Summary
Murder in a Small Town Season 2 ends on a note of unearned romantic ambiguity, making a flagrant play for a renewal that doesn’t really suit it. Still, at least the Nightshade murders got cleared up.
Murder in a Small Town doesn’t suit the cliffhanger ending, does it? Maybe it’s just me, but what I want from this show, for the most part, is a cosier approach to the usual procedural format, something that has crimes, sure, but is mostly about the relationships between the people caught up in them. Season 2 has consistently abandoned this idea, and Episode 10, “Nightshade”, has the cheek to close on an unresolved proposal. If you added up all the time that Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk have spent on-screen together this season, it’d barely fill half an episode. Karl’s proposal in that context feels ridiculous.
But here we are. This finale – less confident than the Season 1 climax, it seems, since it’s clearly hoping the ambiguity here will create a push for renewal – at least folds Cassandra’s nightshade investigation into the main plot, but it doesn’t strictly feel like a big payoff to a season full of build-up. And where is Cass’s Sacramento stalker? Is he still just living in town?
It’s All Connected
The case of the week finds a man falling down the stairs in his home on account of a tripwire, and then being strangled to death. There is no shortage of suspects, including his unhappy wife, Nena, his business partner, Will, a sanctuary veterinarian named Ella, and the victim’s former home help, Maeve. But the real hook of the case is Laila’s discovery of a bouquet of enchanter’s nightshade at the scene.
This is what Cass has been privately investigating all season. She took the evidence to Laila in a previous episode, so while she’s still reeling from her officer-involved shooting and subsequent relapse, she recognises the connection. Doug’s killer is potentially a serial killer who has been operating in Gibsons for decades.
The investigation connects all of the threads together. Nena was having an affair, Doug seems to have been having an affair with Ella (whose reckless driving gets her killed), and Maeve’s alibi, Yvette Fraser, turns out to be connected to Lauren Park, whose death and nightshade-festooned memorial is what alerted Cassandra to the pattern in the first place.
The Nightshade Killer
If nothing else, the ending of Murder in a Small Town Season 2 at least adds the finishing touches to a subplot first introduced in Episode 3. Maeve O’Hara is the Nightshade Killer, which gradually becomes obvious throughout Episode 10.
Because Karl and Cassandra are both investigating this at the same time, it’s actually Cassandra who figures it out first, albeit somewhat by accident. She’s tracking the nightshade to a botanical garden at Lunsford Farms, and the only reason she has visited in person is that she believes Karl’s daughter, Holly, to be missing (her phone simply died, a really obvious contrivance to get Cass in position). As soon as she starts asking about the nightshade, though, it becomes obvious that Maeve is the killer.
Maeve’s just a garden-variety nutjob whose justifications are mostly religious in nature. Lauren Park was her first victim, on account of having stolen money and blamed it on Yvette, but there have been many more since, with Doug being the latest, almost certainly on account of the affair that Maeve believed he was having with her daughter, Ella. Karl arrives just in time to save the day and arrest Maeve, and Cass seems largely unbothered by the experience.
Gibsons Says “No” to Alcohol Addiction
Laila has been supremely underserved as a character in this season, with her sudden relapse in the previous episode coming out of nowhere. But her struggles also parallel those of Sid’s daughter, Liza, who also likes a drink and is consistently going off the rails, which earlier in the season had almost resulted in Sid’s death due to a car crash.
“Nightshade” doesn’t exactly bring these subplots to a close, but it does bring them to mutual turning points, especially for Laila. Her romantic relationship with Vanessa clearly isn’t going to work out, at least not yet, but she at least sees that she has a friend in her, and that helps her to come to terms with the idea that she’s now one day sober. It’s a minor shift in perspective, but an important one, since it implies she’s back on the road of healing instead of in a perpetual downward spiral.
Karl’s Proposal Is Left Unresolved
As I mentioned at the top, it’s a wee bit galling for Murder in a Small Town to make a point of ending the season with Karl proposing to Cassandra. They have barely spoken in Season 2, mostly just running into each other at the end of episodes, and occasionally bickering over Cassandra’s town council theatrics, resulting in the police department not being appropriately funded (a matter that still isn’t resolved).
Then again, this relationship still very much remains the show’s heart and soul, so it’s a big deal that Karl has finally popped the question – in earshot of an ecstatic Holly, no less. This was set up already, of course, since Holly found the ring in the previous episode, but it wasn’t guaranteed that Karl would ask. Since we don’t get to hear Cass’s response, things are left on an ambiguous note.
Still, there’s very little doubt in my mind that she’ll have said yes eventually. Unless the show is renewed, which, based on the quality of this season overall, it might not be, we may never find out. I’m sure her stalker will take the news well.
