Ragdoll Season 1 Episode 3 Recap

The show begins with DC Nathan Rose (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) in a flashback while driving. He assures Alyssa (Camilla Beeput), she is not in this alone. DC Emily Baxter (Thalissa Teixeira) says Alyssa was murdered about an hour ago in Croydon. Rose drives erratically through crowded streets. Alyssa’s phone has an image of a young boy, Daniel (Cannon Hay) and a man who law enforcement believes is her partner. Alyssa steps out in traffic as Rose tries to encourage her to not do it. Alyssa lays dead on the street while her husband is out of town on business. Their son is missing.

Rose almost collides into a car. Baxter angrily gets out of the car, screaming at the other driver, Carol (Robin Weaver) who is infatuated with Rose. Carol rushes over to Rose, introducing herself. Baxter wants her to move her car, but she is too busy trying to get Rose’s attention. She pulls out a card, with a Ragdoll killer drawing, showing it to Rose. She claims the card and Daniel were dropped at her doorstep. Baxter tries encouraging Daniel to unlock the car door while Rose wrestles Carol’s car keys away from her. Carol questions Rose about how it felt to hold the skull of the Cremation Killer. When Rose unlocks the door, Baxter assists Daniel out of the car. The police take Carol away.

Rose aggressively washes blood out of his clothes.

DC Lake Edmunds (Lucy Hale) approaches DCI Terrance Simmons (Ali Cook) to discuss the Ragdoll case. She tells him Elijah Reid’s (Richard Keightley) sister assumed he was on a retreat. After reading a newspaper article about the Ragdoll, she identified his body through a scar on the Ragdoll’s torso. The left leg has been identified as belonging to Mark Hooper’s (Sammy Hayman) general practitioner, Ashley Lochlan. The Ragdoll’s right leg is being compared to the DNA of Hooper’s attorney, Vincent Lewis whose wife heard Wyld’s (Natasha Little) press conference.

Rose is watching soccer on TV when Baxter approaches. She informs him Daniel is Alyssa’s son. He says it was all set up. Instead of Nick Hooper (James Tarpey) remarkably escaping the killer, he was sent back to them intentionally. The killer planted drugs on Nick, so cops would detain him. Alyssa was blackmailed to ensure Nick was in police custody when he was murdered. She assumes it may have something to do with Alyssa saving Daniel’s life. Rose asks if he knows about his mother. She says he isn’t talking right now. The killer chose Carol because she moderates a Subreddit dedicated to Rose. He believes the killer is poking fun at him. She recommends he have protection, rubbing his arm.

Baxter goes over the case with the other detectives. The killer has taken out two more people off the list without witnesses. Simmons reminds them of what Alyssa said about the killer. She claimed the killers called the world a “lawless place.” Baxter disputes the comment because there is no evidence to connect her directly to the killer. The killer’s belief of the criminal system being broken is becoming more apparent. Rose suggests they focus on the killer’s other targets, including Eric Turner (Douggie McMeekin). Eric is the security guard responsible for knocking Rose out of another trial. There are six days left before the anniversary of the trial. Baxter recommends Edmunds and Rose interview Daniel. Simmons wants Eric in a Department of Justice safehouse. Baxter reminds him Daniel recently lost his mother. He disagrees, saying Eric is the main priority. Baxter orders Edmunds and Rose to interview Daniel.

 

Rose and Edmunds mark out the area. Edmunds questions if Alyssa and her husband permitted Daniel to walk to the soccer field alone. Rose says only a short distance because he wanted to look like a grownup. She asks how the killer would know about Daniel. He says Daniel was getting bullied online, which is how the killer knew. Edmunds confides in Rose about her teenage years when she spent a lot of time hiding in 7-Eleven parking lots to avoid her terrifying peers. Rose calls the killer good because he can access anyone whenever he likes. Edmunds says blackmail is the killer’s weapon of choice. Rose receives an alert that Daniel is ready to be interviewed.

Chloe Turner (Ava Masters) dances while Eric records her on his cellphone. He asks Baxter to toss him a box of pills. Chloe gets ready for school while Eric and Baxter talk about the case. He is concerned about losing his civil liberties, accusing her of barging in without a warrant. She reminds him there is no arrest warrant. If he goes to work, she will have to follow him. He doesn’t deny she believes the Ragdoll killer is real. She agrees with him about the deputy commissioner’s decision to withhold information about the mayor’s death. He doesn’t believe the deputy commissioner’s decision was accidental. He believes no one climbs the ladder as high as the deputy commissioner without willingly doing it. Confused, she asks what he means by doing it. He tells her to look who is getting bumped off. Emma rushes in, telling Eric her bag is missing. He promises to find it later.

