Predators – As the second episode of Black Snow begins, James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) and Dale Quinn (Gulliver McGrath) go through the evidence from the time capsule. James learns that Kalana Baker read the murder letter and Mick asked Lynn (Lucy Bell) to put everything back. Mick Compton (Damion Hunter) is a local elder. James steps outside to speak to Hazel (Jemmason Power) about what she saw and to ask her not to say anything yet. Although she thinks it is Isabel’s hair, James explains they need proof so everything has to be forensically tested.

He knows hair has power in some cultures so he wonders if cutting her hair had some specific cultural meaning. Hazel gets mad because she thinks he is saying black magic killed Isabel. Later, Troy Turner (Kim Gyngell) learns about the hair which is going to be sent to Brisbane for testing. James is convinced it was personal and not a crime of opportunity. He explains there was no sexual assault, the body was moved and dumped outside the cemetery, and her hair was cut post-mortem. He questions why they’d put the hair in there to be found years later.

James is sending the video to Brisbane to get digitized and they can check it out then. At home, Hazel tells Kalana (Eden Cassady) she plans to stay a little longer until they sort out what is going on with Isabel’s case. They briefly talk about the new detective before they discuss putting a Black Lives Matter slogan on the mural. Dale puts the songs on James’s phone under ‘Time Capsule Mixtape’. He begins listening to the songs. In a flashback, Isabel (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) notices Tasha with Anton. Hector (Fraser Anderson) is told to stop filming them. He gets permission to interview Isabel’s mom who will show him the real Ashford.

At the workers’ camp by the mill, Isabel gives her dad, Joe (Jimi Bani), the mail. She passes by Steve (Erik Thomson) while returning to Hector. Izzy tells him that Steve is Chloe’s dad. Hector believes he was coming onto the girl. They go to Butch who is tended to by Izzy’s mother. He is encouraged to get an education and get off the farm because he isn’t a young fella anymore. Aunty Rosa (Lisa Blackman) tells Izzy to take advantage of the chances they didn’t get. She tells Hector that their great, great grandfather was a chief and a leader of his people. One morning, he went down to the beach and never came back.

All the strong men from Vanuatu were taken like him. When Hector asks what she means, Rosa says they were kidnapped and brought over to salve in the fields. James and Dale look at the time capsule inventory that was written the morning before Isabel was killed. James points out the purple glitter pen which is the same as the letter. He says Isabel was in love with Ashford at the beginning of the letter, but that changed at the end of the letter. Dale says the Ankou is the Reaper of souls. Troy interrupts to insult Dale and ask James why he doesn’t carry a firearm. James says it tends to make people anxious.

James meets with Lynn who confirms they own the mill. Lynn says Isabel was lovely, kind, and thoughtful. She can’t imagine what Isabel was trying to say in her letter, but it didn’t sound like her. The time capsule was meant to be creative punishment for the detention kids. It was locked on the morning of the formal after everyone got together to create an inventory list. It wasn’t actually locked and was unlocked for about a week before it was buried. Lynn is glad he is looking into this although she thinks Troy Turner did his job.

She thinks he is there because Mick made a fuss saying more would’ve been done if Izzy had been white. She argues that Mick is wrong. James meets Isabel’s family so he can introduce himself. Joe says they’re a strong family and God protects them. When he asks if James believes, James says he has beliefs. He begins asking them about the Ankou. Then, he questions if Isabel had any interest in the dark way. Joe doesn’t want to believe it while Glenda says their daughter sounded so scared. She doesn’t think Isabel was ever sacred.

Although Joe says God has a plan, Glenda argues that it isn’t always enough. In private, Hazel tells James to slow down because no one is going to talk to him unless they trust him. He says they’ll trust him if she trusts him. James thanks her for not telling them about the hair before leaving. Hazel is told she has too many secrets. James calls Mick’s office to ask him to call him back so they can talk about Isabel’s murder. He gets the video and begins watching it in his motel room. He reads Chloe’s letter about buying a car and road-tripping. James meets with Chloe (Brooke Satchwell) outside the mill to talk about Isabel.

Chloe shows in the van they were going to drive to Sydney. Isabel never told her parents about the plan because she was terrified of Pastor Joe. She never noticed any abuse from Joe who was just a protective father. Chloe doesn’t believe Isabel wrote the letter and suggests it might’ve been Hector’s idea. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was into the occult since he liked provoking people. On the night Isabel died, she finally dumped Anton because he was sleeping with Tasha behind her back. Chloe only saw the blue car for a moment and didn’t see the driver.

She walked Isabel to the intersection around 12:30. Isabel turned and blew her a kiss before continuing on her way. After the meeting, Chloe calls Troy to ask about the new evidence. Tasha (Kestie Morassi) wakes up next to Anton (Alexander England) and asks what last night was about. He calls it a relapse. He says they were drunk and it shouldn’t have happened. Tasha thinks it could be fun since he isn’t married anymore. Once he says it is a bad time, Tasha asks if it is because of the letter and whether he is still pining after Isabel. She questions what is wrong with him because Isabel has been dead for 25 years.

