As the 7th episode of The Rising begins, Daniel (Alex Lanipekun) returns home to check on Victoria (Laura Aikman). When Daniel says he is going to take a shower, Victoria contemplates joining him. After the intro, Daniel says Victoria is in a great mood so the pills must be working. She hasn’t felt this good in years and it feels like she is waking up. They talk about getting away together when Victoria’s work slows down. Daniel suggests trying for another kid since they always wanted three, but he knows she has a lot going on. She might have to work late tonight since this might be the only day she can show William and Michael the hall. Victoria goes downstairs and joins the kids first.

When Daniel comes down, they surprise him for his birthday. Maria (Emily Taaffe) runs into her later to give her a gift for Daniel while Victoria is picking up cupcakes. Tom Rees (Matthew McNulty) enters and blames himself for being late. When Victoria opens the gift and finds a painting, Maria asks if this is the one Daniel liked. As Victoria loads her car, she begins scratching his arm. Tom brings her a box she forgot and jokes about being drunk. Victoria learns that he is coming to the party and promised Maria he’d be on his best behavior. She seems a bit out of it when she gets into the car. Then, she meets with William Wyatt (Nicholas Gleaves) at Keaton Hall.

She has all the paperwork she could find such as building permits and such. William reveals he and Michael (William Ash) used to muck around in there when they were kids. He finds it odd that they’re going to own it. Victoria came there once only to be chased away by his dad with a garden hose. William gets a message from Michael who says he can’t make it. He apologizes to Victoria, but she says it is okay since she has so much party stuff to sort out. Later, Michael arrives at the party with ice and apologizes to Victoria. He claims he got caught up on a job and couldn’t make it. Victoria’s mother notices she has been scratching her arm and suggests talking about it. Victoria asks her to leave it though.

She asks Daniel to finish handing out the sandwiches before she finds somewhere private to scratch her arm. Tom and Michael sneak up on her moments later. She offers Michael a real drink, but he says he is having orange juice. William joins them and finds out this is where the real party is. He claims he is having flashbacks of the four of them behind the old petrol station. William reveals he is getting his last operation next week and bought a new bike to celebrate since you have to get back on the horse. Victoria says he can’t always have Tim around to pull him out of a crash. William promises to pay Tom back somehow. Victoria’s mom and kids come out because they’re creating a video for Daniel.

Later, Victoria begins feeling odd and hearing strange noises. She hears William complaining that Michael made him look like an idiot because he was drunk or hungover. They’re going into business together and Michael hasn’t signed any paperwork. William isn’t sure he can do this with him after all. Michael claims Christine (Ann Ogbomo) is poisoning him although William says she doesn’t need to. Victoria tries to get them to calm down. As William walks away, Michael screams that he can’t leave him out of this. Victoria checks on Michael later as he apologizes for causing a scene. He doesn’t think William will leave him out of it either.

Victoria puts her hand on his leg and suggests he just needs a coffee and a good night’s sleep. He says she has always been good to him. She asks whether he has thought about getting back out there since it isn’t good to be on your own. He says Denise is a hard act to follow although they had their moments back in the day too. Victoria blames that on cheap cider. They hug and he tries to kiss her before she stops him. He says he is sorry because he thought it was something else. Daniel checks on them moments later. Once Michael leaves, Daniel admits he is worried about Victoria because he knows the signs. He just wants to know what is going on.

Victoria insists she is better, but she still isn’t as good as she could be. She confesses that she just can’t go through having another baby again. Victoria asks for space so she can find a way to get through this on her own. She goes to the car to get his present only to remember that she left it at the hall. Tom watches her leave in her car. She goes to the hall and gets the painting before hearing something in the building. Victoria goes to room seven where she finds the window open. She shuts it and receives a message from her mother who is checking on her. Victoria begins scratching her arm frantically. She hears something and turns around.

Once she does, Neve (Clara Rugaard) begins hearing the scratching noise and screams for it to stop. Victoria appears in front of her. Neve asks what happened to her since everyone claims she just walked out. She believes the scratching is Victoria’s body. Victoria is surprised it is Neve although she could feel her ever since she came back. She asks Neve whether she knows who did this or why they’re here. Victoria shows her the wound on her neck and suggests they’re the same. Neve asks who killed them. Meanwhile, Tom tries to explain what is going on to DS Diana Aird (Rebecca Root). He sits down before he is asked about logging into Neve’s social media accounts after her death.

Tom insists that was Neve and William should be here instead of him. Diana knows about Tom helping William when he crashed his bike many years ago. She accuses Tom of colluding with William before asking about Victoria Sands. Tom claims they were all mates. He doesn’t think William was though because he likes to throw his weight around. When asked about the belt, Tom admits it doesn’t matter what he says because he failed her. When Diana goes to the lobby, Maria tries to convince her that Tom is innocent. She complains that Diana is wasting time with Tom although Diana says his ghost stories aren’t helping anyone. Diana returns to her office to look at evidence and pictures of the victims.

