As the 7th episode of Harrow’s third season begins, we see a woman with a bloody mouth outside of a motel. She is fiddling with her phone as she stumbles toward her vehicle. She manages to get into her vehicle and drives away only to crash into a garbage can moments later. After the intro, James (Harrison Gilbertson) checks on Bryan Nichols (Damien Garvey) while pretending to be with tech support. Nichols agrees to give him as much time as he needs since he is going to be out of the office for most of the day. Bryan’s colleague enters so he can give her something to take to the evidence room. James watches carefully as Bryan unlocks his safe. It is the phone and James uses the computer to snap a picture of the evidence bag.

Bryan learns there might be another lead on Harrow’s son since they’ve found a study visa for James Reed. When asked by Bryan, James checks his email and finds a picture of his visa so he pretends immigration hasn’t sent anything. James makes up an excuse to leave while Bryan’s colleague makes sure he is okay with the case since he has known Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd) for so long. Bryan says that is why he gave Daniel every chance. Meanwhile, Daniel finds Grace (Jolene Anderson) looking at pictures of Ben and his new girlfriend, but she denies she is stalking her ex. Daniel learns about Ben’s fiancé before Edwina (Faustina Agolley) enters and asks Daniel about speaking Spanish. They step into the hallway and find Renae (Miriama Smith) trying to talk to Carl from Venezuela.

His wife had a heart attack at the wheel and he doesn’t want to leave until he sees her. Dr. Lyle Fairley (Darren Gilshenan) has been put in charge of doing her autopsy. Carl (Stephen Lopez) wants to know how his wife Gabriella (Brittany Morris) died. He doesn’t believe it was a heart attack since she was 28 and says they first thought it was a car accident. He goes on to say that her great-grandmother still posts photos of her tomatoes on Instagram. Daniel promises to do everything he can to find out what happened, but it is going to take a few hours. Carl is okay with that. He refuses to leave Gabriella since they’ve been together since she was in school. The autopsy begins and a CT scan shows no sign of a stroke or aneurysm. Daniel finds injuries on her mouth and nose but they could be from the vehicle collision. There was no damage to the vehicle though since it was barely moving when it hit the trash bins.

They agree to take a sample of the blood since it is an odd color. Daniel goes in for a closer look and finds more cuts and bruising on the inner lips. Plus, her tongue and throat are swollen. Then, he finds some sort of fruit in her mouth. He uses the endocam and finds that her larynx was swollen to the point that it was almost completely closed. She could barely get air and Grace realizes that there is excess mucus. Daniel pulls a raspberry from the woman’s throat and finds more inside. They were swallowed whole. He believes the red liquid on the woman’s mouth is raspberry juice and not blood. Since there is mucus, they know she didn’t choke on them, and the raspberries aren’t large enough to block her airway. Grace suspects anaphylaxis and Daniel agrees with that assumption. Daniel concludes that Gabriella was allergic to raspberries.

Daniel tells Carl about it, but Carl says she would eat them all of the time when they could afford them. She never had a reaction before so Daniel asks where she would get the raspberries. Seconds later, they head to the motel where Gabriella worked since she might’ve got the raspberries there. Daniel admits that the toxicology will confirm if something is wrong with the raspberries, but not fast enough to stop someone else from eating them. They talk to the manager who doesn’t want to discuss Gabriella’s case in front of everyone. Daniel notices the security room with multiple camera feeds before the manager leads him to the kitchen. Along the way, he tells them he doesn’t know why Gabriella left when she did since she didn’t clock off or fill out her timesheet.

Once they arrive, the manager complains to two workers about not adhering to rosters and break times. They run into Fiona (Yasmin Langlois) who was friends with Gabriella. Fiona says she didn’t see her last night because they had different shifts before she is told the manager wants to see her before she leaves. Mr. Moore tells her she knows why and she admits she does, but Daniel finds the conversation interesting. He also notices she has a band-aid or bandage on her arm. Next, they talk to the head chef (Luisa Prosser) who says the raspberries are $80 a kilo and are flown in from Tasmania. She is sure there is nothing wrong with them since they’re the best. She quickly pops one in her mouth and says they’re only good for fruit platters because they’re so expensive.

Derek Moore (Rupert Reid) explains they’re a part of the welcome packs which only go out to the facility’s VIPs. Only one went out yesterday and that went out to Room 1503. Derek quickly interrupts to keep her quiet. Derek claims there is nothing wrong with the raspberries and Gabriella couldn’t access them since room staff isn’t allowed in the kitchen. Daniel suggests she came in contact with them up on level 15, but Derek says no because she didn’t work VIP levels. He goes on to say that the VIP floor has top security and even the maids would need card access. Daniel asks to look at the security footage but Derek doesn’t want that to happen. Derek reminds them that the guests pay a lot of money for their privacy and he isn’t going to violate that without a warrant.

