This article contains spoilers for The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies episode 2.
The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies episode 2 picks up right where we left off, with Alice having rescued Cheryl Harker's dog after following con man Rob into the woods. With concrete evidence of his wrongdoings, she decides to continue gathering evidence in order to eventually reveal the truth about his dastardly schemes. The only problem? She's worried that he'll try to turn everyone against her once he finds out what she's up to.
If you need a refresher of what's come so far or need to know who's who in the BBC series, don't forget to read up on The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies cast or take a look back at our recap of The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies episode 1.
Here's what happened in The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies episode 2.
Goblin's return
Episode 2 opens with a brief flashforward to a cheerful-looking Rob relaxing on the roof of Cheryl's home, where he tells a mystery caller that Phase Two of "Operation Goose" is complete.
We then jump back to Alice, just after saving Cheryl Harker's dog from the water. Spotting that Goblin has her owner's address on her tag, she phones her dad and tells him this is the evidence she needed, and her plan to get closer to Cheryl Harker.
Speaking of Cheryl, she's returned home to look for her dog. There, she finds Rob in her house; he tells her he'd been let in by a maid and was trying to pick up his cufflinks so she didn't have to send them to him, and he volunteers to help look for the dog. When her editor Regina and stepdaughter turn up whilst she's upset, he turns them away.
Alice has also popped along to Cheryl's home, with Goblin in tow. She stashes the dog in a wheelie bin outside so she can keep an eye on Rob, and when he takes Cheryl's car and drives off "to search for the dog", she retrieves him and returns Goblin to Cheryl.
The author gratefully invites Alice inside so she's out of the pouring rain. To maintain her cover, Alice introduces herself as Juno (her boss' name), and the pair get chatting about where she found Goblin, with Alice trying to steer the conversation around to start getting info about Rob.
New evidence
After Alice has a brief panic about Cheryl and Rob, Cheryl suspects she might have had a funny turn owing to something in the water and invites her to stay for a proper drink. That evening, they get talking, and discover they've got common ground; Cheryl has lost her husband, and Alice's father lived through a life-altering accident, which appears to have affected them in similar ways.
In an effort to turn things around, Alice asks Cheryl about any potential new partners. She starts gushing about Rob and how she broke things off but was so taken with how the latter offered to delay his flight again to help look for her dog. She promptly realizes she wanted to contact him to call off the search but can't find her phone; Alice uses this as an opportunity to get her phone number, so offers to call it for her.
Whilst Cheryl looks for her phone, Alice stumbles across Rob's filofax, which contains loads of contact details for other people (potentially other targets for his schemes?). Cheryl finally finds her phone and calls Rob back, so Alice dashes out of the house to go and tell her father about what she's learned. He worries that they're in over their heads and equally wants to tell Cheryl about Rob's true intentions, but Alice says they should keep a low profile and continue building up enough evidence, fearing that Rob will turn everyone against them and label her as crazy or a stalker.
Rob, meanwhile, turns on the charm at Cheryl's, successfully convincing her to let him stay the night. That following morning, he makes the phone call about the update of "Operation Goose" from the roof of her home. Cheryl then comes down from her bedroom to find him having laid on a lavish breakfast display; he says he overslept and missed his flight, assuring her he'll be gone that evening. Cheryl, unwisely, invites him to stay longer, if he wants to.
Alice's dad goes to see Sir Ralph Unwin about his investment in Rob's phony climate academy scheme. There, he finds out from Ralph that the Professor has never actually visited the academy in Greenland, as there is always some mystery crisis that pops up to prevent him from visiting. So, all the promotional material of the two of them together is actually fake.
Meanwhile, Alice rings Cheryl and asks if she can style her an outfit to wear to promote her brand in exchange for saving Goblin's life. Reluctantly, she says yes, and Alice invites her to a fitting. There, she asks about how their relationship is progressing.
A shock reunion
At the end of the day, Alice and her father regroup and share their findings, discovering the overall scheme is similar to the dodgy property investment scam he tricked them into investing in all those years ago. She plans to retrieve Rob's filofax as more evidence against him and promises again to clue Cheryl in eventually.
Rob asks Cheryl if he can come along to the next interview for the young carer's scholarship she funds, but she says it wouldn't be appropriate. He then spins her a tale about a difficult relationship with his mother when he was younger, showing off some scarring on his back. Thinking he's opened up to her, she allows him to pop along.
The interview goes really well, and Cheryl is annoyed that she can only really fund one student. Rob pushes her to fund both of the ones she wants to choose and apparently offers to co-fund both students. Cheryl pitches his investment to the board, explaining how she's received a "generous offer" from Saattute Climate Academy that says they'll match the scholarship fund if Gideon College will put in 50%.
Despite his generosity, Cheryl's editor and stepdaughter are still suspicious of him, and he doesn't make a great first impression on them when they come to visit one evening.
Alice gatecrashes this meeting, too. She brings over the finished robe she's made for Cheryl; whilst her guests are distracted with her new look, Alice searches Cheryl's study to try and get Rob's filofax...though she accidentally runs into Rob, who seems to finally have recognized her.
Alice tries to make a speedy escape, and Cheryl ushers her out...but then Rob comes down the stairs, pretending that he'd been delayed and hadn't quite left when he said he had earlier. It's at this point that he tries to introduce himself to Alice, so he's definitely onto her, right?
The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies airs Tuesdays at 9 pm on BBC One. All five episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer as a box set. And for more recommendations, check out our picks for the best BBC dramas you should be watching right now.
