About this episode
It's finally here! We actually recorded this episode live at Bramble Fest 2025, and we’re joined by Brian and Patrick to dissect the 2025 Lifetime thriller The Little Girl Who Lived . ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVED When rising crime novelist Alice reveals her childhood abduction in a new book, the killer returns-kidnapping her sister and demanding she rewrite his legacy before cancer takes him for good. AIR DATE & PLATFORM FOR THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVED October 5, 2025 | Lifetime Channel CAST & CREW OF THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVED Brittany Bristow as Alice Kerrigan Marcus Rosner as Detective Ethan Directed by Dylan Pearce BRAN’S THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVED SYNOPSIS The movie kicks off with a girl running out of a cabin and hiding. From what? From whom? While running through the woods, her necklace falls off. A bald dude who’s following her picks it up. The little girl makes it to a path and runs into a woman who’s jogging. She says, “Don’t let him find me.” Cut to author Alice Kerrigan at a reading for her new book. A megafan is asking questions, and Alice drops a bombshell — her next book is going to be a firsthand account of her time with a serial abductor, The Strigoi , who kidnapped her as a kid. This guy has never been caught, but Alice believes that by now he’s too old to pose a threat and finally feels ready to tell her story. But between the creepy megafan and her big announcement, Alice gets a bit jumpy. Her cop sister comes to pick her up (very late, FYI), and they finally get to spend some time together. Her sister isn’t thrilled that Alice doesn’t paint the cops in a positive light in her books — and she’s really not thrilled to find out Alice plans to publicly share her story. They get into an argument. It’s not great. That night, Alice wakes up to banging and booming outside her room. She grabs a lamp that’s lying nearby and goes to investigate. She gets downstairs and — surprise — the house has clearly been burglarized. Stuff is everywhere. But then she discovers the necklace she dropped in the woods as a kid, next to a note attached to a brick: “You don’t know my story well enough to tell it. Maybe she will.” Clearly, it’s The Strigoi. Speaking of Strigoi, I know we all know what that means, but let’s say it together: “Strigoi, in Romanian mythology, are troubled spirits said to have risen from the grave. They can transform into beasts, become invisible, and gain vitality from the blood of their victims.” Yes, thank you. Back to the movie: the police show up. Detective Marcus Rosner doesn’t believe her story, nor does he believe it’s The Strigoi. He points out that she announced her new book today, and that probably made her cop sister mad, drink too much, and leave. So it’s up to Alice to figure this out herself. She examines the brick and sees a number: 55868. As Alice is walking around trying to find out more about the brick, she bumps into the megafan, Claire . She immediately decides to open up to her (for reasons I don’t understand) and tells her what she’s working on — and the megafan is PUMPED. Claire pulls up a blog that lists three suspects for The Strigoi: Dr. Adrian Blake – doctor for three of the missing girls Charles Mercer – bad guy, convicted of other crimes The Trenchcoat – a mysterious figure often seen by the railroad tracks Alice is sure it isn’t Dr. Blake because he’s dead. She’s not super sure about the other two but agrees to investigate. They find Charles Mercer playing chess. He was convicted of some icky stuff back in the day, but he claims he didn’t do any of it. He suspects someone from the Italian restaurant where he used to work was up to something shady and says she should look there. So they go to investigate. Megafan Claire talks to the owner while Alice pokes around in the back. She finds a box that looks important, but the owner hears her snooping and chases her off. Don’t worry — she gets away with the box, no problem. They look at who was working with Charles at the time and zero in on a name: Stephen Gray. That leads them to his family home, which has some weird stuff out back — a bunch of dirt, her sister’s shirt, and skeletal remains of animals buried there. It’s almost like he wanted her to find it. They go to talk to the woman who used to live there — Stephen’s mom — now in a nursing home. She says some things about Stephen that make Alice think they might be onto something. Alice also starts to suspect Claire may be up to something after she randomly bails mid-conversation. When Alice gets home, Detective Marcus Rosner is there. They talk; she tells him about Stephen. They hug (all above board), and then a brick gets thrown from inside the house through the window — something I don’t think has ever happened in the history of film. They go in, and no one’s there. Alice starts digging into Claire online, through the same forums Claire had shown her. She has a revelation when she sees a photo of a missing girl named Charlie. The next day, Alice is supposed to meet Claire but doesn’t show. Claire storms off, furious. Alice follows her by car. It takes her to a cabin in the woods. Alice goes to open the door and has a vivid memory of running out that very door as a child. It’s the cabin. She sneaks inside, and more memories come flooding back. As she’s creeping around, Claire catches her. Alice calls her Charlie — which makes Claire freak out. She screams, “You don’t know how badly you leaving affected him!” Turns out, after Alice escaped, he kidnapped Claire/Charlie and kept her there. She’s been there ever since. She yells, “I’m his wife now! We had a ceremony and everything!” The plan was for Claire to get close to Alice, then lure her back to the killer. We also learn he’s very sick and clearly dying. Claire attacks Alice and almost strangles her but lets go before Alice passes out — then breaks down crying. Stephen Gray comes downstairs. Alice runs away, jumps in the car, and drives off before he can catch her — and before her sister can make it to her car. She gets pulled over and tells Detective Rosner everything about Stephen Gray. He promises to look into it. Alice hatches a plan. She goes to the pharmacy, knowing that Claire would likely show up to get new meds (because Alice took a vial with her). When Claire gets back to her car, Alice attacks — strangles her from behind, puts her in the back seat, and drives to Stephen Gray’s. Stephen calls Claire’s phone to find out where she is. Alice tells him, “I’ll give you your medicine if you give me my sister.” He agrees to meet her at the rooftop garden — the same place he first kidnapped her. She calls Marcus (okay, Detective Hottie ) and tells him what she’s doing — that he can’t stop her, but he can join her if he wants. They meet. Stephen explains that he wanted her to find all the information about him for her book — but also wants her to jump off the building with him so their stories will end together. Dark stuff. Detective Hottie shows up, Stephen coughs, and that gives Alice enough time to break free and push him off the building. They rescue her sister. Alice goes home and writes a letter to Charlie. One year later , her book is out — and Charlie shows up. They hug. Turns out, they co-wrote the book together. Yay for authors. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube Interested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.