As this episode of Death in Paradise begins, Cressida Dempsey (Django Chan-Reeves) streams a video for her followers. Hugo Kingsley (Tyrone Huntley) and Amelia Templeton (Emma Sidi) wait for her in the background. Barney Keats (Will Hislop) speaks to his daughter about being somewhere it’s not raining. They split and agree to meet for dinner around eight. Abigail Warner (Eve Ponsonby) arrives moments later to check into the motel. During dinner, Barney’s group notices that Abigail is eating alone. They contemplate inviting her over. Hugo isn’t interested, but Barney thinks they should invite her to join them. When he invites her, Abigail turns him down because she wants to go to sleep early. She intends to get up for a swim.

The next day, Barney and the others are dealing with hangovers. The girls decide to head to the pool. It appears Abigail has drowned. One hour earlier, DS Florence Cassell (Josephine Jobert) goes for a run and prepares to leave. Dwayne (Danny John-Jules) tells Darlene (Ginny Holder) how they may be able to get an overnight stay at the hotel. Florence approaches them and reveals she is now out of witness protection. She is finally able to leave St. Auguste. Darlene informs her they had an accidental death reported. The Commissioner sent them since the island has no police. Florence tags along and inspects Abigail’s body. As she looks through Abigail’s stuff, Dwayne says she arrived yesterday following a last-minute booking. They believe she hit her head and drowned.

Florence saw Abigail earlier in the morning when she was running on the beach. She doesn’t understand why Abigail would go for a swim and another a short time later. Amelia and Cressida found her body at 8:30. They dived in and dragged her out. They had never met her before besides seeing her at dinner the night before. Florence says something isn’t sitting right with her. Darlene doubts it’s murder since no one there met the woman. Florence speaks to the Commissioner on the phone and says she is looking forward to seeing him. She’s calling for another reason though. Neville (Ralf Little) prepares to go traveling. Commissioner Patterson (Don Warrington) interrupts to tell him about the suspicious death on St Auguste. Neville learns about Florence.

Selwyn admits he thinks DS Cassell should lead the case on the ground. He believes Neville and DS Thomas should head up the investigation there. When they go inside, Naomi tells them that the whole thing is getting odder by the minute. Abigail attended an exclusive private school called Hardens in west London in her teens. Naomi shows them a video of Cressida saying she attended the same school. Cressida and her friends went to the same school and were in the same year as Abigail. Amelia tells Cressida they need to tell them the truth because they’ll find out sooner or later. Cressida insists they didn’t recognize Abigail when they first saw her. She started to realize that she knew Abby Warner. Hugo wants to make it clear that Abigail wasn’t their friend. Instead, they hardly knew it. Florence asks if they spoke to Abigail once they realized they knew her.

Cressida went to see her this morning as she was going out for a swim. She asked Abigail what she was doing there. Abigail says it wasn’t what she thought. Cressida admits she got a little irate and the maid gave her weird looks as she left the room. Darlene says the maid’s statement corroborates what Cressida said. Cressida claims she came straight down and met the others for breakfast. Moments later, Florence speaks to Selwyn, Naomi, and Neville using video chat. They quickly get caught up. Florence checked with reception and learned that Abigail only made the booking a few days ago not long after Cressida mentioned the trip on social media. The four suspects were together when Abigail drowned around 8:15. Hugo believes they’re screwed. Naomi speaks to Catherine (Elizabeth Bourgine) about speaking to Florence earlier.

They hope Florence will get back before Neville leaves. Naomi asks if Catherine knows what happened between them. She knows Neville liked her and seemed to really miss her when she left. Catherine says Neville wanted more, but he would always only be a friend to Florence. Later, Florence finds a message from Neville. She responds to him. In the morning, Darlene tells Dwayne that they’re going to search the victim’s room. Florence checks the shed near the pool. She finds a sign used when the pool is closed for cleaning. Darlene tells her DS Thomas called and they’ve got something. Neville says Hugo is an aspiring politician. Darlene calls him snooty. He’s also a liar because there is more history between him and Abigail. Naomi reveals Abigail was on a scholarship at Hardens and she’s from a very different background. She was raised by a single mom on a council estate in Rotherhithe.

Abigail hated her time at the school because she was teased and bullied. Hugo instigated it and made her life miserable. Florence and Darlene confront Hugo to see what he has to say. He admits he might’ve behaved a little ungraciously towards Abigail, but he was dealing with pressures of his own at the time. For instance, his father expected a lot academically. Hugo started picking on Abigail because she was an easy target. Florence suggests Abigail was there to threaten him with revenge. Hugo reveals there are others who did worse than him. Then, Florence and Darlene approach Barney because he was accused of doing worse. He says he was different back then before saying he got with Abigail for a while back then. Barney says she was a bit shy and awkward until you got to know her.

He thought the lads would find it funny if he was sleeping with a girl from the council estate. Florence asks if he got Abigail to send pictures of herself so he could share them with friends. Barney doesn’t want to lose his little girls at home. He insists he wouldn’t murder Abigail. Later, Barney confronts Hugo for mentioning his name to the police. Hugo argues they would’ve found out sooner or later. The UK police find a journal while searching Abigail’s flat. She started it a few months ago and it mentions all four suspects. Abigail had therapy on and off that started in her early 20s. Naomi thinks what happened at Hardens cast a shadow. Abigail suffered anxiety and depression. The postmortem confirms Abigail drowned. Abigail had sleeping tablets in her system, but they were prescribed to her.

