Teenage pregnancy is an under-discussed yet highly contentious topic—the fear of social stigma, parental involvement, and concerns regarding childcare responsibilities are just some of the issues that come up in the course of any discourse on this subject. Given the present world scenario, where, caught in the ire of pro-life delusions, women have to literally fight for their right to bodily freedom and their rights as caregivers to their child, it goes beyond saying that the subject of teenage pregnancy opens up a can of proverbial worms. British miniseries, The Au Pair, deals with this matter and also integrates topical issues like medical corruption and human trafficking to shed light on real-life problems. The four-episode miniseries moves with a rapid pace, initially establishing itself as an identity thriller, only to reveal much sinister central crisis hidden underneath.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Stephanie Want to Ruin Zoe’s Life?
The Au Pair focuses on the life of Zoe Dalton, a middle-aged, talented fashion seamstress whose life is the definition of near perfect. Zoe lives in a stately mansion in the English countryside with her doctor husband, Chris, and even though her stepchildren, Noah and Amber, haven’t opened up to her just yet, building a bond with them is a work in progress. Zoe shares a great rapport with her father, George, a senior doctor and former mentor of Chris, and looks up to him. Only recently, Zoe has been feeling down after suffering a miscarriage, and even though she wants to take another chance at becoming a mother, Chris is unwilling to put her through similar agony or worse again. Between handling her career and shouldering her responsibilities for her family, Zoe is being pulled in different directions, which is why Chris requests her to appoint an au pair for assistance.
Initially, Zoe remains unwilling to take on any additional help, but after a series of mishaps—diabetic George suffering from a drastic blood sugar drop and Noah getting into a bike accident—she begrudgingly agrees to appoint an au pair. Sandrine, a girl in her mid-twenties, is accepted in the role—and quickly gains the trust of the members of the household. However, it becomes pretty apparent from early on that Sandrine has some ulterior motives, as it is revealed that she manipulated events in a way that ensured that Zoe would appoint a house help. She deliberately caused George’s health issues by spiking his insulin and cut the brakes on Noah’s bike to orchestrate the accident. However, these vile actions were just the tip of the iceberg, as Sandrine makes it her life’s mission to turn Zoe’s life into a living hell by creating misunderstandings and suspicion between her and her family members through her lies and deceit. On one occasion, Sandrine nearly ends up killing Zoe but has a change of heart and decides to spare her life. In the meantime, being emotionally distant from the rest of her family thanks to Sandrine’s machinations, Zoe becomes too trusting of and dependent on her—and shares a secret from her past.
Zoe reveals that, long before her miscarriage, she’d lost her firstborn daughter right after childbirth—a piece of news that shocks Sandrine. In reality, Sandrine—whose real name is Stephanie—is Zoe’s firstborn daughter, who was taken away from her through illegal adoption in France. Stuck with abusive adoptive parents who subjected her to various physical and mental tortures, Stephanie had a rough upbringing and eventually resorted to a life of crime in her later years. After Marie, one of the staffers of the hospital in France where the illegal adoption took place, had informed Stephanie of the identity of her birth mother, Stephanie felt betrayed. She’d had to endure a life of hardship, whereas her mother, Zoe, who had no clue about her existence, lived a perfect, happy family life. We have to understand that Stephanie’s worldview was shaped by her suffering and her misguided belief that Zoe abandoned her, when in reality that was not the case. After learning that she has been punishing Zoe for apparently no reason at all, Stephanie begins to feel guilty. Amber eventually learns about Stephanie’s identity and threatens to expose it, which causes Stephanie to act erratic in the heat of the moment and knock her unconscious. To cover up further, as Stephanie takes a senseless Amber outside with the hopes of sharing everything with her, and Zoe and Chris begin searching for them, until eventually Amber is rescued. The police begin hunting for Stephanie, who reveals to Zoe that she is her daughter before disappearing as a fugitive.
Who Was Responsible for the Illegal Adoption of Stephanie?
