This episode of Death in Paradise begins 20 minutes before Neville’s flight. Neville Parker (Ralf Little) sits next to another passenger and suspects he is anxious about flying. He takes antihistamines while the passenger leaves. Monette complains on the phone and reminds someone it’s their night to have Dorsey. She checks on Neville who says he’ll sleep it off on the plane. On the plane, Captain Peter Holcroft tells everyone that Air Traffic has given them the all clear. Florence Cassell (Josephine Jobert) says hello to Catherine Bordey (Elizabeth Bourgine). Neville wonders where the passenger in the red cap went.

When he gets off the plane, he calls Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) to tell him about the guy in question. Selwyn says they have a problem because the man has been found deceased. Neville confirms it’s the same guy based on a picture. Naomi (Shantol Jackson) finds the man’s passport which reveals his name is Kurt Henderson (Calvin Demba). Dwayne (Danny John-Jules) and Darlene (Ginny Holder) do not find a gun anywhere on the beach. Selwyn tells them to finish processing the scene before heading over to the airport to speak to the authorities there. Neville gets permission to come back and lead the investigation. Raphael Coty (Jules Miesch) asks Neville how much longer this will take. Neville tells him they’ll have to speak to them all again.

Then, he tells Mr. Holcroft that his plane is now a possible crime scene. Holcroft confirms Kurt was supposed to fly with them today. Monette claims he checked in although he didn’t show up for boarding. Monsieur Coty remembers someone else being at the gate but not on the plane. The others wonder if Neville’s memory was impacted by the drugs and alcohol. Neville is confident he saw Kurt on the plane. Selwyn catches up with Florence. He confirms Neville is coming back although it’s only temporary. Neville makes it back in the morning. Selwyn says the evidence suggests Kurt was shot and the gun was close to his body when it was fired. CCTV footage shows Kurt going through passport control and heading toward the departure gate.

The others aren’t convinced that Kurt actually got on the plane with Neville. Naomi says there is no evidence suggesting Kurt knew any of the three people from the airport. Selwyn spoke to Kurt’s parents who said he had been staying with a married couple named Taylor and Chelsea Fielding. Kurt and Mrs. Fielding had been very naughty. In the days before his murder, Kurt was texting his friend saying Chelsea Fielding was getting too intense. She wanted to run away with him. Chelsea (Emma Naomi) is questioned. When she is asked about the texts, Chelsea explains it can get boring out there. She wanted more from life and looked for it in the wrong place. She was angry when she heard Kurt was leaving, but she wouldn’t have killed him.

Taylor Fielding (Richard Fleeshman) admits he expected something was going on for a couple of weeks. He says it confirmed his suspicions when Kurt just up and left without even saying goodbye. Taylor denies trying to go after Kurt and says they were home all night. Once the detectives leave, Chelsea apologizes again. Taylor insists they’ll make it through this. Neville jumps out of the car when he sees Florence. They agree to get a drink later. At the station, Dwayne says the plane is back. Neville tells him he can start processing it. Coty works for a travel website. Although he doesn’t earn much, he gets to travel a lot. He doesn’t have a witness statement. Neville says he had a prior work commitment so he told Coty he could do it when he comes back from Dominica.

There is no connection between Kurt and Peter. Nothing connects Kurt to Monette Gilbert either. Neville doesn’t understand why he saw Kurt and no one else did. Neville and Florence sit down for a chat. She asks if they can spend some more time together before he leaves. Florence knows she hurt him before and she doesn’t want to do that again. Neville wants to think about it. Later, Neville and Naomi talk about Florence. Noami admits they didn’t find any of Kurt’s fingerprints on the plane. Taylor has a criminal record in the US and UK mostly for smuggling drugs. They believe he was using Peter Holcroft’s charter plane to courier the drugs. Peter’s business was struggling so he likely needed the extra money. That gives them a connection between the victim and someone on the plane.

When they question Peter, he denies everything. He is adamant that Kurt never got on his plane. Moments later, Dwayne tells Neville he found a secret compartment on the plane so something weird has been going on. The bag contains a 9mm pistol which is the same type used to shoot Kurt. Peter insists he never owned a gun in his life. Neville and the others discuss the case back at the police station. They notice scratches at the end of the barrel suggesting a silence could’ve been used. They have many questions and Neville doesn’t have the answers. Later, Dwayne offers to go speak to Neville and get him to man up. Florence says it’s okay since she understands what Neville is going through. Neville meets with Florence to say he is going to have to decline her offer.

