As the fifth episode of Beyond Paradise begins, there is a barn fire. Anne (Barbara Flynn) urges Martha (Sally Bretton) to hurry up and get to her sunrise yoga session. As Martha participates in the class, Anne tries to figure out what is going on with her. Anne mentions that she saw her kissing Archie the other night, but Martha insists it isn’t what she thinks. Martha explains that she slapped Archie and she isn’t eager to see him again. Although she claims there is nothing going on between them, Martha hasn’t told Humphrey yet. Anne warns her that secrets have a funny way of coming back and biting you in the behind.

They discuss the baby thing and how Martha doesn’t think Humphrey is being completely honest about it. Esther (Zahra Ahmadi) meets the firefighter, Cleo (Kerry Howard), who says they’re making sure it won’t rekindle. The smell of petrol and the presence of graffiti give the impression that it was arson. Esther will need to speak to the owner, Lucas Fairly. He can’t imagine who would do this. Esther notices a cut on his arm. Lucas alleges he was cut when he was wrestling a fence post. He didn’t notice anything unusual and says it is just him at the farm. He has seasonal workers who come in during busy periods. Lucas asks if he should take her number just in case. Esther tells him the station’s number is online.

When Esther goes into the barn with the firefighter, she finds what appears to be a button. Humphrey (Kris Marshall) is busy working on the boat. Martha joins him for breakfast. They discuss what they’ll do now that they don’t have to worry about a baby. At the station, Humphrey finds Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) speaking to Margo (Felicity Montagu) about garlic. Esther tells him about the suspected arson at Vicarage Farm. Although Lucas says he didn’t know who it could be, Esther thinks there was something off about him. They’re doing background checks on him now. Later, Esther tries to figure out what type of clothing the button came from, but the markings are too faded. The firefighter, Cleo Davenport, enters and is promptly introduced to Humphrey.

Cleo was on her way to pick up Danni (Molly Mullins) from work so she thought she’d deliver the initial fire report in person. While she is there, she receives notification that they have another fire at Griffin’s Timber Yard. At the scene, Cleo says it is the exact same MO as the farm fire. Humphrey thinks they might have a serial arsonist on their hands. They notice a group of ants on the ground that looks like they’re having a party. Then, they question the owner, Susie Griffin (Michelle Bonnard) who knows Lucas and says he has a reputation. When Humphrey asks about his reputation, Susie recommends asking his ex-employees about that. She is sure Lucas will worm his way out of it because he always does.

At the station, Margo says Lucas is a bit touchy-feely with his female employees. Jess Owens was the only one to report anything. The seasonal worker left abruptly one month in. Kelby says Jess is in the Darran Mountains in the Fiordland National Park in New Zealand. When Kelby and Margo leave, Esther and Humphrey stay behind to see if they can find a match for the button. Esther tells him that she is the Captain of the Kitty Cats which is a darts team. When Humphrey claims he used to play, Esther tells him to prove it. He misses the first shot and decides to try again. Next, Humphrey meets with Archie (Jamie Bamber) because there was a fire in his wine cellar.

Archie seems surprised that Humphrey believes it could be arson. At the station, Humphrey asks to look at Archie’s insurance records. He is just doing his due diligence because of something Archie said. They try to figure out what the connection is and why someone would leave the word pig at all scenes. Margo mentions the story of the three little pigs. Humphrey says she is a genius. He points out that the hay barn was straw, the timber yard was sticks, and the wine cellar was bricks. Humphrey runs out of the room to figure out why they used a children’s story. Esther asks Kelby to see if there is any connection between the three victims. Margo takes a call from Floella who just had a break-in at her boat shed.

Kelby arrives and they go inside together to see if anyone is still in there. Once they find it clear, Floella (Marcia Warren) says she’ll have to do an inventory to determine whether anything was taken. CS Charlie Woods (Jade Harrison) shows up at the station to see how they’re doing with the fires. Humphrey tries to explain everything to her, but Charlie would prefer Esther brief her in private. Humphrey looks at the insurance documents before asking Margo to call Archie to get him to come in. Charlie tries to convince Esther to come work with them at HQ. Kelby interrupts and gets choked on his donut. Charlie has to help him. Once she leaves, Kelby complains that the woman he loves just performed the Heimlich on him.

Then, he admits it is hard to tell the difference between love and lust. Esther agrees to keep his secret. Archie tells Humphrey that he has four cellars now. Humphrey asks if there is anything he should know. Humphrey keeps pushing Archie until he confesses to kissing Martha. Humphrey thinks he is talking about doubling his insurance two days ago. Esther enters and takes over so Humphrey won’t do something he regrets. Flo can’t tell Kelby if anything is missing so he decides to leave. He notices a camera on his way out. Esther checks on Humphrey and says Archie increased his insurance because he won several awards for his wine. He was in London on business at the time of the first two fires. Esther encourages him to find out who the big, bad wolf is before saying she is going to see Cleo.

