The story begins with Christopher Edwards (David Thewlis) target practicing while surrounded  by wearing black attire. Chris exercises in his cell. He prepares for an interview. Susan Edwards (Olivia Colman) talks to the TV camera about being a librarian and her interests – books and movies. An appraiser is inspecting Susan’s collection. Chris is doing push-ups in his cell. She is with her solicitor, Douglas Hylton (Dipo Ola) at the prison.

DC MacBride (Maanu Thiara) speaks with Chris’s stepmother, Tabitha Edwards (Katheryn Hunter), about Christopher and Susan. Christopher was distraught when his mother and brother, David, died. He asks about Susan’s “fragile” state. She says Chris was always drawn to people like Susan, which she believes is linked to his mother. Chris always fails at trying to save people.

In a flashback, Chris is grieving his brother, David’s death. She offers him a cup of tea. Initially, he refuses the offer but changes his mind, asking for two sugars. She writes a letter to Gerard Depardieu to request a signed photograph for Chris who lost his brother several months prior. She believes the gift will lift his spirits. She takes the letter to the mailbox.

DC McBride discusses the case with detectives. He demonstrates the shootings by picking up small picture frames with the suspects’ photos. He says “bang, bang” and knocks William Wycherley’s photo frame over with Patria Wycherley’s photo frame. He says Patricia picks the gun up after her mother dropped it. He then says “bang, bang” and knocks Patricia’s photo frame over with Susan’s photo frame. DCI Tony Collier (Daniel Rigby) adds that Susan wrapped her parent’s bodies with a blanket and put them under the bed. They all agree in unison that Chris’s and Susan’s story is “bullshit.”

DC Lancing (Kate O’Flynn) and DC Paul Wilkie (Samuel Anderson) interview Chris. He is shown copies of Susan’s collection. He tells Lancing to be careful with Gerard Depardieu’s letters. She refers to the men in the photos as “heroic.” Susan utilized credit cards to purchase some of the items in her collection without Chris’s knowledge. She calls the collection “useless tat”. Chris disagrees, saying some of the pieces are of high taste and very rare. She claims the collection was appraised for 700 quid. He refuses to believe her. He accuses her of lying.

In a flashback, Chris and Susan are having breakfast. One of the spice shakers is empty. Susan offers to refill it, but Chris refuses. He is searching for the spice when a canister of peppercorns spills on the floor. She says the dustpan is in under the sink. He needs the Hoover vacuum to clean up the peppercorns. While searching for the vacuum, he discovers a box of documents. One of the documents is a receipt for a Picture Show Magazine signed by Gary Cooper. Susan paid 400 pounds for the item. Another document is a letter to William who is turning 100 from the Department for Work and Pensions. A representative is requesting a meeting with William at their address. Susan told the agency her father was living with them. Chris demands to know why she hid the letter from him.

Chris tells DC Lancing and DC Wilkes that Susan deals with things compulsively. She was trying to buy back the happiness her parents stole from her. He accuses the detectives of trying to “goad” him into something. He says Patricia and Williams, “Never stopped being horrible to her.” He tried not to hate them or get involved. Susan and her parents had shared ownership in a house.

In a flashback, William and Patricia visit Chris’s flat. Patricia asks Chris to take William for a drink, so she can be alone with Susan. Her life with William is awful, she has no friends. She accuses Susan of escaping William. Chris is hesitant to leave Susan and Patricia alone. He tells William he has to go pee. Williams says, “You’ve got the bladder of a mouse, a lady mouse.” He walks in as Patricia scolds Susan, “You can be a thoughtless little bitch sometimes.”  She tells her to consider it a loan.

Back in the interview room, Chris says Susan signed the house over to her parents. Before the ink dried, they sold the home and moved to Mansfield. He has a flashback of when he discovered Susan signed the home over to her parents. He scolds her, “How can you be so stupid.” He accuses her of letting them take their money. She defends her actions, saying they promised to not sell it. Christopher picks up a chair, slams it down, and continues to scold Susan.

Susan is visiting her solicitor in prison. He suggests they play I Spy or cards. She asks him about his life. His father was absent in his life. He loves his mother and has a girlfriend who he hopes talks about him like Susan talks about Chris. He asks her if her feelings for Chris are real.

