Previously on Eyewitness:
Lukas assures Philip that no one will ever know about the murder (and the closeted affair) but as Helen investigates the case, she finds only three dead guys in the cabin. The killer is missing and he’s out for teenage blood.
Pretty sure I matched with this guy on tinder #masc4masctwink.Episode 1x2 begins exactly where 1x1 ended wasting no time and getting right into the action. Philip is shaking in fear as the ridiculously attractive killer walks into the bus and looks right at him. It’s an incredibly tense scene with really good music that puts you at the edge of your seat. As he bolts out and starts running, we fade to the cool and ominous title screen.
Helen’s examining the car outside the cabin. Her partner remarks it feels good “having these murders to solve”, echoing her words from last episode. He’s a doe-eyed and excited young cop who so far had nothing to do apart from the “thing with the bear”. As Helen says, they’ve both found meaning and purpose in this murder case.
Kamilah, of course, is not pleased at all and comes running telling them this is a BIG MISS STEAK. Helen learns that Kamilah is doing it to protect her sister, who was married to the dead informant. I understand Kamilah reasons but at the same time, hello!!!?? there’s a killer on the loose. Could your judgement be a bit clouded babe?
Elsewhere, it’s just another regular ambiguous autumn day in Tivoli as Lukas’s father prepares the Turkey #savetheturkeys. Lukas hasn’t carved the signs yet which leads his father to asking him why he always has to be different. A very dramatic thing to say but it obviously has an ulterior meaning which we understand. #Save the turkeys
This f*cking town is too small for me.Philip comes to tell him he saw the killer but Helen’s car pulls up and he immediately has to hide. Helen asks him about his dad’s cabin because she found tire tracks matching his bike. Lukas mumbles and trembles. He’s a terrible liar and it’s not very hard to crack him but in the end he convinces Helen he only went to the cabin before the murder.
Kamilah's sister, Sita, is approached by a silent bearded gangster who grabs her and stares at her face. “I know you want your payments for your drugs” she says, not so subtly providing us with all the exposition we needed. He takes her to his car and threatens that maybe losing her child is the motivation she needs to take him seriously.
Another suspect is introduced by Helen who realises the sample found in the trunk matches to a girl and not a guy. This provides an excellent twist followed by a beautiful close-up shot of a young red haired girl standing next to a rushing river. She turns around, looking completely emotionless and starts walking back but Milonkovic’s car pulls over and one of his men grab her before she can run away.
While Lukas is standing next to a tree, in the fields, with his trousers down to his knees and a girl about to blow him he gets a text from Philip. He managed to piece together why the Killer didn’t recognise him: he was looking for the jacket which he traded with a kid named Tommy.
“Why would a 15-year-old girl be in some drug dealer’s trunk,” Helen asks and once again the answer comes right away as we cut to a scene of Milonkovic greeting his daughter Bella (the red headed girl)
Lukas’s solution to everything is that they “just need to chill” his whole life is built on secrets so this one is not much different but Philip is fighting him. He pins him against the wall, looking like he’s about to strangle him to keep him quiet but instead he gives him a kiss. Romance!
The unbelievably attractive killer approaches the guy wearing Philip’s leather jacket and then we hear loud smashing noises, foreshadowing doom. Lukas and Philip are dealing with their trauma by drinking and breaking car windows with baseball bats. “You swing like a girl” Lukas teases, and If I were Philip I’d smash his head instead.
Helen pulls over again and the two teens are brought to the station where they avoid being lectured by downing a bottle of hand sanitizer and vomiting all over the place. So far Lukas’s father is a very one-dimensional character, only existing to ask the obvious: “What the hell is going on with you two”.
The death of Tommy and his girlfriend sparks, even more, fear and tension, as Philip can’t handle the guilt and Helen becomes increasingly worried and wary of his behaviour.
Somewhere in the city, the killer still lurks and is frantically searching for something on his laptop. He finds his lolita, the 15-year-old girl we met at the beginning of the episode and unzips his pants to get off on her pictures. WOW
Philip gets the “this is a small town so be careful because word spreads fast” speech by his foster father. He looks like he’s one second away from a stroke and tries to tell Helen about Tommy without revealing his involvement. She asks him if he wants back his jacket which I find insane, why would he?
After meeting at the car wash, Helen decides to testify for Kamilah's sister, who missed her court hearing for the sake of the investigation. An FBI agent with a sister involved in drug dealing, this is the gender-bent Breaking Bad we were waiting for. Everyone’s doing things they don’t want to as the murder pulls them into a whirlpool. Sita has sex with Milonkovic and then pulls a BOMB from the head of a baby doll she carries in a straddler. NICE!
Lukas apologises to his father and stands next to the cage, feeling like he’s locked in one like a Turkey. He continues to kick cars in denial as he reaches the conclusion that “this killing is never gonna stop”. Their mutual guilt for Tommy and Tracy has built up and in an attempt to do some good, they try to free the turkeys before they’re murdered but they are too late because no one survives in this bleak town. I appreciated this development, even if the parallels to turkeys …
In between Lukas and Philip riding on their bike, there’s a series of POV shots of a new FBI agent who will take over the case. He’s congratulated and welcomed by the bureau, including Kamilah and the camera turns to reveal Ryan Kane, our KILLER. OH SHIT.
A killer smile.
Notes:
Helen is still listening to the tape about Foster parenting, a call back to episode 1x1
When Milonkovich grabs Sita he says "Do you know what it's like to lose child?" foreshadowing the death of his own beloved Bella.
Speaking of Bella, the show's following the pattern of murder tropes by introducing a mysterious teenage girl who was involved with a) drugs b) older men
I liked the actress and wish I could say the same for the actor who plays Lukas. His acting is very poor but it does fit the frigid scared character he embodies.
My favourite part of this episode was that it showed how each resident of Tivoli was affected by the murder. It gave Helen a purpose but it traumatised both Lukas and Philip. Philip had to adjust to a new town, a new life, new parents AND a murder on top of everything else.
Favourite shot:
Helen's testimony happens in a Dolly zoom shoot, making the background seem like it's zooming towards us while she's completely still. It highlights the stress she's under, as she purgers herself for Kamilah.
Favourite scene:
As Helen walks up to Milonkovic’s apartment to find Bella everything becomes engulfed in flames. The explosion really took me by surprise, that was a great build up and climax. Third body count this episode (following last week’s pattern). Helen wakes up in an ambulance, disorientated and is somehow allowed to get out and roam free. Where’s the girl she asks but the girl is no more.
Favourite quote:
- He’s gonna kill me
- Who?
The list goes on and on and on
Answers to the mystery:
The killer is a paedophile and FBI agent
The Viscovis are very not good
Questions
What's Ryan's involvement with the Viscovis and why did he shoot Chris. Chris tried to help him on the night of the murder and it's his gun he stole and shot everyone with.
Grade: 3.5/5
Eyewitness's second episode, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, has redeemed the show for me. Interesting twists, high-stakes and character developments. I'm still not 100% sold by the Russian mafia storyline because it's such a cliché but the big twist about the killer was very satisfying. Tell me what you thought in the comments below, or on Twitter
