As the episode begins, Dhillon Harwood (Joseph Payne) tells the investigators they went to the boatyard instead of going home after the ball. He drank with Talitha (Celine Buckens) and suggested they try to make things right with Hannah, but Talitha didn’t think apologizing with change anything. When he told her the texts were out of order, she reminded him that Hannah (Abra Thompson) was out of order as well. He claims they went over there on a peace mission and Hannah was baffled at first. She let them in before she shared alcohol and drugs. Then, things got sexual and Talitha and Hannah started playing around with the scarf. Dhillon claims Talitha had played with the scarf in some of her videos and claimed it made things more intense. Out of nowhere, Hannah wasn’t breathing. They tried everything but couldn’t help her, panicked, and disposed of the body.

In a flashback, we see Talitha give the green scarf to Dhillon. He tells DI Paula Cassidy (Sinead Keenan) he’ll accept his punishment although it was only an accident. Virginia Hoult (Sharon Clarke) tells James Thornley (Kerr Logan) and Paula that they should charge him with murder. James goes over the evidence against Talitha before suggesting it passes the conviction test. Virginia agrees while reminding them that the jury will want to why it happened above all else. While Talitha puts her hair into a ponytail, we hear a news report about her and Dhillon pleading not guilty. Meera Harwood (Lolita Chakrabarti) steps out and speaks to the media. With her husband Paul (Michael Gould) with her, she confirms she has stepped down to focus on securing justice for Dhillon. Dhillon’s attorney reveals Dhillon has pled guilty to illegal disposal of a body although he is going to fight the murder charge.

Talitha meets with Cleo Roberts (Tracy Ifeachor) who warns her Dhillon is trying to cut her throat. She doesn’t want to do the same and denies being there. Cleo listens as her client claims she went home and had no clue Dhillon went to Hannah’s place. Although Talitha continues saying it isn’t a big deal, Cleo suggests otherwise and encourages her to tell the truth about what happened. Talitha finally reveals Dhillon was worried Hannah was going to get him kicked out of the university. When Cleo leaves, she calls Damian (James Frain) to tell him about the revelation and that she learned about Hannah’s possible complaint from Stephen Vendler (Alec Newman). She is introduced to Brian Reeves (Rupert Holliday-Evans) too. Meanwhile, Meera shows her son’s solicitor paperwork from his psychologist who said he was a cooperator and not an instigator. They have evidence that Talitha was a bad apple and Dhillon’s relationship with her was unhealthy.

They agree they need to make Talitha the bad guy. Meanwhile, Brian tells everyone about Lucina Bright and her complaint against Dhillon. He tells them more about the harassment claim. The panel that checked it was headed by Stephen Vendler. They contemplate barging in and speaking to Stephen. Cassidy learns that Hannah’s debit card was found in a batch with others during a drug raid. Andy Lowell (Christopher Hatherall) agrees to find out who had the card. Paula admits James will be upset that they didn’t tell him about the card in the first place. James is introduced to the new disclosure officer who says there is a lot of social media chatter. Paula jokes about using it to hide stuff, but James doesn’t find it funny. At this point, they decide to tell James about the bank card. She claims Gab was distracted when he left and didn’t tell him about it. He is upset that he didn’t have this information before the charging decision.

James admits he was in another case that was screwed up by disclosure and doesn’t want to go through it away. Cleo and Brian meet Stephen who doesn’t want to tell them anything about the complaint. He threatens to call university security so they agree to leave. Meera and the solicitor talk about the complaints against Dhillon. She is told that they need to shift the focus onto Vendler’s affair with Talitha even though that will ruin Stephen’s reputation and family. Meera calls Jack to have the story released to the press. James meets with Cleo to tell her about the bank card. He admits he came to prove he has changed before admitting he was wrong and inexperienced before.

James believes they’ll get Talitha although Cleo says otherwise and says Dhillon is just blaming a woman. He goes on to say they’re just waiting for the last piece of forensics. The story about Lady Tease and Stephen hits the news. The inmates begin screaming at Talitha and calling her Lady Tease. Cleo meets Brian at one of his developments and they discuss the news. Cleo believes the Hardwood camp likely leaked the news since they have Niche Barie (Rebecca Grant) who is pretty good. They discuss the development which Damian says helped employ a lot of people. He also says Seb is an important part of the team. Stephen looks at the press waiting outside his home. His wife, Lydia (Amy Marston), tells him she is taking the kids away because it is too degrading and humiliating. He admits he told Talitha about Hannah’s complaint against Dhillon so Lydia wonders if that led to the murder. She calls him a careless, shallow, little man.

Andrea (Claire Lams) washes dishes while remembering washing dishes in her daughter’s room that night. Paula is introduced to the Crown’s QC Adam Reynolds (Sam Hoare). He admits the latest news report will put the focus on the Lady Tease persona. Then, James says the forensics team has found a micro-fragment piece of evidence in one of the clasps of Talitha’s bracelet. Paula theorizes that the bracelet snagged on the rucksack when Talitha was putting it on the body. Adam and Virginia agree that would be a big help. Talitha hangs out at the prison and remembers the ball. Brian calls Stephen to tell him there is still a chance to talk to him first. Cleo is introduced to Cressida Campbell (Camilla Power) who tells her about Talitha’s brother Ferguson. He turned out normal while Talitha’s birth was the most painful day of her life. She admits she doesn’t care if she is alive or dead.

