The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Review: Part 6: Wheel of Fire (Season 1 Episode 6)

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

The newest episode of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Season 1 Episode 6, “Part 6: Wheel of Fire,” is written by Sarah Lambert, Kirsten Fisher, and Kim Wilson and directed by Glendyn Ivin. This week, the series confirms the suspicions viewers had about Dylan.

On previous episodes, it was hard for the audience to connect with Alice and the way in which she was living her new life. However, things change with this episode as we are now concerned for her safety and hope she returns home.

But even with this new revelation and despite all the lies she has told, June continues to be the best character this series has given us. Sadly, we might have to say goodbye to her for good by the end of the season.

On The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Season 1 Episode 5, “Part 5: Desert Oak,” the show gave its audience certain clues that pointed towards Dylan’s violent behavior. The first half of this week’s episode adds on to those clues.

He first blames Alice’s mother for her own death by saying she should have spoken up when the police showed up. This pushes Alice to question her past, and she ends up removing the necklace with her mother’s photo that she always carried with her.

However, when Lulu says, “We never see you anymore,” it becomes even more clear that Dylan is trying to isolate Alice to the point that she only sees him. Something that happens yet again when he forbids her from attending their work party.

But things escalate quickly when he comes home and Alice is out. His reaction turns completely violent; this is the first time we see him physically attack her.

The violence returns the next night after he sees a coworker hugging Alice. This time around, she fights back, and it is here that the series does its best work to connect Alice’s past with her present.

Dealing with scenes of violence can be extremely tricky. Where do you draw the line between showing what is happening and triggering your audience? The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Season 1 Episode 6, “Part 6: Wheel of Fire,” does an amazing job in three different ways.

The first one is when Dylan is hurting Alice. Instead of seeing everything he is doing to her, the point of view changes to Alice’s perspective, and we can see him on top of her. The audience doesn’t explicitly see him choking her, but it can be perceived by his movements.

The second instance that makes this a great scene without getting too graphic is when Alice runs away. While she runs to her truck, there are flashbacks to her childhood when her grandma was training her to escape.

June may have done many things wrong and may have lied a lot, but she knew what she was doing when she prepared Alice for such a situation. This is what might end up saving her life.

The third and last moment happens when Alice reaches safety and she begins seeing her mother. This figure tells her to apologize to Dylan so he doesn’t get any angrier. It is the perfect way to show the contradictions she is feeling: should she be like her mother or should she fight for her life?

The episode ends with Alice hiding and Dylan banging on her windows. Hopefully, the desire to fight back will win and everything June taught her will continue to come through to keep her alive.

While Alice is fighting for her life, so is June. As she realizes her time is ending, she begins to speak her truth, and we get to understand why she lied her entire life.

All of June’s lies come from a place of fear. She lied so Alice would be safe, happy, and away from anything that may harm her. But it all started when June began lying to protect herself.

As June tells Candy about her past, we learn the name she had given Clem’s father was actually the name of her lover. But when the two women were meeting in secret, June was attacked.

That is the lie that sets everything in motion. The lie she needed to tell herself in order to move on and be able to live her life.

However, it is by discovering the truth that the audience can understand better why June has always been so afraid of men. After being attacked, she knew what men were capable of, and she did everything in her power to protect those around her.

The most beautiful scene as June tells her story happens when she says, “Twig saved us.” It proves that the love between these two women is real and has been a key element in keeping June afloat.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart has beautiful visuals. The scenery, the sunsets, and the night sky covered in stars show the beauty of where the show was filmed and give an insight into the lives of these characters.

However, one visual that stands out on The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Season 1 Episode 6, “Part 6: Wheel of Fire,” is the fire. Alice has a panic attack while going through the fire training at her job.

It is the fire that brings it all together for her. The fire she is in, the fire from her past, Dylan getting violent, and flashbacks of her father’s violence take over the screen to let us know what is happening in Alice’s mind.

This is the perfect way to connect everything that has happened to Alice for her to realize the severity of her current situation and for the audience to see how every detail shown up until now has been relevant to her story.

With only one episode left on The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Season 1, we wonder if it will be enough to tie every loose end.

The one thing that gives us hope is knowing that Twig will be coming home. If Candy’s phone call begging for her mother to come home before June does something drastic isn’t enough, the voicemail at the end is.

The episode ends with Twig’s voice telling Alice she is loved and missed by everyone back home. This comes right after we see Alice running for her life, which gives hope that maybe, just like Twig, she will find her way back home before the season ends.

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What did you think of this episode of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart has weekly releases through September 1 on Prime Video.

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