The Cuckoo episode 2 sees Sian getting closer to Alice, following her shocking voice note at the end of the first episode. She believes her to be her daughter, although Jessica and Nick are unaware of this.
Elsewhere, Nick hasn't been honest about money which annoys Jessica, with conflict still clear between the two as they're trying to keep themselves afloat, while Alice is dealing with some bullies at school.
Meanwhile, Sian's disturbing behaviour continues while she tries to charm Alice, and Nick still seems determined to get rid of her.
Here's what happened in episode 2...
Sian exposes a huge secret
Following on from the ongoing financial issues, Nick thinks he's done a good thing by fixing the shower himself, but Jessica is frustrated by this decision because they could have had it repaired for free, which Sian also makes a snide comment about.
Alice interrupts the discussion by saying she needs a lift to school, and Sian offers to take her but Nick steps in and says "Alice isn't your concern". In the end, Nick drives Alice and is confronted about his "problem with Sian", with Alice saying that he likes her and thinks he should be nicer to her. Nick is evasive with questions and Alice gets frustrated saying she was trying to have a conversation with him.
At school, Alice gets cornered by bullies who mock her for being an artist. Back at the house, Sian sneaks into the office and takes down the photograph which has the safe hidden behind. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she cracks the safe's combination and opens it up.
Jessica is impressed that Nick fixed the shower and catches Sian on the stairs, where she pulls her to one side and tells her not to mention the affair to anyone else because "he's not that man". Sian agrees and hands Jessica a receipt that she claims she found on the kitchen floor. When Nick comes home, Jessica is blunt with him before grabbing her things and leaving the house.
Nick doesn't understand the sudden change in mood, knocking on Sian's door to ask if she said something. Sian seems confused and he heads down to check the safe, then finds Sian doing laundry where he confronts her about taking the receipt for the pawned jewellery. She denies everything including breaking into the safe and he tells her he wants her to leave.
While Jessica and Nick are both out, the phone rings and Sian poses as Jessica when she realises it's the school calling. The headteacher says there's been an "altercation" and she drives to the school where she sees that Alice's lip is bleeding so she takes her to the car, and the two decide to drive away.
Jessica finds Nick at home and confronts him about the receipt, saying she called into the pawn shop and knows he sold the jewellery. He assures her he was going to get it back and she gets upset, saying it was her late mother's and all she had left of her. Nick tries to tell her that Sian is meddling and stole it from the safe and Jessica says it's about him, not anyone else. Nick adds that the code was Alice's birthday and there's no way Sian could've known, which led them to believe Alice broke into it instead.
Sian speaks to Alice about the bullying where she reveals she hasn't told her parents because there's "too much going on". She reveals she misses London and has no friends in this new place. Sian reveals she was brought up by her aunt because her parents didn't want her. Sian expresses frustration that Jessica and Nick aren't supporting Alice, saying that there's "nothing more important" than her.
The two are interrupted when the group of bullies start approaching down the road, Sian asks if it's them and Alice says they should leave. Sian decides to confront them. We don't get to see what was said, but they leave, and Sian lets Alice drive her car after previously not being allowed by Nick.
Tensions rise at home when Jessica asks why Alice is home so early, and she realises that Sian picked her up. When Alice goes for a shower, water leaks everywhere, and we see that Sian broke it again so that Nick would be blamed for doing a bad job. Later, we see that Sian took a photo of Alice's adoption certificate and has saved it to her phone.
Sian visits her aunt, who tells her not to do anything extreme with Alice, and that she's growing concerned about her behaviour. Meanwhile, Nick and Jessica are called to the headmaster's office to discuss the incident with Alice. He explains he mistook Sian for Alice's mother, and is confused when Jessica shows up, having never met them in person before. Jessica and Nick argue in the car about their marriage and the fact they couldn't see their daughter was being bullied. He accuses Jessica of never being able to trust him.
It becomes clear that Alice doesn't know she's adopted, and Jessica and Nick argue about whether or not they should tell her the truth. Nick insists she doesn't need to know, and that she's theirs, which is all that matters. At home, they attempt to talk to Alice about the issues at school.
Alice insists it's fine now because of Sian's intervention, but Jessica tells her to sit down. She attempts to gently tell her that she's adopted and she gets angry, grabbing the car keys and fleeing the scene. She crashes the car into a ditch and they manage to catch up with her.
In the aftermath, Alice says she doesn't want to be here and she wishes she was back in London. Jessica knocks on her door and tries to talk to her, and she tells her to go away. Sian talks to Jessica where she opens up about Alice's adoption, saying that they waited years on a list and never told Alice she was adopted, because she had "really wanted to be a mother".
Sian goes upstairs and talks to Alice where she admits the truth to her, telling her that she's hers, and that she's her mother before the episode ends.
