Brindleton – As the third episode of Ellis begins, Rachel Hoffman (Jade Matthew) visits her father, Gerry Rees-Mortimer (Michael Simkins), and tells him she just needed a hug. Gerry tells her it’s not too late before she drives away with her husband. In the van, Rachel tells her husband that everything will be okay after receiving a message. Rachel and Oz (Tama Matheson) camp that night. They check out the water. Oz asks if she’s sure they want to do this. Rachel receives a call. As Rachel answers the call, Oz charges her from behind. An article in The Brindleton Weekly News calls describes the river as “the river from hell”. DCI Ellis (Sharon D. Clarke) reads about the couple. DS Chet Harper (Andrew Gower) arrives and catches up with Ellis. Chet tells her he’s just started studying a course. Ellis complains about amateur sleuths roaming the area.

They go to the scene where the campervan is still parked. They’re greeted by DCI Cotton (Amanda Drew) and DS Archie Dent (Josh Bolt). Cotton explains they’re using side scan sonar, underwater cameras, and ground-penetrating radar to look for the couple. Some people have reported seeing the couple. Ellis about the phone that was found. DS Dent says they found Oz’s phone the day after they were reported missing. Rachel’s phone was located at the camp yesterday. A local kid, Rory Summerfield, came back and found the phone after the police were gone. Rachel’s phone had blood on it. Someone tried to unlock it but got blocked. They also found a strip of ripped material on a branch nearby. A woman with her dog, Cooper, walks the path. Cooper runs away from the owner and they end up finding Rachel’s yellow jacket. Chet notices there were three wine glasses so they must’ve been expecting someone. A severed hand is found nearby.

Ellis is convinced the hand belongs to someone else because of the tattoo. DS Archie Dent informs them that a body has been found at Radley Basin. The woman who found the body yells that it’s Rachel’s coat. She takes pictures of everything using her phone. Rachel’s body is pulled from the water. Lydia Green (Rina Mahoney) tells Chet how her dog found the body. DCI Cotton gets upset with Lydia and tells her it’s police business. Lydia insists she’s just trying to help. Ellis doesn’t seem to believe her. Ellis and the team begin trying to locate the other body. A bunch of interested folks arrive to find out about the body. Someone flies a drone above them. Ds Archie Dent yells for Rory Summerfield (Harry Marcus) to get out of there. Rory speaks to Ellis about the phone and the body. Gerry arrives and tries to push past the police. Ellis tells Gerry that a body has been found, but they need to secure the scene. Gerry is convinced that Oz killed Rachel.

Chet asks why Oz would kill Rachel within three days of their marriage. Gerry says it wasn’t right and they knew it. He goes on to say Oz was trouble. Gerry insists Oz conned her and he was only after his money. Memories brought them to the campsite. The family came there when Rachel was in her teens and before her mom passed. Next, Chet tells Ellis that Oz left Australia under suspicion of financial impropriety. Ellis suggests Rachel wanted to reconnect with her past. They head to the Swelt. Once they arrive, Chet wonders why people are so interested and whether the murder is filling a hole in their lives. Chet and Ellis speak to Leo Braxton (Charlie de Melo) who is running a food truck. He admits to knowing Rachel since he is local. Leo says he hadn’t seen her in ages. Then, they check out The Swelt. They talk about the crime scene and blood found on rocks in the area. Chet receives a call before telling Ellis that Oz’s body was found badly beaten and with a shotgun wound.

The body was found at Oxbow Riffle. At the station, the team talks about the case while Ellis researches Rory Summerfield. Oz suffered a shotgun blast to the chest and still has his hands. They have not identified the owner of the severed hand yet. Chet explains the tattoo is a twin-headed jackal. A white wedding garter with Rachel’s DNA on it was found at the scene. Most farmers have a shotgun so that won’t help. Ellis wants to check cars coming in before the victims were killed. She says Rachel used to be in a local band called The Cold Turkeys. Rachel had a lot of friends here. Ellis wants to start looking into her friends, including Leo. Alex Scanlan (Richard Sherwood) was the band’s leader. They also need to speak to Abbie Summerfield (Charley Webb) who is Rory’s big sister. DCI Cotton says Abbie hooked up with a former young offender named Kane Harrison. Now, they run a thriving motorcross business on the edge of town. Chet tells Ellis there is no sign of Lydia Green in Norfolk.

