Esc.(ape) Online: 01x00 - "Initiate"

The main throughline to the initial run is the addiction of North to his gaming. Ultimately, he neglects all else for it - career and relationship disintegrating around him - to follow his in-game quest for vengeance against a double-crossing partner. The double-barrelled irony / dramedy being that even his 'virtual' victory becomes a Pyrrhic one, with his bloody-mindedness leaving him abandoned there, too. Counterpoint to the somewhat grim decline, we also have Kestry and Kieran. Kestry’s a tough, special-ops type, acting as a ‘Lieutenant’ under North. Brought back into North’s organisation from undercover work in episode one, she soon begins to develop a bit of a ‘thing’ for Kieran. Kieran? He's the real heart of North’s operation - a stand-up guy, everybody likes him. Deservedly so. Nevertheless, something more than that starts to blossom between Kestry and him. Things get complicated, however, when Kestry considers breaking the virtual-world / real-world boundaries to take things further… as well as the surprise reveal that Kieran, in the real world, is Ciaran! I.E. also female! She plays their game out-of-gender in order to - as a reported ⅓ of female MMORPGers unfortunately do - avoid the barrage of online sexual abuse female players otherwise endure! Ultimately, this all leads to us witness the whole team battling to survive a war North has landed them in against their will, Kestry-Kieran having to come to terms with their relationship, and a need for all the characters to discover a sense of balance; real-world vs escapism. This opening episode lays the foundations, introducing the online 'universe', and seeing our core of protagonists being boxed in on a dangerous, ill-conceived, mission.