The Beast in Me Recap ‘Sick Puppy’: Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star as new neighbours in Netflix’s new psychological thriller

The Beast in Me Season 1 Episode 1

More than a crime thriller about an accused murderer who moves in a small neighbourhood in an idyllic town, The Beast in Me also explores the darkness within perhaps the most ideal of neighbours — a quiet, practically home-bound writer mourning her son and struggling with writing the follow up to her Pulitzer-price winning memoir. Would I still have watched this show had it not been headlined by Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys? Probably not. The names drew me in, the performances made me stick with it, and, having seen all eight episodes, I would call this a win for Netflix, a solid and mostly satisfying limited series for the bingeing faithful. But, let’s take this one episode at a time.

Aggie Wiggs was living in the ashes of a once very successful life. A popular profile writer, she hit big time with her memoir focused on her con man father, Sick Puppy, which won the Pulitzer and gave her the money to purchase the large, gorgeous home she lived in, for a time, with her wife and son. A tragic car accident took the life of young Cooper and eventually ended her marriage. She was two years behind on delivery to her publisher, a biography exploring the friendship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. Her house was in dire need of repairs, particularly the plumbing. She had been ignoring overdue bills. And, the young man she blamed for causing the accident that killed her son, Teddy Fenig, had a standing restraining order against her. 

Into this suffocating mix of profound sadness and creative block arrived Nile Jarvis. The son of a wealthy real estate developer, he left Manhattan under a cloud of suspicion. Years ago, his wife Madison went missing. Though her body was never found, people believed he killed her. The move (or move back, Nile grew up here) to Oyster Bay was a fresh start for Nile and his new wife Nina forced on them by his father, as their company struggled with their latest, massive project. 

Nile was a man who believed he read people well, and who was used to getting what he wanted — personality traits that led him clashing with his new neighbour Aggie. First, it was the two large dogs who accidentally got out twice, and who caused a ruckus outside Aggie’s house. Then, there was the noisy alarm system that went off at night. Their biggest disagreement was the easement Nile wanted Aggie to sign so he could build a jogging path in the woods. Everyone in the community had signed, except Aggie. 

When Aggie went to Nile’s house to return the case of wine left on her front door (an apology for the dogs, either from Nina or Rick, Nile’s minder, security, and uncle), Nile’s attempt at charming, then bribing her, both failed. Unwilling to give up, he went to her house purportedly to ask her to sign his copy of her book, then invited her out to lunch. 

From the time Aggie heard Nile’s name, she immediately recognised him and connected him to a murder investigation. She ran a search on him online. She was well aware of who he was, and had her guard up. He found his entry point, however, when her son and his death came up.

Aggie’s ex wife Shelley was tired of listening to Aggie rail against young Teddy. The way Aggie lived, it did not look like she had anyone to listen to her as she continued her years long processing of her pain at a permanent, gut wrenching loss. When she spoke of how all she wanted was for Teddy to suffer like she did, Nile understood her. He expected it, even. As he told her, she had bloodlust in her. 

Whilst the lunch did not exactly make them friends (despite Nile claiming it), it broke the ice between them. Aggie did not even flinch when she watched Nile first politely ask a woman to delete a photo he took of him in the restaurant, and when she refused, he proceeded to smash her phone, then returned to their table as though nothing happened. Aggie was the darkness to everyone else in her life trying to move on in the light. With Nile, Aggie did not have to hide her fury.

The genuine detente between them did not last. That very night, amidst a frightening storm, the FBI agent in charge of investigating Nile’s company, and who had been tailing him, went to Aggie’s house to warn her about him. He told her to be careful, Nile was not like them. Aggie wrote down Brian Abbott’s name on a piece of paper and researched him online.  The next morning, with Abbott’s warning just hours old, Shelley told Aggie that Teddy had gone missing. They found his car on the beach along with what appeared to be a suicide note. The theory was that he drowned himself. Immediately, Aggie connected the disappearance with her lunch with Nile the day before, and Nile’s chilling understanding of and agreement with her righteous fury over Teddy. 

Comparisons to Carrie Mathison (Homeland) are inevitable, but Ms Danes’s Aggie Wiggs is a distinct character from the troubled CIA officer. There are subtleties in her movement that convey a lifetime spent behind a desk, particularly as she walked to Nile’s house carrying that case of wine.  I don’t think I fully appreciated Claire Danes’s physical work as an actress even when I binged Homeland. I do, now.

The opening episode of The Beast in Me left little doubt of the darkness within Nile, a darkness that allowed him to recognise the same in Aggie. They were two damaged people who circled each other as they slowly got to know each other. Prior to meeting him, Aggie was dismissive of Nile ('What's he gonna do? Murder me?'). One lunch, and there already was a disappearance that connected  the two of them, one that had eerie similarities to Madison's case. Would Aggie turn away in fear, or was she a moth to an interesting story flame?

Rating: B+

Strays

📬Shelley had begun painting again. Her and Aggie’s relationship remained strained, though Shelley talked down Mrs. Fenig from calling the police after Aggie lost it when she saw Teddy and his mother visiting Cooper’s grave.

📬Though she has repeatedly refused, after their lunch, Nile again offered Aggie a payout.

📬Nile handwrote his letter to Aggie (and presumably, to their other neighbours) which was an interesting detail. 

📬Aggie asked her agent Carol if she could get another advance, but Carol doubted the publisher Bob would go for it, unless she could show him some pages.

📬Nile thought the reason Aggie was stuck was that her book about the friendship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia was boring. He said she should write about him.

📬According to Aggie, Teddy refused a breathalyser at the scene of the accident. He blamed her for driving erratically. She told Nile all she wanted was for Teddy to suffer like she did, and he never did. 

📬The sound of a coming storm as Nile watched Teddy walk away with his friends was not unexpected but still a nice touch. 

Episode Title: Sick Puppy

Teleplay by Gabe Rotter and Daniel Pearle, Story by Gabe Rotter

Episode Director: Antonio Campos

Original Air Date: November 13, 2025