Playing Nice is one of those rare ITV miniseries that can keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The miniseries is about two couples who were informed that their infants were accidentally swapped in the hospital after their birth. These two couples finally meet to decide the fate of their children, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.
Spoilers Ahead
When did Theo and David’s parents meet?
Playing Nice began with Pete frantically looking for his son Theo. It was believed he’d lost his son, and he found the child’s yellow raincoat in the waters near the shore, making the audience believe that Theo may have drowned. The show moves back to a few months ago, where Pete, a stay-at-home dad, and his wife, Madelyn, aka Maddie, a chef/restaurant owner, were raising their toddler son together. Theo was only three years old, and the parents had gone through their own ups and downs in the last three years; especially with Madelyn experiencing postpartum depression. The couple learned from the hospital where Madelyn gave birth about the accidental swap that happened. It was the hospital’s prerogative to let them know, and the two were informed about the other couple as well.
Miles and Lucy were the other couple whose child, David, got swapped with Pete and Maddie’s Theo. The couple decided to conduct DNA testing first to find out if the hospital was right or not. To their horror, the infants really had been swapped; furthermore, Pete and Maddie met with Miles and Lucy. Miles and Lucy were an ultra-rich couple, while Pete and Maddie were not as well off. Pete was a journalist who had published a book about Maddie’s postpartum, but currently he was busy taking care of Theo and trying to write again.
Was Lucy distrustful of Maddie?
The couples decided they wanted to be a part of both Theo and David’s lives, and they were initially happy with the arrangement. During the first meeting between David and Theo, both the toddlers bonded well with their biological parents. It was from the second meeting that Maddie noticed something odd about Lucy not bringing David along to any meetings. This began to bug Maddie as Theo was bonding with Lucy and Miles while Pete and her were not given the chance to bond with David. Even though Pete was comfortable with Miles and Lucy, Maddie figured the couple was weird and things between them were moving fast. Miles and Lucy were rich and could afford childcare support, a full-time nanny and many fun and cool toys for David.
Miles offered to help Pete and Maddie co-share the nanny for Theo as well, as his parents were busy working. Miles also offered a vacation at his family home in Norfolk, which Pete was fine with, but Maddie wasn’t, since she wasn’t allowed equal time with David. She was not comfortable spending time with strangers and had to lie about a family visit to avoid the Norfolk plan. In addition, Maddie was overwhelmed by Miles and Lucy’s support, which did not come across as genuine to her. However, Pete ended up sharing his writings with Miles and he began to trust the rich man.
Why did Miles file for custody?
Miles confronted Pete and Maddie about their lie to avoid the Norfolk trip with the children. He accused them of not allowing them to spend time with Theo, which was a blatant lie. Maddie added they were not allowed any time with David either, and thus the rift between the two couples began. Maddie and Miles were upfront with each other while Pete and Lucy did not speak much initially. Very soon, Miles filed for custody of Theo and David by serving a legal notice to Pete and Maddie stating they were not the right ones for their toddler. Miles was rich and vindictive, and this was just the start of the ordeal called a ‘custody battle.’
Were Pete and Maddie put through an ordeal?
Pete and Maddie went through a bad phase due to Theo’s premature birth, which included Maddie attempting to kill herself. Things seemed to have been in control until three years later, when Miles, Theo’s biological father, was using every piece of information he had about Pete and Maddie against them. Theo was admitted to a hospital after accidentally consuming Pete’s marijuana-laced gummies a while before Miles and Lucy started their custody battle. David’s father did not think twice before using this to prove Pete and Maddie were not good parents. Since Miles and Lucy were rich, they went out of their way to manipulate the situation in their favor, especially the husband, who was lying through his teeth. Pete and Maddie were aware that Miles was calling the shots while Lucy was on the back foot, never uttering a word against her husband. Miles made sure Theo was forced to spend time with David and Lucy. He also made sure the child services forced Pete and Maddie to meet David under their supervision. Miles left no stone unturned in making Pete and Maddie look like bad parents, and it seems he was not afraid of them.
Why was Miles’ mother approached?
Pete began to investigate Miles’ history just like Miles had done with the couple. He found out Miles’ had created a lie about his childhood, stating that his parents were no longer alive. Pete used his journalistic skills to dig deeper and found out Miles’ mother lived in Scotland. When Pete approached the woman, she was unwilling to speak to him about her son. Her refusal to speak about Miles helped Pete realize that there was something the rich man was hiding, and it was a massive secret. This was the first time Miles’ mother learned of David, who was named after his deceased brother. She also pointed out that Theo was the spitting image of her younger son, who perished in a fire. Pete now had leverage over Miles and planned to use it. Miles, wanting to get his way, approached Pete’s father as well, and tried his manipulative tactics to get them under his spell.
Who released the footage of Miles?
It was not long after Pete’s visit from Scotland that he and Maddie were again accused by Miles of not safely storing marijuana-laced gummies, which Theo accidentally ingested once again. It was obvious Miles had pulled this stunt to keep Pete and Maddie away from Theo, and somehow, he was very convincing as a concerned parent. Somehow Lucy was the silent spectator in this charade as she was seen as the career-oriented/popular painter who gave up her professional life for the sake of David. As the matter escalated, Miles and Lucy did not think twice before presenting the case in front of a magistrate and putting up a charade to prove they were the ideal parents for both Theo and David. Pete and Maddie had also filed for the custody of Theo and David, but the odds were not on their side, financial stability being one of the biggest reasons. Both the husbands and wives were at it to prove themselves to be right.Â
The battle seemed unending, and Miles’s character assassination of Pete and Maddie was getting out of hand. It was not very hard to tell that Miles’ could be a controlling, manipulative husband as well, who, to the world, was the perfect breadwinner father, yet at home Lucy had no say despite being a successful woman herself. Miles brought up the gummies matter, and that led to the magistrate ordering Theo to move out of Pete and Maddie’s home. The toddler would move to Miles and Lucy’s home for the time being, and Pete and Maddie would be allowed to meet under supervised conditions and time constraints. Miles was enjoying his triumph, and he felt indestructible at this point.