Rose and Edmunds interview Daniel, but he refuses to talk. Rose’s attention is temporarily drawn to a flickering ceiling light. He asks Daniel if he knows what to do if he ever gets pulled out to sea. At the same time, Dr. Adrian Thompson (Clive Mendus) is posing the same question to Rose. Thompson tells Rose he will exhaust himself and drown, pointing to the floor. Rose lays on the floor between a circle of people. At the same time, he leaves the table to enter the same room. Lying on the floor, he says take up as much space as you can and trust that someone will find you. Daniel and Edmunds stare in disbelief. Dr. Thompson says tell yourself just because the sun rises and sets, the tide will turn.

Joel Shepton (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) holds a Holy Bible, staring in space. He approaches Rose lying on the floor, pointing at a man in a photo. He says the man is his sister, Teresa Shepton’s fella, Adam Malik. The other man in the photo is his friend, Keith Rakman (Dave Hart). The photo was taken the day before Teresa died. Keith and Adam are the last people to see her alive. He accuses Rose of not caring, which is why he contacted Faust. Rose denies knowing Adam’s whereabouts. Joel believes Adam is Teresa’s killer. Keith is in Markfield Moor Prison. Edmunds calls his name, bringing him back to reality.

Edmunds catches up with Baxter on the way to the morgue as Rose conducts research on Keith. She informs Baxter of the window cleaner’s claims that Rose was acting erratically on the ledge yesterday. She describes him as “suicidal.” Baxter refuses to answer her question about Rose’s condition, promising to take care of it. Keith is being transferred to, but Rose wants to speak with him first.

Rose visits Keith about Joel and Teresa. Keith denies knowing Adam’s whereabouts, claiming he owes him money. A woman told him Adam was killed by a man, but he doesn’t believe it because it sounded like a “ghost story.” The woman’s name started with a K from Camberwell. She was into French cuisine. Rose suggests she may have worked in a restaurant. Keith says her name was Kate. He refers to Kate and Teresa as junkies.

Baxter holds a meeting with the other detectives to explain her plan to follow Eric when Rose makes his appearance. Simmons calls him “Houdini,” reminding him he is an hour late. He tells them about his meeting with Keith. Eric will pick up a prisoner at Markfield Moor Prison and drop him off at Mount View Prison. Rose isn’t happy with Eric’s refusal to comply with their protection strategy. Baxter orders Edmunds to go with her and DS Finlay (Michael Smiley) to go with Rose. Rose interjects, questioning if Edmunds has enough experience. Edmunds protests his comment as Baxter says it is not debatable. Rose and Baxter have a verbal dispute because of her decision to take Edmunds. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her. She says I don’t need your protection. He assures Edmunds it is nothing personal. She recommends he get help.

Eric describes the high level of security offered by the paddy wagon, refusing the offer of her riding in the front with him. She recommends thinking about his family. Edmunds asks Keith if he is okay, reminding him that riding is off-limits if he needs medical attention. He doesn’t care because he is getting out. He calls her a “weirdo” before climbing into the paddy wagon. Baxter and Edmunds follow behind the paddy wagon. Edmunds asks if she had time to speak with Rose. She admits there was not enough time. Baxter rudely commends about Edmunds’ first name, Lake. Keith pulls an ink pen out of his pocket. Eric hallucinates while driving. Keith disassembles the ink pen, dropping several pieces onto the floor. He unlocks his handcuffs. Edmunds asks Baxter about having kids, saying this country needs you.

Eric continues to hallucinate while Keith happily removes his handcuff. He eventually unlocks the door leading to the interior compartment of the paddy wagon. Edmunds apologizes for her remark. Baxter corrects her grammar, with a comment about Hillary Clinton. The paddy wagon swerves from the left to the right. Keith tries to escape out the top hatch. An explosion can be seen up ahead. A water line appears to break as the paddy wagon rams into a vehicle. Water splashes on the windshield of Baxter’s vehicle. When she breaks, a car rear-ends her. Baxter orders Edmunds to call for backup as she rushes up to the paddy wagon. Eric is incoherent. Edmunds takes Eric to their vehicle.

 

Baxter and another officer enter the paddy wagon to find Keith on the floor. Edmunds tries to see what is going on at the paddy wagon when she hears a struggle. She turns up the radio, ordering Eric to stay awake. She rushes out of the try, shoving a prisoner off Baxter. Disoriented, Eric picks up his daughter’s backpack. Edmunds and Baxter try to take down an inmate. Eric unzips the backpack to find a snake hiding inside. Baxter orders Edmunds to get the inmate up. The snack pops its head of the backpack and bites Eric in the face over and over again. Edmunds and Baxter handcuff the inmate when they notice Eric is struggling. They open the door, pulling him out of the car. Edmunds begins CPR as Eric takes his last breath. Baxter pulls her off, touching her cheek to let her know it is okay.

