The Nest was filmed in Glasgow, East Kilbride, Paisley and Helensburgh.[3] Emily (Sophie Rundle) and Dan's (Martin Compston) house in the series is called Cape Cove, a holiday rental house on the shore of Scotland's Loch Long.[3] Speaking on finding the house, producer Clare Kerr said: "It was a challenge, but it was always in the script, and because water runs through the script as a kind of theme... We were really lucky in that nobody else had used it, because it's got such a particular look."[3] The scenes where Emily is swimming were also filmed in Loch Long.[3] Kaya's (Mirren Mack) flat is situated in Gorbals, while the fictional "Calderwood Falls" waterfall is located at the Devil's Pulpit. The Devil's Pulpit has previously been used as a setting for Starz period drama Outlander.[3]
On parole teenager Kaya steps out in front of Emily's car, damaging her knee. At the hospital, Kaya discovers that Emily and Dan, her husband, want a baby. Their surrogate mother, Dan's sister, loses the baby and Kaya approaches Emily, offering to be their surrogate. Dan is strongly against the idea but Emily finally persuades him to agree.
2
"Episode 2"
Andy De Emmony
Nicole Taylor
29 March 2020 (2020-03-29)
7.82
Months later, Kaya is pregnant and living with Emily and Dan. In the middle of the night, she leaves the house to go to a club. She does not drink and makes friends with a young mother, but when the woman discovers she is a surrogate, she leaves. Kaya then gets drunk and goes back to the house, where Dan finds her drunk. She threatens to kill him with a knife, and runs out. Emily chases after her and persuades her to return to the house.
3
"Episode 3"
Andy De Emmony
Nicole Taylor
5 April 2020 (2020-04-05)
8.14
Dan discovers that as a young girl, Kaya killed a pregnant woman, and has since been given a new identity. He is later forced to tell Emily, while Kaya goes to the school prom with their nephew Jack. She then gives birth to the baby prematurely.
4
"Episode 4"
Simen Alsvik
Nicole Taylor
12 April 2020 (2020-04-12)
8.07
Emily worries that Kaya was pregnant before the surrogacy was agreed on. She asks Kaya to take a DNA test, and the results reveal that the baby is related to neither Kaya nor Emily and Dan, and that the embryo was swapped. Kaya agrees that Emily and Dan can adopt the baby, but while they prepare the baby's room, Kaya's mother, Siobhan, persuades her to keep the baby. James is arrested for passing information from his social work to organised criminals.
5
"Episode 5"
Simen Alsvik
Nicole Taylor
13 April 2020 (2020-04-13)
7.94
Siobhan invites a journalist to write an exposé on Dan's business, where it is revealed that he made money for the business by selling drugs. The resulting media coverage also highlights the surrogacy, and due to the ongoing media attention towards both Kaya and Emily and Dan, the baby's fate is undecided. Kaya forces her mother to leave after an argument, where it transpires that 11-year-old Kaya accidentally stabbed her pregnant aunt while breaking up a fight between her and Siobhan. When holding the baby, Kaya realises that she wants more for her life than to be a mother, and six months later, Emily and Dan are given care of the baby.
