Little Disasters, the Paramount+ series, is based on the novel by Sarah Vaughan of the same name. The series introduces us to Jess, a mother of three, who was facing serious mental health issues after her third pregnancy. She judged her own actions, and at times didn’t consider herself worthy of being called a mother. Things became complicated when her 10-month-old suffered a skull fracture, and to make it worse, she had no clue how she had gotten hurt. So let’s find out what happened in Little Disasters and if Jess was actually capable of hurting her kids.
Spoiler Alert
What happened to Jess’ daughter?
Little Disasters episode 1 begins with Ed waking Jess up and informing her that something was not right with their 10-month-old daughter, Betsy. Ed told Jess that he couldn’t drive her to the hospital because he was drunk. Jess, in a state of panic, woke up and took Betsy to the hospital, assuming that the little girl might have contracted some viral infection. But that wasn’t the case. Jess’ friend, Liz, who happened to work as a pediatrician in the same hospital, met her and got to know about what had happened. Liz didn’t want to handle the case, as she knew that there was a conflict of interest, but since no other doctor was available at that moment, she had no choice. Liz grew suspicious of Jess as the latter refused to tell her how her daughter had gotten hurt exactly. It felt as if Jess was making up stories and had no clue what had actually happened. Liz was a bit surprised, as Jess was a very protective mother. Liz’s entire group of friends looked up to Jess when it came to parenting, and that’s why the former felt a bit weird when Jess answered the questions in a very odd manner. Liz got the scans and the x-rays done and found out that little Betsy had a fracture on the back of her skull. Jess had told Liz that Betsy had fallen while she was crawling, but as an experienced medical professional, Liz knew that was not possible. Liz didn’t know if she should inform Social Services about what had happened, as she knew the consequences that would entail. But at that moment, Liz chose to be Betsy’s doctor and not Jess’ friend. Without telling Jess anything about it, Liz went and called in Social Services. Lucy Harding, the representative from state Social Services, came to look into the case, and Jess undeniably felt extremely betrayed. Jess was extremely angry at what Liz had done, and moreover, at the fact that it was she who had made that call personally. Jess, after Social Services arrived at the scene, had no option but to do as she was told. Another problem with Jess was that she didn’t have any faith in the modern healthcare system. She never got her kids vaccinated, and she felt that hospitals and doctors together were running a scam. So one could imagine her paranoia when she was asked to leave her daughter in the care of the doctors and wasn’t allowed to see her without a medical representative present there. Ed, Jess’s husband, had no clue at that point in time about what had happened. He was planning his son’s birthday party as he thought that Jess would soon come back after getting Betsy checked. When Liz arrived at the birthday party and informed Ed about what had happened, he lost his cool. The other family friends also criticized Liz for backstabbing her friend, and that made Liz wonder if she had actually betrayed Jess’ trust or if she had done the right thing by informing the authorities.
Why had Liz and Jess stopped talking to each other?
Liz and Jess used to be the best of friends, and in fact, everybody knew how close they were. Apart from Liz and her husband, Nick, there was Charlotte, her husband, Andrew, then Mel, and her partner, Rob, who were all part of the same friend group. One time, Charlotte and her husband, Andrew, invited the friends for a small vacation together in Provence to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. It was on that vacation that Liz and Jess had an argument, and after that, their relationship deteriorated. Liz worked tirelessly, and so when she got an opportunity to take a break from her hectic work schedule, she just wanted to let loose. Liz didn’t want to admit it, but she had a drinking problem. She just couldn’t stop after a drink. Nick, her husband, knew that, and so he kept telling her time and again to just keep her drinking in control. Liz was supposed to put Jess’ son, who was playing with Liz’s boy, Connor, to bed. Liz got drunk and passed out, and she didn’t realize that the boys had left the room and gone outside. Liz woke up, and she got paranoid when she couldn’t find the boys. At the end, the boys were found, but Jess gave Liz a piece of her mind. She told her that she had become just like her mother, a statement that hurt Liz’s ego. Liz retaliated by saying that, unlike Jess, she didn’t have the privilege to just sit around in the house and still afford an opulent lifestyle. She defended herself by saying that she deserved a break, and that there was nothing wrong with having a couple of drinks. But as stated earlier, Jess was a very protective mother, and she was very clear about how she wanted to raise her kids. From that day onwards, Liz and Jess stopped meeting each other that often. There was an evident rift in their relationship, and though they never addressed it openly, everybody in the friend group was aware of it. When Social Services came and interrogated Jess, she explicitly stated that she wasn’t very close with Liz. Soon, the police also got involved, and it was decided that Jess and Ed wouldn’t be seeing their kids without any supervision. Frankie and Kit, Jess and Ed’s sons, suffered a lot because of whatever was happening. Moreover, there were constant fights between Ed and Jess, as he blamed her for being an irresponsible mother. All these things made Liz feel extremely guilty. Deep down, she knew that she was not in the wrong, but then again she felt that she treated her friend like she would any other patient of hers, and she didn’t give her any benefit of the doubt.
What happened between Charlotte and Ed?
