The episode opens with Amy Reynolds (Grainne Good) rushing out of the Tin Roof to catch the bus which departs as she arrives. Seeing two people hitching a ride, she decides to do the same. A man driving a red car agrees to take her halfway to Castle Moy. As she hops in the man’s car, another car pulls up and begins to follow them. The man drops her off at the Kilpedder Filling Station. She calls Susan Reynolds (Laoise Sweeney) to inform her of where she is when a car approaches. The driver ignores her but turns around to pick her up. Amy jumps in the vehicle leaving Susan hanging on the phone.

Susan wakes up to find Amy’s bed still made. Elsewhere, Lisa Wallace (India Mullen) visits the gravesite of her mum, Janice Wallace (Maura Foley). In a flashback, young Lisa Wallace (Molly McCann) watches young Chris Wallace (Michael Woods) and Janice. Back to the present, Lisa bangs her head on the steering wheel when her pager beeps. She calls a frantic Cathy who fears for her life. Lisa reminds her that she is in a shelter. Cathy warns that he will wait until the shelter closes to kill her. Lisa vows to help her.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Bill Thompson (Brian Fortune) asks Lisa if she did a piece on the divorce referendum. Lisa tries to explain her new angle but Bill moves on to another topic. Jimmy (Jason Daly) names off a list of potential news stories. Lisa stresses the need to do a piece on the women’s refuge. Barbara Abrahams (Derbhle Crotty) suggests a minor update but Billy rejects the idea. Lisa warns that women may die. Bill tells her that it is final. Later, Lisa tells Bill that it is their duty. Barbara assures her that it isn’t personal. Lisa says it is because Janice was murdered when she was 10 years old. Bill urges her to tell how she was impacted by Janice’s murder. Barbara follows Lisa into the restroom to apologize for what happened to her mum.

Colaiste Caoimhe School – Rachel Burkely (Kiera Crawford) complains about David being late to pick her up. David reminds her that she arrived home late last night. She tells him about Laura’s birthday party. He demands she not be late again, especially on a school night. A potential gangland shooting alert screams across the scanner. Later, Jimmy accuses Lisa of utilizing the “dead mother card”. She says, “F**k you” before grabbing her headset.

Susan reports Amy’s disappearance to the local police department. A male officer (Brian O’Suilleabhain) suggests if Susan is a pretty girl, she is having a good time with the person who picked her up. She denies Amy is like that before saying she was supposed to start her new job today. The officer tells her to wait 24 hours. Later, Susan informs Frances Reynolds (Fionnuala Murphy) of Amy’s disappearance.

Bill approves Lisa’s piece on Janice’s murder. She tells Barbara that Bill approved her piece for the front page. Later, Lisa opens The Dublin Evening Mall to find her piece, “Getting Away With Murder,” headlining the front page. The article says an intruder murdered Janice in her home in 1980.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Lisa receives a happy anniversary card with two photos of her at age 10 and hands in restraints. Later, she alleges Janice’s killer took the photos. In a flashback, 10-year-old Lisa emerges from her bedroom to hear strange noises. She calls for her mum when a masked man pulls her into a room where Janice is restrained on a bed. Back to the present, Lisa claims the man killed her mum while she was locked inside a wardrobe. She tells David that the murder took place on November 14, 1980. She refuses to provide information about her father. Holding up the photos of the restrained hands, David asks if it is Janice. After pointing out the photo was taken recently outside, she says the film is Polaroid Type 779. She admits to calling Janice’s killer a “coward” in her newspaper article. She asks if Janice’s case will be reopened. David vows to look into it.

Rachel and Susan report Amy’s disappearance to the police. An officer tells them to come back in 24 hours if Amy doesn’t resurface. She accuses him of not caring about Amy’s welfare. He orders her to step away from the desk because other people are waiting. Garda Roisin (Fionnuala Gygax) listens as the officer threatens to have them removed. Outside, she urges Susan and Rachel to contact the media.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Dr. Moore (Anthony O’Boyle) stresses the need for Lisa to take her Nitrazepam consistently. He urges her to consider another career choice. Later, Lisa visits Chris Wallace (Stuart Dunne) in prison to show him the greeting card and photos. Chris breaks down weeping when he sees the photos. She asks if Janice’s murder was revenge for what he did. He assures her that gang members have a code to never touch a rival gang family. He claims the police refused gang boss, Rab Kelly’s help in finding Janice’s killer. He says Rab denies any connection to the murder.

David demands to know why Lisa withheld information about Chris. She assures him that Janice’s murder is not gang-related. He says there is always the possibility of the photos being staged. She points out that the victim’s hands are swollen and purple. He stresses the importance of a “watertight case” when she walks away.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Lisa speaks to the St. Garda police to request information on a national database for missing people. An officer says it does not exist before suggesting she contact each of the 564 police stations.

