Vera Series 13 Episode 3 Recap

Salt and Vinegar – The episode opens at Simmons Fish and Chips where Scott Rhodes (Scott Turnbull) opens. Seeing Scott, Anthony “Ant” Daleson (Leon Annor) and Ross Simmons (Lee Armstrong) look at each other with concern. Entering the office, Ross asks to speak with him but he refuses before walking away. Carrie Hawton (Scarlett Brookes) greets Tyler Hawton (Tareq AL Jeddal) as he emerges from the soccer field. He says let’s go before getting into Scott’s car. Later, Scott urges Rachel Lim (Jasmine Bayes) to cheer up before she frightens off the customers. The next morning, Rachel arrives at work to find Scott’s body in the freezer.

DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) receives a call from DC Mark Edwards (Riley Jones) informing her of Scott’s body. Upon arrival at the crime scene, she is met by Mark saying an employee identified the victim as a co-owner, Scott Rhodes, with Ross Simmons. He tells her that the storefront has CCTV but only during business hours. Dr. Paula Bennett (Sarah Kameela Impey) says the autopsy cannot be performed until the body is thawed. Utilizing a UV light, she finds a spot of blood on the floor. Vera questions why the killer would take the time to clean but leave Scott’s body in the freezer when she spots the electric cable unplugged. DI Joe Ashworth (David Leon) arrives at the crime scene. Vera sees the empty cash drawer. He asks if it was a burglary. DC Steph Duncan (Rhiannon Clements) tells Vera that Scott’s body was discovered by Rachel when she came in to check the gas connection. She says Rachel said Ross left work last night claiming to have a business meeting today. Mark tells her that Scott lives at a residence registered to Carrie.

Carrie breaks down when she learns of Scott’s death. She tells Vera that Scott moved in with her six months prior. She claims to have last seen him at about 5pm yesterday and isn’t sure if he returned home last night. She says Scott’s car was damaged outside their home and another time, a tire got slashed. Ashworth questions why Carrie is working at a warehouse on Scott’s salary. Vera suggests Carrie wants to be an independent woman. He receives an alert that Ross traveling south.

Vera is waiting on Ant when he returns from the hospital to see his brother who is epileptic. He tells them that he began working at the fish shop before Ross took over and Scott became a co-owner. He claims Ross let him leave early to be with his brother. He says Scott and Ross argue about the business. At the police station, Duncan informs Vera that Carrie does not have a criminal record and her sister resides in Bristol. DC Kenny Lockhart (Jon Morrison) says Ross was apprehended during a traffic stop.

Ross admits to having wine before the police pulled him over. He tells Vera that he and Scott knew each other years ago before they became partners six months ago. He complains about the energy expenses. He claims to have given Rachel his keys before leaving last night. Ashworth asks if the cash drawer is normally empty. He says it is emptied after each shift but sometimes it is left for the next day. He believes it was not emptied it Saturday. CCTV inside the fish shop at 11:32am shows a confrontation between Ross and a man. Vera confronts Scott with the new evidence. Ross tells her that Trevor Armley (Shane Attwooll) got upset when they went with another fish supplier.

Vera informs Trevor of Scott’s murder. Trevor says Scott terminated their contract before the deadline and Ross did nothing to stop him. He claims Scott was spreading rumors about their fishing operation which could ruin their credibility. He claims to have played poker last night with friends.

Rachel tells Duncan and Ashworth that Ross asked her to turn off the gas before her shift ended. Ashworth asks about the cash drawer. She claims Scott took money from the cash drawer and took advantage of them. She says Scott lured her away from Helliwell’s by offering her more money but he never followed through with it. Duncan asks why Scott would want to annoy Pat Helliwell (Mia Soteriou). Rachel says Helliwell’s is more profitable than Simmons Fish and Chips. She admits to unplugging the freezer to ruin the fish for the way Scott treats them.

