The episode starts with a 911 distress call on
June 14th, 2015, from a worried neighbour, Lacey,
stating nobody at Dee Dee’s house is answering.
Lacey cries for the police to hurry, revealing
that her neighbour has posted some terrible
and depressing posts on her facebook page.
In the meantime, her mother, Mel, enters
Dee Dee’s residence through a window to
check if anything bad has happened.
As she stares at the silent house,
the police sirens can be heard in the background.
After a while, the detectives finally enter
Dee Dee’s house and discover her badly stabbed
corpse in the main bedroom. They share the news
with Lacey and her mother, who are now worried
about Dee Dee’s daughter: Gypsy’s whereabouts.
The show then flashes back to seven years earlier.
Dee Dee lives with her sick and wheelchair-bound
daughter Gypsy Rose in their new home provided by
Habitat for Humanity. The two arrived in the new
neighbourhood in Springfield, Missouri in 2008,
following the destruction of their previous home
caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
One day, they sit for a television interview,
where Dee Dee talks about how getting the
house was like a Disney dream for her.
In the next scene, Dee Dee shaves Gypsy’s
head in the kitchen sink. As they talk,
Dee prepares a medication concoction and
injects it into Gypsy’s stomach via a long tube.
Later at night, Dee Dee sings a lullaby for
her daughter and makes her wear a sleep apnea
machine to bed. After leaving Gypsy to sleep,
Dee Dee opens a closet full of medicine bottles
and takes a few pills for herself,
including one named ‘sleepy baby.’
The next day, they get a surprise visit from
their neighbour Lacey. She offers Gypsy a
makeover, and Dee Dee reluctantly allows it.
During the makeover, the two girls start to
bond and Gypsy shares that her father made fun
of how she walked when she was a child before
she used a wheelchair. All this time, Dee Dee
is closely listening to the girls’ conversation.
Later, she makes sure to scrub off all
the makeup, much to Gypsy’s dismay.
The following morning, the mother-daughter duo
decides to venture out and meet new people in
the neighbourhood. First, they come across Lacey
and her boyfriend, Mel, who are washing their
car. Dee Dee heads over to Lacey’s mom, Mel,
who is chilling out with her friend Shelly.
The three talk about parenthood, but Dee Dee
keeps mentioning about how her daughter is
suffering with diseases like paraplegia,
epilepsy, anaemia and a heart murmur.
Shelly and Mel are amazed by Dee Dee’s strength
to look after her poor kid. As the mothers talk,
everything comes to a screeching halt when Lacey
offers Gypsy a sip of Coke. Dee Dee immediately
rushes over to her daughter, and tells
everyone that Gypsy is allergic to sugar.
The following day, Dee Dee takes Gypsy to
the mall. Gypsy pleads with her mom to buy
a blue necklace, but rather than buying
it; she slips the chain into Gypsy’s bag.
It isn’t until the last moment that she
spots her neighbour Mel looking at her.
In the evening, Dee Dee tries to talk to Mel, but
the latter simply ignores her. Hence, with the
intention of buying Mel’s silence, Dee Dee plans
a party at her house, inviting all neighbours.
Meanwhile, Gypsy takes the time to search
‘best friend’ and ‘boyfriend kiss’ on her
mom’s laptop and immediately deletes the
search history before her mom gets home.
The movie then cuts to the party, where a lot of
people are gathered. Everyone is having fun out in
the yard, and Dee Dee talks to all the people one
by one. Just then, Gypsy decides to eat a cupcake,
which can be fatal for her. Seeing this,
her mother freaks out and immediately
rushes to stab her with an EpiPen. This stuns
everyone, and they wonder how much pain Dee
Dee has endured to care for her sick daughter.
Gypsy wakes up at the hospital and overhears the
doctor telling Dee Dee that she is not allergic
to sugar. While leaving, they find Mel waiting
outside to drop off Dee Dee’s wallet that she
had left at the party. Dee Dee thanks her and
laments that she doesn’t want people to see her as
a woman with a bad reputation due to her past. Mel
also reveals that she has her own troubled past,
so she understandably offers to start afresh.
At night, Gypsy lays her daughter for bed
and puts on her usual sleep apnea machine.
As Gypsy fades to sleep, Dee Dee opens a stash
of cheques addressed to Claudine Blanchard,
possibly her real name. After that,
she goes to bed next to her daughter.
Less than an hour later, Gypsy
wakes up while her mom is asleep
and shuts off her machine to get out of bed.
