As the finale of Dead Hot begins, Peter (Olisa Odele) cries in the shower five years ago a day before he disappears. He greets Elliot (Bilal Hasna). In the present, Francine (Penelope Wilton) tells Elliot that he was killed by the reverend’s daughter. When Peter got into trouble with the Megargee girl, he came to Francine for money. Francine told him no before he disappeared with a blood finger left behind. She explains to Elliot that the girl’s family is very dangerous. Elliot pleads with his grandma to tell him what type of trouble Peter got into. Francine reveals that Nico is Peter’s son. In the past, Peter tells Elliot he should tell Francine he’s shagging Jess instead so she’ll give him money. They talk about whether it is Francine’s fault and color therapy.

They discuss the future and possibly having babies. In the present, Nico tells Jess (Vivian Oparah) that Peter is his daddy. In the past, Jess checks on Peter when she finds him on the phone. He asks if she thinks he and Elliot are right for each other. Jess argues she needs to be straight with Elliot. She believes he is lying about something. In the present, Tina (Rebekah Murrell) tells Jess that the DNA match was Nico and not her. Jess suspects Tina is a liar and not her sister before she is hit from behind. Elliot is awoken by Raphael (Andro Cowperthwaite), Karis (Jaylin Ye), and Charlie (Brandon Fellows). Elliot says he wants to die because Peter had a kid with Tina who killed him. Tina lied to Jess about being sisters so Jess would run away with her. Elliot gets his phone and calls Jess.

She doesn’t answer. Elliot finds out that she may be in Ireland. He listens to a voicemail message from Jess. The number is from Happy Jeff’s Pub in Ireland so Elliot decides to go there. He asks the others to call the policeman. Elliot tells Danny what’s going on before learning he is a Megargee as well. In the message, Jess tells Elliot that Danny tried to kill her. Jess finds herself tied to a bed. Elliot gets a call from Danny who asks him to call. Elliot calls him and lies, but Danny sees right through it. Danny threatens to put out a media alert for him being wanted for the murder of Andrew Flanagan if he does anything at all. He also sent a friend up to his aunt’s wedding to keep an eye on him. Danny says Jess isn’t getting out of this alive because Peter couldn’t keep his penis in his pants.

After the call, Danny sends out the message and Elliot is wanted for the murder of a young gay man. When everyone freaks out, Raphael yells for them to relax because he’s really good at planning. With their help and Janelle’s costume, Elliot can possibly escape the wedding. Once they get into Janelle’s car, the goon starts shooting at them. The maid, Honeysuckle (Rachael Evelyn), attacks the goon and eventually kills him. Francine calls Elliot to tell him to be careful. They agree to have a long conversation when he gets back. Piana gives an interview to the media about Elliot. Elliot thinks he’s found the hideout. The boat guy (DJ Bailey) seems thrilled by Janelle’s outfit so he convinces Elliot to come alone. Tina approaches Jess and asks why she had to go snooping.

Tina admits she doesn’t want to kill her. She explains that she met Peter in a photography class and she thought he was beautiful. Tina tells Jess how they formed a relationship and eventually hooked up. She didn’t care about getting pregnant because she’d get to have a baby with her soul mate. At some point, things changed so she followed Peter and learned she was the side chick. Tina reveals she became violent and cut Peter. The finger was her fault. Tina didn’t know what to do so she called her brother for help. Danny covered it up for her like he does all their family stuff. Then, she learned that Peter was missing. The horse turned up on her doorstep and she thought Peter was still alive. She never heard from him again so she tried to move on.

Nico got older and started asking about his dad. Tina knew she had to at least try to find Peter. She put Nico on the DNA app hoping Peter had done the same. Once she learned about Jess, she knew Peter was dead and it was her fault. The farmer told Tina it wasn’t Peter who sent the horse. Tina says she can’t go to jail and can’t lose Nico. She begins smothering Jess with a pillow. Jess frees herself and fights back. Tina gets back on top of her and they hear someone knocking nearby. A man yells that he’s passing a message to Jess. He says Tina is a murderer and not her sister. A goon kills the old man. Jess says they can save Nico. Then, Tina is dead to her. Elliot tries to reach the property. Danny and his man trap Tina and Jess. Nico hides with the horse nearby.

