Critic’s Rating: 4.2 / 5.0
4.2
As Murder in a Small Town heads into its season finale, multiple murders have raised the stakes considerably.
It was truly terrifying seeing a woman get attacked and be forced to fight for her life in those opening seconds of Murder in a Small Town Season 1 Episode 7. That kept me on the edge of my seat as they started questioning suspects.
While this case wasn’t in the novels, it moved faster and used the characters better than Murder in a Small Town, Season 1 Episode 6.
Karl and Corporal Yen Find a Disturbing Case
Corporal Yen almost collided with a frightened, agitated man in the woods. What he showed her disturbed her more than any other case.
This case showcased how helpful dogs are. Callum Hingle’s dog found Jane Doe, and that poor man was traumatized by what he saw.
He couldn’t concentrate after seeing that woman’s body posed like that. Even if he was the first at the scene, he didn’t seem like a murderer. He was so rattled.
The town buzzed with gossip on whether it was a satanic ritual or if the body was dismembered.
As the team discussed what kind of knife was used, another suspect was found carved and posed. Was there a serial killer or a copycat murderer?
Corporal Yen Had A Relationship With a Suspect
Seeing Edwina and Isabella box at a local MMA gym was refreshing. We need more scenes of them or Karl and Sid hanging out.
I should have known that the scene would tie into one of the cases. Gus Cooper, the owner of the gym, became the lead suspect in Janice Doncaster’s murder.
He seemed so betrayed that Edwina would believe that he could believe he could do something as disgusting as hurt these women.
This case took a toll on her, finding evidence at the gym and knowing him as well as she did.
Father and Daughter Relationships Take Precedence
There is nothing a parent wouldn’t do for his or her child. Law & Order highlighted this universal truth a few weeks ago, so I should have suspected that Gus was covering for his daughter.
His confession seemed too convenient. While they had to hold him as a person of interest, Karl and Corporal Yen weren’t convinced. Only Sid wanted to arrest him for both murders for both cases and be done with them, which seemed unlike him.
Gus’s pleas that he had changed for his daughter seemed sincere. He didn’t want to disappoint her again.
Karl related to that since he hated disappointing Holly and felt he did constantly with his job and not being there for enough. He strived to prove to her that she was everything to him.
It wasn’t until Tommy Cummins mentioned the bond between fathers and daughters being special that Karl put the pieces together.
It was such an emotional plea as he begged Kat to think of her dad first.
I was surprised that Karl didn’t arrest Gus as well for cleaning up the murder, but Gus was already heartbroken that his daughter would lose his scholarship. He wanted her to be better than he was.
That was such a heartbreaking scene to witness.
So Many Suspects Make it Difficult to Make an Arrest
This was the first Murder in a Small Town episode in which I couldn’t guess a legitimate suspect. There were so many twists and turns.
Sid thought Janice’s husband, Ethan, seemed suspicious since he never inquired about the details of his wife’s death.
He seemed like a jerk who sold the MMA gym to make a massive profit without considering the community’s vibes or his wife’s opinion. That was what they fought about before she disappeared the night she died.
While he initially broke down, he didn’t seem that upset because he had a girlfriend and rushed to tell the cops that his wife had affairs, too. Who does that when their spouse dies?
I’m unsure if Devon’s boyfriend, Jesse, was connected to the crimes, but he was overly curious about them and harassed Holly for details.
He implied that if she couldn’t give them details on cases, she was worthless as a friend, which finally opened Devon’s eyes about hum but may have put her in danger.
Then there was sleazy Roger. He gloated about how Karl couldn’t solve a case, infuriating Cassandra. It’s downright scary that Cassandra was correct — he’d make a perfect sociopath.
While it was probably nothing, Roger stared at another blonde woman in blue after getting rejected by Cassandra. Did he have a plan to make the Gibson police look stupid?
While the Gibson police arrested Kat for Janice’s murder, Jane Doe’s case was still a mystery. The two were not connected after all.
An Artist Gives Karl an Important Clue
Karl grew frustrated that they couldn’t identify Jane Doe from the police sketch and took matters into his own hands.
He was desperate for help since he asked Cassandra for an artist recommendation, and they’d recently broken up. Thankfully, they were both mature enough to focus on the matter.
I liked that they joked about art like old friends before she suggested the high school art teacher Tommy Cummins (Noah Reid), who also had an art exhibit.
Cummins, like Karl, believed art was personal and a way to see inside someone’s soul. He was the ideal person to bring Jane Doe back to life.
Karl and his team had this strange sensation when they saw the painting. Corporal Yen thought she’d seen women posed like that before, and Karl assumed there was a serial killer.
We can’t wait until the season finale to learn more about the killer’s motivations and how he chooses his victims.
Over to you, TV Fanatics. Were you surprised by multiple suspects in multiple murders?
Who do you think is guilty? Did anyone miss Andy Kendrick?
Let us know in the comments below.
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