Previously on Guilt:
Luc is arrested for selling coke, the cops are still looking for the stalker, Bruno sleeps with Natalie and Patrick learns about the Courtenay club.
A flashback so that people start caring about the dead girl from the pilotA little girl is practicing her ballet moves while her older brother sits next to her. That's baby Patrick with a 2016 haircut and he tells little Molly to stay in Ireland with her family because she’ll never make it to the Royal Ballet in London. What a bitch! She smiles smugly and tells him she doesn’t need anyone to protect her. (The child actors are better than their adult counterparts).
Patrick is working out shirtless on a boat (why not) and we go into his secret lair which is filled with maps and blueprints and photos of suspects. Does this episode remind anyone of Revenge? Guilt is a little bit of everything! Tragic flashbacks of the character’s childhood, hellbent on getting revenge for the death of a loved one and crossing people off their list one by one with a red sharpie? Well then you know where this is going: he finds Mr. Rich Parliament guy and starts strangling him in his car. This was a cool opening and a nice change of pace, but I still don’t like Paz. Sorry mate.
While Grace is crying about Luc, Natalie’s busy frolicking with Bruno. She shares the story of how her dad passed away which is actually really sad and was delivered very well. This episode actually has some kind of emotional resonance as it deals with the theme of deceased family members. Don’t worry, the cringe-inducing elements of the series are still here as Natalie calls Bruno a “dirty cop”.
What are your thoughts on Kim exposing Taylor on snap chat?Grace is being cornered by the press (yet again) and Veena Patel viciously tries to get a word from her about Luc. Grace just looks at her, stunned and blank-eyed, while a guy shields her with his jacket and gets her away from the crowd. She’s way too trusting, regardless of whether this guy’s Molly’s deranged stalker or not.
Stan meets with Gwen to inform her that her case is nothing but pure b.s. and it will not hold at court. I am not very clear as to why Stan cares for Luc. Is it just to shut Grace up? Meanwhile, Natalie is eating breakfast with Bruno and asks him if Gwen and he were a “thing” (this is a SUCH a teen show). She laughs at the absurdity of her life while Bruno gets more anonymous texts and calls. Wherever he turns he sees Theo’s butler lurking and watching his every move. I love how the stakes are slowly being raised.
Patrick enters the Courtenay which looks like a victorian mansion and quite the fun place to be, really. Parliament guy introduces him as his “cousin from Ireland” and Finch announces IRS sympathisers are not welcome… but is willing to make an exception just this once.
Stalking and fantasizing about women you've never met can be exhausting.Neville leads Grace to the shop he works in and tells her he’s the tailor’s apprentice. Every word out of his mouth comes with the most innocent yet crazy Norman Bates smile and I love it. She’s completely oblivious to his intentions until, upon examining the back of the shop, she sees a dress exactly like Molly’s. For the first time this season, Grace uses her brain and puts two and two together.
The fun is soon over for Natalie as well because she opens her phone to see all the calls from Grace. She is flipping out because knows that a) when Grace is left to her own devices all hell breaks loose and b) her phone does not leave her hand unless she’s been abducted. Veena Patel finishes her broadcast by announcing Grace has found a new lover “and… that’s the story”. The dark horse and underrated gem of this show.
Patrick is shown around the different rooms, filled with naked masked women. The male gaze is alive and well in this episode! He follows the blueprints (because he has suddenly acquired a photographic memory) and browses through some files hoping to find something. He almost ends up getting caught but Kaley saves the day and takes him away before he makes an even bigger mess. She warns him of the cameras watching them as they take their clothes off.
Why do I seem to be the only intelligent person on this show.Roz is watching all this because she basically runs the place. DJ by night, pimp by night. Get a girl who can do both, I say. When Grace confronts Neville they fight and she ends up stabbing him in the leg with a pair of scissors and escaping. There’s a really cool chase scene as Neville grabs her and puts the scissors against her neck. Grace doesn’t look that scared at all, mostly mildly irritated by all these events. Lucky for he that Bruno appears just in time to save her and arrest Neville.
D.S. Bruno cracks the case of the missing Sock Monkey but ,unsurprisingly, the mystery of the murder still remains unsolved because Neville is a leftie and the killer used their right hand to stab Molly to death. Too bad Bruno couldn’t plant Molly’s blood and frame him to shut Theo up. Patrick peruses the logbook with every meeting between the girls of the club and their clients. It seems that the only person Molly met with was Client #33. His royal highness, Prince Fuckboy.
At the very end of the episode, Grace makes a stop before going clubbing with Natalie. She visits Luc pretending that it’s because she couldn’t wait to see him but really it’s to make sure he didn’t tell the cops anything about “that night”. He promises that “what they did” will stay between them forever. Their hands touch on the glass between them and they look at each other with murder eyes.
Notes:
Every room in the Courtenay club is named after a flower and everything that goes on in there is recorded on surveillance cameras.
Favourite shot:
Grace is drinking tea at the hotel room while she looks at her reflection in the mirror of the dressing table. All these lines and fractures are very cool.
Favourite scene:
Prince Theo is on the phone discussing his relief supplies to the north which is controlled by the warlords as he stands in the Courtenay, dressed only in a robe and waiting for his Irish ginger girl to arrive.
Favourite quote:
“There are plenty hot guys out there, some even have jobs.”
Stan is often the voice of reason in this guilt driven heightened reality. Some are not suspicious drug dealers and possible murderers either!
Favourite Roz moment: (I felt like this was a much-needed addition to the weekly categories)
Roz meets with Theo and when he snaps at her she brings up Molly. Girl has some guts. Runner up is Roz jump scaring Kaley and demanding an explanation for the shit she has stirred with Patrick.
Best stabbing skills award:
Grace is the clear winner. She didn't even second guess herself she just went for it.
Answers to the mystery:
We’ve fully met the stalker and while this reveal would have been better had we not known his identity from a few episodes ago it lead to some fun scenes. He is definitely not the killer, which shouldn’t surprise you.
Questions remaining:
Why does the Courtenay club have all of its records on paper?
Where is James? He seems like the endgame for all of this. He didn't even have a proper alibi.
Wouldn’t it be pretty easy to expose Theo by just finding the surveillance footage of him and Molly?
What did Grace and Luc do “that night”? The rules of murder soaps dictate not to buy any confession that doesn’t happen near the end of the season, especially one that is as vague as the one we got.
Episode Rating: 2/5
Some interesting developments occurred with Patrick visiting the Courtenay club and starting to uncover Molly’s frequent client but that’s about it as far as progression goes. While the stalker could have been a nice addition to the mix, the Courtenay storyline still stands out as the most interesting part of the season. What we need is less Grace, more Roz, more Molly and maybe a few flashbacks to the night of the murder? I’m finding it very hard to care about something I haven’t seen since the pilot.
Next on Guilt:
Grace tries to frame Finch using Natalie just so she can throw suspicion away from herself. Excited to follow more of Grace’s mistakes and lapses in judgment! Tune in next week and make sure to tell me all your thoughts below.