The pathologist found abrasions on Abigail’s skin that were consistent with someone holding her under. Dwayne watches Cressida’s videos. According to Abigail’s Internet history, she had been watching quite a few of those videos. She had also looked up the other suspects online before she came out. There has been no email or phone contact between them though. She also had cords and a case for a memory card. The memory card is missing. Florence and Darlene talk alone later. Florence tells her what it was like being there alone. Darlene says it was difficult on Neville to see Florence leave. Florence missed him more than she thought she would. Dwayne joins them and interrupts their conversation. Florence finds pictures of Abigail and Cressida together so she confronts her.

Cressida admits they were friends, but she said nothing because it was their secret. Things got a little more complicated. It was too much to try to explain why she was hanging out with Abigail. Cressida let her down because she was a coward. She is adamant that she did not kill Abigail. Darlene tells Florence that Neville is leaving Saint Marie. If Florence is going to say something, she doesn’t have long. Naomi checks on Neville who admits he has too much to do before leaving. Neville says Abigail started a journal about four months ago following an incident of bullying at her workplace. He believes she came there to confront her bullies. Abigail wrote about one night repeatedly. The date in question is March 5, 2010. Naomi says they’re not far off from that now. On that date, Amelia was involved in a road traffic accident.

According to the report, Abigail was in the car too. It was only a minor wreck so Neville doesn’t know what scared Abigail. Amelia tells Florence there is no dark secret about that night. There was a party at a friend’s house. As Amelia was driving there, she saw Abigail walking the other way crying. When Amelia checked on her, Abigail insists no one had touched her. They got into the car and just drove. Amelia tried to convince her she could finish school and life would get better. She was distracted when she drove Abigail home and got into a crash. Abigail covered for her so she wouldn’t get in trouble with her dad. It was a pact they had. Florence asks why she is still friends with the other. Amelia says they rarely see each other unless it’s an odd get-together like this. She knows what they can do if you don’t play along.

Later, Neville and the others are convinced that Abigail traveled to St Auguste to confront the bullies. Florence says they’ll search for the memory card in the morning. She hopes she can get back before Neville leaves. Naomi finds Neville working late because he wants to find something useful to help Florence. Naomi wanted to set the place up for a goodbye party. Florence finds Abigail’s hair tie which contains the memory card. Neville thinks of something when he watches Naomi blow a balloon. Neville and Florence seem to figure it out. They talk to each other on the phone about their theories. Florence thinks Abigail realized someone was trying to kill her. Florence meets the suspects and shows them the last entry in Abigail’s journal. Abigail wanted to face the demons that haunted her for so long. She came there because she thought it was her one chance.

Abigail covertly recorded a video in her room the night before she was murdered. Cressida storms into her room to ask why she is there. Abigail wanted to see if they had changed. She has changed and refuses to be a victim anymore. Abigail threatens to go online and expose Cressida. She remembers that party to this day and seeing Cressida with Hugo and Barney. Abigail realized everything that happened to her was caused by Cressida. She accuses Cressida of getting Barney to get her photos so she could spread them. Florence says Abigail had to die because she was going to expose Cressida. They believe she visited Abigail again on the morning of her death. Florence suggests Cressida really wanted to dope Abigail. She put them in the water flask and kept an eye on Abigail. Florence explains how Cressida used Abigail’s smartwatch to give herself time.

Cressida caused a small wound on her head before moving her to the airbed. Then, she put the airbed into the pull and began letting the air out. It is alleged Cressida put out the sign saying the pool was closed for cleaning to prevent anyone from finding Abigail’s body. Then, she got Abigail’s key, returned to her room, and made it appear they were arguing. She left the room making sure she was noticed before joining her friends for breakfast. Once the air was out of the airbed, Abigail drowned. Florence explains how Cressida likely got rid of the airbed evidence. She thinks Abigail knew something was wrong so she left the memory card where it could be found. Abigail wanted people to know the truth and they will. Cressida is arrested. Later, Florence admits she forgot about the time.

Neville calls her to say he is at the airport. The only thing missing at his leaving party was Florence. Neville says it’s been lovely to see her again. They say goodbye and the call ends. It appears Neville leaves on the plane.

 

Death In Paradise Review

This episode pretty much falls in line with the rest of the episodes in this series. The investigation was just okay and it ended with lots of twists as usual. The series clearly lacks what Beyond Paradise has to offer and that’s a halfway compelling cast of characters. There isn’t anyone in this season who packs the same charisma as Humphrey. Neville could possibly fill that void if the other characters hadn’t belittled him to death for so long.

Instead, this is a pretty standard detective show with a uniquely beautiful setting. After 13 seasons, it’s understandable that the investigations would lack any originality. At the very least, the victims should feel like they matter to someone but they really haven’t. The formula has become tedious without any humor keeping things interesting throughout.

Even if there is a season 14, nothing about this one made me want to watch it. I delayed this episode forever and will finally finish the finale when I get around to it, but there is no urgency there because any charm the show had is gone. The fanfare disappeared with it apparently. This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Death in Paradise are available on Reel Mockery here.

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