How should one properly celebrate being cleared of being a serial killer? With brunch, as Cam suggests? Or perhaps drinks with friends? Whatever you do (and take my advice, because you don't want to be caught in this situation unprepared), don't start a series of chain events that will end with you violently beating a drug dealer half to death with a pipe. It sends the wrong impression.
Like Cam, all the Hawthorne siblings show their darker side this week. Cam is the most outwardly violent of the bunch. While it is easy to assume that part of Cam's stress was from having to constantly deal with Jack's creepiness, with Jack away at science camp, both Cam and Sophie have to face the fact that they are just as broken without Jack as with him. In fact, as the two descend into a spiral of sex and drugs, it's clear that taking care of the little creep was the only thing that had been keeping them from totally falling off the edge.
Do I think Cam's outbursts make him dangerous? Yes. Do I think Cam is the Silver Bells Killer? No.
In the comments for the last episode, Bazooka (thanks for the helpful link, Bazooka!) linked to a WebMD article. It lists the differences between a psychopath and a sociopath. It all boils down to sociopaths being "hot-headed" and psychopaths being "cold-hearted". The way the Silver Bells Killer kills would indicate a cold and calculating psychopath, and I trust the writers enough to know that they wouldn't try to pass off their most emotionally unstable character as someone capable of coldly executing multiple murders.
So let's take a look at our potential psychopaths!
Madeline's perhaps the most obvious of the bunch. She has manipulation down to a science. I'm still up in the air as to whether she did pay Gunther to kill himself (he seemed too angry with her to have gone along with it) or something else happened in that shed, but she's the only Hawthorne member we've seen actually murder someone. She doesn't do much in the episode, besides actually act motherly towards Tessa, convince Alison to pay off the accident victim, and give Garrett (and thus Cam) some hush money. She was downright sedate, especially following her stair-sitting experience.
Garrett is also someone the show is pointing about a dozen red arrows towards. He's so shady I'm convinced we'll all find out he has a heart of gold. I also refuse to buy into the show's cliffhanger. There's absolutely no way he's about to kill Christina. Although telling her he didn't think the killer understood "collateral damage" indicates he has his own suspicions.
Alison has more of the temperament for cold-blooded murder than her brothers. She certainly didn't have much problem figuring out the best way to pay off the victim of the bridge collapse. When her and Tom's poorly acted bad cop/blonde cop routine doesn't work, she ends up pointing out to the good Mayor Conley that he could go down for the botched building job too. The two put aside their differences for the sole purpose of bullying an amputee into dropping a lawsuit, and it even helps put the spark back in Alison's marriage.
And then that leaves us with Tessa, who is slowly being revealed to be the most manipulative Hawthorne of all. When Brady finds out that the DNA test that cleared the family was doctored, she confesses that it was all a disturbing test of his love, one that he failed miserably. While it's understandable that Tessa would be uncomfortable about her husband investigating the family, the amount of planning it would take to foresee that he would try to take her DNA and trick him into taking someone else's makes her the true heir to Madeline's throne of schemes and lies. One of the central messages of the show seems to be that it's the nice ones you have to really watch out for.
Meanwhile... this week in Brady: Brady vows to bring the Hawthorne family to justice if one of them turns out to be the killer. Also, the delightful Dana is back and this time she wants a boat.
Meanwhile... this week in Jack: We don't check in on Jack this week, but I've got to imagine those science camp counselors think they've walked into a Friday the 13th film.
Top Suspects of the Week:
Tessa: the only reason I think it can't be Tessa is that she might have been too young and physically weak to pull off the murders. Madeline's speech to Tessa about how much she admired her dad, however, makes me think it could be Tessa and her father together. Garrett knows, which is why he tries to console Christina about the killer not trying to hurt her. Cam is repressing some memory, which is why he brought up the "body" in the therapy sessions.
Mayor Conley: Conley's former job as a safety inspector for the bridge puts him in a position to dump the belt.
Garrett: OK, I'm just hedging my bets here in case it turns out Garrett does kill Christina in the next episode and I look like an idiot for proclaiming his innocence. Don't let me down, Garrett!
Caramel Watch: the halls of justice are uninterested in Caramel's Scrapbook of Crime and Sadness and stories of his noble predecessor, Toblerone. You think the Boston PD would be thankful after Phyllis gave Brady the clue needed to acquit Gunther of the killings.
Who do you think the sender of the daisy postcard is? Phyllis? Conley? The Silver Bells Killer? Evil twin? A fifth Hawthorne sibling? Let me know in the comments!