Ellis speaks to DCI Cotton about their careers. She agrees to let Cotton face the press. Cotton admits the phone coverage is patchy out and about. Cotton tells her that her first name is Val. Archie tells Chet about moving there a couple of years ago. An older man is at the station because he can’t remember why he came. Ellis and Chet speak to Soraya Mansoori (Shanaya Rafaat) about the hand and the shotgun blast. The tattoo is fresh so it was done in the days before the hand was removed. It appears the hand was severed by an animal trap. The shotgun wound was point-blank to the chest. Oz was still alive when he went into the water. Archie arrives and says Lydia Green’s fingerprints were found on the campervan. Lydia comes in for questioning. She says her married was Ford so all the records would be under that name. Lydia denies knowing the couple, but admits she might’ve done by the campervan. Ellis suspects the dog found the body because of its sense of smell.

Lydia eventually admits she is trying to become a true crime podcaster. She says there was no one at the van so she checked it out. Lydia claims Gerry is a fat-cat capitalist. Ellis tells her to go home today or get charged. Later, Ellis tells Chet that Rachel was closing her bank account. Chet says they can check into the cottage they’re renting whenever they want. Ellis looks through pictures before trying to call Grace. She leaves her a message. Then, she speaks to ACC Alison Leighton (Allison Harding) about the current case. Chet arrives with the shopping. Ellis wants to go to The Boar and Brisket. In the days since her wedding, Rachel contacted all of her bandmates. Chet calls Archie to see if he’s found anything while Ellis goes inside to speak to Leo. Chet joins her inside to say Archie is checking the cars. They see Leo hanging out with Gerry who is staying in one of the rooms there. Leo says Rachel wanted to have a reunion so everyone could meet Oz. He didn’t go.

Leo claims Alex and Rachel had all the talent in the band. He called Rachel back to apologize but it went to voicemail. Chet finds out that Gerry arrived four days ago. They question Gerry who denies killing anyone. He claims he came so he could be around in case Rachel saw sense. Gerry talks about coming there when Rachel was younger. He didn’t know Rachel was planning on moving to Australia. Outside, Ellis and Chet agree to speak to another band member. They go inside Scanlan’s residence. It appears someone has broken in. They find pictures scattered on the bed and a phone on the floor. One picture of Scanlan and Rachel kissing has been ripped in half. The next day, DCI Cotton tells them that the prints in the cottage matches those in the blood on Rachel’s phone. Alex Scanlan could have lost a hand. Ellis wants to know why he went to London on the day of the wedding. She wants to know more about Abbie, Rory, and Kane. DCI Cotton says Abbie and Rory’s parents were addicts. They’re dead now.

Kane was sexually abused by his father. He stopped using drugs when he met Abbie. Kane is fine unless someone tries to move in on Abbie. Ellis and Chet visit Abbie, Kane Harrison (Mark Field), and Rory. Abbie admits she was friends with Rachel back in the day. They got together at the camper on the night before they went missing. Abbie says Oz was nice enough. Abbie confirms they inherited the land from their parents. She says Rachel knew how to get boys all over her including Alex. They were an item for like three years. Kane says he did not go to the camper van. Abbie claims she wore Kane’s jacket and must’ve got a tear in it on the night in question. Back at the station, Ellis says Foster Lang (David Sterne) caught music at the school where the group went. He was also the band manager. They saw him in reception yesterday. Lydia has posted a video of her harassing Foster. Ellis and Chet find Foster Lang sitting outside his property. They ask him about Alex. Ellis sees something inside so she asks for backup.

Foster says Alex was very drunk and he came onto him. Chet asks Ellis if she wants him to go inside. Before either of them can go inside, Chet sees an animal trap nearby. Elis goes inside where she finds a record spinning. She stops it before finding a blood-covered bed. Ellis tells Chet that no one is inside. Foster says it was his fault. Ellis and Chet try to find out which way Alex would’ve traveled to get to the hospital. Foster mentions The Claw. Dent arrives and is asked to have people search the area. Ellis tells Chet she knows where The Claw is. They find Alex moments later. Later, Chet tells Ellis that he spoke to Alex’s tattoo artist. He said the double-headed jackal represented Alex’s bisexuality. He was finally coming out after years of uncertainty. Alex had a younger friend with him. Ellis tells Foster Lang what she believes happened. Foster explains that Alex came onto him at the school. Another teacher saw it and the school mishandled it. Foster resigned in protest of how Alex was treated.

He says Leo wrote songs too and Abbie was the wildest. Rory was never in clothes and he was always hungry. Ellis tells Chet that Rory Summerfield hasn’t posted since they found Alex’s body. DCI Cotton reveals the media thinks Alex was the killer and some of the team agree. Lydia is not pointing the finger at Foster Lang. Archie managed to get her car’s registration. Ellis speaks to Cotton about Dent and her daughter. Ellis admits she wasn’t always there for her. Cotton sent Ellis everything on Abbie, Rory, the parents’ drugs bust, and Kane. Chet learns that the car is registered to Lydia Maddox. She has history with Gerry-Rees-Mortimer. Ellis has been looking into the Summerfield’s drug bust. Someone told on them through an anonymous tip. Ellis and Chet find Lydia who claims she just solved the crime for them. She’s convinced Foster is in on it. Lydia says she’s just trying to get by since she’s broke.