Humphrey tries to find a connection between the victims. Kelby finds out that the thief was after Flo’s paint and a can of petrol. Kelby calls Humphrey since he believes the paint used at the fires was stolen from Flo. He’ll send the image of the suspect to IT to see if they can enhance it. Esther picks up the report from Cleo who admits she is still none the wiser. When Danni comes down, Esther notices that she is missing a button. Archie goes to Martha so he can apologize and explain. He admits he was devastated when she broke off their engagement. When she came back into his life, he realized he never stopped loving her. Archie knows he is wrong for putting her in such a difficult situation.

He says you have to want the same things and be honest with each other. The partnership and their friendship mean the world to him. After she forgives him, Archie says he might’ve put his foot in it with Humphrey. She rushes out to deal with the mess after saying she hates it when her mom is right. At the station, Esther looks at the footage and immediately says it is Danni Davenport. They notice Winslow Stables on Lucas’s bank statements and that is where Danni works. Esther mentions the scratches she saw on Lucas’s arm. Margo learns that Danni was at the stables all afternoon. She had to be there when the second fire started, but she was at Vicarage Farm the day before. Humphrey says the lab report might’ve picked up something that the fire investigators did not.

Triglycerides are noted in the lab report, but not the fire report. Humphrey remembers that there were tons of ants and they would’ve been attracted to the oil. He goes outside to conduct an experiment. While they wait, Esther asks if he’d like to talk about what happened with Archie. Humphrey says nothing really happened since Martha stopped him. He doesn’t know why she didn’t tell him. He thought the IVF would bring them closer together, but they feel more distant at the moment. Esther has friends who have been through IVF and knows it puts a strain on any relationship. Humphrey claims he is fine with Martha not wanting children. He just wants to be there for her.

Esther reassures him that he’ll figure it out. Martha tries to find Humphrey. She tells the duck that she should’ve told him. Humphrey’s experiment convinces him that Danni is the arsonist since she’d have plenty of time to get back and give herself an alibi. Humphrey thinks Lucas attacked Danni and the button ripped off during the struggle. He believes Danni broke into Flo’s boatshed on the night of the fire to steal the paint and petrol. Then, she went back to teach Lucas a lesson. Humphrey doesn’t think she started the other fires. If they’re right about what happened with Danni and Lucas, she had no reason to start the other fires. A firefighter showed him the trick since it is a training exercise.

He suspects Cleo came home and found Danni trying to get rid of evidence so she likely worked out what happened. Humphrey explains how Cleo got them looking for the big bad wolf. Since she used vegetable oil, she managed to be at the police station when the report of the second fire came in. Humphrey offers to do the next bit on his own, but Esther wants to come. When they confront Cleo, she immediately claims she set all three fires and doesn’t want them to question Danni. Seconds later, Danni comes out and says goodbye to her mother. Esther agrees to stay with her for a while. While Esther is with her, she tries to get Danni to tell her about the incident with Lucas.

She says she’ll be at the station until late this evening before leaving. Danni goes there later and Lucas is arrested. Kelby has a drink with Flo who tells him stories about the past. When Humphrey gets home, he tells Martha that it is okay. She tells him how Archie came to apologize. She didn’t want to bother Humphrey at work. Humphrey tells her what Cleo did for her daughter. When he claims he doesn’t want a child, Martha asks him to stop telling her what he thinks she wants to hear. He says it isn’t a switch he can turn off. Humphrey might be able to turn it off one day but can’t right now. Martha thanks him for being honest. She can’t marry him like this because she wouldn’t be able to believe that he is happy.

Humphrey argues they can figure it out together. Martha can’t do it to him or herself. She leaves her ring behind before walking away.

 

Beyond Paradise Review

This episode of Beyond Paradise didn’t seem to hit the target as much as the last one, but it came together in the end. The investigation into the fires drug a bit in places although it was fairly clever once resolved. It was a little predictable that Cleo would be involved in the fire though. At this point, I only feel indifference about Humphrey and Martha’s relationship woes possibly because we don’t know how it’ll play out.

I’d rather see Martha and Humphrey together at least because they make a good pair and Sally Bretton is a good touch. The episode was still enjoyable, but Beyond Paradise has been at its best when it is quirky and humorous. Hopefully, it’ll get back to that. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Beyond Paradise are available on Reel Mockery here.

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