Mark gives Vera a copy of the online reviews for Simmons Fish Shop. He describes the tone as vicious. Duncan tells Vera that Rachel unplugged the freezer. Vera and Ashworth visit Helliwell’s to buy chips. Pat complains that the police are bad for business. Vera says murder has the same effect. Pat appears to be shocked by the news. She claims Scott was trying to run her out of business by stealing her customers and employees. She says a dead rat was found in the kitchen. She boasts of having the kitchen refitted. As they prepare to leave, Pat offers them the frozen dead rat to analyze. She receives a call from Kenny about text messes passed between Scott and Ollie Keeble (Ryan McKen).

Vera and Ashworth confront Ollie about the text messages. Ollie says when he spoke to Scott about Tyler’s temper, Scott became confrontational telling him to mind his own business. He claims Scott started bullying him. He denies having a relationship with Carrie.

Mark informs Vera of being in debt. He suggests Scott utilized the money from the sale of his father’s property to invest in Simmons Fish and Chips. Vera dials one of Scott’s contacts to reach Sophie Jenson (Aoife Kennan) whom he was having an affair. Ashworth suggests Scott promised her that he would leave Carrie. She assures him that Scott would have because she is pregnant with his child. She describes Scott as a lovely, caring, decent man”. Later, they inform Carrie of the affair and debt. Tyler claims Scott believed Ollie was in love with Carrie. Upon leaving, Vera sees the car in the driveway has been vandalized and a surveillance camera nearby. She gives the CCTV footage to Mark before heading to the morgue.

Bennett says Scott was deas before being placed in the freezer. She suggests he was hit with a metal pipe which fractured the skull and contused the brain tissue. She adds that he was also stabbed by a knife. She says the non-dominant hand was utilized, the killer is ambidextrous, or there were two assailants. She sets the time of death between 11pm and 2am. At the police station, Kenny validates Carrie, Ant, and Tyler’s alibis for the night Scott was killed. Duncan says Rachel picked up her son at a friend’s house around midnight. Mark informs her that the bad reviews are linked to the same IP address on Menton Road, TS5. Duncan tells him that Rachel lives in the area. Rachel admits to writing the bad reviews. She assures Vera that Scott never found out but Ant looked at her kind of strange.

CCTV footage shows Tyler vandalizing Scott’s car in front of the house. Someone can be seen on several occasions hanging out in front of the house. A closer look shows Ollie in a hoodie outside the house. Later, Ollie claims to have gone there after Tyler missed several practices. Vera warns that it appears as if he stalking them. Denying the allegation, he claims to have been worried about Tyler taking out his aggression at home. Later, Ollie is released after his alibi checks out. Mark says there is evidence of Scott paying his employees the minimum while increasing his own salary. He adds that Scott was utilizing money from a personal bank account for his personal use.

Vera and Ashworth confront Tyler about the CCTV footage of him vandalizing Scott’s car. Tyler claims Scott said Carrie wasn’t a good mum because she worked all the time. He says Scott complained about being a stepdad to a whiny child. He tells them that Scott and a woman were in a heated argument Saturday.

Joe and Vera talk about whether it could be Sophie Jenson, but Vera doesn’t think so. She asks Kenny to look through the CCTV near the chippie again. They’re looking for Scott arguing with a woman. Ross Simmons emailed Scott a few weeks back saying they should dissolve their partnership. Kenny says Ross’ contact confirmed the meeting, but he thought Ross was going on to another meeting in London. Vera says they’re back to Ross. Mark calls Vera to say he spoke to Scott’s insolvency practitioner and he was the owner of the catering company. His management led to a bust and left Scott with a lot of debt. The company is located in Croydon which is where Ross was pulled over by the police.

Joe gets a call from the hospice saying his dad has lost consciousness. Vera turns around because Ross can wait. She urges Joe to visit his father, but Joe argues his dad won’t know it’s him anyway. Vera is adamant he’ll never forgive himself if he doesn’t say goodbye. Joe says he is of more use there. When they speak to Daleson, they learn that Ross says they’ll never open again. He believed it was Rachel who posted the rotten reviews based on the way she looked when Scott was shouting about them. Daleson doubts Scott knew though. He doesn’t think Scott was kind to Carrie and Tyler either. His brother should be discharged from the hospital today. Once Daleson leaves, Vera bangs on the door. They go inside where they speak to Ross about his relationship with Scott.