A lot of other developments also took place during that vacation in Provence. Charlotte’s infatuation with Ed became quite evident. She’d had a crush on him since their college days, and when she met him years later, she craved his attention, and deep down she wanted him to see her like he used to in the past. There was a moment during their stay in Provence when it felt like things could potentially get physically intimate between Charlotte and Ed. I was not sure if Ed felt the same way about Charlotte and if he would cheat on his wife, but he did consider her a good friend. Charlotte, on the other hand, wanted to cross that boundary. When things went downhill between Ed and Jess, Charlotte very subconsciously tried to take advantage of the situation. On the day Betsy had gotten hurt, Ed had met Charlotte, and together they had gone to a bar. Just before stomping out of the house, Ed had a fight with Jess where he accused her of not being a responsible mother. He met Charlotte after that, and they started talking about their college days and how things were back then. Ed didn’t want to inform Social Services and the police that he was out drinking with Charlotte the day Betsy got hurt. He knew it would complicate things, but Charlotte had other plans. She wanted to create a rift between Ed and Jess, and she wanted to make the latter look like a villain. I don’t think that Charlotte was a bad person, but she was blinded by her attraction to Ed. She felt that if Jess and Ed got separated, she might have a chance with Ed. It was Charlotte who asked Ed to consult a lawyer, as she wanted him to pin all the blame on Jess and save himself. At the end of Little Disasters, Charlotte expressed her feelings for Ed, and she told him that though Andrew was a good man, she could never love him the way she loved Ed. Contrary to what I had assumed, Ed made it very clear that he was in love with his wife and that he would never betray her trust. He told Charlotte that he didn’t have any clue that she liked him back then, and that she loved him even now. Charlotte realized that she had acted improperly, as she had hurt multiple people in the process. Andrew, Charlotte’s husband, who was also handling Jess’ case, got to know about Charlotte’s testimony that she had given to the police, and he was shattered and quite disappointed in her. Had Andrew not been such a good and understanding man, I believe that Charlotte’s marriage wouldn’t have survived. Andrew loved Charlotte more than anything else, and he was ready to once again work on their relationship. It was a difficult position to be in, as he knew that his own wife loved another man more than him and that she would have separated if he would have agreed to be with her. But what that entire episode proved was that Ed loved his wife, and he had been a bit harsh on her just because he wanted to safeguard his children’s interests.
Was Jess found guilty of hurting the baby?
The situation became a lot more worse when Jess took Betsy and tried to run away from the hospital. Liz caught hold of her, and in that moment in Little Disasters, she realized that Jess was suffering from some serious mental health issues. Liz did some research on what could have happened, and she came to the conclusion that Jess was probably suffering from postpartum anxiety. Jess got these visions where she saw her daughter getting killed. There came a point where she stopped trusting herself. Jess had never wanted a third child, but that didn’t mean that she could bring herself to hurt her. Jess fought with her intrusive thoughts every passing moment, and she was scared that people would judge her and think of her as a bad mother if she told them about it. Jess had to pay a huge price for trying to abduct Betsy and escape from the hospital. She was charged with child endangerment and abduction. But since there was no evidence to prove that she had actually hit Betsy, she was allowed to meet her kids twice a week. But that didn’t mean that Social Services and the police believed that Jess was not guilty. She was still under the scrutiny of the authorities, and even Ed did not have complete faith in her.
What Was Frankie Hiding From His Parents?
Betsy got discharged from the hospital, which was a huge relief for both Ed and Jess. Meanwhile, a revelation was made at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected manner, which brought about a complete turnaround.
Everybody had realized the kind of man Rob was and how easily he could cross that line of decency when it came to his wife, Mel. During the vacation in Provence, everybody saw him picking Mel up in his arms and throwing her in the swimming pool forcefully. There was nothing wrong with the action per se, but the way he did it made it clear he enjoyed that aggression and being in a dominant position. After Betsy got discharged, the family friends were spending some quality time together for the first time in a long time when Rob walked in, and Frankie, Jess’s son, surprisingly got extremely scared. Frankie ran as if his life depended on it. Jess found the boy, and she asked him what the matter was. But Frankie was too scared to say anything. But then, Rob took Betsy in his arms, and the protective little brother put his fears aside and told the man to not touch her. It was then he told everyone that the main culprit in the picture was Rob. It was him who had hurt Betsy. So on that fateful day, Jess had left her kids alone at home and gone out to buy medication. An angry Rob had walked into Ed and Jess’ house as he wanted to talk to Rob about his business venture. Rob didn’t understand why Ed wouldn’t invest in his business when he had all the money in the world. He desperately needed that money to keep his music label afloat, and he was losing his patience as he was constantly being stalled. Frankie asked Rob to change his sister’s diapers as she’d been crying constantly. Rob was careless, and the baby fell from the table. Instead of taking Betsy to the hospital, Rob got scared, and he decided to not tell anybody about it. Moreover, he gaslighted Frankie and told him it was all his fault. He said that if he told anybody that Betsy had fallen and gotten hurt, then he would make sure that Jess was sent to prison for leaving her kids alone. Frankie got scared, and so he hid the truth from everybody.
Mel couldn’t believe that Rob had done something like that. For years, she had kept quiet just because she gave him the benefit of the doubt and felt that deep down he was not such a bad man. But after the entire Betsy episode, she realized that he was not deserving of her trust. Also, the man treated Mel in the most condescending manner. He was a mean and dominating man, who went bankrupt because of his own actions, and he had decided to sell the house without even having the courtesy of informing Mel about it. He gave Mel no option, and he took her for granted. He knew she didn’t earn and that she was dependent on him financially. But Mel knew her worth, and she was not ready to compromise. Respect was the only thing she asked for, and Rob was not capable of giving her that. Rob, at Little Disasters‘ ending, was taken into custody, and I believe that criminal charges will be brought against him. As for Jess and Ed, I believe that the tragedy brought them closer and bridged the gap that had worked its way into their marriage after the third pregnancy. Jess always suspected she wasn’t a good mother. There were times when she questioned her motives and actions. Motherhood was an extremely lonely journey, and I believe it was natural for anybody to harbor those kinds of feelings. It would take some time for Jess to deal with her mental health issues, but I believe with the support and love of Ed, she would be able to bring her life back on track sooner than later.
