As the fifth episode of Moonflower Murders begins, Joanne Webster (Kate Ashfield) sees Martin Webster (Tim Plester) digging a hole in the backyard. A hand wearing a ring is shown in the middle of the woods. Madeline Cain (Pippa Bennett-Warner) joins Atticus Pund (Tim McMullan) for breakfast. Cain tells Pund that she has been checking the train times. Pund argues that their work here is not complete. He is convinced that John Spencer was murdered. Atticus discusses the details that make him believe Spencer was killed. Madeline Cain says they need to find out who was in the garden. Atticus already knows who looked through the window. Chubb (Daniel Mays) catches up with them to say goodbye before they leave. Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) speaks to Jack (Mitchell Robertson) who doesn’t know where his mom is.
Jack doesn’t want to tell her anything. Susan asks Jack to call Katie (Claire Rushbrook) and say she’ll stop in around four when she returns. Leonard (Liam Garrigan) speaks to Samantha Collins (Jeany Spark) about the money. Leonard admits he was having second thoughts about what she said about Algernon. He suggests it might be wrong not to include him even though Aunt Clarissa wrote that in her will. Leonard thinks maybe they should give Algernon a share of the money. He suggests giving him 20 or 30%. Samantha admits she’s surprised by the idea. She says she’ll think about it. Atticus tells Chubb about his theory. He believes he knows who Melissa James (Rosalie Craig) wrote the letter to. When they confront Algernon Marsh (Will Tudor), he admits he believes Melissa was going to send him the letter. He says Melissa was bored of John Spencer. Chubb asks him about the damage to his vehicle.
Chubb explains an opera singer was hit by a vehicle recently and the driver did not stop. He suggests Marsh was driving the vehicle. Leonard urges Marsh to tell them it’s not true. Marsh says you win some and you lose some. Atticus goes to the church to tell Samantha about the vehicle accident. She admits this is typical of Algernon. Samantha tells him about the money and her husband’s change of heart. Atticus asks if she knew about Algernon’s affair with Melissa James. Samantha did not. She blames both of them, but she also finds it hard to believe. Susan visits Gwyneth Endicott (Joanna Bacon) to see if she can speak to Derek (Thomas Coombes). Susan comes inside and speaks to Gwyneth about her health and other things. Gwyneth says she tries not to think about Cecily. When Derek joins them, the conversation shifts to Alan Conway. Susan asks what happened when he came to the motel.
Gwyneth says she wouldn’t let Alan (Conleth Hill) record their conversation. A flashback shows Alan coming to their home and trying to record them. Gwyneth doesn’t want to talk about it and she doesn’t think Alan should be writing about it. Derek asks Conway to leave. Susan asks Gwyneth and Derek about the Webster couple. They call them odd since they’ve never invited them over. Martin used to do all the laundry for the sheets and towels at the hotel until he had a falling out with Cecily. Susan returns to Martin to talk to him about Cecily. He admits they had an argument, but he refuses to tell Susan why. In private, Martin tells Joanne not to worry about it because Susan doesn’t know anything about them. Martin will make sure she doesn’t find anything out either. Susan goes to Branlow Hall. She approaches room twelve. She nearly goes into the room, but Lawrence Treherne (Adrian Rawlins) interrupts her.
He tells her there isn’t much in there. Susan explains she’s trying to work something out. Derek was on reception the night Frank Parris was killed. She wonders where the figure went after Derek spotted them. Susan doesn’t think what happened here is what they think. She asks about Cecily saying there were other young offenders working in the hotel. Moments later, Susan confronts Liam Corby (Wade Briggs) at the gym. She knows he served six months in Long Bay Prison in Sydney for providing his clients with steroids. Liam agrees to talk to her elsewhere. In private, he admits he served four months. He came there to get new clients. Susan asks for the truth about what was happening between him and Stefan. Liam says Stefan was a skivvy and the youth offender program was a way to get cheap labor. He says Cecily is okay but Lisa is the devil.
Lisa had her claws into Stefan from the start. They were having sex although Stefan was miserable when she was around. Liam says he saw them having sex a few weeks before the murder. Initially, he thought it was Aiden. He doesn’t think Aiden was like that though because Cecily would’ve kicked him out. Liam explains he stepped on a branch. Stefan turned around and Liam confirmed it was him. They talk about Stefan being fired. Liam says Lisa is doing the same thing to him. When she needs a root, he’s the first one she calls. He goes it because it keeps her sweet and she pays a little extra on the side. Later, Susan still can’t get in touch with Katie. She decides to go to her house. Andreas Patakis (Alexandros Logothetis) watches her drive away. Katie opens the door and lets Susan come inside. Susan complains that she didn’t tell her about the house.
