Previously on Guilt:
Gwen gets Luc locked up on petty charges to get to Grace. Paz infiltrates the Courtenay to steals Finch’s leger and puts both Kaley and Roz in danger. Luc gets a visit from Grace and promises to keep their little secret from “that night”
1x6 kicks off with Kaley walking alone at night and seemingly trying to get herself caught by the car that’s following her trail. “What a surprise!”, she exclaims as Finch gets out of the van and opens the back door. The guy that let Paz into the Courtenay no longer has a face and if Kaley doesn’t give Finch his ledger back she won’t either. He shoots him and Kaley’s splattered in his blood. So.. I guess this wasn’t her plan after all?
The regular Diablo footage follows with some overhead camera shots of the Atwood sisters partying while Gwen is putting Luc through the wringer, trying to get a confession out of him. “To be completely honest this whole time I’ve suspected that Grace killed Molly. Wow, Gwen! We had NO idea. It’s not as if you’ve said so in every single episode so far and have done anything humanly possible to get her arrested.
She presents some new evidence from the crime scene which point to two people being in the room when Molly was murdered. When Grace hears that Luc’s being interrogated she literally collapses on the floor and seeks help from our underground queen, Roz. She conveniently lets Grace know that she’s had Molly’s phone all along and tells Grace about some (alleged) threatening texts Molly received from Finch. It’s a very awkward scene because neither of them can hear each other clearly over the club music. Roz is playing the game so WELL.
They use Natalie to get Finch’s car keys and plant the phone in there. Natalie thinks it’s a ridiculous plan (rightly so) but goes ahead with it for the sake of saving Grace. They meet in the bathroom and they tell Natalie about the Courtenay. She immediately suggests they go to the police but the laws of Teen Murder Soaps clearly dictate that you can never do that.
At Buckingham Palace, the princess is abruptly awaken by Theo’s cries for Molly. He makes up a story about a dog he fell in love with. What a load of bullocks! And what a nice way to talk about your dead ex baby mamma: a not very well bred dog. She slowly pieces the story together.
Bruno’s goes back to the station, after Natalie gets in touch with him and he puts some sense into Gwen. The new evidence was just a cheap trick to confuse dumb Luc. At Diablo, Natalie mocks Finch’s accent as she tells him she’s not “most birds”. She’s too good for her own sake and Finch ends up inviting her upstairs to his office. She takes off his coat and his keys jingle on the floor... how the hell is she going to get out of this?
With the help of Roz, of course, who saves her ass by triggering the fire alarm. Finch leaves to check up on the place (which he owns and uses to find clients for the Courtenay). To her chagrin, Natalie notices a camera watching her. It’s connected to a laptop in a cupboard filled with footage of Finch and many girls including both Molly and Grace. The male gaze, people! Natalie gets the keys, points them at the car from the top floor and unlocks it (like she’s Hermione Granger). Grace gets in and plants the phone while getting her fingerprints EVERYWHERE.
“Ah! Yoooo are tweesting my wooorrdz”, Luc protests as Bruno takes over the interrogation. He cracks him(which was not at all that difficult) and Luc confirms that Grace was gone for more than an hour when she went downstairs. Gwen issues an arrest warrant for Grace who can now be placed at the time and place of the murder.
Finch, our evil British villain, gets his ledger back by Kaley but when he goes to Paz’s boat, he is long gone. Gwen welcomes Bruno back on the case. She smiles because not only has she got Grace arrested but this will also ruin things for Bruno and Natalie and she can have him back, which is very very twisted. Classic freeform drama stuff, the cops are corrupt and screwing with everyone.
Grace gazes at the fake London skyline and asks Natalie if Luc is getting out. He is babe, but you’re taking his place. To no one’s surprise, Grace starts crying and is escorted out of the hotel by Bruno in a cheesy slow motion montage.
In 1x7 Gwen releases a press statement for Grace’s arrest while she is sent to her prison cell but this is episode 7 not 10 which can only mean that we are not anywhere near the end. The future princess gives Theo a great warm smile as she introduces him to their new puppy to help him with his nightmares. The puppy’s name? Molly. Using puppies to manipulate and taunt your fiancé about his lies? I’ve underestimated you babe, you’re good.
Natalie tells Stan everything about the Courtenay, including Grace’s involvement. It’s interesting to see all the characters react to the Courtenay, which we’ve known about since the pilot. It doesn’t seem like the Courtenay’s life span will last much longer since it pretty much relies on its secrecy in order to function.
Thanks to Grace, Bruno arrests Finch and complicates the case Gwen has built: “It’s not that simple, is it?” Of course it’s not this is a murder investigation you guys.
Grace gets a visit from Natalie who tells her she’s seen her tape with Finch and Grace acts so shocked that Finch would ever film her. Her justification? “Molly and Roz made it sound so glamorous, so exciting”. Sometimes Grace is too stupid to be real. “It was a stranger who expected me to do things to him for money” yeah that’s literally what prostitution is, Grace.