When asked about her guilt, Cleo says her job is to defend Talitha and that is it. Talitha calls Cleo and tells her about the Lady Tease tasing by the other inmates and jail guards. She says she likes Brian and wonders if her dad is paying someone to keep her safe in there. James meets with Andrea and tells her they’re going to go on trial together with separate legal teams. He says they’ll attack each other and Talitha says she wasn’t there at all. He warns her she is going to hear some distressing things during the trial. She wonders if Hannah couldn’t cry out for her because of what happened. Surprisingly, Stephen shows up outside and claims he didn’t know they’d use the information to harm Hannah. Andrea steps outside and he tries to apologize for telling them about Hannah’s complaint. James encourages him to go to the police. When he steps away, James calls Paula to tell her about it although she doesn’t answer. Damian, Seb, Cleo, and Brian discuss Stephen’s move. Cleo has scheduled a meeting with Talitha to discuss it properly in the morning.

When Damian asks how they can change the narrative, Cleo quickly suggests changing barristers because Nigel isn’t right for the case. She tells them how anxiety is Talitha’s default state and how she plays up to it with flippancy and aggression. Seb says he gets it and prejudice works both says before she tells him to shut up. Damian asks her for a private moment with Seb so she steps outside. When she steps back inside, she says this isn’t going to work. Brian admits Seb Harding (Tom Andrews) was getting a bit annoying. Damian says Seb won’t be attending these meetings anymore. When he asks who she’d recommend, she says Emma Hemmings (Lu Corfield) and mentions her credentials. He agrees to look at her and tells Cleo to schedule a meeting. Damien and Brian step outside and see Seb with Cressida. It seems there has been something between them. James asks Andrea about Hannah and Stephen. She says he was Hannah’s favorite tutor.

When Amanda arrives, James tries to leave. Andrea convinces him to return and tell her what is going on because she feels like she knows what is happening when he explains it. The disclosure officer shows Paula video of Dhillon with the scarf although she doesn’t think it is a big deal and says it should be stuck with the rest of it. Talitha sings to herself. In the morning, Cleo calls her partner to tell her she is going to come back to the office before visiting Talitha. Cressida stops her to tell her she moves fast and she had to remove the knife from Seb’s back. She also believes Damian is doing it to get back at her because he is unforgiving like his daughter. Cleo listens as Cressida calls her daughter a liar and says she’ll say anything to get attention. Then, Cressida warns her not to cross her because she’ll mess her up. When Cleo meets with Talitha again, we see that Talitha’s attitude has changed.

Cleo tells her about Stephen visiting Andrea and how that may give them a motive against her. Talitha says it wasn’t jealousy and Hannah was getting on her nerves before that. Then, she explains Dhillon would call you over and over until you answer, and he was always filming people. When Vendler told her about the complaint, Talitha told him Hannah was just saying that to get him to put her arm around her. She admits she was just looking for an excuse to vent her off before Cleo says that was a bad choice of words. She says it is a good thing she isn’t in court yet. Meanwhile, James and Paula talk about James Walton or Walden who had the debit cards. He claimed someone asked him to look after the bag although he didn’t know what was in it. He also has connections to Troy Manners since his girlfriend is Troy’s sister.

They wonder if Talitha gave the card to Troy to use to throw them off their scent. She isn’t ready to bring Troy back in yet. A message confirms the fragment on Talitha’s bracelet matches the rucksack. Cleo finally convinces Talitha to tell her the truth about the bell. We immediately see an argument between Hannah and Talitha on that night. Talitha says her sad story to Vendler didn’t pay off since she didn’t get what she wanted. Hannah threatens to go to the police and tell them everything she has done so Dhillon tries to calm them down. Talitha says she won’t do that to which Hannah responds they’ll see. Once Hannah walks away, Talitha gets a message and confirms he is there. Dhillon and Talitha split so she went to get the gear from Troy. She thinks she went back and danced with Dhillon although she was pretty wasted by then. When they got bored, they left and walked home together.

Dhillon begins getting worried about Hannah going to the police and getting him kicked out of the university. He blames her by saying she shouldn’t have sent the text. She claims they went to her room. They drank and talked before she went to sleep. When she woke up, Dhillon was gone. Cleo tells her what her mother said about her lying about stuff. Talitha isn’t ready to talk about it and says she won’t blame her parents. Cleo tries to find out why she went into sex work instead of taking money from her family until Talitha tells her to leave it. She insists she didn’t strangle Hannah and refuses to blame it on her mom, Vendler, or because it turned her on. When she asks Cleo if she believes her, there is a pause and that causes her to laugh. Lydia tries to get in touch with Meera who isn’t going to answer her phone. Paul asks Meera if a staff member leaked the story about Vendler before calling it a crappy thing to do to a friend who helped you out once before.

She tells him this is a fight to the death. Next, Stephen goes to Hannah’s place and looks at the memorial for her outside. He finally texts Lydia back and apologizes for failing her. Andy learns Stephen has turned on his phone, so the detectives agree to bring him in. Cleo researches Talitha’s mom while Virginia and Adam rehearse. James says they’re not going to let Dhillon’s defense say it was only Talitha. They agree Vendler is bad for both camps and could be their star witness now. Stephen falls from a building and likely kills himself as the episode ends.

 

Showtrial Review

Showtrial has a lot to like including decent acting and a unique story. It has some frustrating flaws that prevent it from being perfect too with the most notable being the fact that few of the characters are likable. In order to care about the outcome of the “trial of the century”, we need to care about those involved.

At first, Talitha was annoying although it is more like indifference now. Regardless, the series would be more powerful if it had a more likable defendant. For a show about a murder trial, Showtrial hasn’t been emotional in the least. The only scene that made me feel anything through the first three episodes was Andrea asking James to come back personally.

Still, Showtrial is interesting enough to keep viewers engrossed from start to finish, and it has enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. It may be one of those shows that has ups and downs but pays off in the long run. The episode was decent although not as good as the first two. It scores a 7 out of 10. All recaps of Showtrial will be available on Reel Mockery here.