Danny claims he never hurt Peter although he helped Tina. He kept everything quiet from their dad because he’s a great brother. Early last week, his dad told him the toddler was going to inherit all the money and not Danny. After all, his dad thought the toddler was the second coming of Jesus. Danny told his dad the truth so he changed the will back. Before he could do that, his dad was murdered. A flashback shows that Tina killed Richard because he was saying awful things to her. Danny covered for her because they can’t risk having anyone looking into what they do. He suspected Tina burned her house down to make it look like she was the victim or to fake her death. Now, they all have to die so the nightmare can be over.

Danny wants to take his inheritance money and move to Miami. When Jess sees Elliot outside, she yells for him not to come in. They hear gunshots. Rigby is seen through the window taking care of the goon before Elliot enters the house. Elliot and Danny begin struggling over the gun and Jess gets involved. The horse bites Danny’s crotch allowing Elliot to grab the gun. Rigby comes in with other cops and arrests Danny for murder and tampering with evidence. He explains his real name is Detective Benjamin Bubble. He has been investigating the Megargee family forever. Tina is arrested for cutting off Peter’s finger and killing Richard. Elliot questions whether Peter is still alive. When they make it back, Raphael tells Elliot he’s totally cleared.

Elliot is a hero and victim now. Raphael tells Jess that she’s fired. When they’re alone, Elliot tells Raphael he knows he left the cat at Le BarkBark. Raphael admits he did it after Elliot didn’t text him back. He thought he deserved karma. Raphael claims Elliot told him about the cat. Five years ago, Elliot runs over the cat on his scooter before burying it. Before he could tell Peter, he was already missing. Elliot slaps Raphael, curses him, and leaves. At home, Elliot and Jess say they’re done. They receive a package from Andrew. The letter explains that Andrew was writing about a docuseries involving Peter’s case. They find a camera with a video of Andrew saying he knew too much. He asks Elliot to get this stuff to the BBC. He wants to get a posthumous pop-off even if he didn’t make it as an actor while alive.

He plants the finger and records Elliot when he finds it. Elliot thinks he was crazy. All names are crossed off the suspects list except for Jess, a cult, Sabina, and Karis. Most of the stuff is nonsense except for a few money transactions. They confront Francine who sent the horse to Nico. She says she couldn’t let Nico believe his father didn’t love him enough to stay. Peter turned up at her door with his finger missing. He asked for money to give to Tina for the kid and get out of his mess. Then, Francine can have her grandson back. She says that scum had been so careless with the most precious person on earth so she killed him. Francine killed him to protect Elliot although she shattered his heart into a million pieces. She thinks she failed him like she failed his mother and everyone else.

Francine says the police heard everything since Rigby was on the phone. After Francine is arrested, Elliot and Jess go for drinks. Honeysuckle noticed Peter moving when she was trying to bury the body. It appears Peter is still alive and reading the news about his case. He tries to call Elliot who doesn’t answer.

 

Dead Hot Review

The finale of Dead Hot is exactly what one would expect from something Harlan Coben or his daughter are involved in. While there were glimmers of hope early on, the series quickly turned into a tedious mess with annoying, unlikable characters. The performances weren’t that bad though at least not when the characters weren’t screaming bloody murder.

The finale ended in the most unrealistic way with far too many twists and turns as if the writers thought they were more clever than they really were. If the series had been three episodes, the number of unnecessary twists could’ve been reduced and the series would’ve been much easier to swallow. At six episodes, this has every twist imaginable and then a few more just to shatter any realism still left.

The camerawork was bad at times with lots of shakiness and jerkiness. The music was hideous, especially the heartbeat-like thumping in many scenes. The first two episodes were decent and it got progressively worse after that. By the end, it’s hard to care about anything including Peter’s disappearance and the fates of the main characters. Again, it’s typical Coben. When that name is attached to a project, this is what viewers should expect.

Prepare for a stupid story, annoying quirkiness, over-the-top twists, and a finale that doesn’t make the thing worthwhile. The decent performances were wasted on a script that cooked until it was burned to a crisp. The finale scores a 3.5 out of 10. Recaps of Dead Hot are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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