Since this is the episode where storylines progress, Natalie asks her about “that night”. Grace vulnerably reveals she lied because she can’t remember what she did when she blacked out. She was mad at Molly and could have killed her for all she knew. Not being able to remember whether she committed murder or not is the most Grace thing ever!
The messages Molly received from Finch are nothing short of wonderful (Come or you’re dead, bail on me and I’ll kill you) and even though they’re incriminating Bruno finds a video of Grace planting the phone in Finch’s car. He's furious at Natalie for helping her and tries to make her see that they all got played by #Guilty Grace.
Back in the London prison we get some british OITNB moments and I have to say blue doesn’t really pop as much as orange. I was extremely delighted to see Grace and Natalie’s crooked stepfather returning. He’s a disgusting predator but he’s been a suspect the police have overlooked so far.
Grace is genuinely happy to see him (you have to remember that her judgement is poor to say the least) he apologises for not being there for her. We’re treated with some amazing dialogue about Grace’s deceased father “after our dad died, I was so sad” and James sings her a lullaby trying to make us forget he’s a possible murderer. In order to protect herself from the prison bullies, Grace makes a shiv and stabs herself in the stomach. Poetic justice? The guards think she was attacked and she finds a reprieve in the hospital unit.
Theo greets his Irish ginger at the club but when he turns away Kaley takes off her blindfold and looks at him. This infuriates him briefly until Kaley takes advantage of this and announces he will play by her rules. “You remind me of someone, someone I enjoyed spending time with”. Oh Theo. You try so hard to recreate Molly and mould women into her like James Stewart in Vertigo. Your chiselled abs do nothing to reduce the disgust I feel for you.
7 episodes in (and 7 episodes too late), Natalie is holding a glass of vodka and is officially fed up with Grace. Stan believes that it doesn’t matter whether she’s innocent, guilty or a sociopath. Could you have guessed this show was about whether Grace was innocent or a sociopath? Cause I sure hadn’t despite all this over exposition and dumbing down.
Princess Charlotte (took me forever to find out what her name is) is cradling their dog like a baby. She’s vindictive and maybe even more cunning than Theo and she figures it all out when he very stupidly reads a headline about the elite sex club Molly Ryan worked in.
Natalie finds Molly’s stalker and asks him if there’s something he saw that he hasn’t told anyone yet. The cliche of the unstable character revealing something about the murder mystery in the psychiatric ward. He doesn’t want to say anything but Natalie begs him because he’s her only good plot device. “Prince Theo killed Molly” but can we trust the legitimacy of this confession?
Stan meets with his dark mirror adversary, Roz and tells her she needs to tell Vena Patel about the Courtenay. I love that Vena’s still involved, she’s one of my favourites. After she meets with her, Finch corners Roz and accuses her of selling him out. He’s about to shoot her when someone bonks him on the head and he drops dead with a puddle of blood on the ground. Kaley and Roz have a body to bury and a murder to cover up and I am very excited.
Notes:
Roz goes to Luc’s studio and tells him she’s done bringing him coke. “Like I’ve never done anything for you” he replies.
Stan Guttery who’s been poorly portrayed as the man with loose morals turns out to be the only decent male character. He tells James he can’t throw Grace under the bus to save his skin from the Russian mafia.
Grace stabbing herself and bleeding on the floor was a very interesting parallel to Molly’s death.
Favourite shot:
The parallel between the press cameras flashing at Gwen and Grace taking pictures at the police station. That was a really nice opening.
Favourite scene:
Theo’s guilt induced nightmare where he kills Molly in the Courtenay. What seems like a flashback of Molly and Theo talking about their baby turns into a hellish nightmare of Molly bleeding on his bed as his hands are bathed in her blood.
Best quote:
“I never agreed to anything.You just made a royal bloody proclamation and expected me to bow down and fall in line.
But I am not your subject and it's not your choice." Yes Molly, you tell him.
Questions remaining:
Does James’s alibi for the night of the murder hold?
What’s the princess going to do with the information she has about Theo and Molly?
Rating:
A simple plan: 2/5
The plot line about framing Finch was a lot of fun but this episode mostly served as a build up for the next one.
A fall from Grace: 3/5
The better part of these two episodes: it gave us some potential answers, introduced a new murder and tied up loose ends. It was nice to see the agency given to the female characters: e.g Roz and Kaley killing Finch who’s been exploiting young girls and using them as mere sexual objects.
Now that we’re nearing the end of the first season I’ve realised that what I don’t enjoy about Guilt is that the lead characters are not really in charge of the mystery. Every now and then someone gets some answers, e.g. Natalie finding Neville but the show relies on the cops. They can’t really change the narrative since the cops are also the protagonists but if there’s a second series I’d be much more interested in seeing Natalie, Grace and Roz lead the investigation instead of Bruno or Patrick.
Next on Guilt:
Grace undergoes hypnosis to uncover the secrets of that night. Who knows what we'll find out! I sure don't. Tell me what you thought about these two episodes in the comments below. Apologies for the delay, I'm guilty as charged xx
