Sterling Point Recap Season 1 Episode 2 ‘She’s Giving Single & Bi’
- 8 hours ago
- 6 min read
I am trying to figure out where in the second episode I decided this was not just another teen show, this was a good teen show, a particularly well-written and well-acted one, and though these thoughts occurred to me multiple times through this episode, I think the initial realisation came fairly early, when Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle) tilted the couch at sunrise and forced the sleeping Annie awake as she fell to the floor. By the end of the episode, as the two sisters faced each other on the dock outside Gordon’s cottage, Annie in a beautiful white dress, looking like her well-maintained, high maintenance self, and Ramona, in jeans and a loose sleeveless top, hair uncombed and unkept, like someone who could not be bothered, but also, someone who has not had a lot of time to bother, my initial skepticism of the show has melted. Strip it of the island-owning wealth, and Sterling Point is populated by characters that feel real. Even Connor accidentally dropping his phone in the bath and calling out to his father that he needed a new phone – a casual display of the cluelessness of a child of the wealthy – was somehow charming.
When Marjorie went to the Jacobson home in New York, she was very specific that Gordon left a parcel of land for Annie and Connor in Muskoka. Annie went to the island thinking only that she and her brother inherited a house; it was only there that she found out Gordon actually owned the entire island. But Ramona, who turned out to be her mother Goldie’s secret biological child, also thought she inherited the cottage and the entire island. What was in Gordon’s letter to Ramona that she refused to read, until Oona talked her into it? Why did Steven tell the twins that Gordon was a bad guy, when everyone on the island loved him? Why didn’t Gordon tell Ramona about Annie and Connor as Ramona cared for him on his final days? How old was Ramona? If she were around 16 or 17, that meant that this kid looked after her dying grandfather, then travelled alone until she reached Gordon’s cottage.
Episode Two is still an episode with more questions than answers, but that was completely all right, because the episode flowed. There were no awkward cuts, no dialogue that felt out of place – and yes, this is an episode where the main character, Annie, ended up with a tipped over canoe in the middle of the lake, with her luggage floating away. Most of us do not know the lifestyle that came with owning a massive lakeside mansion where our kind but a little immature mother hosted parties every day. But, did the show lose its heart when Annie ended up having to stay with Rory and Denise, after Ramona rather decidedly kicked her out of Gordon’s house? Not at all. Youthfulness, humanity, a tinge of melancholy – all these remained with every beat of the episode.
Annie came to the island to investigate, which was why she was careful not to mention to anyone that Gordon was her grandfather. When Ramona confronted her about being inside her grandfather’s cottage, Annie simply said that she thought it was her Airbnb. Ramona rolled Annie’s luggage out in the middle of the night, but with Annie loudly crying on the front steps, Ramona relented and allowed her to stay for one night. The next morning, and with no other choice but to leave, but not before pocketing one of Goldie’s many photos in the house, Annie dragged her luggage through the woods and into the marina, which was empty in the early morning hours. It was then that she decided to paddle a canoe to the mainland, which predictably did not end well. Thankfully, Rory was there to the rescue.
Rory not only provided Annie with a place to stay, he was also there for her when she started having a panic attack, with everything she had so far discovered. A phone call with Connor (Rory and Denise had Starlink in their house), who was home after his girlfriend broke up with him, told Annie that her father still thought she was in Thailand, and her boyfriend Oliver came out on social media without talking to her first. At the party, she asked Denise how she knew about the divorce, and Denise not unkindly told her that everyone in the city knew because her father came back from Muskoka with just the twins and no wife. Annie immediately knew that Ramona must have been Goldie’s biological child because they resembled each other so much. Annie was already reeling from the discovery that her father had been keeping her and her brother Connor away from their grandfather all their lives. The more recent discoveries were too much, and to Rory’s credit, he noticed when she was struggling emotionally at the party and took her outside, where they sat with their feet in the water, and some fresh air and peace.
That peace was interrupted by the arrival of a furious Ramona, who learned from Oona (she worked for Sully’s mother, who was catering Denise’s party, until she was fired) that Annie was there. Ramona knew Annie lied to her about thinking Gordon’s cottage was her Airbnb; she also noticed that Annie stole one of Goldie’s photos. Annie was forced to tell Ramona that they could be sisters. Ramona made Annie get on the boat and sped away. Oona and Ellis, who came with Ramona on the boat, had to stay behind with Rory, but they promised to check on Annie. From my notes: These kids can act. Like seriously.
Finally alone, Annie told Ramona the little that she knew — that she and Connor were adopted as newborns, that Goldie died of cancer when they were two years old. They never knew about Sterling Point until the lawyer called after Gordon died. Their father was acting weird, so Annie decided to come see for herself. When Annie asked Ramona if she knew about her, Ramona said no, and I am putting a pin on this because I am not yet sure I believe her. Ramona pointed out that they were not related, and told Annie to go back to New York, forever.
Ellis found Annie sitting alone on the mainland. Annie described the conversation as soul crushing, and said that Ramona hated her. Ellis gently told her that Ramona was complicated, and that she has had a rough couple of years. Her father was never in the picture, just a random tourist Goldie had a fling with. Annie said having a fling whilst married to her father did not sound like her mother, but then again, she never really got a chance to know her. When Annie asked him if she should just leave, he asked her back if she had gotten the answers she wanted.
Whilst Ellis comforted Annie, Oona did the same for Ramona. Ramona had not been able to open her grandfather’s final letter, but now she felt she had to because Annie got one, too (a very sibling dialogue). Oona’s casual explanation on why Ramona could not open the letter, because it was the last letter she would ever get from her grandfather, it was sad, was a very effective hit on the heart. Ramona asked Oona to open and read the letter, quietly. Oona did, and told Ramona that Annie was not lying.
The episode ended with Ramona seemingly willing to at least be around Annie a little longer. The pacing of the show is such that whilst I am aware of the lingering unanswered questions, I am also not in a hurry to get answers. In the first episode, I wondered if I even wanted to watch another teen drama with teens that have far more physical and financial freedom than I or anyone I knew had at that age. By the second episode, I am ready to say, sign me up.
Rating: A-
Strays
🏚️Oona, Maple, Sully, Ellis, and Ramona all wearing identical Marina Crew shirts was cute.
🏚️Connor’s casual ‘Strange’ as he continued to play with bubbles on his chest whilst Annie filled him in on the momentous discoveries she has made so far, including that their mother filed for a divorce, was hilarious.
🏚️Lol at Ramona commenting on Annie’s extensive skincare routine.
🏚️Oona’s work lateness seemed chronic, and she was no longer allowed to interact with guests because she often got married women to make out with her. I'm going to take Oona’s side here, because she’s a kid, and the grownups should learn to control themselves.
🏚️Both Rory and Ellis had really good conversations with Annie. I hope they’re both good guys because I want to heal from past viewer trauma of the male love interest being toxic.
Episode Title: She’s Giving Single & Bi
Episode Writer: Megan Park
Episode Director: Megan Park
Original Release Date: August 5, 2026