Chet says a gag order has been taken out against her under the name Lydia Maddox. Ellis says she’s trying to get revenge on Gerry for buying out her company. Lydia admits she was hoping to prove that he’s corrupt. She claims Rachel saw the light and stopped working for Gerry. That’s why Gerry killed her. She allegedly had dirt on her father as well. Back at the station, Ellis and Chet learn that the trap at Lang’s house is not the one used to sever Alex’s hand. Unidentified prints from the photos were sent off for testing. Soraya says they also found traces of an organosulfur compound that no one recognized. While looking through evidence, Chet and Ellis learn that Rachel was coming back to say goodbye and she had insurance. It was evidence of Catalystico’s unethical business practices. Next, Chet tells Ellis that Gerry was staying at Leo’s regularly and Leo got a recent financial boost. Ellis accuses Gerry of trying to stop Rachel from ruining his reputation.

He’s asked why he paid Leo 50,000 pounds just before Rachel went missing. Gerry claims he was just investing in Leo’s business. Chet asks why he came there so much last summer. Gerry claims he didn’t. Ellis finds it odd that Gerry called Alex a two-bit DJ. She believes Rory was looking for Alex. Rory was at most of his gigs. She believes Rory was the younger friend at the tattoo shop too. They go to the motorcross place. Chet confirms Abbie has a shotgun license although Kane can’t because he has a criminal record. Ellis says not everyone was at the party the Summerfields had. They see Leo with Rory. They speak to Abbie with Kane nearby. Abbie believes Rory was just exploring. She insists it wasn’t a problem for them that Alex came out as bisexual. Ellis asks her about whether it was tough when her parents were sent down. Ellis wants to speak to Rory.

Seconds later, Chet stops Rory from sleeping away on a dirt bike. He yells he’s trying to get away from Abbie and Kane because they killed Alex. He’s convinced they did. Abbie insists they didn’t. Rory says Kane went out to confront Alex. Abbie says there is an age gap so they were worried about that. Ellis thinks Kane confronted Alex because of the abuse he suffered. Alex told him they were just friends and He wanted to support Rory. Kane insists he didn’t kill anyone. Abbie believes Kane because he was telling the truth about everything. Chet asks Leo about the 50,000. Leo claims it was just an investment. He also denies Gerry staying with him last summer. Abbie tells Ellis that Alex wanted to come clean about telling the police about her parents. Ellis thinks Alex was jealous. The bust broke up the band as well as Rachel and Leo. In private, Ellis tells Chet that Rachel and Leo spoke on the phone for 46 minutes so she must’ve told him about Alex’s confession.

They suggest Rachel was staying at The Boar and Brisket. Soraya calls and confirms the sulphur compound on the ripped pictures was truffle oil. They begin looking for Leo and find a picture of the Swelt in his restaurant. Ellis believes she knows where he is. They find him on the edge of the cliff with a rifle. Leo admits Alex’s action split up him and Rachel. Then, she walked into his life again. Rachel had split up with Oz so they gave it a go. Rachel ended up going back with Oz though. A flashback shows Leo fighting with Alex who flees. Leo says Alex went to grab the trap in self-defense and it just went off. Rachel and Oz hear the screaming so they came running. Oz and Leo fought. Alex grabbed Rachel’s phone and ran away. Leo it all got so crazy. Leo eventually surrenders. Chet and Ellis speak to the others at the station before leaving.

Ellis tells Cotton that her team just needs a steer. Then, she tells Chet it’s finally time for a drink. At the pub, Ellis receives a message. Chet thinks she should ignore it since it’s likely Leighton. When he gets up, Ellis checks it and finds out that it’s from Grace. Then, the drinks arrive.

 

Ellis Review

The third episode of Ellis was watchable although it’s hard to say much other than that. The characters were a bit more tolerable this time around because they weren’t fighting with their counterparts. On the other hand, this is an hour and a half long so it’s a real slog to get through.

Plus, the show really doesn’t have any imagination. There is never a real payoff because there are no surprises. Unless viewers just aren’t paying attention, they should be able to see what is coming around every corner. It would be easy to slack off during the episodes because they’re so tedious and would make good background noise at times.

The series really needs to get creative with its cases and the resolutions because that could set it apart from others. Each episode has been predictable in one way or another. This one was particularly bad. It was easy to see why Rory was so involved and that Leo would be caught because of something from the restaurant.

There needs to be a much stronger payoff since viewers are dedicating an hour and a half to the stories. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Ellis can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.