At the beginning of the episode, Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) and John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) speak with the medical examiner about Robert’s autopsy and cause of death. He promises to ask the toxicology department to rush the test. It is believed that Robert died of exposure but he was hit with a stun gun before his death. Meanwhile, the mystery man, Neil (Currie Graham), visits a nursery and speaks with Barry Leblanc (Duncan Ollerenshaw) about flowers. Neil says he wants a houseplant that can cheer up the house a bit so Barry recommends orchids. The only problem is that Neil has a habit of killing them so Barry gives him a pamphlet his mother wrote. Neil talks about the value people place on certain lives. They chat a bit before Lise and John agree that the stun gun makes it seem Wade’s death is linked to Robert’s.

John says sending the video was an attempt to make Sheila suffer. When they step outside, Kelly Cardinal (Alanna Bale) is there waiting for them. While John speaks on the phone, Kelly and Lise speak about his health and move. Then, Lise tells them that she is going to speak with her new Sergeant. She leaves and John tells his daughter about Lise getting a new job in Toronto. John encourages his daughter to get Italian food with him. Next, Neil breaks into the home of Neil and his mother Adele (Linda Goranson). He looks around and hides before they return. Barry begins putting up household supplies while Neil watches through the window.

Meanwhile, Lise asks John if he ever misses the city and he says he might if he had left for other reasons. Adele goes outside to feed the bird while Barry stays inside and watches a news report about Robert. Adele returns inside and says poor Sheila before mention that Barry was good friends with her. Barry gets a call and has to run back to the nursery because the heaters have gone out. He offers to give his mother a ride to the church but she decides to transport herself there. Neil watches as Barry leaves a few seconds later. When John and Lise return to the police station, Noelle (Kristen Thomson) and Lise speak in private. Lise tells her that she has found a new job and Noelle wants to know how John is taking that. Lise believes he is taking it fine.

A bit later, John attends a brainstorming session with Ash (Zach Smadu), McLeod (James Downing), and the others. Ash explains they’ve been trying to track down prison mates of Wade but haven’t had any luck yet. They also learn that Sheila is going to hold a memorial for Robert at her house and they’re going to go. They suspect that Robert was transported using a snowmobile so they’ve been checking out recent snowmobile thefts in the area. After that, John speaks with the snowmobile thief Randi. She looks at a list of thefts and she points to one that she wouldn’t be involved in because the snowmobile is so unique. Meanwhile, Neil spray paints his snowmobile before Yvonne approaches and introduces herself. She is a neighbor of the McDermott family and Neil is renting a place from them.

She wonders why he came all the way out there during the coldest time of the year and he says he came for the silence. John Cardinal sits in the vehicle and waits for Lise who runs into Josh, his wife, and their baby. They chat briefly before Lise returns to John and he asks her if she has any regrets. Lise says she wishes she would’ve told Josh she didn’t want that life. After that, the memorial for Robert begins and Detective McLeod watches from the car. John and Lise tell Sheila that they’re going to check out the guests to see if anyone stands out. Meanwhile, Adele goes to the church on her scooter. Jerry Commanda (Glen Gould) chats with the detectives at the memorial and warns them that the OPD is getting pressure from the Attorney General.

He says they’re taking the murder pretty seriously and Lise says they’re doing the same. Adele leaves only to find that her scooter won’t start. Neil shows up and introduces himself as Barry’s friend from work before offering her a ride. She agrees and they approach his vehicle. She notices a white suit in the back of his car and she gets worried. Barry uses the stun gun on her before leaving in the vehicle. Moments later, Taj Roy (Cas Anvar) arrives at the memorial and speaks with Sheila ion private. He wants to make sure that Sheila isn’t going to tell police about their past and she makes it clear that she isn’t going to say anything.

John and Lise follow Taj out to his vehicle and ask him how he knows Sheila. He explains that they served in the Chamber of Commerce years ago. John wonders why Sheila wasn’t happy to see him before asking where Taj was when Robert disappeared. He says he was in Sudbury with his daughter at a skating competition. Then, Taj is asked if he can think of anyone who would want to hurt Robert Quillen or Sheila but he doesn’t know anyone. When they leave, John tells Lise he believes there is bad blood there. Barry returns home to find out that his mother has gone missing. Jerry tells Sheila that they’re going to find out who did this before she says she needs some time alone. Back at the station, the toxicology test comes back and it shows that Wade had cocaine and marijuana in his system.

Robert was clean. They believe the killer wants the victim to be conscious and he is confident because he has done it before. Lise says Taj’s ex-wife doesn’t like him but she confirmed his alibi. Seconds later, John gets a call from McLeod who is investigating the disappearance of Adele. They rush to the church and learn more from McLeod. John speaks with Barry while Lise finds a feather on the scooter and that confirms that the same person took Adele. John asks Barry about the feather but he says he has never seen one like that. He says he barely knows Sheila and he doesn’t understand why that has anything to do with his mother. Lise tells John that there weren’t any cameras near the parking lot. John is worried what the guy is going to do to Adele but Lise hopes he might have different intentions.

They get a call about an altercation involving a young guy and an older lady so they rush to the scene. John is aggressive with the guy but it is not Neil or Adele. Neil takes Adele out past a junkyard using his snowmobile while John looks through the evidence. McLeod says he was out at Barry’s greenhouse and the place has been vandalized. A male voice notified Barry and that drew him away from his mother. John is worried about Adele. We see Neil lead her before removing the tape from her mouth. He wants her to record a message for her son and he tells her that she didn’t do anything. He says she is out there because of Barry. He wants her to tell Barry she loves. She records the video before saying he’ll be back. Meanwhile, Sheila watches a news report about the disappearance and realizes it is Barry’s mother. Neil chains the woman to a vehicle and leaves her.

 

Cardinal Review

This episode of Cardinal was very good and intense. Neil is either out for revenge or he is being paid to get revenge for someone else. I am worried that Adele is finished since detectives likely won’t be able to find her in time to save her but they might get lucky. I am interested in finding out what was going on between Barry and Sheila. Whatever they did likely resulted in Neil getting angry and trying to get revenge against them.

The show is a bit slow at times but fast-paced too since there aren’t many episodes each season. The episode was good and I am eager to watch the next one. I don’t want to watch the season too quickly though but I won’t anything else worthwhile to watch. The episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Cardinal can be found on Reel Mockery.