As Reckoning begins, Mike Serrato (Aden Young) has a nightmare in which he strangles a woman. He wakes up and tries to recollect himself before checking on his daughter Sam (Milly Alcock). He checks on his other children as well. Mike looks at his phone and finds out that he has several missed calls from Linda Swan (Jacqueline McKenzie). Mike goes for a run before preparing Sam for her first day at a new school. Mike is more worried than his daughter since she is going to attend a public school for the first time. When Sam heads for the door, she is nearly run down by Leo Doyle (Sam Trammell). We learn that Leo is taking his son Paxton (Ed Oxenbould) to the school for the first time as well.
Pax did something bad at his old school and that forced him to switch. Conveniently, his father is a teacher at the new school and he is confident everything will be okay. Leo walks through the school and chats with some of the students before spotting Paxton speaking with Sam. As he heads upstairs, we learn that one of the students, Gretchen (Claude Scott-Mitchell), has gone missing. Mike heads to the police station and says hello to Marcy before leading the chief wants to see him. Mike questions why the mother didn’t report her daughter missing for several days. We learn that the town has been haunted by a killer known as the Russian River killer.
Detective Ramos (Gloria Garayua) shifts through the case files until Mike enters the room and stops her. He reminds Ramos that the case has gone cold. Ramos reveals she received a call from Iris Swan’s mother claiming she had information about her daughter’s death. After that, Mike’s boss says he is worried about him. He also recommends checking in with Dr. Geller but Mike isn’t willing to accept that advice. Next, Mike and Ramos visit the Versailles Mobile Village so they can speak with Iris Swan’s mother Linda. Ramos wants to know more about the rumors about Mike and his closeness to the RRK victims’ mothers. He smarts off to her before heading inside to speak with Linda. They chat a bit before Linda tells Mike she wants to make sure what happened to her daughter happens to nobody else.
She wonders if the new missing girl is somehow related to her daughter’s death. Meanwhile, Leo speaks with a student about colleges and he agrees to help her with applications. Then, Lacey (Sana’a Shaik) asks Leo about his relationship with his wife. Moments later, Mike visits a local sex offender who admits to using the same ATM that Gretchen used on the night of her disappearance. However, the man reminds them that he fancies little boys and that he doesn’t care about Gretchen. The phone rings and Mike learns that Gretchen’s phone has been found by the river. Seconds later, Dinkins tells Mike that Edgar Harris found the found early that morning. They begin digging in hopes of finding Gretchen but only discover a dog buried under the dirt.
After that, Leo coaches the wrestling team. The training session is stopped when Natalie enters and tells Leo something has gone wrong with his father. He immediately asks if his dad has died and she says no. He responds that it couldn’t be so bad then. He finds his father Arlen (Anthony Phelan) by the water believing he has been swimming. Arlen is angry with his son and tells him that he can’t tolerate his tears any longer. He has an accident on himself too. Arlen is taken home and given a bath. Arlen’s lady friend Dotty joins them and she believes everything is okay. Leo has a flashback of watching a woman get choked in front of him. Meanwhile, Mike returns home and finds his wife Paige (Simone Kessell) with Brad. He interrupts their conversation leading Paige to believe Mike is jealous but he denies it.
Leo goes home and smokes weed with two neighbors. One of the men gets a picture on his phone and it is a picture of a naked lady. She has a tattoo on her shoulder. Kyle, Noah, and Leo joke about it until Candace (Laura Gordon) comes home and yells for Leo. Paxton returns and finds his father locking a door. He asks why to which his father says there have been a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood. Paxton says he didn’t make any friends and he scared off Sam when he told her about bringing a gun to school and hating people. Candace checks on them seconds later. Meanwhile, things are chaotic at the Serrato household. Mike tries to teach Jake how to sit the table but he gives up eventually. During dinner, Mike finds out that his daughter Amanda (Mitzi Ruhlmann) has gotten a tattoo.
This angers Mike. When he finds out that the tattoo is fake, he washes it off as quickly as possible. The tattoo makes me thinks Amanda is the girl in the picture Leo and his buddies were joking about. Later that night, Paige checks on her husband and suspects he believes the Russian River killer might be back. They have sex in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Candace complains to Leo about the difficulty of taking over for his previous wife. Then, Mike has a dream that he goes out and meets with Gretchen. He images that he drugs her before killing her. In the morning, Mike learns that Gretchen returned to the school. They visit the school to speak with her immediately and Mike tries to talk some sense into her but she won’t listen. She runs into Leo while checking her locker.
That night, Leo has dinner with his wife and father. During dinner, Leo remembers a woman being choked to death. Mike checks on the kids before Leo visits the locked building and steps inside. Then, Mike goes for a run and Leo goes out to get drugs. He visits the pedophile and buys drugs from him. Leo uses the drugs and gets sick but he survives. Meanwhile, Mike stops and sleeps with Linda. Mike returns to running before falling and hurting himself. Leo drives along and spots a girl by the road so he picks her up. She tells him about everything that happened and her job at Diamond Joe’s. Then, she tells him about her trip to Las Vegas. Leo stops the vehicle before she asks if something is wrong. She says she’ll walk the rest of the way but the door is locked and she can’t get out.
Leo gets angry and pushes her out before pulling forward and stopping. We jump to the following day and Father Moran preaches about beginning to live again. Mike and his family attend the service. Leo is there with his family as well and they sit behind Mike. When it ends, Leo finds Amanda leaning against his truck so they chat for a second. Then, we see another girl buried down by the river. It appears the girl had a tattoo like the one before but it has been cut off. Gretchen’s cellphone rests beside her.
Reckoning Review
Reckoning isn’t going to be perfect. That much is pretty clear from the first episode but I didn’t think it was that bad. In fact, I thought it was a bit unique and refreshing. At the very least, it was interesting that we have two possible killers and it is tough to say which one is the RRK. I am sure the show will try to convince us it was both before everything is said and done. Mike and Leo are both good candidates so nothing would surprise me.
The only thing that threw me for a loop is the American setting and accents. I recognized most of the actors and actresses from Australian shows so I am not sure why they decided to place it in California with American accents. The opening episode wasn’t too bad. It scores a 7 out of 10.
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.
