As this episode of Beyond Paradise begins, Father Michael (Joe Barnes) tells the kids to go to bed and asks Roddy (David Olaniregun) to turn off the television. Roddy argues there’s only a minute left, but he has to turn it off anyway. Father Michael walks away from the school that night. He walks down to the water before seeing someone in the fog. Michael seems worried as the figure approaches. Humphrey (Kris Marshall) and Martha (Sally Bretton) rush to get ready because they do not want to be late for their big interview. At the station, Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) learns Margo (Felicity Montagu) has installed an electric smart meter to try to keep their energy usage down.

Margo explains part of HQ’s review is their running costs and they don’t want to get shut down. She warns him that there could be redundancies to prevent him from using electricity. Humphrey and Martha talk about the interview. He hopes she isn’t getting cold feet. Martha admits they haven’t stopped to think if they should. She asks if they have time to give to the kids. Margo calls Humphrey to tell him that a teacher at St. Barnabas School for Boys has gone missing. She explains it’s just along the coast from Cannons Cove where there are dark forces at play. Margo says beware of the devil on the rocks before hanging up. Martha and Humphrey find the restaurant ransacked. Humphrey interviews Martha who thinks he has bigger issues to deal with.

Humphrey puts Kelby in charge before leaving. Zoe (Melina Sinadinou) arrives to help Martha clean up the restaurant. At the school, Esther (Zahra Ahmadi) tells Humphrey that Father Michael is a housemaster. They speak to Marion who expresses how concerned they are. She says Father Michael was good-natured and likable. His car is parked behind the boarding house. The Chaplain Father Brian (Nicholas Woodeson) interrupts to say the cameras picked up Father Michael crossing the east lawn just after midnight. The route he was taking leads to the coastal path. Brian reveals Michael had been going out regularly after lights out for the last five weeks. He argues that Michael wouldn’t have gone out without a very good reason. Richard (Peter Davison) helps Anne (Barbara Flynn) move her stuff.

They joke about Richard moving into the boat as well. Humphrey questions the students. Marion Goddard (Emma Fielding) scolds Roddy who isn’t listening. Then, Marion takes Humphrey and Esther to Michael’s quarters. She admits she didn’t call the police because she didn’t want a media circus on the front lawn. When they’re alone, Esther goes through the reasons she doesn’t like Marion. Humphrey takes a page from Michael’s book while talking to Esther about his time at St. Agnes. He watches Roddy walking outside the gate through the window. Humphrey sends Esther to speak to Father Brian while he goes for a stroll. Martha tells Anne about the break-in at work. Richard agrees to handle the move so Martha can return to work.

Once Martha leaves, Richard invites Anne to an event at the art gallery in Calstock tomorrow night. Anne says tomorrow would’ve been Anthony’s birthday. Esther asks Father Brian about Michael’s demeanor before he went missing. Brian reveals that Michael came to him and asked if he could arrange an advance on his pay. He said something about helping an auntie back home in Yorkshire. Brian tried but it was a no because of school policy. He asked Michael to come to confession but he never came. Humphrey speaks to Roddy. He tells Roddy that he’s not a snitch and he’s only interested in finding the housemaster. Roddy claims he and the other boy were just mucking about earlier. Roddy says he saw Michael up there a few nights before.

He saw Michael coming up the path and it looked like he was in a hurry. The fog came in and Roddy was lost. He thought he heard voices and tried to return to the school. Once the fog disappeared, Roddy looked down and saw Michael marching on spot like a soldier. He claims Michael looked possessed. Roddy shows Humphrey a video of Michael marching on Cannons Cove. Zoe and Martha find out that Kelby is taking things very seriously. Martha tells her that it feels weird that her mom is going on a date. She isn’t sure Richard is as genuine as he pretends to be. Zoe gives her advice before walking past Kelby. Martha notices something before telling Kelby it’s fine and he can drop the case. Martha says she’ll speak to Humphrey. Roddy tells Humphrey why he hates the school.

He reveals some governors got in trouble for taking bribes for admissions last year. Humphrey understands because he boarded too. He was lucky he was good at sport. Once they reach Cannons Cove, Humphrey says he is going to take Roddy’s phone to get a proper copy of the video. He asks Roddy about the devil on the rocks. Roddy says that’s some ghost story they tell the new kids. Margo says an old fisherman was out in a terrible storm. It kept pushing him further and further out to sea. He swore he’d give anything to make it back to land. The devil appeared and made him an offer. He’d quell the store in exchange for the fisherman’s catch. The fisherman agreed, the storm was calmed, and the fisherman rowed to shore. The devil replaced the storm with fog.

Humphrey finds money on the beach before the fog sets in. The fisherman became disoriented and rowed around until he was exhausted. Another board found him and he was mad. Margo finishes telling the story to Humphrey and the others. Esther doesn’t believe the story. Humphrey found a name and number in Michael’s notebook. Kelby says the phone company triangulated Michal’s phone to Cannons Cove on the night he went missing. Margo and Esther argue whether the devil was involved. Humphrey reads about the scandal that rocked St. Barnabas School. Martha texts to question when he’s coming home. Humphrey returns home in the middle of the night and surprises Anne in the boat. He runs inside the home. Humphrey tells Martha what happened in the morning.