Rose arrives with two beverages. He picks up a piece of evidence, sniffing it. He tells Edmunds and Baxter, the killer utilized gunpowder in the IED, referring to it as old school. Detectives discovered a tracking device on the paddy wagon near the exhaust. Eric’s erratic behavior is contributed to his prescription medicine. Rose suggests his medicine may have been replaced. Edmunds reads the dosage time as 4:15. She says the killer was trying to guess Eric’s time of death. He was off by 87 minutes. Audio devices were discovered hiding in Eric’s house. They believe the killer stole Eric’s daughter’s backpack after breaking into the house.

 

Rose asks about a wound on Keith’s forehead. Edmunds tells Rose Keith never said anything about the wound when they spoke previously. He stole the ink pen from medical. When a media van pulls up, Baxter says she will take care of it. Edmunds reminds her she has blood on her shirt. She has an extra shirt in the car. She orders Rose to follow her. When he apologizes, she scolds him for putting her in an awkward position. She admits to wanting him with her, but she couldn’t refuse his behavior. She asks about the window cleaner’s story. He claims his actions were related to him finding out about her reporting him. He agrees with her decision to report him, denying being suicidal. She blames herself for not doing anything right. He assures her she does everything right, he was in the wrong. She doesn’t want to cry.

They joke about inspecting the glove box for a dead dog or other animals. The fall of the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages utilized this type of execution. The punishment was utilized up into the 1700s in Saxony. Bach was believed to be already dead by the time they stopped.

A military reenactment takes place in the woods. A man goofs around, falling on the ground while pleading for help. A man loads gunpowder into his gun. During the reenactment, a man gets his hand shot off. The man approaches the, picking up the hand.

Daniel sits quietly, refusing to speak with Edmunds and Rose who says his mother died when he was young. His mother was in labor with him for three days. By the time, she gave birth and the doctor handed him to her, she didn’t love him. She described her feelings as “being poured out like water from her into me.” She didn’t have what it took to stop it. He says it never stopped. Devastated, Daniel asks, “Ever.” Rose repeats his comment, “Never, ever.”

Rose tells the other detectives that Daniel only remembers waking up in a car. When the driver braked really hard, Daniel’s hand touched something cold and damp. He claims to have seen human faces that were probably not intact in the trunk. He remembered a scent that reminded him of his mother going to a nail salon. Edmunds contributes their success to Rose and the story of his mother. Rose tells Simmons and Baxter a different story than what he told Daniel. Finlay informs them that DNA evidence collected from Daniel’s clothing was not associated with Ragdoll’s victims. It did contain acetone.

Edmunds questions Rose about his lying to Daniel. Baxter interrupts, asking if Rose’s story threatened or intimidated Daniel. Rose denies the allegations while Edmunds calls it a lie. As they argue, Rose watches the clock hands turning. Simmons orders Edmunds to shut up, saying your feelings don’t matter before walking away. She tells Baxter she can’t ignore the consequences. Baxter assures her that she cannot stop him, ordering them to get some sleep. Edmunds follows her to talk about Rose. Baxter tells her it has been a tough day, let it go. As she walks away, Edmunds grabs her arm, asking if she was truly going to let it go after the shit Rose pulled today. Baxter angrily asks if she was Simmons would she question her authority. She says yes. Baxter reminds her she didn’t run after Simmons when he left.

Rose is talking to himself when he remembers his jacket. Edmunds takes a picture of Rose’s log before putting it away before Rose returns for his jacket. Rose visits Andrea Wyle (Natasha Little). She admits to getting angry when he didn’t show up one day. They make out.

Edmunds visits the Fantasy Island Amusements, where she has flashbacks of the accident. While staring at a couple making out, she has a flashback of Eric’s edematous face. She becomes disoriented, collapsing to the ground. A man dissects a human hand, utilizing the fluids to create what looks like a hand. The hand is then placed in a blender. The bloody goo is scooped out. The man stops to think, turning around quickly as the episode comes to an end.

Ragdoll Review

Not much improvement from the previous episodes. The super-speedy pace causes confusion, even delirium at times. I normally enjoy recapping shows, but not in this case.

One thing I give the Ragdoll cast, they are great at reading their lines, even at this pace. This could explain why they don’t show much emotion during the presentation. Could you blame them, they are too concerned about getting their lines right.

The dark scenes are barely visible, as you can see in the above images. A few tweaks in the lighting would make the world of difference.

The dialogue is difficult to understand, especially the skit about “poena cullei.”The show is too complicated to watch without a dictionary on-hand. Truthfully, how enjoyable is a show when you have to constantly cross-reference.

The episode deserves 6. Get more Ragdoll recaps here. Support ReelMockery by clicking the link.