The One

Christopher is relaxing in the apartment of an unnamed woman when he gets the phone notification for his Match. He remembers impulsively registering with the company a few months earlier. He is curious about who would Match to someone like him, but it seems inappropriate to think about the Match while he is still in the company of another woman.

He returns to the kitchen, where he left the owner of the apartment. The woman is supine on the floor, the garrote with which he killed her still around her neck. Christopher tidies up the scene and takes two Polaroids of the dead woman. He will place one on the body of his previous victim, who is still undiscovered by the police, and keep the second photo for himself.

Four days later, he monitors his future victims on his computer screen, tracking them via their phones and mapping their routines. He glances at his second screen and notices the email from Match Your DNA still unopened in his inbox. With his psychopathy, Christopher has never been nor wanted to be in love, but his narcissism stokes his curiosity about a Match: It might give him greater insight into himself—his favorite subject of study. He decides he’ll call her that night after he returns from killing victim number seven.

Texting and talking on the phone with Kevin is the only bright spot in Jade’s humdrum life. If only her Match didn’t live on the other side of the earth, working on his parents’ Australian farm. Jade always wanted to travel. She’d hoped to work in the travel industry, but, after college, mounting bills and debts forced her first to move back in with her parents, then into a dead-end job as a hotel receptionist. She feels trapped and resentful, but at least she has found her soulmate, even if she can’t be with him in person.

One day, Jade’s friends Shauna and Lucy are gossiping about the trials of dating—they go out on a date after date with “jerks” and “deadbeats” while the good men are snapped up by their Matches. Jade points out that at least they have men to go out with.

Shawna and Lucy press Jade to meet Kevin in person. They warn her that she doesn’t want to end up like them: unMatched. Jade protests that she can’t afford it. They dismiss her argument; if they knew their Matches were out there somewhere, nothing would stop them from being with them.

For the first time, Jade considers the possibility that she and Kevin might have a future together. A few days later, she has maxed out all her credit cards and endured the 30-hour trip to Australia, followed by a three-hour drive to Kevin’s parents’ farm. When she arrives, she takes a selfie with the farm in the background. When she sends the picture to Kevin, however, he texts back that she shouldn’t be there.

Nick doesn’t need Match Your DNA to tell him that his fiancée, Sally, is the one he wants to spend his life with. However, when they have dinner with their friends Sumaira and Deepak, Sumaira suggests that Nick and Sally get the test. While Sally says she wants the sense of certainty that comes with a Match, she actually believes herself to be Matched with Deepak; if Nick found his true Match, Sally could leave Nick without being seen as a villain.

Nick finally agrees to the test. The results tell them that they are not a Match. Sally has no Match at all—surprising her because she expected Deepak. She coaxes Nick to look at his own results, which inform him that he Matches with Alexander Carmichael, a man. Nick has only ever considered himself heterosexual.

Nick wants to drop the whole thing, but Sally presses him to learn more about Alex, so he makes an appointment at Alex’s physiotherapy office. At first meeting, there’s no spark. Nick learns that Alex is from New Zealand and will soon be returning with his girlfriend to be close to his ailing father. As Nick leaves, he looks back, and his eyes meet Alex’s. Fireworks go off in his head, and his heart races. He can see that Alex is sharing the experience. He hurries out of the building. When he recovers from the surge of emotion, he returns to Sally and assures her that he has no interest in Alex. This is the first time he has lied in his relationship with Sally.

Discovering the Match gene has made Ellie Stanford rich and famous—or infamous—but it hasn’t done much for her personal life. She’s overwhelmed with work, perpetually surrounded by a security team, and her PR department stays busy fielding negative publicity for the company. She has no time for friends, family, or dating.

She’s therefore surprised and a little suspicious when her phone pings with the message that she has a Match. She half-suspects one of her staff is pranking her. She asks her personal assistant to run a background check on the Match, Timothy Hunt. He appears completely unremarkable. He isn’t her usual physical type, and they seem to have nothing in common beyond their genetic Match.

When they meet for drinks, Ellie introduces herself as Ellie Ayling, who works as a personal assistant. As they chat over beer and chips, she experiences no instant overwhelming attraction that 92% of Matches feel, but Ellie is confident the feeling will come. Their second date goes well. Tim is kind and funny and down to earth. Ellie decides she is attracted to him, although not how other Matches seem to be. As they are leaving the modest restaurant, Tim suddenly turns to kiss her. Ellie finally feels the surge of excitement she has been waiting for. A voice behind her breaks the moment: A middle-aged woman curses at her and hurls a can of red paint, shouting that Ellie has blood on her hands.

Tim hurries to help Ellie into a cab, but when he pays the driver, she notices that he is carrying many 50-pound notes. It seems odd for someone with Tim’s income, but she is too shaken to pay much attention to it. When they reach her home, she hurries inside, leaving Tim out on the doorstep.