Martha admits she’s still worried there might not be enough of them to go around. Humphrey argues they’d make space and time for the things they really care about. Father Brian tells Humphrey and Esther that more than 10,000 pounds have come missing. Marion explains they have a fundraising event so they had more money than usual. Housemasters keep contraband found in the boys’ rooms in the safe as well. Brian asks what’s happening to find Father Michael. Humphrey shows him the video. Kelby called the number in Michael’s book and learned it was an estate agent from Leeds. Marion tells the inspectors that she cares about Michael but the school has to be her priority. Esther says she either wants to find Michael or she wants to protect the school’s reputation. Esther thinks they should take another look at the cove.

Anne buys flowers for Martha. For the first time in a while, Anne feels like her life is going forward instead of back. She tells Martha about the art event. Martha thinks she should go. Zoe sees them hugging. Humphrey and Esther go through possible theories on the beach. They notice a house nearby so they decide to check it out. A man is found working on his vehicle. He confirms he’s the current Old Harry (Malcolm Storry) and he lives alone since his daughter died. Harry doesn’t remember seeing Father Michael. Harry tells Humphrey that you’ll begin believing the story about the devil on the rocks if you spend enough time in these hills. Henry goes inside. Margo calls to tell the investigators that the RNLI picked up Michael adrift in a fishing boat a couple of hours ago. They don’t know what happened to him, but it seems Michael has lost his mind.

Henry looks at someone in bed upstairs. Humphrey questions Father Michael who can’t remember anything. Kelby tells Humphrey and Esther that the paramedics believe Michael suffered some type of blunt-force trauma to the head. His pockets were full of sand, but his phone was in his coat pocket. Michael was exchanging texts with someone called “M” who wanted to meet. The estate agent in Leeds said Michael found a place he liked, but he needed more time to get a deposit together. In one of the emails, he must’ve CCed another email by mistake. The email in question is MT97@cellchat.com. The only thing they have now is the name Marie Trevellan. They notice that the boat is also named Marie. On the night Michael went missing, the mystery person asked him to come and said it was urgent.

Esther and Humphrey tell Father Brian the good news. He says Marie used to work in the library, but she left a few months ago. They believe Michael was going to move in with her. Brian admits Michael wouldn’t be the first priest to call in love, but he doesn’t think he’d steal money. Marie left in September of last year. Martha keeps the Ten Mile Kitchen closed for the day. Zoe tells Martha about the song her dad sang the first time he held her. She ends up getting emotional. Zoe confesses she brought a few people to the restaurant because she wanted to impress a boy. Martha knew when she saw her hoodie hanging up yesterday. Martha doesn’t want them to fall out. She won’t tell Esther because she has so much on her plate already. Humphrey and Esther talk about Marie and Michael’s relationship. They wonder why she wanted to meet.

Humphrey thinks he’s figured it out. He explains that Marie left the school only to get in touch with Michael months later. She might’ve told him that Michael was a father. Michael met Marie and the baby every night on the beach. Margo calls to say Marie’s address is at Old Harry’s Farm. She lives there with Harry Trevellan. Marie is his granddaughter. Humphrey wants to rush back to Harry’s farm. He explains that Harry was raising Marie as his own and he didn’t want the secret exposed. Humphrey goes on to suggest that Old Harry didn’t want to be alone so he attacked Michael. Old Harry may have sent the text first to lure Michael to the beach. Humphrey argues that Old Harry is the devil on the rocks. They see Marie on the beach marching like Michael did. She did not text Michael since they agreed not to text each other.

Harry shows up and denies attacking Michael. He just wanted to ask Michael if he’d leave them alone. He claims Michael tripped and hit his head. Humphrey knows he visited the school because his car leaked oil outside. He suspects Marion tried to buy Harry’s silence when he threatened to expose Michael. Marie doesn’t mind him taking the money, but she doesn’t understand why he attacked Michael. Harry talks about the difficulty of being alone there. Harry tried to bribe Michael with the money. He threw the bag at him causing Michael to fall and hit his head. Then, he put him in the boat and pushed it out to sea. Humphrey arrests Marion on suspicion of theft and obstructing a police investigation. He shows her the evidence. Humphrey thanks Roddy and tells him that Marion won’t give him any more trouble.

Anne goes to the event gallery with Richard. She speaks to another woman who reveals that Richard is his husband, but he’s calling himself Peter. Anne doesn’t expose him before leaving. Richard rushes outside to tell Anne he didn’t know she was coming. She asks if any of it was real. Richard says it was complicated and he was going to talk to her about it. Martha tells Humphrey that the fostering panel has recommended they’re approved. She admits she really wants this even if they’re busy. Anne interrupts and admits she was wrong.

 

Beyond Paradise Review

This episode of Beyond Paradise was enjoyable despite some of the personal stories being a little predictable. The characters are still likable for the most part so it’s easy to get invested in their stories. Nothing about the series makes me want to pull my hair out and I can’t say that about similar shows in this genre.

The lore about the devil on the rocks was pretty interesting although it was similar to one of the episodes last season. Margo’s obsession with conserving energy and telling the devil on the rocks story added humor to the episode. Beyond Paradise probably isn’t going to be memorable once the season is over, but it is a sufficient time-killer with good characters, semi-interesting cases, and compelling personal dramas.

This episode scores 6 out of 10. Recaps of Beyond Paradise are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.