As the episode begins, Leo Doyle (Sam Trammell) wakes up with blood on his face before checking on his son Paxton (Ed Oxenbould). Paxton doesn’t notice the blood so Leo has plenty of time to scrub off the blood before anyone can notice. He rushes back to the bedroom and finds blood in the bed. Then, Candace (Laura Gordon) enters the room sobbing and we find out that she has likely experienced a miscarriage. After the intro, Mike Serrato (Aden Young) and his partner Cyd Ramos (Gloria Garayua) visit the scene where the body was discovered. As Mike gets closer, he remembers his argument with Gretchen and warning her that something bad could happen to her.

Now, she is dead and Mike is investigating her murder. He noticed that a tattoo has been cut away from the skin on her arm. Meanwhile, Candace and Leo speak with Dr. Brewer who confirms that Candace can get pregnant. However, her body rejected the baby before she knew she was pregnant. They try to figure out what might’ve caused the problem and Leo suggests it had something to do with Paxton coming to live with them. Leo makes it to the school just in time to see Mike take Sam (Milly Alcock) out of class so he can protect her from a possible serial killer. Ramos calls and complains to Mike that he should be investigating the murder and not picking up dry cleaning.

Back at the station, Mike learns that the case has been handed over to Purcell and Lund. Mike encourages him to let him return to work and let Waller make the final decision. Seconds later, Sheriff Waller enters and speaks with Randy and Mike. Randy learns that Mike notified her office to let her know that there has been another victim of the RRK. Randy isn’t sure that is the case yet but Mike is confident they’re dealing with the Russian River Killer once again. It is an election year so that might be bad for the sheriff. Mike pleads with Waller to let him handle the investigator before she asks about John Ainsworth (Toby Schmitz). Mike admits John was smarter than he gave him credit for and wanted everyone to believe he was the RRK.

When they’re left alone, Waller and Mike speak about the Serrato family. She finally agrees to let Mike handle the case too. After that, Mike and Ramos visit Gretchen’s mother to give her the bad news while Leo attends wrestling practice. He asks one of the students to hang out with Paxton since he has been sitting around. The boy agrees and speaks with Paxton but Pax decides to leave a short time later. Leo stops him so he can show him the spot where teachers hang out and smoke. A few have been caught making love up there as well. Leo tells his son that the guys need to get to know him but Pax isn’t sure they want to hang out with a freak like him. Pax says he knew a lot of people at his old school and he hated them all because they were fake liars.

Leo wants to know what Paxton was going to do with the gun he brought to school and Paxton says he might’ve just wanted to show off. The boy he showed it off to went and told on him though. Mike questions Tori about her daughter’s whereabouts the following night but she knows very little. Gretchen’s father sends a monthly check but he doesn’t have anything to do with his daughter. Mike tells Tori to call him if she needs anything and he gives her a card. Her son calls and she wonders what she should do. Mike encourages her to tell Oliver to come home so they can speak face to face. Then, Mike checks with Emilio who is playing games in another room. Emilio admits he has been with Tori for a while now and he tells Mike where to find Gretchen’s room.

Mike checks the room and finds sketches on the wall. Emilio tells him that she was a talented girl before saying she was in AA when she wasn’t drinking. Next, Eric stops Leo to get advice about sending three essays to a school he wants to impress. Leo promises to help him tomorrow before learning that Gretchen has been found dead. He returns to his office to sit around and mope until Candace calls. Then, Leo checks through Gretchen’s sketchbook and cuts one of the pictures up. When he returns home, he finds Father Moran leaving his house. He is surprised since it was only a fetus. When Moran leaves, Leo goes inside and encourages Candace to try again when she recovers.

She tells him about the things Father Moran told her and that angers Leo. He visits Moran to tell him to stop putting stuff in Candace’s head. He tells Moran that he should take his answers and give them to Gretchen’s mother. Mike returns home and finds Brad and Paige (Simone Kessell) chatting outside. He calls his wife but she doesn’t answer his call so he records them on his smartphone. After that, Leo goes to the gas station and intends to pick up one of his students but he leaves without doing so. Mike takes a bath before Paige checks on him and he asks about the kids. He tells her about their victim found by the river. Paige wants to talk about her husband working on this case.

After that, Mike visits the medical examiner and finds out that Gretchen was strangled to death but there is no sign of a struggle or sexual assault. The tattoo removal is inconclusive with the RRK and Mike can’t understand that. Mike tells Cabrera that he knows how this works and that the Russian River Killer is back again. He wants him to cooperate so the case can get special attention. Meanwhile, the principal at the school speaks to the students in the gym and Leo listens from a distance. The student Leo left at the gas station, Lacey, gives him the bird. Some of the teachers begin talking about the RRK and they suspect he might be involved. Once the speech ends, Leo is questioned by Mike and Ramos. Leo confesses that he was fond of Gretchen and that she was different than most students. He knew she had problems with alcohol and he encouraged her to go to art school.

He admits she never told him anything about the guy at Spring Lake who called himself a shaman. A call from Leo’s wife nearly interrupts the conversation before Leo goes back to talking about Gretchen being reborn. He says he was happy that she had returned but Mike thinks he was going to say something else. Leo says too much curiosity can sometimes be dangerous for teenage girls. Once that ends, Leo attends a meeting with Linda (Jacqueline McKenzie) and other victims of crime. He asks a man what he would do if he could see the man who killed his loved one. Linda speaks up and says she would kill the man. Back at home, Mike tells Sam about Gretchen and apologizes for pulling her out of school. Amanda gets angry and wants to know who was looking at porn on her computer.

She accuses Jake (Finn Little) of watching dolphin porn on her computer before they get into a scuffle and Jake breaks her finger. Paige wants to send him away to a special school but Mike doesn’t want to put him in a mental institution. She is worried that giving him a normal life might not be possible. Amanda’s finger is taken care of at the hospital. Mike tells Paige that there is going to be a press conference tomorrow and that Waller kept him on the case. Later that night, Mike hangs out with his son and tries to get to the bottom of his problems. Mike says it is like he has a monster inside and he is not happy. When he gets angry, the monster comes out and someone gets hurt. Mike encourages his son to tell the monster who is in charge.

Meanwhile, Leo checks on Candace who is preparing food. Paxton joins them a few seconds later. Leo tells Paxton that he wrestled in school and it taught him discipline. Then, the press conference begins on television and Waller speaks about the Russian River Killer. Mike speaks and confirms that the killer has taken another life and destroyed another family. Leo loses it and slices his hand open while listening to the press conference. That night, Mike goes for a run once again. He heads to the crime scene and looks around. He is stopped when Edgar Harris (Sean Barker) shows up. Mike reminds him that they talked before when Edgar found the phone. He wonders if Edgar saw something since he sleeps there sometimes. Edgar admits he saw someone and he says he saw Mike.

He says he was Mike with that girl when she was alive but Mike believes he was drinking. He offers to buy him a drink before Edgar runs off. After that, we see a man writing a note with white gloves on. The note reads “you’re wrong. RRK is dead.” That note is addressed to Mike Serrato of the Moreno County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Reckoning Review

I can understand why some were upset with Reckoning. It has a few flaws here and there. Some of the acting is bad and none of the characters are particularly likable. I think there might be too much going on at once too. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the back and forth. I am eager to find out who is responsible for the RRK murders. I know the show wants us to believe it is either Mike or Leo so I would assume it is one of them.

Or, maybe it isn’t? It is too early for me to find out. At the end of each episode, I am interested in finding out what is going to happen next. The show should get some credit for that. I’d give the episode a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of Reckoning can be found on Reel Mockery.