Who is Helen Torrance?
Eyewitness hides many of its rich layers behind the premise of Philip and Lukas who uncover a secret while trying to conceal another. Philip, Helen and Ryan Kane all have one colossal secret, whose weight and gravity causes everything in its radius to collapse. Philip’s was the first and most obvious, Helen’s was heavily referenced from the beginning and Kane’s was a slow burn, coming to light as the main plot twist. I initially went into this show not expecting much but Eyewitness has surprised me in many wonderful ways in these last few episodes. This review will break from the usual structure because this is an episode you can really sink your teeth into.
Gradually, throughout the course of this season, we’ve gotten to know how Helen became the person she is and how past events shaped her and scarred her. The first episode was a smoking gun, or so to speak, telling us right then and there that whatever happened in Buffalo in 07 was serious enough to get Helen out of there. With only a handful of pictures of murder victims and a bottle of pills, the audience wasn’t given much but it was enough to piece it together. 7 episodes later, there’s a feeling we've come full circle. Even if we don’t fully know what case she was investigating, we know its consequences and I would be perfectly happy to leave the rest unanswered.
With Tony’s help, Helen finds CCTV footage outside the Hookah bar, hoping the killer was caught on camera. She gives the corrupted copy to Ryan so he can clean it up for her but instead of leaving him to his own devices like he wants her to do, she insists she’ll wait and stays by his side so they can watch the footage together. I could barely hang on to my seat while Helen unknowingly was looking at death right in the eyes and thank god she didn’t uncover the mystery then and there.
Instead, the episode offered one of my favourite scenes so far as Helen and Kane shared their deepest regrets and secrets. In what seems like a moment of pure sincerity, Helen listens to Kane’s story about the younger girl he fell in love with (Bella) and when he finishes she opens up as well. She reveals she wrote the letter, forged a prescription and was ready to “end it all”. Buffalo drove her to depression and near suicide but through nothing but a happy coincidence, she ran into Gabe as she stopped to buy a bottle Vodka. He saved her life and ever since that moment she has been “the woman he met that night” She got to be happy, got a job as a sheriff in Tivoli and started a family. We had already seen the suicide letter when Ryan forged a copy a few episodes ago but for some reason it failed to register in my head until now when I felt the full gravity of her story.
This is who Helen is. She survived the unimaginable and fought for a better life regardless of how much it took for her to be someone she’s not. Ryan’s eyes are locked on Helen because he feels every word she says. Of course, Ryan’s true identity is a grotesque and deranged pedophilic serial killer. Right before the encryption is over, he stands behind her chair and pulls out his gun to shoot her just in case.
Helen makes it home because the footage didn’t reveal his face and finds Gabe waiting for her in the kitchen. Instead of fighting again, they reminisce about their first night together. He tells her he hated Vodka and pretended to like it only because she was the best thing that ever happened to him. Helen asks if that’s changed and he tells her nothing has. She cries as she holds his hand because not telling him is killing her from the inside but she still can’t bring herself to do it When he asks why she bought the bottle that night, she whispers “I can’t remember”. Eventhough Gabe knows she's hiding something from him, he gives her space so she can figure it out.
Elsewhere:
While Lukas and Philip took a much needed back seat in this episode, there were some huge developments in their storyline. Helen took him in after the killer’s attempt to get to him in the last episode and she brings a sketch artist to help him remember who he saw in the cabin. Kami is assigned for his round the clock protection, which was a great opportunity to see her interact with the kids. It’s not by chance, that she was asked to look after him of course. Kane orchestrated it by asking her out on a date and manipulating her.
Philip is worried sick about Lukas but ultimately it’s up to him, to tell the truth, and save everyone. Not just their relationship, not just Lukas’s life but also Helen’s. Of course, Lukas is still acting like an idiot most of the time and their coping mechanism for all this is making out on the ground. After being locked in quarantine, Lukas takes off on his motorbike with Philip to have a moment of peace. It was undeniably stupid of both Kami and Helen to let them run off because Kane was tracking their every move. In the ending scene, we see Lukas jumping off a ramp over the lake and while Philip is filming him, a shot is fired. Lukas falls off his bike and bleeds in Philip’s arms.
Favourite scene:
Kane brings up Buffalo and asks Helen about the missing pages, to which she replies “it’s pretty convenient having an old school shrink” because she was able to keep those pages to her self. She laughs when he asks what was in them because she hasn’t even told Gabe. Kane tells her about the one person he opened up to when he was doing surveillance in a cafe and fell in love with a stranger. A younger student, he felt a connection with but couldn’t bare to tell her about his reality. Helen is painfully aware of what he means, she thinks they’re both bat shit crazy because of what they do for a living. She couldn’t be any more right.
Favourite shot:
The opening shot of 1x8 shows Kami swims directly above the camera's POV in a disturbingly serene moment accompanied by an even scarier soundtrack. What's brilliant about this shot is that it's referenced near the end of the episode by Philip who tells Lukas that when he's feeling his worst he turns on the sink, closes his eyes and pretends he's floating in a pool where he can't hear anyone and no one can get to him. It didn't make things better but helps him forget "how bad things were".
Quote:
“How can you keep secrets, real secrets from the people you love?"
Grade: 4/5
A huge round of applause for Warren christie and Julianne Nicholson who continue to outdo themselves with their performances.
Make sure to tune in for the Season finale on December 18 entitled "Mother's Day". I'll be posting a double review of the two last episodes soon after the finale airs! Hope you're all enjoying this season as much as I am.