David presents his evidence to Detective Chief Superintendent Gill (Philip O’Sullivan) who was the Chief Investigating Officer in Janice’s case. Gill assures him that he would not be in his position if he botched the case. He confidently says it was a revenge killing. David throws out several possibilities but Gill declines to reopen the case. He informs him of Lisa being contacted by the killer. Gill urges him to wait since there is no fingerprint evidence on the photos. David warns of potential media problems with Lisa being a journalist.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Lisa learns Emma O’Donoghue, a 50-year-old Willow Heights woman, 37-year-old Lizzy Emmett, and another woman were reported missing in the past two months. When the call ends, she looks up to see Frances and Susan on the news discussing Amy’s disappearance. Lisa races over to the two women. Later, Susan alleges the police portrayed Amy as a “wh**e”. Lisa asks about Amy’s nail polish. Susan says it was always black. Lisa shows her the photo of the restrained hands. Frances and Susan are unsure if it is Amy.

Lisa tells David about her meeting with Frances and Susan. She says they said Amy kept her nails black. He informs her of Gill’s refusal to reopen Janice’s case. She warns that he will kill again before threatening to write about it.

Reading Lisa’s piece, Bill says she jumps to conclusions too often. Lisa stresses the need to get the police to take action to protect women. Bill urges her to find more evidence. In the restroom with a bloody nose, Lisa has a flashback of finding Janice’s lifeless body covered in blood on the bed. Back to the present, Chris tells Lisa that Janice complained about prank calls during a prison visit. He adds that she believed things were moved around inside the house.

Susan denies Amy received prank calls. Lisa reads Amy’s diary to find nothing unusual. Susan complains about the police not visiting their house. She claims Amy reported her red lipstick missing. Opening the window, Lisa discovers a wood wedge. Susan questions if the suspect was in Amy’s room. Lisa snaps photos and collects the wedge as evidence. She calls David to ask if he knows how Janice’s killer got into their house. David says a wedge was discovered in a downstairs window. Ending the call, Lisa urges Susan to stay with Frances.

The Dublin Evening Mail – Lisa tells Barbara about the evidence at Susan’s. She calls David to update him on the wooden wedge in Amy’s house. He urges her to wait to publish the evidence until the house has been dusted. Lisa tells Barbara to delay pushing her piece before leaving. Accessing Lisa’s computer, Barbara orders Dougie to hold the press and retrieve Lisa’s photos.

David arrives home to find Mary Burkely (Sarah Carroll) and Rachel watching a news report about Amy’s disappearance. Rachel complains about Mary keeping her in Saturday night. David agrees with Mary.

A woman delivers a tray with soup and The Dublin Evening Mail to Billy Miller (Paul Ward) in a hospital bed. Reading the piece about a connection with the disappearance of Amy and Janice’s murder, Billy begins to pant. The episode ends.

 

The Vanishing Triangle Cast

• Amy Reynolds (Grainne Good)
• Susan Reynolds (Laoise Sweeney)
• Frances Reynolds (Fionnuala Murphy)
• Janice Wallace (Maura Foley)
• Chris Wallace (Stuart Dunne)
• Lisa Wallace (India Mullen)
• Barbara Abrahams (Derbhle Crotty)
• Bill Thompson (Brian Fortune)
• David Burkely (Allen Leech)
• Rachael Burkely (Kiera Crawford)
• Mary Burkely (Sarah Carroll)
• Tommy (Adam John Richardson)
• Billy Miller (Paul Ward)

The Vanishing Triangle Synopsis

The Dublin Evening Mail journalist, Lisa lost her mother when she was young. Janice’s murder is a 15-year-old cold case. Lisa is working on a piece to help salvage the local women’s refuge when she is convinced to write a piece about Janice’s murder. On the anniversary of Janice’s murder, Lisa receives an anniversary card, a photo of her 10-year-old self, and a photo of hands restrained with a black cloth. The hands aren’t Janice’s but she believes the killer took her picture. She urges the police to reopen Janice’s case but the Chief Investigating Officer on Janice’s case, now the Detective Chief Superintendent, refuses.

Lisa learns three women have been reported missing in the past two months in one prescient. A 20-year-old Amy decides to hitchhike after missing the bus. A man drops her off at a filling station where someone else picks her up. Amy’s sister, Susan reports her missing but the police refuse to touch the case. Amy’s mother, Frances, and Susan try again but nothing. Lisa speaks to the women to learn the circumstances of Amy’s disappearance. While searching Amy’s room, she discovers a wooden wedge inside the windowsill in Amy’s room. Susan says Amy said her red lipstick was missing but denies taking it. The evidence is believed to be enough to convince Gill to reopen Janice’s case. Detective David urges her to not post the article with the new evidence. Without Lisa’s permission, Barbara posts the piece.

As the episode ends, Billy Miller becomes stressed while reading Lisa’s article.

The Vanishing Triangle Review

My review doesn’t reflect on the real crimes and events that the series is based on. The acting is spot-on. The cinematography is the best I have seen in a while. The story is beautifully done which is rare these days.

The pace is a bit slow but there is enough going on to hold my attention. While not an original story, it is interesting nonetheless. The execution is great compared to other based on true stories released in the past year.

The episode deserves a 7. Get more The Vanishing Triangle recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our online advertising builds brand awareness, click the link to learn more. Join our forum to discuss the series and the latest movie and celebrity news.