Daniel asks what happens to the leftover fruit platter before going outside and searching through the garbage can belonging to Oxley + Stirling. Daniel finds a receipt from room 1509 which shows they purchased champagne and abalone, but there is nothing about raspberries. Daniel says there was only one fruit platter yesterday and it should be in the trash can but it isn’t and Gabriella couldn’t have taken it home since it would’ve been in her vehicle. Daniel wants to go to the 15th floor, but Grace claims it doesn’t matter since the chef ate one and they weren’t poisonous. She wants to go back to work and she isn’t going to ride with Harrow who smells like trash. Then, Daniel notices the trash cans Gabriella ran into. He searches the ground and finds a key card for the motel and suspects it came from Gabriella. He uses the card to go to the 15th floor.

Seconds later, he uses it to sneak into room 1503. He snoops around a bit before being overwhelmed by two Russian men. He tells them he is searching for raspberries before he is guarded in the living room. A woman enters and asks Daniel if he is working on the maid’s case and he confirms he is. She wants to know how Gabriella died. When Daniel asks who they are, she threatens to call the police and report an intruder in their suite. He tells her about the Anaphylaxis, raspberries, and fruit platter delivered to this room before they chat in Russian. As Daniel is escorted out, he shows the woman a picture of Gabriella and pleads for information. She doesn’t answer and only tells Daniel to not come back to her suite. Next, he uses his computer and learns that the woman was a part of the Russian activist group Radical Action.

Grace enters and learns that the woman’s name is Yelena Grishenko (Liliya May) and she is a Russian journalist and environmental activist. Yelena grew up in a Russian coal town and got childhood emphysema along with 30%of the rest of her town. She is in town for a public talk but nobody knows where and that includes the ticket holders. They’ll only know an hour before she speaks before she has received a lot of death threats. Daniel wonders if someone from the fossil fuel industry wanted to shut her up or someone with the Russian government. He suspects the raspberries were poisoned with something intended for Yelena but Grace claims otherwise since the lab report confirms the raspberries were okay. Gabriella had no drugs, alcohol, or poison in her system either. She claims Carl lost his wife due to bad fortune.

Daniel returns to Carl moments later and lets him see his wife. He tells him about their discovery and how they believe she died. Carl thanks Daniel before he leaves. When Daniel returns to his office, he is bothered by a young boy named Louie (Oliver De Los Santos). They talk about the dead things in Daniel’s office and how Louie wanted to have his guinea pig stuffed when he died. They talk about Pythagoras which was the guinea pig’s name. As for the real Pythagoras, he had a lot of useful life advice such as not sharing your roof with swallows. The boy says beans give him a tummy ache before Daniel argues that raspberries are worse. Daniel is surprised when Warrington enters and he learns she is the boy’s mother. She quickly complains about Daniel letting her son in there and the five PMs he needs to complete before he leaves for the night.

When they leave, Daniel tries to contact Fern (Ella Newton) who is busy cleaning. She tells her dad that James isn’t there and she doesn’t know where he is. She tries to get her dad to help James. She says she knows what it is like to need help and that is why she is helping him. She claims he isn’t a bad person and just needs someone who believes in him. Daniel asks if James told her about the $22 million he stole from the dead boy’s mother. Daniel says he wants to help but James needs to start by telling both of them the same story before she abruptly ends the call. Daniel finishes the autopsies and learns that Lyle has a garrotting. Another body is brought in and it appears that the man was choked with a piano wire. There is no ID but Daniel believes the man’s tattoo is a Spetsnaz tattoo. He explains it is a tattoo for the Russian special forces.

It also looks like the man has a bite mark on his hand. The autopsy begins on the man and they confirm that the bruising on his neck matches the internal bruising around the larynx. Grace tells Lyle about the man’s mucus so strangulation is unlikely. Daniel looks at a scan of Gabriella’s teeth before saying he thinks her teeth will match the man’s bite mark. Daniel and Grace wonder if Gabriella was force-fed the raspberries by the man on their autopsy table. Daniel believes Gabriella got between the man in Yelena who is likely in serious danger. Daniel and Grace rush to the hotel while Daniel calls Edwina and asks her to run more toxicology tests on the man and Gabriella. Daniel approaches Derek and tells him they need to talk to Yelena but he claims there is nobody there by that name.

