As the third episode of Moonflower Murders begins, Aiden MacNeil speaks to the BBC about Cecily’s disappearance. Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) watches as Aiden (Will Tudor) asks Cecily to let them know she’s okay. Lawrence Treherne (Adrian Rawlins) and Pauline Treherne (Pooky Quesnel) walk from elsewhere. Gwyneth Endicott (Joanna Bacon) tells Derek (Thomas Coombes) that it’s so awful. Liam Corby (Wade Briggs) watches from the gym. Locke (Daniel Mays) tells everyone about Cecily’s movements. Martin (Tim Plester) and Joanne Webster (Kate Ashfield) listen to Locke speak. Martin turns off the television and says they’re wasting their time. He believes she’s already six feet under. After the intro, Madeline Cain (Pippa Bennett-Warner) joins Atticus Pund (Tim McMullan).
They briefly talk about Cain’s behavior yesterday before she says she just hopes Atticus can solve the case. Cain insists she doesn’t trust Lance Gardner. They speak to Lance and Maureen who they accuse of running the motel into the ground. Maureen reveals that Melissa James (Rosalie Craig) threatened them with an audit. When Lance says they have nothing to hide, Cain suggests she could take a look. Lance shows them a note he found after Melissa died. The letter is dated last February and says they must tell the world about the love they share. It’s not addressed to John Spencer. Susan visits Sajid Khan (Sanjeev Kohli) who learns Cecily may have known something about the murder of Frank Parris. Sajid has read the book twice and he met Frank. In a flashback, Parris (Mark Gatiss) tells Sajid that he needs money from the house left to him and his sister.
He had a sister, Joanne Webster, who lived in Suffolk. Sajid admits Joanne was rude like Frank. She also treated her husband poorly. The Websters could buy Parris out at market price. If they couldn’t, they would have to put the house on the market. Susan learns that her sister, Katie, has consulted Sajid. Susan goes to the Woodbridge Garden Centre where she speaks to Katie Williams (Claire Rushbrook). They go out for coffee. Susan tells Kate that she isn’t sure about Andreas (Alexandros Logothetis) right now because she doesn’t like running the motel. She tells Kate about her visit with Sadij this morning. Kate claims she consulted him because they had to fire one of the managers. Susan wants to make sure everything is okay. Kate says Gordon is in New York again. Jack is at home after dropping out of uni for a year.
Kate got him a part-time job. Susan is taken to Jack Williams (Mitchell Robertson) so she can say hello. Jack says he didn’t see the point in staying at the university with everything that’s happened. As they walk back to Susan’s car, Susan tries to find out what Jack meant by that. Kate claims he had problems at the university. She doesn’t want to get into it. They talk about meeting again in Woodbridge since the builders are in at the moment. Once they’re alone, Jack tells Kate she should’ve told Susan. Kate argues there is nothing Susan can do. She insists they’re just trying to find a way through it. Susan visits Martin Webster. They go inside to talk about Frank’s death. Martin and Joanne saw Frank on the day before his death. Frank set up an agency in Australia called Day’s End. It went bust. Martin admits Frank came there because he wanted them to buy out their share of the house.
During an argument, Joanne told Frank she’s not selling the house and she’s not moving. She says Frank led a disgusting life in London with all of those young men and parties. Frank tells her she’s still a cow so she hasn’t changed in all those years. In the present, Martin and Joanne admit it would’ve been awful if they were forced to sell the house. Martin says Frank was still Joanne’s brother though. He shows Susan possibly the last picture of Frank and Joanne together. In the novel, Atticus and Cain speak to Oscar Berlin. Oscar admits Melissa left the hotel after a not so pleasant encounter. He never saw her again after that. Oscar says he was born to make a film about Eleanor of Aquitaine who was the mother of King Richard I. Melissa had agreed to play the part before pulling out several years later. All the while, Oscar kept working on the film.
He claims he went for a walk on the Grey Sands beach because he was choked up. Cain says she grew up around there and it’s impossible to walk on the beach after 6. The afternoon tide means the beach is flooded. Atticus tries to get the truth from him. Oscar admits he went to her house at Clarence Keep around 6:05. He parked a distance away so she wouldn’t see him. When Oscar approached the door, he heard Melissa arguing with Mrs. Chandler. It sounded like Eric was still around too. Oscar explains that he decided to return at another time. Chubb is waiting outside. Cain tells Atticus that she made up the story about Gray Sands because she knew Oscar was lying. Joanne approaches Susan to say this has nothing to do with them. She asks Susan to get lost and to leave them alone. As Susan leaves, she asks Atticus why everything has to be so complicated.
