Sugar Sugar – As the fifth episode of Black Snow begins, Detective Cormack (Travis Fimmel) tries to convince Troy Turner (Kim Gyngell) to save time by sending the body straight to Brisbane. Troy argues it isn’t his decision. James checks on Tasha (Kestie Morassi) who refuses sugar because it is evil and wrecked Billy’s teeth. He asks Tasha if she knows what Billy (Anthony Sharpe) wanted to talk to him about. When James mentions Hector’s camera, Tasha reveals he nicked it off Steve Walcott. She doesn’t know what was on the tape although she thinks it had something to do with Steve.

Tasha tried to warn Billy who always trusted Steve. James manages to get the pills she took. Tasha insists she isn’t going to kill herself and Billy didn’t kill himself either. James meets with Chloe (Brooke Satchwell) who is busy getting Billy’s stuff for Tasha. Chloe believes there is something going on between Hazel and James although he denies it. She reveals Billy had a crush on her back in the day and they hooked up a few times. Chloe didn’t tell Izzy who hated him because he was an a-hole. She doesn’t know of Billy doing any work for her dad since he has been out. James asks if she knows about their altercation at the pub.

Chloe says she’ll ask her dad about it before questioning why he is treating them like criminals. She complains that she hates that time capsule. Later, Hazel (Jemmason Power) asks James about Billy killing himself. James thinks it is connected, but the Mackay detectives are in charge now. He thought she might want to warn Mary that he is sending an officer to collect a sample of Ezekiel’s DNA. He wants to know if there is a match with the blood found on Isabel’s hand. He has Turner gunning for Ezekiel and he can’t even prove that his cousins were in Ashford. That is where they’re at.

James tells her what the hotel owner thought before saying he is going to Brisbane tomorrow to talk to the old man. Hazel gets a text message telling her time is up and the sender is done lying for her. In a flashback, Isabel (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) tells Ezekiel that Billy didn’t threaten her although it was creepy. He was wearing an Ankou t-shirt so she thinks he was on the trail bike. Zeke wants to talk to Joe, but Isabel says he can’t tell him about Dalkeith. Instead, she suggests talking to Steve since the Walcotts are like her second family. While working on the time capsule, Anton (Josh Macqueen) tries to get Izzy to meet him after class.

Tasha doesn’t seem happy about that. On their way to the shed, Victor (Rob Carlton) tells them to stay away from the shed because someone tipped over a drum of pesticide. He tells them to stay safe. When he leaves, Isabel worries that means he knows. She questions if he has been sleeping with Tasha. Anton reminds her that he loves her. She decides to go home. Steve (Erik Thomson) finds Chloe and Isabel talking in the van. He plays around with Chloe and her formal shoes. They picked up a pair for Isabel which Steve calls a graduation gift. He says he chased up the workers she was asking about and found out that the mob of them went west to build fences.

Steve says they don’t want Chloe driving at night so they’re paying for motels, but Chloe wants to sleep in the van. He offers to speak to Joe about it since Isabel is afraid to do it. Once he leaves, Chloe asks Isabel if she canceled her holiday shifts at the video store. She wonders if Isabel is going to go at all. Later, Isabel tells Ezekiel what Steve told her. He doesn’t believe it because they wouldn’t have enough money for plane tickets. They don’t even have passports which are kept at the boss’s house. Isabel asks for one more chance to fix this. She goes into Chloe’s house and looks through Steve’s desk before the maid enters crying and fixing her dress.

She finds the passports and escapes with help from the maid. When Steve finds her outside in the van, she pretends she forgot her formal shoes. James reads about Steve before meeting his dad at the prison. James didn’t want him to show up at his doorstep when he got out. His dad surprises him by telling him that Ritchie came to see him a few months ago. He is supposedly in trouble and needs help. When his dad ends the interview, James gets upset in his vehicle. He gets a call from Hazel asking how it went. James says as expected, but he doesn’t want to talk about it.

She wants to watch the time capsule video so James tells her to come around anytime tomorrow. He gets back and Dale (Gulliver McGrath) gives him the photos from the disposable camera Anton put in the time capsule. James notices one of Izzy standing in front of a door with a bird on it. He asks Dale to get the visitor logs of prisoner number 1527 at Wacol. He wants security footage of any visitors from the last three months. They agree to keep it between them since it is a personal matter. James gets mad when he learns the detectives went back to Mackay because they think it was an accident.

