The Olive Kitteridge (Part 1) begins with an elderly Olive walking into the forest, planning to commit suicide. As she kneels on a blanket and thinks about her life, the episode flashes back 25 years earlier to early 1980, when Henry's assistant at the pharmacy suffers a stroke and dies during her lunch break. To replace the deceased woman, he hires Denise Thibodeau, who is innocent and outgoing, but insecure.