As the second episode of The Rising begins, Neve Kelly (Clara Rugaard) asks Tom Rees (Matthew McNulty) to stop staring at her like that. He is adamant that this shouldn’t be happening because she should’ve died twice. As he begins drinking, Neve says he is no good to her like this. Tom asks if she feels any different. Neve says she isn’t thirsty, hungry, or tired. He questions what happened to her last night and whether it was some type of accident. Neve reveals she had bruises and a cut like she had been hit with something. She can’t remember details so it feels like her memory is in pieces. Neve asks what she was doing at the party and who she was with. Tom remembers seeing her by the fire and she actually spoke to him which was a novelty.

She seemed sad. Then, she went off dancing and he didn’t see her after that. Tom says he can’t deal with this right now so he needs to be on his own for a bit. Neve is fine with that, but she isn’t going anywhere until she finds out who did this to her. DS Diana Aird (Rebecca Root) and Christine Wyatt (Ann Ogbomo) watch as Neve’s body is taken away in an ambulance. Neve follows their vehicle on her bike. She arrives at the morgue’s body storage and pulls out a man’s body. She puts it back before her body is brought into the room. Neve gets emotional as she checks the body and finds the wound around the neck.

When she looks at her hands, she remembers touching a sparkler at the party and getting her fingers burned. She hangs around as the pathologist (Ivana Basic) finds the mark around her neck that looks like a belt. The pathologist discovers something embedded at the site of the ligature mark. It looks like a piece of metal or paint, but they’ll have to wait for the analysis to know for certain. As they begin cutting open the body, Neve freaks out and the lights in the room start flickering. Diana asks if they’re always doing that, but the pathologist says no. Later that night, Tom visits Daniel Sands (Alex Lanipekun) because Maria wasn’t answering her phone and he got worried.

Daniel explains that the doctor gave her a sedative. They go inside for a cup of tea as Tom wonders where they go when they die. Daniel doesn’t think they go anywhere. He believes this is it so they need to make the best of what they have. Daniel learns that Maria powered through when her mother died although he thinks that made it worse. Daniel promises to look after her. Then, he reveals that the police want them to do a formal identification tomorrow. When Tom is invited, he says he has seen enough. The pathologist says the fractured hyoid bone confirms Neve was strangled to death.

Although there is trauma to the back of the head, she was likely choked to death with a belt. There are no signs of sexual assault while Neve was dead before she went into the water. They’re told that the toxicology results are in. She had been drinking alcohol and taking GHB. Christine asks whether she took the GHB willingly. Neve says no. The pathologist doesn’t think so because it is common for the victim to have it administered without their knowledge. Neve returns to her house where she finds Tom saying goodbye to Daniel. Once Daniel goes back inside, Tom tries comforting his daughter.

Max (Cameron Howitt) wakes up and sees Tom standing outside talking to himself. Tom asks Neve whether she took GHB last night, but she says no. She wouldn’t have taken GHB out of choice so someone drugged and strangled her. Since she would only take a drink from someone she trusted, it had to be someone she knew. Later that night, Neve remembers Katie (Robyn Cara) asking her what she is drinking. Neve says it is a beer that was given to her. In the morning, Katie tries to help Maria (Emily Taaffe) who ends up breaking a cup. After that, Daniel and Maria formally identify Neve’s body.

They confirm it is her before Maria tells her daughter goodbye. Neve walks over to hold her mother’s hand. Neve tells herself they loved her so much. Tom receives gifts and letters from people hoping for the best. He begins opening a bottle of wine as Neve storms in to use his computer. She sees that he has been visiting a website about life after death because he is trying to understand what is going on. Neve explains they need to find photos from the party to see who she was hanging out with. They talk about how Maria is doing while Tom doesn’t think it is fair having her to himself.

He tells her about the multiverse story on the website and how you might live on in other realities that run in parallel. Tom wonders if that is what happened to her, but Neve doesn’t know. While going through the photos, Neve remembers Nicky (Oliver Huntingdon) giving her a drink and telling her to cheer up. She asks Tom to write down the names of anyone he can remember at the party as she rushes out to the club. She approaches her bike and remembers more about the motocross race. When she tries to pass the other rider, they end up crashing and getting passed.

They call for the paramedics. Maria rushes to the barrier to check on her daughter who says she is okay. In the present, she hears Nicky getting advice nearby and decides to follow them. She manages to get Nicky’s phone and find pictures from the party. Neve remembers the girl who tried to give her the sparkler. Joseph (Solly McLeod) arrives and tells Nicky that he wanted to keep busy. Nicky watches him take his shirt off before checking on him. Joseph eventually admits he can’t stop thinking about Neve. William (Nicholas Gleaves) interrupts to say police are taking statements at the station and they should get it over with.

