As the episode begins, John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) is still shocked by Catherine’s suicide. Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) tells him to step away from the scene. John remains distraught. John tells Lise about the note his wife left. She supposedly went there to take photographs. Constable Fox (Eric Hicks) takes care of John. The detectives go to work. Lise and McLeod (James Downing) move to the rooftop. Lise breaks down and cries. A note is found in Catherine’s bag. Dyson asks John if it is Catherine’s handwriting. He confirms that it is. John thought she was off of her meds and she was thinking about quitting therapy. The detectives agree to take care of Catherine’s car. John calls Kelly and tells her she needs to come home.

After the intro, John prepares for Catherine’s visitation. Kelly (Alanna Bale) speaks about Catherine’s photograph. She admits that she is mad at her mother. She can’t believe John isn’t mad. The guests begin to arrive. Dyson tells Lise about her sister. Lise confirms she has turned down the NIS training. Dr. Bell speaks with Cardinal. The doctor offers to help. John asks him about the session before Catherine’s suicide. Bell knows what happening in Toronto, but Catherine said they made up. John believes something triggered her and caused her suicide. Helen interrupts and expresses her love for Catherine. John says his goodbyes. Kelly and John arrive home. John wants to lie down.

Flowers and gifts line the steps. One note catches John off guard. He imagines seeing Catherine in the window and on the steps. Next, a female chef receives a call from Randall. They schedule to meet up near the boat dock. After work, she travels to a home. It is up for sale with Randall Wishart being the realtor in charge. Sam (Devery Jacobs) meets with him in the bedroom. They make out. They sleep together. Randall is awoken by a thunderstorm. Randall checks his phone. He is late for dinner and has to rush home. Sam hears Irena and a man speaking downstairs. Another man begins speaking to. They’re chatting about handling something. Sam hides as they begin speaking about killing Irena. Irena makes a run for it and gunshots ring out.

Sam tries to escape through a window. Her phone is dropped. She makes it to her car and escapes as a man fires shots in her direction. Sam makes it home. Her hand is bloody and she is distraught. Otherwise, she is fine. Lise visits John with Catherine’s thing. John knows that it means the suicide ruling holds. Lise asks about post cards. John admits they have stopped. She thought it might be a joker who wanted some power of a cop. Lise tells John that he can take some more time off. He doesn’t want that. He would rather be busy. Sam calls Randall. She tells him that something happened at the house. We see that Sam has a big cut on her leg. She patches it up. Sam wants to go to the police. Randall doesn’t want that. John speaks with Dyson (Kristen Thomson). They’ve both lost someone.

John learns about a new case. Someone has been robbing people at ATMs. Dyson interrupts and tells Lise about a situation on Island Road. Lise is given the lead. Dyson doesn’t think John is ready for it. Lise takes John with her. John and Lise check out the bloody crime scene. They believe two people died in the house. The bodies are missing. Prints are found around the jimmied door. Victims knew the killer and had a drink with him. They also know about the person who escaped. Dyson tells the team that they’ll need to work overtime. Kular gives John something that was supposed to be sent to his house. It is letters. One looks like the post card. John opens it meticulously. He speaks with Lise about the murders. He doesn’t believe it is money or jealousy.

The postcard asks John if he blames himself. The sender claims that he should. Later that night, John does some research. He calls Jerry (Glen Gould) and asks for a favor. He asks him to set him up with an OPD document analyst. Lise watches an ATM that night. She sees a man with a rifle and decides to speak with him. While she is distracted with him, another man is robbed near the ATM. She chases after the suspect. He gets away. Lise calls for backup and medics right away. John continues scouring through the evidence. He notices a boat in some pictures. Then, he returns to Lise. He tells her that one of the boats is gone. They need to search the water for bodies. He found what could be blood on the dock. McLeod enters and explains he just spoke with the Schumachers. The only spare key have own is with the realtor, Randall.

Randall is questioned a short time later. He claims he was with Troy Campbell on that night. John wants to check the tires and compare them with the tire marks found at the house. Next, John and Lise speak with Troy Campbell (Josh Cruddas). Troy admits he has visited some of Randall’s listings. He has never been to the house on Island Road. They believe that Troy and Randall might be lying about something. Lise asks Dyson for more divers. John continues investigating the postcards. John and Lise travel to Toronto. John gets the postcards checked out. There is a cartridge flaw. John needs to find the suspect before the ink runs out. The analyst checks the suicide note too. He wants to know if the entry was written by the same pen and when it was written in relation to the last entry.

Moments later, John learns that the suicide note was written before the to-do list. John doesn’t get personal with the analyst. On the way back, Lise asks about Kelly. John asks her about the Scriver case. He tells Lise about the Scriver family vanishing from Black Lake. There were signs of a struggle, but no bodies. He wonders why the killer or killers would sink the bodies and leave all that evidence behind. He also wonders why the woman who escaped hasn’t called. We see the killer messing with Sam’s cellphone. He gets her name. John falls asleep working on the postcards. He finds a note on the stairs and another one nearby. John wakes up on the couch after Catherine telling him to do so. The phone rings and he chats with someone briefly.

John meets with Lise. The divers have found the boat. John believes the killer took the bodies out and swam back to shore. The two bodies are found tied to the boat’s seat.

 

Cardinal Review

Each episode of Cardinal really only lasts 45 minutes. Nevertheless, each is packed full of twists, turns, excellent dialogue and plenty of intrigue. The show isn’t perfect by any means, but it always manages to remain relevant and interesting. The only problem I had with this one was some of the acting. The girl who plays Sam spoke like she was lifeless. Otherwise, I have no complaints. There are three cases being juggled simultaneously. We have the suicide of Catherine, the ATM robberies and the murders. There is a good chance that the latter two will sync together one way or another.

The season started out excellently. It should be enough to keep viewers locked in. The episode scores an 8 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Cardinal now!