As the episode begins, Mike Serrato (Aden Young) speaks with John Ainsworth (Toby Schmitz) who has lied about being the Russian River Killer. Mike tells John that he isn’t RRK no matter how many letters he has written but he doesn’t understand how John knew about the birthmark on Iris’s hip. He pretends it was a lucky guess but Mike doesn’t believe that. Instead, John says he was a fan of the case. Mike takes his glasses and tries to shove them down his throat until he is kneed and knocked to the ground. John runs up the stairs but Mike catches up with him and another scuffle ensues before the intro begins. After the intro, the letter is delivered to Mike’s desk as he speaks to Cyd (Gloria Garayua) about the special woman she is going to be dating.

Mike learns that Edgar Harris (Sean Barker) is being brought into the station for an interview. Once again, Edgar says he saw Mike with Gretchen before she died and he calls him the blue devil. When the interview ends, Cyd pleads with Mike to keep her in the loop next time. He tells her about running into Edgar while jogging by the river and he doesn’t think that is a big deal. That night, locals hold a vigil for Gretchen. During that event, Amanda (Mitzi Ruhlmann) finds out that Reuben shared her naked picture with others. Her friends say she looks hot and that nobody will know. That satisfies her. John Ainsworth shows up at the vigil and Mike isn’t happy to see him. In a flashback, we see Mike holding John out of a window upside down.

They argue back and forth and Cyd listens to everything they have to say. Meanwhile, Paxton (Ed Oxenbould) hangs out with Sam (Milly Alcock). Paxton doesn’t think Gretchen’s death is going to mean much since there are so many people in the world. Father Moran asks Tori if she would like to say something to the crowd and he does. Leo (Sam Trammell) and Candace (Laura Gordon) listen together. Then, Leo tells everyone he is the guidance counselor and that he feels responsible for Gretchen’s death. Sam and Paxton decide to leave early. On their way, they chat about having sex and Paxton’s dog is hit by a vehicle. Sam tries to call her mother to get it help but Paxton believes it is best to put the dog out of its misery so he smashes it in the head with a rock.

Sam goes home and watches the blood from her face before receiving a message from Paxton checking on her. She encourages him not to feel bad and he says he doesn’t. Amanda returns home and complains to Reuben about sharing her dirty picture with so many people and she wants to make sure the video will remain private. He tells her he’ll share the video if she wants him to but she says no because her father would kill him. Moments later, Leo checks Paxton’s computer and notices that he is talking to an older man while pretending to be a young girl. Leo gives him a piece of his mind before closing the screen and Paxton enters. Leo tries to get him to do something fun like practice those wrestling moves he has been talking about. They head downstairs and practice for a bit. Leo is rough on his son but Paxton manages to get back to his feet.

Paxton returns to his room and finds out that his friend wants to know why he is angry with him. After that, mike gets a call from Tori who is sobbing. He tries to calm her down and convince her that she is stronger than she thinks. Paige (Simone Kessell) overhears the conversation and asks her husband about it when it ends. Mike sits down and tells his wife that he fought for this case. He wants her to be angry with him for that but she isn’t. She tells him that this won’t be over for him until he catches the killer. They have sex on the floor before Mike decides to go out for a run. While he is gone, Paige notices Brad (Nic English) holding his baby through the window. They wave at each other before Brad joins her.

They chat about Eileen who hasn’t returned yet and cheating on their partners. The conversation ends when Brad heads the baby through the monitor. Mike stops by Tori’s house to check on her but she says she is fine. She is alone and Mike isn’t sure that is a good thing right now. She has a gun and it is loaded. She puts it to her head as Mike tries to convince her that suicide is not the solution to her problems. He thinks it is best to stick around so she can see the killer brought to justice. The following day, Mike tells Cyd that he made one mistake with Ainsworth and he is now stuck with a babysitter. We learn that Gretchen was involved with a fellow student and it ended badly not long before her death.

They visit the school and speak with Lacey Diaz (Sana’a Shaik) about Gretchen (Claude Scott-Mitchell). She explains that they were both curious but hadn’t been friends for a while. Leo watches the interview but doesn’t get involved. Lacey explains that the term shaman was the word Gretchen used for her medicine man or drug dealer. The detectives visit the dealer’s house and a dog jumps at the window. There is blood left behind so Mike breaks in while Cyd tells him it is a bad idea. The dealer is found dead in the backyard. They find out that he died before Gretchen was killed. Meanwhile, Lacey hangs out with a few friends. When she decides to leave, Leo is there and he invites her into his vehicle. She gets in before they head to a parking spot and smoke weed. They discuss the detectives and Lacey’s interview.

Leo says that the RRK wasn’t involved in Gretchen’s death because he is already dead. Then, he says this is something he heard. He gets upset and ticks off Lacey so she gets out of the car and walks. Leo tries to get her to let him drive her home. She doesn’t so he gets mad and causes his injured hand to bleed. Next, Mike and Cyd visit Tori who is no longer happy with Mike. She wants to see the tattoo he got for Gretchen. She had a conversation with Linda and she knows Mike gets a tattoo for each victim but he says he hasn’t. Cyd leaves them alone and Tori continues ranting. Cyd steals pain medications from Tori as Tori demands to have her gun back. When they leave, Mike tells Cyd that he slept with Linda Swan but says she was the only one. She tells him about the stolen pills and he ridicules her for doing that.

She throws them out the window before asking if they could start acting like legitimate partners. She mentions Ainsworth before we see another flashback. John tells Mike that he’ll never catch the kill so he lets him go and he crashes to the ground. Next, Paige argues with the kids about going to church so Mike tells them they’ll have to go to church and do their homework. Brad stops by before they leave and he reveals he has started running. At work, Mike finds the RRK letter and he snaps pictures of it. Candace speaks with Paige once church ends. Paige notices Leo speaking with Amanda and that concerns her. Candace says she has nothing to worry about since Leo is the guidance counselor and is around pretty girls all the time.

Leo and Amanda talk about their injuries. She tells him she saw him leaving Emerald Beach with that girl the other day. He seems worried but calms down once she promises to keep it a secret. Leo and Candace talk about Paige as they made it home. John Ainsworth stops Leo outside so he can chat with him about Gretchen but Leo doesn’t want to talk about it. As he heads inside, he notices that the hornet’s nest it getting bigger before watching John walk back to his house. Next, Mike looks at the evidence in the case. That night, Leo enters his locked shed while Mike continues scouring through the evidence. Leo grabs a fishing pole and uses it to remove a makeshift curtain exposing pictures of the victims. He spreads out on the ground and looks at the pictures above him.

 

Reckoning Review

Reckoning has many flaws. Some of the dialogue is bad and the acting is a bit shaky at times. Despite those problems, I am still interested in finding out what is going on. Each episode points the finger at one of the main characters so it has to be one of them. This episode made it seem that Leo was responsible for the RRK killings but that could change in the next episode. I am not sure if they’ll be able to carry this on for 10 episodes without becoming repetitive and boring but we’ll see.

I’ll stick with it since I don’t have anything worthwhile to watch right now. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of Reckoning can be found on Reel Mockery.