague — leading us to believe she was drugged too. And something about Simon in all of this just doesn't seem right.
'I May Destroy You' will air every Sunday at 10.30 pm on HBO.