‘Murder in a Small Town’ Sticks The Landing With A Predictable But Welcome Ending

Aggressively predictable though the ending might be, I think Murder in a Small Town stuck the landing. I’ve been complaining all season long that this show couldn’t decide what it wanted to be – a cozy small-town mystery, a generic police procedural, a relationship drama, or some combination of the above. Episode 8, “Sleep While I Sing”, finally gets the balance just right with a case that feels “big” but also intimate to Gibsons. And Karl and Cassandra ultimately end up back together, which is the entire point.

The penultimate episode pretty much gave away the identity of the serial killer currently active in Gibsons – the school’s creepy art teacher, Tommy Cummins. Because of his relationships with both Cassandra and Holly’s friend Devon, I guessed that both of the ladies Karl loves most in the world would find themselves imperiled, but I was wrong about that. Cassandra is roped into the case in another way when her childhood beau Roger becomes the prime suspect, and Holly is left with very little to do. But Devon becomes Cummins’ latest target, so I was close enough.

The Road to Roger

From a viewer’s perspective, it’s incredibly obvious that Cummins is up to no good, but initially,y he’s helpful to the police. His portrait of the previous episode’s victim, who turns out to be an actor named Sally Dublin, kickstarts the case and leads to her former talent agent calling the department and revealing her identity.

What’s more, is that Sally was on her way to the Sunshine Coast to hook up with an old friend – Roger Galbraith.

It’s far too obvious – remember, we’re supposed to dislike Roger as a love rival to Karl – that this is a red herring, but it’s a good excuse to rope Cassandra into the case. She’s still struggling with PTSD after being kidnapped in Episode 6, and she and Karl are still separated after their breakup in Episode 7, so what else is she going to be doing?

Weak Misdirection Bogs Down Some of the Finale

The Murder in a Small Town finale proceeds as if we’ve never seen an episode of television before, which is a bit annoying. Everything to do with Roger feels painfully obvious; he steals and damages Cassandra’s car, and he asks her to provide him an alibi for the night Sally was killed.

Roger eventually clears his name by volunteering himself to the police, but what I like about “Sleep While I Sing” is that it finds a use for this subplot and uses it to flesh out Karl’s colleague, Sid, who like Edwina is one of the show’s unsung heroes in my book. Roger’s erratic behaviour and car thievery stems from his desire to help his sister, Gail, with her drug habit. They’re both addicts.

This resonates with Sid, whose sister died from drug misuse. He’s able to offer some tender support to Gail, and it helps Roger to admit that he’s feeling guilty about Sally’s death because he screened her call when she tried to meet up with him. He thinks he could have saved her.

Cummins Sets His Sights On Devon

Alisha Newton and Noah Reid in Murder in a Small Town | Image via Fox

Cummins has apparently been active as a serial killer in multiple states, but it’s Devon who primarily interests him in Murder in a Small Town Episode 8. It’s hard to tell whether he was targeting her anyway, or if her pushy affection for him just gave him a lay-up, but I don’t suppose it matters a great deal.

Either way, Devon comes on to Cummins privately, and he freaks out and rejects her, but this doesn’t seem to dissuade her affection. So, when Cummins gets socked in the mouth by Holly’s ex Jesse, Devon rushes to support him, and he volunteers to take her to show her something “special”. Uh-oh. At the same time, Karl has already realized through his portrait of Callum and Mary Hingle’s dead dog, Clyde, that Cummins’ art is his calling card. He’s their man.

I’ll be the first to admit that a serial killer having this obvious of a calling card – incredibly lifelike portraits of his actual victims that he openly displays all over the place – is a bit of a stretch, but this isn’t the kind of show that would worry about that. The affectation is what matters. It makes for a darker scene when Cummins reveals his studio to Devon, which doesn’t just feature his portraits but also photographs of his victims and, worryingly, a big knife.

Karl Saves The Day (Again)

There’s a bit of a suggestion here in the finale that Cummins had kind of headhunted Devon as his new protégé, not necessarily his new victim. I’m not sure he was intending to kill her. Perhaps he took her interest in his art and her devotion to him as evidence that she was ready to be his partner-in-crime. The speed at which she flees when she sees his studio suggests otherwise.

Cummins gives chase, armed, and quickly catches up with Devon outside. Karl arrives in the nick of time and holds Cummins at gunpoint, and luckily Kendrick arrives from behind and disarms Cummins. Devon is unharmed, but it’s clear from his interrogation after the fact that Cummins has no remorse for his crimes and that those crimes may be much more widespread than anyone realizes.

Karl and Cassandra Get Back Together

I’ve already said that the ending of Murder in a Small Town is predictable, but Karl and Cassandra getting back together is the kind of predictability everyone wanted. The unique hook of the show hinges on them being together, after all.

It’s Roger, ironically, who helps Cassandra realize that she loves Karl and should put that at the forefront of her life instead of letting it pass by out of fear. And this leads her back to Karl. She’s still worried about his line of work causing them problems, and he’s still worried about that too, but they both ultimately decide to put what they want ahead of their worries. And what they want is each other.

Aww! Isn’t that nice? It’s just a shame we had to have such a frequently odd and up-and-down season to get to this point.