Once Daniel returns home, he finds Maria in his kitchen. They agree that Tom didn’t do it. Daniel accuses her of only coming back because it didn’t work out with Tom, but she denies that. It was never like that. Maria just thought she needed that to feel closer to Neve. She apologizes for shutting him out. Maria doesn’t need him to rescue or fix her because it makes her feel suffocated. Daniel just needs to know that he can trust her. Since it is never going to go away, Maria thinks they need to learn to live with it together. Victoria confesses she can’t remember anything else and has already shown Neve everything she could. She remembers waking up down here so he must’ve thought she was already dead.

She tried to pull herself up the stairs, but she was so weak. They talk about fading and losing control. Once Victoria felt Neve, she started remembering her children and everything else again. Victoria still can’t remember who killed her. Neve wonders if Alex was right that they don’t want to remember what happened because they’re afraid. Alex (Nenda Neururer) sits down with Christine and admits it has been a lot to deal with. Christine tells her not to worry about her father because he is gone. Alex learns about the blood at the motel as Christine admits she never understood why William was obsessed with that place. Alex says she has to go. Katie (Robyn Cara) comes down the stairs and sees Max (Cameron Howitt) watching a video with Maria.

Maria took old photos from the attic and thought it would be fun to look through them together. She found a hard drive with some videos too. Katie remembers the day in question since it was the last time they saw Victoria. Maria apologizes to her for what she said previously. She should’ve been here and never took it out on Katie. Maria promises that she isn’t going anywhere. They make up and begin looking through the photos. Katie learns about Max’s camera being broken. He shows her how the photos kept coming out weird.

Diana goes to the hall to ask William a question although William isn’t eager to chat. Their conversation turns to Victoria Sands Diana suggests Victoria bothered him because she was a successful lawyer. William gets in her face and tells her to call his lawyer if she wants to talk to him again. When Diana tells him about Tom seeing and talking to Neve, William calls him a drunk. He refuses to say whether he sees Neve too. Maria calls Diana so she can come look at Max’s photos. She says Max took pictures when he felt a presence and it could be Neve, but Diana believes it is grief playing tricks on him. Although Diana suggests Tom has been taking advantage of that, Maria argues he is telling the truth.

Maria tries to convince Diana that the smudges are Neve and that Alex can see her too. She asks Diana to call Alex because she will tell her the truth. Alex goes to the hall where she begins yelling for Neve. Meanwhile, Neve tells Victoria that she has been chasing shadows because she couldn’t face it. Victoria warns her that she’ll end up lost like she is and she isn’t sure she can handle the truth. Neve says she is going to do it because she is stronger now. As Neve is taken to the woods, Victoria guides her through it and reminds her that she is with her this time. Neve remembers arguing with Joseph that night. Alex finds William in room seven of the hall.

Alex wants to know the truth. William insists he never touched Neve. Although there are things that he can’t tell her, he would never hurt Neve. She thinks he knows who it was so she demands to know who. Neve sees Tom in the woods, but he continues walking. Alex reminds William what Neve went through before her body was thrown away like she was nothing. She asks how he’d feel if it was her. Neve remembers partying with Alex. Then, she begins walking down a dark road alone. Michael stops by and agrees to give her a lift. He learns that they broke up while Neve struggles to get the seatbelt loose. He tries to help her, but she tells him to get off her.

Michael says he wasn’t touching her. She wants to walk and tries to get out, but Michael locks the door and says not like this. He yells for her to sit back, shut up, and show some gratitude. Neve now knows where Joe gets his issues. She begins laughing at Michael and telling him to look at himself. After he slaps her, she calls him a psycho. She gets out and runs for it. Alex cries with William in the present. Michael enters the room after William tells Alex that she needs to go. He wants to know what William told her. Then, we see a flashback of Michael scaring Victoria at the hall. He suggests it was like old times at the house and it has always been him and her.

Victoria asks if he is joking. Neve continues running through the woods with Michael close behind her. Michael asks Victoria if he was ever good enough for her. She says they had a drunken fumble in high school and he followed her around like a puppy ever since. She is always trying to be nice because nobody ever says what they really think. Michael asks what she really thinks about him. She asks him to get out of the way, but Michael demands an answer. Michael catches up with Neve and asks if she thinks she is better than him and Joseph. She is adamant that he isn’t going to get away with hitting her. Victoria confesses she feels sorry for him. He grabs her as she tries to walk away.

Michael chases down Neve and hits her in the back of the head before taking off his belt. Victoria tries to get her to come back as Michael chokes her. Neve returns and tells Victoria that Michael killed them and he can’t get away with it.

 

The Rising Review

The 7th episode of The Rising finally revealed Neve and Victoria’s killer. I suppose you could’ve seen this coming since William was most likely going to cover up for Michael. It wasn’t surprising that the killer was someone who was barely mentioned throughout the first six episodes though. It makes sense although a lot of what happened prior to this feels like red herrings.

Some of the actions of the characters are baffling to the point that they’re laughable, but the whole show isn’t meant to be realistic. Still, it is comical to see Tom and Maria try to explain to a detective that he is still seeing Neve even though she is dead. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Rising can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support us by following this link.