The Bungled Assassination
Angela Black is still angry with Olivier after he leaves her house. She goes to Ed’s place for answers, but finds out that it’s either him or his wife that she has to deal with. He tells her that it’s either her or him and he wants her to think about the kids. Specifically, he wants to set up a killing Olivier so that they can get away with it. Angela doesn’t want to do this, but she knows she has no choice.
That evening, Angela crushed up some pills and put them in Olivier’s drink. While he takes sips of his whiskey, Angela shows how bad her poker face is, trembling and heading off to get a glass of water. It does the trick though, and Olivier soon stumbles upstairs like a zombie, instantly falling asleep in bed.
Angela turns off all the lights in the house as Ed heads upstairs to do the deed while Angela races off to her neighbour’s, phoning the police to let them know. Oh, so NOW she decides to ring them! ..
Angela rushes back to her house, but Olivier is still alive. In fact, he wanders out the house looking confused - Ed is nowhere to be seen.
Angela tells Olivier that there was a strange man in the house, hence why she left to get help. It’s a pretty shaky alibi but it works well enough for Olivier to teach Angela how to hold a gun and defend herself in case there’s another invasion.
Angela is still upset about what happened the previous evening. She rings Ed, asking him what happened. Eventually they meet at a secluded parking lot on the roof. Apparently he was ready to kill Olivier but he woke up, and as a result ED decided to leave it for a less-risky time. Angela has had enough though and tells Ed to leave, refusing to indulge this idea anymore.
Angela is left alone with the kids when Olivier returns home from his work trip. All goes swimmingly until Ed rings and tells her she needs to leave asap.
Angela’s heart races as she sees a car parked in front of their house. She assumes the worst and starts screaming at her kids to get ready to leave. ..
Angela is preparing to leave for work when the police show up with Olivier behind her. She has a gun in her hand, and is arrested for possession of a firearm.
Angela’s story does not add up. The police have a confession from an accomplice that Angela did not mention in her statement, and the confession does not match what she said in her original trial.
Angela’s place has been empty for months. And if that wasn’t enough, Angela doesn’t show up on the cameras and in fact, there happens to be a book from Angela Harrison that describes the plot of this series completely. But is Angela actually imagining Ed or not?
The Episode Review
Angela delays going to the police for fear of being declared insane, but this backfires when she finds herself on the cusp of being declared insane. It is possible that Ed is not real, but I believe that this is only a red herring. I am confident that there is more to this story and that it will be revealed in future episodes. ..
Personally, it seems more likely that Ed is real and is actually obsessed with Angela, adopting the Ed Harrison name for himself and acting out the plot of this movie because he’s in love with her. The bedroom antics of not killing Olivier doesn’t quite add up. ..
Another theory is that Olivier has staged all of this to make Angela look insane and that Ed is actually still working for him. The main goal here being to win the kids by default as Angela is declared insane.
In Angela Black’s writing, she often falls into the trap of being too over-indulgent. This can sometimes make for a slow read, as there is too much material to cover in a short amount of time. However, it also makes for an interesting story, as Joanne Froggatt gets to explore more of the house and its contents.
The show has done okay to keep its mystery going but it’s not as good as some of the better entries in the murder mystery genre.
The first episode of this show was promising, but the second half has been lackluster so far. Based on this showing, we can expect more methodically paced, mediocre drama before the show reaches its climax. ..