James watches the video of Chloe talking about her family and the mill when he notices the blue station wagon in the background. He continues watching it and sees the same vehicle again. James manages to get a closer look at the license plate. In a flashback, the car follows Isabel at night. Joe preaches in church with Isabel in the audience. Hector is outside because he wanted to film the church for the time capsule. Isabel eyeballs the newcomer. Chloe arrives in the van and makes Isabel take a ride with her. Mick asks when she is going to tell her dad she is going to Sydney. She says when she gets her exam results if they’re good enough.

He doesn’t think her dad will ever forgive her so she shouldn’t disrespect him. When she gets back, Chloe tells her Anton wants to meet later. Although Hector suggests telling him to screw off, Isabel agrees to meet him. Hector wants to show her the video of Chloe’s dad, but Isabel doesn’t want to see it now because her mom and dad will be home soon. Isabel goes to the meeting place and finds a man running out of the weeds. He yells for help before being chased by someone on a motorbike. Isabel picks up his shoes and stares into the crops. When she turns around, she notices a picture of the Ankou.

Isabel flees on her bike. In the present, Hazel walks through the crops. She goes home and tells her parents about Izzy’s hair being found in an Ashford High t-shirt in the time capsule. It was also plaited. Joe says someone from here that they trust took Isabel from them. Glenda tells Hazel that she needs to step up. Hazel asks if she is supposed to help this white bully man now. Glenda says yes if that is what it takes. James meets with Anton to speak to him about Isabel. He tells James that Isabel was his first love. He was supposedly with Natasha on the night of the murder and they were only having sex.

After Anton says Tasha didn’t mean anything, James asks if Isabel felt that way since she was angry on the night of the formal. Anton claims to have loved Isabel, but Hector got her wound up that night. They had argued about the road trip. Anton doesn’t think she was ever going on the trip with Chloe since her dad would’ve stopped her. He didn’t mess up their future. The man who killed her did. Katherine (Daniela Farinacci) and Victor (Rob Carlton) say the police should’ve found the blue car. Victor asks what kind of crazy person takes the hair off a dead girl so James knows Hazel or someone else has talked about it.

When asked about the letter, Anton says it isn’t her. They claim the Ankou is some Islander mumbo jumbo although James says it is Celtic. Anton tells James where he can meet him later before James leaves. He meets with Hazel who admits to telling her parents about Izzy’s hair. James asks if she ever thought it could have been someone local. They heard rumors it was a bikie enforcer or a satanic ritual. Hazel has moments of belief while James always envied people who had faith. He gets his energy from anger. Hazel gets her energy from guilt.

She mentions that his tattoo is the same day Izzy died. He reveals it is the day his brother Ritchie went missing. He thinks it is just a coincidence. Kalana creates a video complaining about the statue of the founder who enslaved her people. Hazel makes her apologize and clean up the paint she throws on the statue. Mick finds out from Hazel that the hair story is true. He asks if she is keeping secrets for the bully man, but Hazel doesn’t have to explain herself to him. Glenda and Hazel scold Kalana at home. They continue arguing until Glenda slaps her across the face.

James goes to the store to meet with Anton. He finds him on the ground with a wound on his head. Anton claims he was attacked from behind and won’t tell James anything about the attacker. Hazel gets a call from someone and offers to meet them wherever they want. When Victor arrives to pick up Anton, James suspects he is drunk. He tells Anton they’re not done talking about who might’ve done it before asking Victor if he knows. Victor says it might’ve been someone’s boyfriend or husband and he loves it. James watches the video again in his motel room. He takes a bike to the skate park where the kids were hanging out.

He gets a call from his boss who says the car’s registration hadn’t been renewed since 1994. The owner of the car is Vanuatu and a pastor of a church in regional NSW. James suggests there might be a connection since the victim’s father was a pastor too. She agrees to interview the car owner in person for him. Hazel meets with the person and reminds them they agreed they’d take it to their graves.

 

Black Snow Review

The mystery of Black Snow is slowly unraveling as viewers learn more about Isabel’s murder and Cormack’s history. Certain aspects of the show are more effective than others with the soundtrack improving in this episode. Through two episodes, the highlight of the series is the quirkiness of Travis Fimmel’s Cormack who is mesmerizing at times.

The investigation into Isabel’s death is well done but frequently bogged down by personal drama. Outside of the investigation, there isn’t much new being brought to the table since the same topics have been covered repeatedly by other projects. These things really take the wind out of the sails and sometimes bring the story to a grinding halt.

Some of the performances remain less than stellar, but most are convincing enough. Black Snow shows a lot of potential when it digs deeper into the investigation and gives Travis Fimmel room to shine as the eccentric detective, but it sometimes lacks focus. The second episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Black Snow are available on Reel Mockery here. Looking for advertising opportunities? Learn more about advertising with us at this link.