Grace finds out that Yelena’s talk is being held at the hotel, but Derek won’t let them in without a ticket. Daniel is allowed to talk to Yelena after threatening to call the feds. She is deadset on going on the stage unless Daniel can show her a face. When she leaves, Daniel asks Derek about Fiona sneaking off to the doctor’s office early yesterday. She likely got Gabriella to cover for her on the VIP floor so they need to see the footage to find out who came into this room. They check the footage and watch as Gabriella enters the room and rushes off. Two men exit the room and go after her. One of the men is the dead man but the other one is still out there. Daniel calls Bryan and tells him about the Russian agents so he can tell the feds. Bryan wants Harrow to wait, but he spots the man and it is clear he is going to do something crazy.

Daniel decides to go after the man after telling Grace to tell Yelena and her security. Daniel chases the man through the motel and outside. The man stops and Daniel asks him if the maid saw him poisoning the fruit platter. They couldn’t have a witness so they stuffed the raspberries down her mouth. The assassin couldn’t let his friend go to the hospital so he had to die another way. The Russian assassin attacks Daniel until the motel staff comes outside and he decides to leave. Daniel tells him he has failed, but the man suggests otherwise. Harrow wonders what he has done before we see Yelena walking down the hallway. Grace tries to stop her from going out while Daniel rushes back inside. Daniel calls Grace to tell her that the Russian planted and poisoned something. Daniel watches as Yelena prepares to use an inhaler and believes it could have been poisoned.

He tells Grace it is the inhaler. They run toward Yelena to stop her from using the inhaler and Grace gets it. As Daniel is led outside by police, Fiona approaches and admits it was her fault and Gabriella died because of her. Daniel says it was terribly bad luck and terribly bad people. Daniel and Grace are taken away by police. Yelena gives her speech while Derek looks at the picture of Gabriella and removes it from the wall. Before long, Daniel is released and he sees a news report about the Russian activist being saved by Federal police. Grace joins him and realizes there is no mention of them. Grace wants to take credit for saving her, but Daniel believes he reached her first. They soon learn that Ben and Sage bailed them out. When they leave, Grace says she doesn’t care about the new fiancé and she wants to go for ice cream.

Daniel says they need to go to work. Moments later, Bryan meets with the Deputy Coroner who says he had lunch with Merilee Cotter from prosecutions who wanted to know how Max’s case was going. They don’t want him removed from the case, but Mila Zoric might. Her legal team is calling constantly asking for Max’s body, the vehicle, and the items found in the vehicle. Bryan admits he doesn’t see a reason to stop them from burying Max if Lyle and Bramson have finished their PMs. He can’t release the phone found in the car though because he thinks it could connect James Reed to Max’s death. He says Harrow would be wise to share what he knows before the trial. Bryan goes to the coroner’s office to sign off so the Feds can get the Russian’s body. As for the other one, he was killed in a similar fashion. Bryan tries to drop some hints for Daniel about crims getting caught eventually.

Daniel tells Carl the truth about Gabriella’s death. Bryan’s computer is fixed after some sort of malware is removed and he tells the woman about the IT kid, but she says she is the only one assigned to the job. She agrees to check for deleted emails and quickly finds the picture of James’s visa. Meanwhile, Mila Zoric (Diana Glenn) follows Fern while she tries to work. She stops Fern and asks her about cleaning. It only takes seconds for Mila to get Fern’s name and phone number. Callan (Hunter Page-Lochard) finds it odd that James is now locking his room. They get into a spat over Callan cooking all of the time and James wondering if Fern wants a Mr. Domestic. Callan believes James is only using Fern and says Harrow is a better man than he’ll ever be. Bryan consults with his partner and both believe James was trying to snoop around in hopes of getting the phone back. Fern meets up with James a bit later and asks him about the 22 million.

He doesn’t look happy about that. Daniel spends time on his boat looking through old photos. He calls Grace who asks if everything is okay. He asks her to go out for ice cream since it was her idea and she agrees. When Daniel turns around, he finds Tanya Reed (Sara Wiseman) standing near his boat.

 

Harrow Review

The 7th episode was likely one of the best episodes of Harrow’s third season so far. I will say that the Russian investigation was a bit long-winded, but I think that is to be expected at this point and it ended well. It was one of the better side investigations this season and it has a unique ending compared to the others.

I also like that everyone is beginning to doubt James Reed and his intentions. However, I have a suspicion that he is likely telling the truth in the end. It just wouldn’t make sense any other way, would it? I could be wrong though. Bryan Nichols is getting closer to tracking down Harrow’s son and Mila Zoric is likely going to trap Fern and use her to get what she wants from James.

What is actually on James’s cellphone? Is it evidence that can clear his name or has he been lying all along? Tanya Reed had now entered the picture so that will likely shine more light on James and whatever happened. The next episode looks interesting so I can’t wait to watch it. As for this one, I’d give it an 8 out of 10. Previous and future recaps of Harrow will be available on Reel Mockery here.