Gypsy, who had been a wheelchair user up
until this moment, stands on her feet and
slowly tiptoes her way out of the room.
She then goes to the kitchen to eat whipped
cream while readying her EpiPen. But after
she licks a handful, there’s no shock.
It turns out she isn’t allergic to sugar;
her mom had just lied about it. When she returns
to her room, she is startled to see her mother
awake, who furiously tells her to get back to bed.
On another night, Gypsy sits in front of her
laptop watching makeup videos on YouTube while
enjoying a tub of frosting and a Coca-Cola drink.
She soon feels a pain in her tooth,
perhaps having a cavity after all
the sugar she’s been eating secretly.
The following morning, Dee Dee wakes
her daughter up to share great news: Gypsy has
been named the community’s Child of the Year.
While she gets excited, she notices Gypsy’s
tooth troubles. Dee Dee immediately suspects
it is an underlying condition and takes her
daughter to see their paediatrician; Dr Harley.
At the hospital, they meet with the doctor, and
Dee Dee thinks Gypsy’s acid reflux has returned,
which is ruining her teeth. While the doctor
calls for a gastroenterologist, Dr Chandra,
to look at Gypsy, Dee Dee sneakily steals
his prescription pad from the counter.
In the following scene, Dr Chandra suggests
Dee Dee make an urgent dental appointment.
However, Dee Dee wants to treat her daughter’s
acid reflux first, prompting the doctor to become
suspicious. Hence, she asks for Gypsy’s medical
records, but Dee Dee states that they were lost
during Hurricane Katrina. Before the doctor can
say anything, Dee Dee rushes her daughter away.
Later, Dr Chandra asks Dr Harley if he has
confirmed Gypsy’s full medical history, but
the latter has no answer. After this, the scene
cuts to Dee Dee and Gypsy waiting in their car
outside a pharmacy. Surprisingly Dee Dee
takes out the writing pad that she had stolen,
and forges some prescriptions on it.
Back to the present, the detectives
examine Dee Dee’s stab wounds. Meanwhile, Lacey
suspects someone might’ve been after Gypsy instead
of her mother. She also informs the detectives
about all of Gypsy’s underlying illnesses.
The movie goes back to 2009 where Gypsy has
one of her teeth rot out completely while
brushing her teeth. She whimpers with excruciating
pain, as the sink is left in a bloody mess.
Because of this, her mother starts giving
her more unnecessary medications. After a
while, Dee Dee takes Gypey over to Lacey’s,
who is hanging out with her friends. As the
group discusses trivial topics, one of
the girls notices Gypsy’s bad tooth,
prompting Gypsy to reveal that she has been
sneaking out to eat sweet things at night.
Meanwhile, Dr Chandra isn’t ready to give up
on her suspicions. She makes several calls to
hospitals to learn more about Gypsy’s medical
history. She finally places a call to the Child
Protection Services, and Allison, one of the
representatives, pulls up on Dee Dee’s doorstep.
Seeing this, Dee Dee immediately springs into
action, feeding sleeping pills to Gypsy to make
her look sick. Allison introduces herself and
looks around the house. When she asks for Gypsy,
Dee Dee lies to her that her daughter
has the mind of a seven-year-old.
Soon, Allison sits for a talk alone with
a medicated Gypsy while Dee Dee lurks at
the doorway. She interrogates the little girl
continuously, to check if she is fine. However, as
Gypsy speaks, she appears disoriented and dizzy,
hence confirming her mother’s claims. After this,
Allison questions Dee Dee about her social
security card not matching the name on
her address, but as usual, the mother uses
Hurricane Katrina as an excuse. With this,
Allison decides to conclude her visit, as
she didn’t find any suspicious activity.
Next, Dee Dee takes Gypsy to the dentist to
have her teeth extracted. After she is put under
anaesthesia, she wakes up to find most of her
teeth gone. The little girl weeps while looking
at herself in the mirror with a swollen mouth.
Later, Gypsy tells her mom that she doesn’t
want to attend her Child of the Year award, not
wanting to show herself in such a state in front
of people. However, this only angers Dee Dee,
and she yells that Gypsy is going to the event.
We are then taken to the award day, where Dee
Dee is preparing her daughter for the big event.
She also brings some dentures for Gypsy
to wear while on stage. After a while,
her name is called upon on the stage for the Child
of the year award. Along with the recognition
comes financial help of $5,000. Dee Dee cannot
contain her happiness after receiving the cheque
while the crowd cheers for them. She then gives
an emotional speech before she and Gypsy sing
an impromptu rendition of “I’ll Be There.”