She says Jack looks miserable. Susan questions whether this has anything to do with Gordon. Katie eventually reveals that Gordon has left her. She didn’t tell Susan because she didn’t want her to worry. Katie tells her how it happened and how Gordon ended up renting a flat. She reveals Gordon is with his secretary, Naomi, who is 20 years younger than him. Katie says she might as well hear the rest of it. Gordon was spending a lot of money on Naomi. He was also maxing out his company credit card. Gordon lost his card. He was lucky they didn’t prosecute. They agreed to let him pay it back in installments, but they can’t afford the house. Katie says Daisy is furious. She explains why she didn’t want Susan to know. As Susan leaves, it appears Martin swerves around her. Then, he reverses and heads straight towards her. Susan has to swerve at the last minute to avoid a crash.
When Locke makes it to the motel, Pauline Treherne (Pooky Quesnel) begins panicking. He tells Aiden that the body of a young woman has been found in Rendlesham Forest. They believe it is Cecily. Aiden confirms the jewelry belonged to Cecily. The body was found by a dog walker. Susan arrives outside and learns about Cecily’s body from Locke. He says she was strangled just like the girl in the book. They continue arguing until Susan runs inside. Lisa tells her there is no further reason for her to stay. They want her to leave tomorrow. Andreas shows up and asks Susan where she was last night. Atticus Pund gathers everyone to talk to them about the case. He says Chubb helped solve the case by comparing the murder of Melissa James to the death of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Tragedy of Othello”. Atticus explains that Melissa was killed just after 6:28 in the evening.
She called Leonard to say someone wanted to kill her. Oscar Berlin (Mark Gatiss) says he came to the house and did not see John Spencer. John told them he drove away and came back. Then, he argued with his wife who said she was leaving him. Pund says the argument must’ve happened after the Chandlers had left to see their relatives in Bideford. Algernon claims he was at the pub and walked home. Pund suggests the phone call doesn’t make sense. If Melissa really felt she was in danger, she wouldn’t have returned to her bedroom. He also questions why John would allow Melissa to make a phone call for help. Atticus points out that Melissa had two sets of abrasions around her neck. He thought the cord slipped and the killer had to apply it a second time until Chubb mentioned Othello. Pund says Desdemona is strangled by her jealous husband who confesses to the crime.
She recovers and she’s not dead after all. Atticus says John only believed he had killed his wife. After he left, Melissa woke up and moved downstairs to call Leonard for help. Atticus believes Leonard Collins killed her and the letter was addressed to him. Algernon wanted a share of the money so he blackmailed Leonard with his knowledge of the affair. Algernon admits Melissa told him about the affair. The call from Melissa gave Leonard the perfect opportunity to silence her and place the blame on John Spencer. Leonard tells Samantha he’s sorry, but he knew that Melissa was a star. He thought Melissa was his ticket out of this boring village and his boring life. Chubb tells the officers to take Algernon and Leonard away. Later, Chubb asks Pund who killed John Spencer. Pund says the person who killed John Spencer was him.
Moonflower Murders Review
The fifth episode of Moonflower Murders was pretty much in line with the prior episodes. Viewers are either going to enjoy this for what it is or they’re going to see just another British crime drama with little purpose and little emotion. The series has been somewhat believable, but it’s becoming more farfetched by the minute.
It’s also focusing a great deal on the personal lives of the characters possibly to drag the series out for as long as possible. Most people are watching because they want to know about the murders. The scenes detailing Katie and Jack’s issues just aren’t as interesting as they could be. Plus, these things are also too cliché considering they’re in so many other dramas.
The same can be said for Susan’s relationship with Andreas and the missing phone. Another thing to point out is the lack of real detective work in the series. Again, it’s like every other British crime drama in this sense. The only detective work is hours and hours of conversations. Then, the lead just pieces it together and explains what really happened. The series is okay if viewers happen to catch it on television for free, but it’d be hard to justify searching for it.
For a series about murders, the lack of emotion is definitely disappointing. As a result, there really isn’t any reason to fully invest in the story or the characters. The fifth episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Moonflower Murders can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.
Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.
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.
