Episode 5 begins with Tina (Rebekah Murrell) waking on a ship and is in the process of throwing her father’s murder weapon overboard when she’s interrupted by Jess Ono (Wivian Oparah).
Elliot (Bilal Hasna) recalls his time with Andrew/Will (Marcus Hodson) while being interrogated by DCI Danny Megargee (Peter Seradino) and his partner (Charlie Griffiths). It’s not long before he realizes he’s being considered a suspect for both Will’s and Peter’s (Olisa Odele) murder. He incorrectly assumes he’s being rescued when Timothy Quinn-Collins (Alan Turkington) shows up and the cops are forced out of the room. Much to Elliot’s surprise, Tim only confirms the cop’s suspicions once they return to the interrogation room and even claims Elliot attacked him.
The story returns to Tina on the ship where she attempts to explain her situation to Jess. When she realizes Jess doesn’t believe her, she unveils her and Nico’s (Yannisyn Sanches) entire backstory. It basically boils down to Tina playing on her father’s love for Christianity to convince him that Nico was born through Immaculate Conception. This led to him falling in love with Nico and restructuring his entire will. Tina’s brother was not happy and thus framed her for his murder.
Tina continues to share her story by explaining why she wants to reunite with Nico’s father, Sam Kirkham, in Ireland. Despite Sam initially running off when Nico was born, she claims to now understand why he did. Plus, Sam’s gift of money and miniature pony didn’t hurt. Jess initially proposes turning the murder weapon over to the police until Tina points out that it’s now covered in her prints. Instead, they toss it overboard and get high. Much to Jess’s displeasure, their phones soon follow after Tina reveals that as a cop, her brother can track them.
Danny is doing just that when he loses the signal. After a bit of a tantrum, he switches up his tactics by manipulating Elliot, who has found himself in an extremely awkward scenario with his cellmate (Michael Hawkins). Pulling Elliot out of the cell, Danny shares interrogation footage of a young gang member (Daniel Duffy) admitting to accidentally shooting an innocent standard while trying to hit Big Bobby. Elliot clearly doesn’t buy it but is eventually tricked into revealing Jess’s location. He is then released.
Newly released, Elliot’s first call goes to Francine (Penelope Wilton), who appears to only be concerned with enlisting Elliot to ensure Bonnie (Rosie Cavaliero) has enough guests at her wedding. Elliot agrees to invite his friends.
In an attempt to track down Sam, Tiny visits the Lucky Foal Farms to learn more about Chrysanthemum’s origin.
Elliot is still in a bit of a daze outside the police station when he’s joined by Charlie (Brandon Fellows) and Karis (Jaylin Ye), who have also just been released, although for entirely different reasons. Elliot’s story about Jess’s DNA search leads to him discovering that Christina is Tina. Not only that, but Charlie apparently is friends with her. All three decide to return to Elliot’s apartment after he tells them about watching Will get shot.
Freshly attired and now free of blood, Elliot appears to be in a much more animated state as he discusses with he knows about Peter and Will’s cases with Charlie and Karis. Despite what he learned at the station, Elliot still strongly believes the Brutalizer is involved. Even though his only lead is a posting on Job Haven, Charlie claims he’s found people with less. When Charlie finds a possible lead, Elliot’s attention is drawn to a notification from his doorbell camera.
A quick scene Foals Farms gives the impression that someone is watching Tina through binoculars.
Elliot finds himself face to face with a heated Raphael (Andro Cowperthwaite), looking to fire Jess. Elliot manages to apologize before Karis draws his attention back to their search. When Elliot sees Brutalizer’s post about rat poison, he remembers Francine’s comments about Bonnie’s guests coming down with a strange equestrian flu. Given that Bonnie has only ever seen a picture of her fiancé, he suspects she might be marrying the Brutalizer. All he has to do is mention, ‘open bar’, and everyone, including Raphael, is game for the wedding.
Although Tina is led to believe Foals Farms is a complete bust, a Farmer (Ged McKenna) recognizes Chrysanthemum. Upon doing so, he places a phone call to an unidentified recipient, asking why the horse he sold him years ago has returned to the farm. Despite their lack of success, Tina and Jess decide to treat themselves to a night in the Pine Hideout. Later that evening at dinner, both Jess and Tina appear to be in good spirits. That immediately changes when Tina catches Jess making a call to Elliot. An unidentified patron appears to give the exchange a bit too much attention.
Before the wedding, Elliot expresses his fears about McCoughley Hamburgerson (Patrick Flannery) with Francine. Elliot is left nearly speechless to learn that Francine is far more resourceful and alert than he would have ever imagined. She’s even gone as far as to hire a former SAS operative, Honeysuckle (Rachael Evelyn) as part of the reception party. Later that day, Elliot and Francine are stunned to learn that McCoughley appears to be everything he claims.
Once McCoughley arrives, Elliot continues bombarding him with questions. Their ensuing conversation turns out to be equally informative. The Wedding Officiant (Adam Keast) doesn’t waste any time once the bride and groom arrive at the altar. The event goes by rather quickly without much of an incident.
As the wedding festivities continue, Nico, Tina, and Jess are shown arriving at their country cottage. A man Rigby (James Ledsham) dining at a pub appears to be watching the inside of the cottage via mobile phone.
Francine and Elliot spend several more minutes at the reception, debating what McCoughly could see in Bonnie. When Francine seemingly grows upset and storms off, Janelle (Rachael Elizabeth) arrives to make sure Elliot continues to keep quiet about her tapes. Elliot reunites with his friends at the reception to tell them McCoughley isn’t the Brutalizer. After several minutes, McCoughley pulls him and shares what appears to be cufflinks with the New Jersey Mobster’s team mascot, The Brutalizer.
Thinking that McCoughley is the Brutalizer, Elliot later embarrasses himself while giving the best man speech. Francine eventually has no option but to intervene. Upon doing so, she not only outs herself as the Brutalizer, but she reveals why she took on the persona. Elliot ends up even more embarrassed and storms off. When Francine manages to catch him, she claims to know that Peter was murdered by Tina.
Dead Hot Review
I suppose as far as character development and story progression go, episode 5 delivered. As for everything else, it failed pretty horribly. Well, I can’t say much about the acting. I was continually surprised throughout the episode at how believable some of the scenarios felt. The acting crew did an incredible job, but I feel that some of the comedy is over the top.
I enjoy a good twist just as much as the next viewer but there are times when too much can be a bad thing. Less is more could not be a truer statement in this scenario. I’d like to give the episode a much higher rating, but because I constantly felt like I was having an agenda stuffed down my throat, I can only give it a 4.3 out of 10. Character development, story progression, and acting were on point
The episode deserves a 5 out of 10. Get more Dead Hot recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss the latest TV show and movie releases, crimes, sports, and more.