Zoe is taken aback after listening to Stephanie’s words, and the most members of her family advise her to pay no heed—considering it to be just another ploy by a deranged Stephanie to get under her skin. However, Zoe’s suspicion increases after she retrieves Stephanie’s passport from her room, which matches with the date of birth of her daughter, whom she lost all those years ago. A thorough search of the medical records doesn’t reveal any discrepancies, but Zoe suspects foul play behind this. Meanwhile, Stephanie manages to sneak a letter to Zoe, explaining her actions and predicament to her. Eventually, in her desperate state, as Zoe tries to exhume the corpse of her dead daughter by taking her mother, Lydia, with her, the truth comes out in the open. Lydia, who acted as a midwife during Zoe’s delivery, confesses that her firstborn daughter didn’t die from asphyxiation as mentioned in the medical records; instead, she was taken outside the country for illegal adoption. When 15-year-old Zoe got pregnant after a night of partying, George didn’t want her to take the responsibility of raising a child as she wasn’t mentally mature enough to do so. Instead, to let the child have a future, he arranged the means to have the child illegally adopted in France, in Aurelville hospital, where Lydia used to work and George had some strings he could pull.
Chris, a junior doctor back then, had helped George through this whole ordeal, and Marie, a staffer from Aurelville hospital, helped them in finding prospective adoptive parents who could care for newborn Stephanie. Zoe is aghast after learning all this, especially that her father, whom she admired so much, was responsible for her daughter Stephanie’s miserable predicament. Mature or not, as a mother, Zoe should have had the last say about any decision regarding her child, a right that she was denied by her own parents.
Was Chris Responsible for the Child Trafficking Ring?
Zoe was up for an even more horrendous surprise, as her husband, Chris, was involved in something unthinkable. While arranging for Stephanie’s illegal adoption, Marie and Chris had come across a shrewd, conniving criminal named Fred, who had promised assistance but ultimately ended up selling a young Stephanie to the couple who were the higher bidder. This was the reason that Stephanie ended up in an abusive environment instead of a loving, compassionate one like George wanted for her. George didn’t have any idea of a child trafficker being involved in this, and the worst part is that Stephanie’s incident resulted in a number of children from Aurelville hospital getting trafficked by Fred and co., who accumulated power and money through their devious scheme. Marie grew a conscience after getting afflicted with a terminal disease and let Stephanie know about her true identity. But Chris, a doctor by profession, had no remorse as he was getting paid handsomely for taking part in the trafficking business. In fact, he posed as a sensitive, sympathetic medical professional to exploit the vulnerable, misguided teenage mothers who wanted to give away their children to help them build a better future and avoid public shame. Amber’s classmate, Raye, had become pregnant, and Chris had arranged for her child to be the next victim of his greed. George got to know all this after venturing to France to meet Marie, and later on Marie was killed by Fred’s lackeys after revealing information she shouldn’t have. After Stephanie escaped as a fugitive, Chris had abducted her, as he feared that she was aware of his heinous actions and involvement with child trafficking.
However, as Chris learned from Fred that George had known the entirety of his past actions, in a desperate state of mind, he tried to kill George. Zoe figures out Chris is not the loving, supportive husband she thought him to be after realizing that he was holding Stephanie captive despite knowing everything about her connection with Zoe. Stephanie manages to escape, and when Chris tries to attack Zoe as well to keep his truth from getting exposed, she intervenes just in time to save her mother. A desperate Chris tries to hold Stephanie captive to bargain his way out of this messy situation, only to have the entire family learn about his crooked secret, and the authorities apprehend him. Hopefully, Fred gets detained by the authorities as well, although it is not addressed in The Au Pair series. Raye, on the other hand, gives birth to her child and changes her opinion about giving away her child in fear of social and familial concerns.
Did Zoe and Stephanie Finally Reconcile?
The Au Pair’s ending revealed that Zoe has grown a stronger filial connection with her stepchildren—Noah and Amber—whereas Stephanie has found acceptance among them, thereby finally getting to be a part of a happy, loving family. George prepares to accept his due punishment at the authorities’ hands, as he was responsible for Stephanie’s miserable situation—and in an emotionally charged moment, George reconciles with his daughter and granddaughter. Also, Zoe was pregnant with Chris’ child, which means the family will welcome a new member, and finally Zoe can cope with her grief of losing a child due to miscarriage.