She admits she’s talking about the investigation and her personal life. Susan ends up stopping for a cigarette. She worries that she’s not going to find Cecily. Pund insists there is always a pattern. He thinks she should approach this in an orderly manner because she’s looking in every direction. Pund tells her that she has to worry about who, why, what, and where. They go through the questions together. Pund believes the most difficult question is where is Cecily. Liam works with Lisa Treherne at the gym. Liam tells Lisa about his conversation with Susan after she drives by. He knows how they were treating Stefan and how much they were paying him. Liam suggests he should get a pay raise for keeping his mouth shut about everything going on there. Lisa says he’s not the only one keeping his mouth shut.
Susan speaks to Lawrence and Pauline about the appeal for information. Susan insists they will find Cecily. Lawrence and Pauline talk about Cecily’s wedding day and how she was so happy. Pauline got her pills, but Cecily didn’t take them. Cecily is a perfectionist. She was adamant that nothing could go wrong. Her horoscope on that day said there would be ups and downs. It was true since the flowers didn’t show up. Lawrence’s pen also went missing before the wedding. Pauline says Stefan took it. Aiden supposedly saw him take it. Susan speaks to Aiden about it. Aiden tells her what happened, but insists he never accused Stefan. They talk about Roxana who is at school. Aiden says Susan has never felt what it’s like to feel so powerless. Susan insists they’ll find her even though she hasn’t found anything yet.
Aiden asks if Lawrence is paying her 10,000 pounds. Susan says she’s doing more than that. She’s going to London because she wants to speak to Stefan Leonida. Susan hopes her friend Craig Andrews can arrange a visit. She’s also going to see James Taylor who was Alan’s partner and has Alan’s notes. Algernon Marsh receives a visit from Chubb, Cain, and Atticus Pund. Marsh says he saw Melissa on the evening of her death. She requested a meeting because she was worried about the motel. Pund asks him about the 55,000 pounds invested in Day’s End Holdings. They try to get more information about the company and the villas they’re supposedly building. Marsh is asked if he told Melissa the company actually belonged to him. Chubb warns him he was breaking the law although Algernon says he didn’t defraud anyone.
Algernon also denies killing Melissa. He claims he went to the pub after seeing Susan. In the car, Cain suggests they’re dealing with a Ponzi scheme. Phyllis tells Eric that she’s decided to stay with her sister. She says Melissa knew and she could’ve told anyone. They’re going to have to leave since Mr. Spencer won’t keep the house. When Eric asks where he’ll go, Phyllis says that’s his problem. The police arrive outside. Once they come inside, Phyllis is asked about her argument with Melissa. She admits Melissa accused them of theft. Eric denies taking anything. Phyllis says everyone knew the managers were stealing from her. Pund wants to look around upstairs. He says the picture was crooked. He turns it and finds a hidden peephole. Eric was watching Melissa when she was getting undressed.
Phyllis claims she’s ashamed and Eric’s father was everything he wasn’t. Eric insists he didn’t mean anything by it and he just wanted to look at her. He also admits to taking personal items from her room. Eric denies doing anything to Melissa after she threatened him with arrest. Susan talks about Conway turning Derek into a really pathetic, sad character. She talks to Andreas about the investigation. Susan thinks he should come over and see her. She says she has to go because she’s got to drive to London tomorrow. As Susan gets ready to leave, Locke stops her and asks if she’s going somewhere. He accuses her of nosing around in police business. They talk about Cecily. Locke admits he read Atticus Pund Takes The Case and he doesn’t think there’s anything in there.
Locke argues the evidence against Stefan was strong and he confessed. He mentions Romanian criminals. Susan suggests his thought is that he’s Romanian so he must be guilty. Locke threatens to arrest her if he sees her again. She drives away.
Moonflower Murders Review
The third episode of Moonflower Murders was somewhat watchable although the clichés are starting to become overwhelming. Truthfully, Moonflower Murders is just like every other British crime drama except it’s more complicated and it’s a tale of two shows. Adding more characters certainly doesn’t make things any easier.
It also didn’t help that a lot of the episode focused on Susan’s personal life, such as Jack and Katie. The novel scenes continue to be the worst of the series. They’re acted so painfully corny and they’re more cliché than the scenes in the present.
For instance, the book never seemed to have a Madeline Cain. The problem here is that the character is forced into the show and the character completely dumbs down Atticus Pund. Atticus hasn’t done anything of note because Cain is doing it all for him. This episode added at least two new characters to an already bloated cast.
Without that, the series could easily be four episodes. It’s already tedious and sometimes feels like a chore. The series is far too complicated and it’s hard to say whether it’s worth the effort. There’s a good chance that viewers are going to get frustrated with it as a result. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
