The first episode of “Who Were We Running From” was all about setting the stage to understand who the mother and her daughter Bambi are as people. Though Bambi comes across as an affable girl in her teens, the mother comes across as someone who would not want to engage in conversation with anyone. She wants to stay away from the crowd, and she brainwashes Bambi to do the same from a very young age. But their stint at the hotel ends abruptly when the mother kills the hotel owner, and she is now on the run along with her daughter. What is the game plan for this duo?
Spoilers Ahead
To A New Hotel
After the mother has made sure to get rid of her obstacle, which is the hotel owner of the previous hotel they lived in, they move to another 5-star hotel, which is a property on the riverside. They are hoping a change of scenery will help the duo reconnect, not that they are ever away from each other. The mother always remains paranoid about Bambi, but Bambi, being a young girl, knows how to pacify her mother from here on. Their stay at the hotel also turned out to be a good one because, unlike at the previous hotel, no one bothered them with unnecessary questions about their lifestyle. The mother only had to make sure her steady flow of money kept pouring in. She has to have the money for herself and Bambi to live a sustainable ‘nomadic’ life away from the crowd and the noise. The moment they enter the new hotel, they are welcomed by the resort’s physician, who takes a sudden interest in the mother and daughter. They don’t find it comfortable, but since he does not bother them, they don’t make a big deal out of it. The mother only wants and hopes that this place won’t cause any problems like their previous place of accommodation.
The mother and Bambi also get acquainted with one of the hotel staff, who are probably the only people the mother likes to talk to. Both here again are occupying the most expensive suite and living a life of comfort. Bambi again, through her voiceover, repeatedly convinces herself that her mother will always remain a constant in her life and that she will always want her by her side. Bambi cannot imagine her life without her mother. They have never stayed in one place for as long as she can remember. Her mother always convinced her that home is where family is, and she is the only family she has, so wherever they live, that becomes their home if they stay together. Bambi’s mother’s paranoia about being unwilling to deal with the public reaches a point; even the viewers feel there is something wrong with this obsessive behavior. The fact that the mother only wears black all the time and this behavior of her was picked up by the hotel staff from the previous hotel, who made sure to convey the same to the investigation officers.
They get acquainted with a staff member of the hotel; the said staff member happens to be a blonde. Bambi reveals that her mother always had a soft corner for blondes because she knows for a fact that Bambi’s father is a blonde too. Bambi’s mother and father were very much in love—until they weren’t. There is no definite way to understand how they fell apart or whether they were forced to stay away from each other by Bambi’s rich and overbearing parents.
What Is Bambi Afraid Of? Who Does The Mother Kill This Time?
The mother and the daughter, since they plan to stay at this place for a longer time, decide Bambi’s going to learn some water sports, hoping that would keep her occupied. The mother is not very keen on doing this, but since Bambi insists persistently, the mother complies with her daughter’s requests. Bambi begins her training to do water skiing, and she loves every bit of it. She also makes sure to instill in Bambi that it is not okay to socialize much with people. But the blonde staff member at the hotel comes in very handy because he helps them with all kinds of errands that they need to run in their daily lives at the said hotel.
The mother is running short on the cash that she needs to pay the hotel. She never pays with a credit card because she does not want to leave any trace behind, which would lead the police to reach out to her. She also does not want anybody she knows, whom she is willingly avoiding, to get in touch with her through these wired transactions. Bambi has a good time learning a skill. Bambi, though, is invited by her instructor to a small party on the hotel premises itself, which she is keen to attend. She puts it across as a request to her mother, not a demand so that her mother will have a gentle reaction and not a hostile one. The mother is not keen, but she lets her daughter know that she will let her know by dinnertime. Bambi, being herself, hopes to receive a positive response from her and patiently waits until the evening. The mother appreciates her daughter’s patience, and seeing how keen Bambi is to attend the party, she agrees, but with only one condition. Bambi lets her know that the party is happening at the hotel premises, and her mother will always be in the vicinity itself, which again should not be a problem. The mother again projects her fears onto her daughter. The mother has gone through some traumatic times as a young girl, which is what drives her to do obsessive things to make sure Bambi remains safe and secure. She has no intention of harming her daughter at any point. She believes it is always the forces outside of them that can harm them.
The mother also overhears that the physician at the resort will be heading out of town, and she, from day one at the hotel, has remained suspicious of him. Her body and mind goes into an alert mode, and she starts thinking of him as a threat to her and Bambi. But she will not act unless he does something to threaten her safety. The doctor is intrigued to overhear that the mother will be going out to town as well. This gives him a chance to do what he wanted to do from day one, which was to pursue Bambi without her consent. As the mother leaves and Bambi is preparing for the party, the doctor enters her room without her permission and starts forcing himself on her. Bambi goes into self-defense mode and gets out of her room as fast as she can, but not before the doctor attacks her again. Bambi again runs far away to the other side of the property just out of shock, fear, and responding to the fact that what her mother said was true. People are out there who’d want to harm her. Bambi is completely terrified, not just of the stranger who tried to grab her but also of the fact that anyone out there is simply trying to get too close to her to harm her. She goes to a quiet place to collect herself.
The mother returns from town only to see Bambi gone from the room, not returned from the party and notices the doctor’s staff badge lying in her room. She joins the dots to understand what must have happened here. The mother is sure there is something that transpired that made Bambi not come back to the room long after sundown. Bambi comes back but refuses to share her trauma with her mother. Not because her mother would say ‘I told you so’, but because the shock of it has not worn out, and she would want to calm herself down before retelling what happened. The mother draws up another plan to leave this hotel and move to another place. Bambi, knowing this move was inevitable, agrees to do the same. Not before she requests her favorite staff member at the hotel ask the doctor to come by her room for a checkup. The doctor shamelessly walks in and denies harassing Bambi. The mother, knowing what happened, attacks the doctor, and a violent fight ensues between the two. In the hope of getting rid of the doctor once and for all, the mother kills him and places his dead body in the room, and she leaves the hotel long before the staff can discover his body. The mother and Bambi leave the premises as well, in the hope of restarting their old lives in a new place and new hotel. This nomadic life is nothing new for them, and all Bambi’s mother can hope for is that the police do not catch up with her. The police have now been informed of the woman who just killed another man, and they are on the hunt to catch the mother, who’s just turned into a serial killer, as per the terminology used by the police. The mother and Bambi are more than happy to be able to run away from the place because, again, what the mother feared has happened. Someone tried to harm her daughter, and she killed the said person. She wouldn’t want her daughter to have traumatic memories that would derail her life in the long run. The quick departure will help Bambi not just process what happened but also be around her mother more than before.
Final Thoughts
In the second episode, the police branded the mother a serial killer, and they have now found her pattern of killing. Story-wise, the screenplay sets up the mother-to-be as someone who would do anything to protect her only daughter, but it kind of puts across the wrong message that people should take up being vigilantes to protect their loved ones. The mother is also so far denying her daughter the life she deserves. This episode might come across as the glorification of a mother’s love. Looking forward to the next episode that will put things in motion about why the mother is overprotective.