Joseph claims he’ll go after practice before William asks whether they saw or heard anything at the party. Nicky confesses they were both out of it.  When William asks when Joseph saw her last, he says he doesn’t have times. He just remembers talking to Neve before she went off to get food or something. Then, he went home to sleep. Nicky claims it was about the same for him although he slept in Raff’s tent. Joseph would go back and change things if he could and he’d be there for her. William believes they’re all feeling that right now. He encourages them to get the statements done today before leaving.

When they’re alone, Nicky asks whether they’re still sticking to their story. Joseph says yes. Neve steps into the other room and hears everyone talking about her murder. A news report comes on the television that confirms Neve was killed in the early morning hours on Sunday. Maria pleads with people to come forward since she wants to know who did this to her daughter. She tells the crowd how Neve was a talented motocross rider and promising artist. Tom gets emotional at home while watching Maria beg people with information to talk to the police. As Neve listens to everyone talk about her murder, she begins yelling for them to get away from her.

Eventually, she finds herself alone. She begins freaking out so she goes outside and sits down. Tom contemplates calling Maria before Neve comes through the door. He admits he thought about looking for her since he was worried. That is a first. She tells him that Nicky is hiding something and Joseph is helping him. She wonders if the whole club is in on it. Neve tells him what happened when everyone vanished. She was worried that she was going to be alone forever. Tom suggests this isn’t good for her so she should let the police get on with it, but Neve isn’t sure he ever knew what was good for her.

She checks the list of people from the party he made while he tries to convince her investigating the murder is not a good idea. Neve isn’t going to be someone’s victim. She wants to know what happened and get justice or she will go crazy. She sees a picture of the girl with the sparkler and admits that is one of the last things she remembers. Tom recognizes the woman as Alex Wyatt (Nenda Neururer) because he taught her when she was younger.

In a flashback, Alex tells Neve not to touch the hot bit. Alex says she isn’t new here before Neve learns she is an environmentalist. She works at the petrol station so that isn’t going great. Tom takes Neve to the petrol station to see if Alex is working there. She wants him to question her although he is hesitant to do so. Neve sees her and has a few flashbacks. She is surprised when Alex turns around to say hello. Alex confesses she was hoping she’d see her again and she waited for her the other night. Alex tells her that they talked, drank, and danced before Neve bailed. When asked if she is okay, Neve claims she is fine.

Tom gets a message from Daniel saying they’re going over the plans. Alex remembers that Neve was talking to one of the motocross guys with dark hair. When Joe came over, they went off together. Alex saw them walk into the wood and that was the last time she saw her. She was surprised since Joe didn’t seem like her type. Before Neve leaves, she warns Alex that it isn’t dangerous around here. Once she gets back into the car and tells Tom that Alex could see her, he wonders if Maria can see her now too. Tom wonders whether she’ll have to rely on him anymore. He also tells her about Dan’s message about coming around to talk about a vigil.

She tells him to drop her at the party field and go because there are things she needs to remember. At the field, Neve remembers Joseph approaching and asking whether she is avoiding him or something. She recalls him getting mad at her for giving him the silent treatment. Joseph admits he wants to be with her forever, but she doesn’t think staying in Abbington is living. He offers to go traveling with her although she doesn’t think he is even listening to her. Neve argues that nothing is here for her. Joseph reminds her that he is before questioning whether she is dumping him. He thinks the accident messed with her mind, but Neve doesn’t want this anymore.

Joseph doesn’t think anyone could be good enough for her because she is a headcase. As she walks away, he screams that she shouldn’t think this is over. Max shows Daniel and the others the pictures he has taken of Neve that they can carry during the vigil. Maria admits to Tom that she isn’t excited about the vigil, but it is just happening anyway. She doesn’t like that other people are deciding things about her daughter even though they loved her. She only cares about finding out why Neve is lying in a morgue when she should be in bed. Tom insists Neve is still here and he can see her as plain as day. Maria gets angry and believes Tom is just drunk since she has stood over her daughter’s dead body.

Daniel makes Tom leave. When Alex puts out the newspapers, she is surprised to see a picture of Neve on the front. Tom continues drinking more and more at home. Max and Katie try to comfort Maria as she cries in her studio. When Joseph returns on his bike, Michael (William Ash) asks where he has been and whether he did his statement yesterday. Joseph confirms he did the statement. He says he just wants to be alone. He does into his camper to lay down. Moments later, the light above him turns on and off. They begin flickering repeatedly as Neve watches him from nearby.

 

The Rising Review

The Rising is slowly moving along as Neve continues learning more about the night of her murder. Tom, Maria, and Daniel struggle to come to grips with their loss while nobody wants to believe Tom. The show does a good job of establishing the mood with the soundtrack and the dark lighting although it might be too dark at times.

Matthew McNulty is good as usual while playing a typical character that you’ve likely seen countless times before. Clara Rugaard’s performance as Neve Kelly is great and believable, but we need more time for the character to hit the right notes. I do worry about the episode count and runtime because it already feels like the show is dragging on a bit too long. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Rising can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support us by following this link.