If they’re going to give it another go, he wants her to want it as much as he does. Neville admits he doesn’t think she does. He worries the fall down would be bumpier the second time around. Dwayne and Catherine can’t believe Neville turned her down. In the morning, Naomi tells Neville that the lab confirmed the gun found on the plane was used to shoot Kurt. Taylor’s prints were found on it. Neville found a parking ticket for Taylor Fielding’s vehicle around 5 and 5:20 p.m. at the Saint Marie Airport. He was parked outside the airport at the same time of the murder. Naomi and Neville question Taylor who confesses to the murder. They arrest him for the murder. Chelsea interrupts to say Taylor didn’t do it because she did.

They tell Neville and Naomi that Kurt stole money from their safe. Chelsea admits Kurt convinced her to get a separate phone so they could text and Taylor couldn’t find out. She contacted Kurt to tell him not to get on the plane because Taylor had people waiting for him in Dominica. She went to the airport and found Kurt outside the departure hall. She took him to the beach knowing Taylor’s gun was in the glove compartment. Chelsea claims she made Kurt give back the burner phone and stolen money. Then, she shot him. Taylor tells Chelsea she should’ve let him go down for it. Neville is surprised that Kurt supposedly never got on the plane. In private, Naomi tells Neville that Taylor admitted to wiping the prints off the gun and hiding it on the plane.

Neville can’t believe he imagined the whole thing about Kurt being on the plane. Selwyn comes to the station to congratulate Neville on solving his last case. Coty shows up to give his witness statement. Neville comes up with something so Coty is asked to wait outside. He wants to visit the crime scene at the beach with a metal detector. Once Neville checks the beach, he meets all the suspects. He is convinced Kurt boarded the plane and he thinks Monette knows it. Neville doesn’t think Kurt checked his plane until he was already on board. Then, Kurt thought he had no choice but to jump ship. Neville alleges that Monette and Peter helped him do that. Darlene reveals they found $50,000 in Mrs. Gilbert’s house. They suspect Peter was paid and Coty was involved in the plan too.

Neville says Coty’s shades gave everyone away. Neville explains how Kurt managed to escape the plane. Kurt made his way back to the terminal where he likely tried to get a flight to another island. That’s where Chelsea picked him up, took him to the beach, and murdered him. Chelsea says she got all the money from Kurt so she doesn’t know how there could’ve been more. There was 250,000 stolen, but Taylor didn’t say anything because he didn’t think it was important. Neville claims Kurt told Taylor about the money before he was shot. Neville says Taylor followed Chelsea to the airport and entered the beach. They believe Chelsea fired a gun, but they don’t think she shot Kurt. Neville found a bullet in the sand and he suspects it was fired from the same gun.

Chelsea admits she dropped the gun and ran to the car. Neville reveals they found a silence in Taylor’s safe. Taylor likely made Kurt tell him about the rest of the money before shooting him with the gun and silencer. Neville explains how Taylor planted the gun and knew Chelsea would confess with the police came. Naomi and Selwyn speak to Neville after the case has been solved. Neville believes he’s done there. He packs his stuff and prepares to head to the airport. His taxi is stopped by Naomi, Darlene, Dwayne, and others. Catherine asks if he’s sure he’s doing the right thing. Dwayne urges him to go get Florence if he loves her. Neville tracks her down to say he doesn’t want to say goodbye. He just wants them to take a leap together. They are shown touching hands on a boat.

 

Death In Paradise Review

The finale of Death in Paradise was okay with a somewhat good ending for Neville and Florence. At the very least, the episode didn’t seem to drag on for as long as some of the others. The investigation was just okay with another cockamamie ending with a couple of unnecessary twists.

This season didn’t really show Neville in a good light so it’s probably a good thing for the series to move past that character. When the character wasn’t being belittled by the others, he was portrayed as a pathetic, desperate simp. It’d be nice to see Ralf Little move onto greener pastures after this.

Then again, Neville and Florence may end up coming back. It’s hard to say, but it’s hard to be enthusiastic either way after this season. Death in Paradise has really run its course and did everything possible so it’s just becoming a merry go round of mediocrity at this point. As I previously pointed out, series 14  is a no-go for me.

This series has shown that the show can’t innovate and can barely provide a genuinely entertaining episode in a season. On the other hand, Beyond Paradise at least has compelling, likable characters with interesting personal dramas that help move the series along. This episode of Death in Paradise scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Death in Paradise are available on Reel Mockery here.

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