Bed of Roses

"Bed of Roses" is the first episode of the animated Netflix series Rose and Thorn. Written by showrunner Chesire Castro Smith and directed by Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton, the episode was released on December 22, 2035, to positive reviews and strong audience views.

Synopsis
After a loss of time and a series of confusing events, Rhosalyn Thorn begins a search that will change her life forever.

Plot
During a night in the city of Metropolis, a group of men assault a politician, whom they murder. Their leader then gloats that now one will stop them.

The following morning, Rhosyn "Rose" Carton wakes up and gets ready for school. She finds her house's keys on her room, and assumes she must have take it the previous day and forgotten about it. She then greets her mother, Elizabeth, and the two have a talk, where it is revealed that Rose' father, Daniel, was murdered 10 years ago. Rose is secretly depressed over losing her father at 5 years old. Rose's mother reminds her of returning from school in time. Shortly after breakfast, Rose runs to school, where she gets anxious while around most people, except for her best friend, Melinda. However, as the two catch up for their plans for tomorrow, they witness the school's most popular girl, Skye, who has never noticed them. The two however, don't let that bother them, seeing each other as "all the company they need". After a day of regular classes, Rose and her mother go to a tour througth town, travling to her father's favorite places in honor of his memory.

Rose wakes up with a mysterious pain througth her body. As always she greets her mother on breakfeast. Her mother asks if she "feels better now", to which Rose falsely says yes, and that "grief does that to people". As she leaves for school, her mother tells her to "speak to [her] if [she] has anything going on right now". Rose then goes to school and, much to her shock, she is greeted by Skye, who acts rather friendly towards her, and calls her "Thorn". She is then confronted by Melinda, who reveals to her she missed their entire plan and was dismissing of her "yesterday". Rose is confused by all this, and discovers througth the day that she somehow missed an entire day. While in the bathroom, she notices tow tattoes saying "Thorn" and "Troy". Knowing that's the name of Skye's ex, she asks her of what happened last time. Thinking she was just drunk, she shows her a video that confirms she was with Troy. She is also perturbed by her behavior, which is contrary to how she usually is. However, she chooses to ignore what is happening, hoping it will just vanish alone.

As the days go by, Rose keeps missing time, in addition to suffering blackouts, afterwhich she discovers she has done things she dosen't recall doing. This results in Melinda feeling alliniated and Skye acting closer, as well as general struggles to keep control of her life. With her life out-of-control, Rose begins to break down, not wanting to lose anybody else again. Suddenly, her phone rings, and she receives a mysterious yet threatening call. Suddenly, a group of criminals start to shoot her, and she tries to run away. She suddenly feels overwhelmed by overthing that's been hapoening to her, and suffers black out.

Rose wakes up in her house, and finds a letter saying that everuthing will be explained if she watches the DVD on the table. Knowimg something is goimg on, she chooses to watch the DVD. In that moment, she learns of Thorn Canton, her alter.

Main cast

 * Sarah-Nicole Robles as Rose Forrest / Thorn Canton
 * Wendie Malick as Elizabeth Forrest
 * David Tennant as Mysterious Figure

Guest cast

 * Chloe Bennet as Melinda
 * Kari Wahlgren as Skye
 * Charles Martinet as Daniel Forrest
 * Jessica DiCicco as Teacher
 * Matthew Wood as Caller

Writing
Showrunner Chesire Castro Smith said that she wanted to potray Rose as someone "in denial" and that "she refuses to accept anything is ever wrong". She also wanted to showcase how having DID is affecting her life, but without havimg that aspect of the episode's plot not overcome the exploration of Rose's denial. Early scripts had the episode as an adaptation of National Cpmics: Rose and Thorn #1, but Smith choose to instead divide it between the first two episides because "adapting it as the full pilot made the episide focus more on plot than on Rose and her world and who she is". The episode was partially inspired by the pilot episode of Marvel Television's Legion, particularly in how Rose's dissociative identity disorder is explored througth flashbacks.

Trivia

 * The episode is loosely based on National Comics' Rose and Thorn #1.