Lancing continues to grill Chris about Susan’s refusal to change. She accuses him of watching television with the man who sexually abused his wife. She says he abandoned Susan when she needed him. He denies the allegations and continues to stand by his statement. DCI Collier is watching through the privacy glass. He says, “Here we go.” DC Wilkie shows Chris photos of his and Susan’s wedding. He claims William did not approve of him, which is why he is missing from the photos. Lancing goes on a tirade about her mother worrying about her alcoholic father. She encourages her mother to let it go. She says some people are beyond help. She tells Chris to stop trying to help people who are beyond help. He doesn’t believe anyone beyond help. He wasn’t trying to save his mother and brother he was trying to love them.

When Lancing accuses Susan of killing both of her parents, Chris interjects, saying she couldn’t have done it several times before blurting out, “She’s terrified of guns.” He belonged to a gun club and owned several pistols. When he says this, DCI Collier, Sandra Winters (Nimisha Odedra), and DC MacBride cheer loudly. Susan accompanied Chris to several gun practices. He rants, “She couldn’t even bring herself to touch a gun, much less shoot one.” He continues to defend Susan. A flashback of Patricia pointing a gun and William’s body appears on the screen. Chris is escorted back to his cell.

Lancing goes over Susan’s statement. The detectives believe Chris helped Susan murder her parents. They are looking at murder charges for both Susan and Chris. Susan is distraught by the news. The privacy glass is being torn down while the interview continues. Lancing gets up and encourages Susan to follow. She walks past what looks like a movie set. She claps her hands and says “chop, chop.” Hylton tells Susan she doesn’t have to go with them. Susan chases Lancing and Wilkie, asking them where they are going. Lancing says, “You two, you’re looking fresher than when I saw you last night” as she walks past actors dressed up as Patricia and William.

The doorbell rings, Chris and Susan enter and give a bouquet of flowers to Patricia. They head over to another area, where William is lying on the floor and Patricia is sitting on a bed. Lancing helps William up from the floor. She encourages Susan to tell them what really happened the night her parents died. She retrieves the gun from Patricia and gives it to Chris who points it directly at Patricia. Chris plays with the gun while William and Patricia get on the bed.

Back in the interview room, Lancing accuses Susan and Chris of murdering her parents. Susan reminds her, they buried the bodies on the weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest. They stayed up to watch the show, so they could bury the bodies while their neighbors were in bed. Lancing repeats Chris’s statement about Susan being scared of guns. She says it was Chris’s way of admitting to the murders. Susan argues with Lancing. She continues to deny Chris was the shooter before she blurts out that her father was fascinated by “fascist iconography and Nazis.” Lancing and Wilkie leave the interview room and Susan breaks down.

In her cell, Hylton tries to console her. She screams, “I don’t trust anyone except Chris.” He encourages her to keep it together. She demands to know why he didn’t do something to stop the detectives during the interview. He denies knowing about the bank account, the house, and Chris’s guns. She was not supposed to tell him, so why would she. She calls Chris “stupid” and questions his actions. Hylton admits to being sentenced to prison for fighting when he was young. She is irate and inconsolable.

The detectives are celebrating on a rooftop. DCI Collier tells them to calm down and they did not earn a “table dance.” He congratulates Lancing and Wilkie, saying “Howdy Sheriff, fair fu**s to you, Emma balls of steel.” He refers to Chris and Susan as “vampires” and their statements as “fairy tale as Father fu**ing Christmas.” Santa never killed anyone, yet. He gets emotional when talking about his job. Lancing leaves the celebration to call her dad who calls her “ducky.”

Susan reads a letter she wrote to Chris. In a flashback, Susan gives Chris the signed photograph of Gerard Depardieu. He is shocked Depardieu is friends with them. She tells Chris about seeing a horse while out walking. She talked to the horse while it stood in the field and ate grass. She called the horse “Susan.” She imaged herself as a horse galloping on the horizon. They kiss as the episode comes to an end.

Landscapers Review

The episode was the worst yet, thanks to the cringeworthy stage scene. Congratulations to the writers for making the detectives look like desperate imbeciles. The camera work is showing signs of diminishing. The extreme close-up shots were poorly executed. While the stage scene was supposed to represent a demonstration by Lancing and Wilkie, it did nothing but make the show look like a work of fiction.

Just when you thought you heard it all, Susan blurts out that her father was fascinated by fascist iconography. This statement served no purpose in the show, but to act as an awe factor. There are no words to describe McBride’s photo frame murder demonstration.

The show is beginning to look more like a train wreck with each episode. The episode deserves a 5.

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