During the trial, Miles’ mother showed up, which startled him, and that worked in favor of Pete and Maddie for a while. The mother knew more about Miles than any other human being and was honest with him about his absolutely vile personality. Her conversation with Miles implied that he was the reason behind his brother David’s death in an arson. Lucy was shocked to learn about this important aspect of Miles’ past, which he’d chosen to keep hidden from his own family as well. This proved Miles was capable of rearranging a scenario to make himself look like a victim. He only wanted custody of Theo to prove his power and influence, and he was an egotistical maniac who did not care about what his wife expected of him as a partner.
On the day of the verdict, the magistrate received CCTV footage from Miles’ home. The footage showed him feeding Theo the marijuana-laced gummies, for which he later blamed Pete, to make the latter look like a bad father with drug abuse issues. Miles was a conceited human being who was willing to harm a child to prove himself right. Theo was his biological son, and yet he was willing to put him in danger simply to win. Miles’ knew it was most likely his wife who released the footage, since his home was like a fortress; no one could penetrate it without his knowledge.
Was Theo reunited with Pete and Maddie?
The footage was enough to prove that Miles was an erratic man and he was a danger to Lucy, David, and Theo. It was smart of the court to keep Miles away from everyone that he could harm instead of going easy on him. The tide turned in Pete and Maddie’s favor, yet they only got custody of Theo. They assumed Lucy was a good parent, and surprisingly, she did not mind living alone with David, away from Miles. Lucy knew Miles was a narcissistic man, and keeping him away from David was her first step towards healing and possibly moving on. It was surprising; Lucy had not filed for divorce post these events.
Playing Nice was now headed towards the end as everyone who suffered were happy about the trial going in their favour. The fear that Miles was out there was real, and the vindictive man managed to kidnap Theo when the kid was out with Pete. This event connects with the opening scene of the show in which Pete was frantically searching for Theo. He finally found Miles, who was somehow trying to make the situation about himself and claiming he was the real victim. A classic case of narcissism, as he could not accept his mistakes and adjust according to the situation. He did not think twice before stating that Theo was his flesh and blood, yet he’d also harmed his son just to defeat a man in court. Theo walked up to Pete, and not Miles, which indicated his affection for the father who was raising him rather than his biological parents. Maddie met with Lucy and asked her about the physical and emotional abuse Miles had put her through. Even though Lucy did not want to speak about it, she felt Maddie sensed her agony. She could not confess anything since she did not trust Maddie or Pete yet. However, Maddie asked Lucy to contact her anytime, since they were bonded through their sons.
Playing Nice ended with Miles coming back to meet Lucy and David, and forcing them to have a picnic with him by the cliff. It was bizarre that Lucy had not filed a restraining order against her husband yet, and the court also did not think of doing so in the wake of his role in harming Theo. Miles’ walking into the house unharmed was a major blunder, and it only further aggravated the situation. Lucy knew Miles showing up was bad news, and left a voicemail to Maddie describing her role in swapping the infants after birth. Lucy admitted to having been a victim of Miles’ abuse and being stuck in a marriage for too long. The trauma bonding and the fact that a man like Miles would destroy her if she asked for a divorce caused immense fear. She wanted her son to have a good family, and Pete seemed like a good father. Since she was in deep pain and trauma after the childbirth, her move might not have made complete sense, but Theo’s safety made her want to commit the crime.
Maddie listened to the voicemail and located Lucy through her mobile phone. Her motherly instinct kicked in, and she wanted to save Lucy and David from a bad fate. At the cliff, Miles began to threaten Lucy by walking around the edge of the cliff with David. He did not think twice before stating that she was a horrible mother. This was Miles’ last attempt to get control of her life since he was about to lose everything. Maddie reached in no time and saved David, while Lucy pushed Miles off the cliff. This was Lucy’s moment, since she was the real victim who’d been forced to keep quiet. She wanted him out of his life, but this was a lame attempt to do so, since no one knew if Miles survived or not. Pete, Maddie, Lucy, and the kids were alive. Lucy reported to the police that Miles was missing and made him look like an awful human being.
Will Miles come back?
In Playing Nice’s ending, we saw Lucy and David spending time with Pete, Maddie, and Theo. This proves they could live peacefully minus Miles in their lives. Miles was the obstacle that was creating a divide, and his plan was to force the two kids to grow up together. He was probably guilt-ridden for his role in the death of his brother, and the only way to redeem himself was to raise Theo and David as siblings. Without Miles, the control factor was gone, and all of them could lead their own lives and make time for the two children at their own pace. The speculation here is whether Miles was dead or alive. The way he was pushed, it did not seem he would be dead. He could be put behind bars for going against the orders of the court and harming people as well. This did not mean Miles would not return to wreak havoc on all of them. He would go out of his way to serve his goals, which includes getting Theo in his life. If the second season were to be announced, it would again focus on Miles and his obsession with Theo. Lucy would have a hard time, and so will Pete and Maddie, since they triple-teamed the man in question. Miles’ past was mentioned in a brief manner, yet it would be discussed in detail.