He argues with Troy Turner (Kim Gyngell) who tells her to screw off home. James doesn’t know if he is corrupt or bloody useless. Chloe takes Billy’s stuff to Tasha and says she’ll pay for the funeral. She told him he couldn’t say in the house on Harper’s Road and feels bad about it now. Tasha insists Billy didn’t kill himself before noticing that his video camera is missing. James approaches Anton (Alexander England) because he might want a copy of the pictures from the camera. He urges him to check in on Tasha since she could use a friend right now.

Chloe shows her dad the video camera and says he didn’t have to do anything to Billy although he denies that. She wants him to resign from the board and sell her 15% of his shares, but Steve refuses to do that. Chloe tells him to sign them over to his grandkids then. Steve continues saying he doesn’t know what happened to the boys. Chloe threatens to use the predator footage to get him voted off the board. He accuses her of scamming the workers and the government. Chloe argues that she learned from the best. She urges him to retire and be grateful he got away with it all.

James watches the tape with Hazel. Once it ends, Hazel reveals this is the first time she has seen her sister since they lost her. They watch the video and see the Ankou. It is a place Isabel calls Satan’s memorial. She briefly mentions what she saw by the fields. Isabel goes home and finds Joe praying with Ezekiel. Joe and the girls run into Steve in town later. Joe tells him about the boys dropping off the map. He asks Steve to ask Billy since they think he might’ve driven them somewhere. When Isabel suggests reporting them to the police, Steve says the police could find some undocumented workers.

If the cops get involved, they might have to cut a few loose. Steve asks Joe what they should do since he is over human resources. Isabel wonders if Joe should be getting paid then. Steve laughs before saying they should just leave the cops out of it. Once Steve leaves, Joe tells Isabel not to speak to elders like that again. When Isabel gets home, she finds Hazel writing that she loves Max Phelps in her shoe. Hazel admits she heard that he likes her. In her formal shoes, Isabel writes that she loves Hazel. Aunty Rosa gives Victor a donation to the emergency services later.

Victor and Katherine (Daniela Farinacci) talk about the corsage for the formal. At home, Hazel asks Isabel what she is going to do. She thinks she should say Anton and Chloe are having sex. Joe tells Isabel she is grounded and won’t attend the dance with anyone. Aunty Rosa talks to her in her room and reminds her she is the future of the family. Isabel goes through the list of things she can’t be. Rosa tells her to respect her elders and herself. She thinks she is wasting her promise by focusing on Anton and Zeke. Isabel claims she is just helping Zeke. Rosa tells her parents that isn’t as bad as they might think. Glenda believes Izzy has worked too hard this year.

The formal is her reward for all the hard work she has done. Joe won’t stop her from going, but he won’t celebrate either. Anton gives Kalana a picture of Isabel and says she is a lot like her. Hazel interrupts to pick her up before Anton can tell her something. At home, Hazel gets a call from James who says Ezekiel’s DNA did not match the blood on Isabel’s hand. It is a familial match though. He thinks it was one of the cousins so Isabel must’ve known where they were. James goes to the spot of the Ankou painting. When Dale arrives, James shows him the video of Isabel there and tells him about the blood on her hand.

The passports are found by a man working on the van. They’re given to Chloe. She burns the passports while Dale goes through possible evidence. Hazel approaches her aunt and mom because there is something she needs to tell them about Kalana’s dad. Dale finds Isabel’s formal shoes. Hazel says Anton took her out to the shed to show her a painting Izzy did. He came over every day just to talk about Isabel. Later, she was horrified about what happened between them. Rosa realizes that is how Kalana came into this world, but it doesn’t matter because she was meant to be. James calls her to ask her to come to the station tonight so they can talk.

Dale and James speculate why Isabel would come there. James says there is no red dirt and her dress was covered in red dirt so she likely wasn’t killed there. When Hazel reaches the station, she hears the song that was playing when Izzy was at the petrol station. She can’t listen to it without hearing that glitch. It is the glitch on the mixtape for Anton. James explains it is the one Tasha put in the time capsule, but it must be a copy of the one she made for Anton. They discuss whether Anton was involved as the episode ends.

 

Black Snow Review

As viewers inch closer to the finale, Detective Cormack gets closer to the truth about Isabel’s murder. While the finger is being pointed at Anton right now, many suspects remain. Still, a few suspects stick out more than others. The episode was better in terms of not rehashing events by covering them in the past and present. It also had a few emotional scenes when Hazel watched the video of Isabel with Cormack.

More time should’ve been dedicated to Cormack, his father, and his brother because that aspect of the series shines, but they’re likely saving these things for a possible second series. Certain revelations were very farfetched to the point that they will probably cause eyes to roll.

The teamwork between Dale and Cormack works great so that could easily be carried over to another series once this one is finished. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Black Snow are available on Reel Mockery here. Enable an independent voice by supporting Reel Mockery at this link.