As the third episode of Love Rat begins, Emma Walters (Sally Lindsay) rides in the back of Niko’s vehicle. Once Niko (Gerald Kyd) arrives, he grabs a handgun from the seat of the truck. Then, he tells Emma to get out and forces her to sit down nearby. Niko claims he is trying to help her because she has no idea what George will do if he finds her. He thinks she should’ve gone home like the others. Emma asks about Aneka who she suspects didn’t go home. Niko insists it isn’t what she thinks. Emma grabs the gun and attempts to force Niko to give her the keys. Niko thinks she should trust him because he just saved her life. He takes the gun from her and says he is not a killer.

When a vehicle arrives, he tells Emma to come inside because he’ll kill her if he finds her. George (Ramon Tikaram) tells Niko that he tried to make her see sense but she ran off. He believes he has to deal with Emma since she knows about Aneka. Niko reminds him he said this wouldn’t happen again. George calls him weak before slapping him. He warns Niko that one of them will go down if Emma goes to the police. Niko grabs a torch and agrees to help him search for her. Once George steps away, Niko gives Emma bullets and tells her to stay there. Once she is alone, Emma tries to use her phone only to find out that the battery is dead. She goes back inside and climbs onto the bed with the gun in her hand. Emma is awoken when she hears a vehicle approaching.

Niko admits he thought she’d be gone. He offers her something to eat and says she needs to wrap her ankle. Niko does it for her since he used to do it all the time when he played football. Emma finds out that Niko is his name and he uses it because he always forgets who he’s supposed to be. He tried to leave George a few times, but his mother got sick and his dad had to stop working to care for her. George makes it difficult to leave. Emma asks him about being part of the mafia and owning George. Niko says George owns him because he has dangerous friends. He insists she’ll never get her money back. Emma asks what happened to Aneka. Her daughter hasn’t heard from her in months. Niko thought he was only going to scare her off. He is adamant he won’t let it happen again.

Emma urges him to take this to the police, but Niko can’t because George owns some of the police. He is worried George can convince them that he killed Aneka. Niko knows it’d be bad if George found out he’d helped Emma. She tells Niko she is staying at the motel they used to laugh at because he took all her money. Emma asks him to take her to her car. Once she gets in her car, Niko tells her he’ll go to jail and his parents will be penniless if she goes to the police about Aneka. He’ll be the one who is punished instead of the person who killed her. Emma argues he has no right to ask her anything. She argues that Niko is making a choice by going along with George. When Emma gets back to her motel room, she finds Pete (Neil Morrissey) waiting for her. Pete says Susie asked him to come because she has been worried sick.

They call Susie to tell her they’ve booked a flight for this evening. Emma wants to go to the police station before they head to the airport. Pete believes she should speak to the police when she’s home and safe. Pete thought he was never going to see her again when they couldn’t get ahold of her. He tells her she can be a hero when they get her out of there. Emma suspects he is glad she isn’t his problem anymore, but Pete says she’ll always be his problem. Susie has set up a spare room for her. Pete offers to take her car back for her so she can get a shower and some rest. Once Pete leaves, Niko visits Emma to ask for her help. He explains she is right about everything and he needs to stop George. His friend Elias is closing a job today and George is handing over the keys. They could catch him in the act.

Niko thinks she’ll get her money back if George is arrested. He believes she can convince them to listen this time. Niko shows her Elias and Claire moments later. Emma asks when he worked out he could make women do stupid things. Niko says women always seemed to like him and he knew how to make them feel special. He knew Emma was lonely. She’d given everything to her husband and daughter. She didn’t know who she was anymore. Niko says she needed to feel like she could still be loved. Emma asks if any of it was real. When Claire moves, Niko tells Emma she can do this. She walks over to speak to Claire who tells her what she’s celebrating. Emma learns more about the villa Claire is supposedly buying. They get the keys at three. Emma manages to get the address of the property.

