Ep 2. The 12 Days of Christine

On the second episode of Inside No. 9 season 2, we meet Christine, a woman whose life we follow over the course of 12 years, one day at a time, during moments both magical and mundane. As we journey with her through her 20s and into her 30s, we begin to see that there might be something darker lurking just beneath the surface.

The episode is structured around the conceit of a Christmas song, "The 12 Days of Christmas," with each year being represented by one of the gifts mentioned in the lyrics. We begin on the first day of Christmas, with Christine and her boyfriend, Adam, at a party. As the night goes on, Christine begins to experience moments of deja vu, feeling as though she's lived through this evening before.

From there, we jump ahead to the fifth day of Christmas, six years later, when Christine is now pregnant with Adam's child. The couple is getting ready to move into a new house, and we start to see hints of tension between them. As the days go by, we see Christine struggling with motherhood and with Adam's growing distance from her.

The ninth day of Christmas takes us even further into the future, as Christine is now divorced and trying to move on with her life. She's working as a makeup artist on a film set, and one of the actors catches her eye. But as the two of them start to get to know each other, Christine's memories of her past with Adam start to resurface, throwing her into turmoil.

As we approach the twelfth day of Christmas, we begin to see how all of these different pieces fit together. We see Christine's life play out in reverse, starting with a traumatic event that seems to have set the rest of her life on a dark path. As we move backward through her story, we begin to see the moments of joy and happiness that preceded it, but the shadow of that trauma still lingers over everything.

"The 12 Days of Christine" is a haunting, beautifully crafted episode that explores the way that our past experiences can shape our present and future. It's a meditation on memory, on trauma, and on the ways that we try to move on from the events that have shaped us. With clever, interconnected storytelling and a standout performance from Sheridan Smith as Christine, this episode stands out as one of Inside No. 9's most memorable and emotionally resonant outings.