Meanwhile, Dr Chandra calls to check on Gypsy
and manages to get an appointment with her,
despite Dee Dee’s reluctance. In the evening,
Gypsy and Dee Dee are back at the hospital for
their appointment with Dr Chandra. In her room,
the doctor manages to talk with Gypsy alone and
tries to convince her that she isn’t allergic
to sugar. She offers a can of coke, but Gypsy
refuses to drink it out of loyalty to her mom.
Just then, Dee Dee arrives, prompting the doctor
to put away the can, and start examining Gypsy.
Back in 2015, the cops continue to search
Dee Dee’s home to find clues to the murder.
Sometime later, Lacey tells them of a “secret
Facebook account” Gypsy had created to make
friends and assumes she even had a boyfriend.
Following this, the movie again flashes back
to 2011. Dee Dee collects all the money from a
GoFundMe page that pours in for her supposedly
sick daughter. Meanwhile, Gypsy continues her
routine of sneaking out of bed at night to watch
YouTube videos on kissing and cosplays.
Next, she prepares for Fantasticon,
a cosplay event, while putting some makeup
on her mom. While checking in at the event,
Dee Dee says her daughter’s birth year
is “1995” when the girl at the counter
asks her. This confuses Gypsy, as she was always
under the impression that she was born in 1993.
Soon, the two run into Shelly and her
boyfriend at the event. Meanwhile,
Russ, one of the neighbours, notices Dee Dee and
tries to ask her out for a date. However, Dee Dee
changes the subject and asks to leave for the
restroom while Gypsy approaches a guy dressed
as Wolverine. He introduces himself as Scott, and
they chat about their favourite Marvel characters.
Gypsy then urges Scott to see the DeLorean from
Back to the Future, to which he agrees. Luckily,
they are invited to the front line. Scott
picks Gypsy up to put her in one of the
seats, and the two have fun together.
Sadly, the good time doesn’t last long
as Dee Dee interrupts them and hurries Gypsy
home. At the same time, Russ again shows up,
trying to get Dee Dee’s attention, and shares that
he, too, had a son in a wheelchair before he died.
After they reach home and tuck themselves in bed,
Gypsy sneaks out again to open a Facebook account,
hoping she will find Scott online. However, she
becomes confused about her birth date again,
so she checks her mother’s purse. To her
surprise, her actual birthday is in 1991-
meaning she’s 19 years old.
Angered by her mom’s lies,
she steals some cash from her. The following day
at a gas station, Gypsy secretly buys a cellphone.
In the next scene, Dee Dee surprisingly gets
a call from Russ, prompting her to ask where
he got her number. Meanwhile, Gypsy starts
talking with Scott through her new phone,
sharing about her hospital staff, whom she refers
to as her friends. Dee Dee continues to get phone
calls from Russ, but their brewing romance
cuts short when he offers to help her with
her sick daughter. As expected, Dee Dee doesn’t
want anyone close enough to unravel her lies.
On the other hand, Gypsy has also become close
with Scott. She subtly suggests that she wants
to run away with him. She also gives him her
address if he wants to send a gift. Lo and behold,
he sends her a package containing a red Ariel wig.
One day, Lacey catches Gypsy smiling at her
phone and asks her about it. Unlike her
mother, the little girl shares everything.
She talks about Scott, who she refers to
as ‘prince charming’. Before departing,
she also tells Lacey about her secret FB
account, which is under the name Emma Rose.
Later at night, Gypsy gets a message from
Scott, saying that he is in the emergency
room at the hospital, so he cannot talk. This
worries Gypsy and she immediately heads to the
hospital. When Scott sees her, he is taken
aback that Gypsy can stand on her two feet.
Back at home, Dee Dee wakes up to find that her
daughter is nowhere to be seen at the house.
She then finds a note Gypsy left,
stating that she is fleeing away with
her Prince Charming and never coming back.
Elsewhere, Scott takes Gypsy to his place.
She is seemingly happy to be home with her Prince
Charming and puts some ice pack on his bruises.
After chatting for some time, they kiss
but get interrupted by Dee Dee at the door.
Dee Dee begs her daughter to return home and
admits that she nearly had an anxiety attack while
she was gone. Hearing her mom, Gypsy reluctantly
agrees to return back. Before leaving, Dee Dee
tells Scott that Gypsy is just 14 years old.
Once back home, Dee Dee pulls her daughter’s
red hair and forces her back
into the wheelchair.