She returns to Niko with the time and address. In the car, Emma tells Niko that she’ll go alone. They don’t really have a choice but to trust the policewoman. Niko asks her where George kept the photographs of himself and Aneka so he can get rid of them when he’s out. Emma suspects he has digital copies so Niko says he’ll take the computer. Niko remains adamant that he didn’t kill Aneka. Emma tells him they’re in the top right-hand drawer of his desk and there’s a key under the lamp. Niko says not all of it was fake before kissing her. He asks if they can talk when this is over. Emma isn’t sure. He says he understands before leaving.

Emma assures Pete that Constable Christina can be trusted but he isn’t for sure. She claims Niko was also victimized by George. He says she always had a soft touch. Instead of going to the police station, he heads toward the airport. When he refuses to stop the car, she grabs the steering wheel. He manages to stop the car in a safe location. She stresses the need to get her money back. During a heated argument, he admits to wanting a divorce. She says Susie blames her when it was really his idea. She reminds him of how he hid from bailiffs and demanded a divorce, even though, the mortgage was nearly paid off. He accuses her of not standing by him. She sarcastically says she gave her money to Niko because she was desperate for someone to be nice to her. She refuses to get back in the car.

At the police station, Emma tries to convince Constable Christina to speak with another victim of the romance scam. Constable Christina asks why Claire isn’t reporting the crime to the police. Emma claims Claire is unaware that she is being victimized. When Constable Christina refuses to push the case forward, Emma questions if she is involved in the scheme. Constable Christina warns her to be careful. Emma tells her that she is honest and knows she is telling the truth about George. Upon leaving the police station, they encounter Pete who demands to go with them because he made a promise to Susie.

Constable Christina demands to speak with George’s client. He denies any illegal doing. Emma looks for Claire (Rina Mahoney) and Elias (Georgios Kyriacou) only to find Athena and Kostas. Constable Christina apologizes for the intrusion before they leave. Emma suggests Niko warned George and says it was stupid to trust him before showing her the photo with Niko and Annika and her passport. She claims Niko asked her to not tell the police for fear of George pinning the murder on him. Constable Christina says Freya may be right about her mother. Emma points out that the man in the photo is Niko. Constable Christina takes Niko’s address and orders Emma to go home. When Pete goes to retrieve their things from the Green Palms Hotel, Emma hails a taxi.

A short time later, the taxi drops Emma off at Niko’s house. She accuses him of betraying her. He swears on his mother’s life that he was telling the truth before showing her the files stored on George’s unprotected memory stick. She looks at the laptop screen to see a spreadsheet with the victims’ names, including her own. As she prepares to tether the files to her phone, George shoots him in the back of the head and demands his memory stick. He destroys the laptop and threatens to shoot her when Pete knocks him out. Believing George is dead, she asks how he found her. He claims to have followed the taxi from the hotel. She warns against notifying the police because George owns them and cleans the bloody pipe wrench on her shirt.

Emma and Pete arrive at the airport as Constable Christina finds George and Niko’s bodies. Finding Emma’s hotel room empty, Constable Christina puts out a BOLO on Emma. Emma and Pete approach the security gate when she receives a text from Constable Christina offering to help her. She watches Pete go through the security gate before turning herself in for the murder of George Beaufort. The episode ends.

 

Love Rat Review

The story becomes more unbelievable with each episode. For a family in dire straight, expensive travel accommodation is not an issue. Pete and Susie travel to Cyprus on several different occasions to bring Emma home. Knowing the danger she faces, Emma refuses to leave without her money. Even though Niko is part of the scheme, she is far too eager to forgive him.

Emma could have just as easily left Cyprus without the possibility of extradition. In the real world, she would have never turned herself in for a murder that she didn’t commit, especially knowing the police are corrupt.

The story has its moments but it is rushed beyond belief. Too many silly coincidences and unbelievable lead acting make the story a hard pill to swallow.

The episode deserves a 4.5. Get more Love Rat Recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss the latest TV show releases, sports, crime, and more.