As the episode begins, Taj Roy (Cas Anvar) arrives at the safe house with his daughter Mena (Chantal Saab). She tells him that she has never seen him scared before but he says he isn’t scared. Mena is handed over to chance before Taj speaks with Sheila (Carmen Moore) about his daughter. Sheila is worried that he is going to come for Mena but Taj believes they’ll be safe now. She also wants to know the rest about it since there is more to it than she knows about. Taj reminds her that she read about the dead girl and Scott Riley being accused of murder. She says she had no reason not to believe that story. Taj believes Sheila has been trying too hard to prove she is good and he says Rebecca was alive when he last saw her.

After that, John (Billy Campbell) and Lise (Karine Vanasse) speak with a woman about Ken and his relationship with Sheila or Barry. She looks through the paperwork and confesses they’ve had trouble with ex-employees and competitors. However, it has never been anything violent. Then, she finds information about Barry. Sheila and Barry were paid as subcontractors for the company’s forestry division. They were paid for consulting. The woman explains that they won a big to log a section of the Aagimaak Forest that year and there was a tip about the upcoming timber rights. Lise reminds the woman that Sheila and Barry worked for Watershed Forestry in 99.

Nelly explains that Watershed had all of the local government contracts at that point. Lise wonders if Barry and Sheila sold that information to Ken so he could get the contract. Nelly admits that is possible. Meanwhile, Scott Riley (Shawn Doyle) drives along and listens to the radio before hearing something about rescue activity going on around the old Mead Lake quarry. He stops and becomes enraged after listening to the news report. In a flashback, we see a young Scott and Rebecca together in the woods. They hear gunshots nearby and see feathers on the ground. They approach a group of four people and one is holding a rifle. Scott remembers Rebecca being hit with the weapon.

He gets angry, grabs a knife, and approaches Ken. He demands Ken say her name and Ken does. Ken pleads to know where his son is but Scott says he is going to give him as much of a chance as he gave Rebecca before smashing his leg to pieces with a pipe. He storms out of the building after that. Meanwhile, John and Lise discuss the Aagimaak Forest project with Noelle (Kristen Thomson), McLeod (James Downing), and the others. They agree that there has to be more to the story so they decide to check other crimes that happened around that time. John and Lise check one of Ken’s sawmills and discover blood on the snow.

They follow it until they find Ken dead nearby. Meanwhile, Scott goes out into the woods and hides a rifle. Then, we see another flashback of a young Scott and Rebecca together near a snowmobile. Taj checks on Sheila again and she wants to know why she is more worried about Mena than he is. Taj says that as long as nobody does anything stupid Scott will get caught or killed. Sheila is worried that he’ll go to the police and she offers to speak with Jerry but Taj doesn’t want to do that. She wants to leave but Taj pulls on a gun on her and makes her stay. After that, John and Lise learn that Ken was killed differently than the others so they believe they’re dealing with someone else now.

It is clear that Ken suffered a slow and painful death. John suspects Sheila is in hiding and Lise believes the killer changed his plans after learning Josh had survived. John suspects Neil’s death threw him off track as well. He tells Lise that they have to push through and not let it get personal before she says she’ll need to tell Josh and she wants to do it alone. She goes to the hospital and tells Josh about his father’s death and admits he likely suffered. He says he thought Lise and John were good. She asks if Josh knows anything that could help them find out who wanted to hurt Ken before Lise is asked to leave. Meanwhile, John finds Kelly (Alanna Bale) at his place.

She says selling the house was supposed to be a new start and she doesn’t want him to get stuck there. In return, he tells his daughter she needs to live her life. Kelly wonders why her father just can’t stop and he says he can’t do this right now. John promises to talk about it later and he convinces her to stick around before they hug. He says she took care of both of them and he doesn’t want her to have to do that anymore. Kelly tells her father that he cannot let Lise walk out of his life. We jump back to the police station and McLeod lets John and Lise know that Kular (Zach Smadu) has found something. He tells them about the murder and rape of 26-year-old Rebecca Bailey in the forest.

Scott Riley served time with Wade and he got out 8 months ago. They have a Toronto address for him but that belongs to his late parents. Police visit that house immediately and raid it. They look around and find it mostly empty. Then, they discover a makeshift bedroom. On the wall, they find Scott’s plans and his next spot in the woods. They speak with a guy who knows Scott outside. We learn that Scott’s dad died a short time after his son was incarcerated. His mom died from cancer two years ago. Scott was a finance guy like his dad and loved to hunt before he went to prison. He has an environmental awakening and starting protesting against companies harming the environment.

He got into trouble at a few protests but it was never anything violet and he denied killing Rebecca. He said he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Scott was in Algonquin Bay in 99 because he was trying to protect the endangered Peregrine Falcon. At the motel, Lise tells John that McLeod found Scott had emptied his bank accounts. Before they enter separate rooms, John tells Lise that he doesn’t want her to go and she says he knows. They enter Lise’s room together. That night, Scott goes to the forest on a snowmobile and remembers spending time with Rebecca there. John has a dream in which he is surrounded by snow and walking with a blanket wrapped around him. Then, he wakes up and joins Lise outside.

In the morning, John returns to the station and finds out they haven’t heard anything about Sheila or Scott. Jerry (Glen Gould) is ready to brief them about Rebecca’s case. He tells them that Bob McKinley was the investigator. They watch an interview with Bob and Scott. They believe that Bob has tunnel vision and wanted to blame Scott for everything from the beginning. During this time, we see Scott sneak into Taj’s hiding place. The interview continues while Scott retrieves a weapon. They do not believe Rebecca was raped either. Furthermore, they believe Scott’s rage has been building up for 20 years and he has been plotting his revenge all along. After a little back and forth, they believe that Taj’s daughter might be Scott’s next target.

Mena gets into a vehicle and listens to music. Scott knocks out the guard from behind. John and the others decide to rush to Taj Roy’s transportation company while Scott approaches Mena. Taj enters the building and finds Scott holding a knife to his daughter’s throat. He points his gun at Scott but he puts the gun down. He asks Scott what he wants before the cops raid the property and they’re both already gone. Jerry finds Sheila in the back of a truck and he places her under arrest.

 

Cardinal Review

This has likely been one of the best seasons of Cardinal yet and it has everything to do with this season’s villains. At first, I was worried about Neil dying so quickly but Scott’s story is even better. I appreciate that the writers made him sympathetic. I also like the fact that they added the theme of a detective with tunnel vision. This is far more common than most people would like to believe and most shows won’t touch this as seriously as Cardinal did.

I can’t wait to watch the finale but I am going to be depressed when it is over because I’ll have to go back to recapping lower quality shows. This episode of Cardinal was fantastic. It scores an 8.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Cardinal are available on Reel Mockery right now! PS: You’ll have to excuse me if there are any major spelling or grammar errors above. Have been going at it all day and barely got this finished at 3 AM so please overlook those.