Ross says he met with Scott’s old partner in South London. He admits he should’ve checked out Scott more because he lost everything his parents built. Once they leave, Vera and Joe agree to speak to Pat Helliwell since she has known the family for years. Vera asks Pat how she’d feel about Ross coming back to take over the family’s business. Pat says there has always been room for two of them and that’s why they were so disgusted by Scott. She says his folks were good people. Pat wasn’t sure about him trying to reinvent the shop though before admitting she isn’t a fan of gentrification. Rachel Lim worked for her until Scott pinched her. Vera checks out the bins as well as Pat’s lock-up which has no padlock. Pat seems worried when Joe goes inside to search the lock-up.

He comes out with a knife moments later. At the station, Vera tells Pat that they also found a dented chip pan and they believe those items were used to kill Scott Rhodes. Pat insists someone else put the stuff there. Paula tells them that the items were cleaned although the knife has residual traces of blood. Kenny is struggling to find Scott having an argument with the mystery woman on Saturday. Steph says the payments to Scott’s accounts were coming from a personal account in the name of Heidi Stokes who is Carrie’s grandmother. They didn’t know that Heidi was Carrie’s paternal grandmother. Vera is worried about what Scott said to Sophie Jenson. She asks for an immediate welfare check on Heidi Stokes.

Joe decides to check it himself and Vera rushes behind him. At the scene, they learn there was a forced entry and it isn’t looking good for Heidi Stokes (Margaret Jackman). Joe and Vera go inside the house to look around. Joe suspects Scott was taking her money. He got Heidi’s details and arranged the transfers while leaving her in a horrible state. They’ll have to find out who else knew. Seconds later, Carrie is brought in and accused of elder abuse. Vera yells at Joe when he grabs Kyle to keep him away. Joe apologizes to Vera in private and explains why he is on edge. They agree he should probably set aside. Kenny tells Vera that a neighbor confirmed Scott went in and out of the grandma’s house. She also said there was a woman hanging around on Saturday.

Steph wonders if it could be Carrie. The woman never got in. The neighbor said Scott showed up at midday and the woman was still there. They ended up arguing. Vera invites Steph to join her for the interview. Carrie tells them she hadn’t seen her grandma in years. Scott had offered to check in on her after she had a stroke. Carrie thought about visiting her, but Scott said she didn’t want her there. She insists she didn’t know he was stealing money or that he was in debt. Carrie goes on to say she hasn’t been at Heidi’s house since her parents died. Outside the interview room, Steph and Vera talk about Paula saying there were likely two assailants. Vera learns that Heidi is awake at the hospital. Heidi tells her that Scott visits and helps her, but she hadn’t seen him for a few days.

Heidi wanted to see Carrie, but Scott told her that Carrie wouldn’t come. She remembers seeing Carrie through the window. At the station, Paula says they found blood on cleaning cloths. The results aren’t back yet. Mark returns and admits Heidi’s neighbor didn’t pick Carrie’s photo. He spoke to the manager at the warehouse where Carrie worked. He confirmed she started her shift on time and left early because of a family matter. She missed the last few hours so she likely left around 12:30. Carrie was picked up by a woman in a car. Vera wonders if the man arguing with Scott is the same one at Heidi’s house. Carrie has a sister named Crystal Hawton. They learn that Heidi has a visitor at the hospital. Moments later, Vera is told that Crystal’s bank card has been used in Sunderland.

They think she traveled from Bristol last Friday the day before Scott was killed. At the hospital, Vera and the others begin searching for Heidi’s visitor. Vera and Joe see Crystal (Lindsay Bennett-Thompson) who tries to evade them. Joe follows her to the car park. He manages to prevent her from escaping. At the station, Vera learns that Crystal called Carrie several times last Saturday. Joe and Steph question Crystal. Vera and Mark question Carrie. Joe asks Crystal if she met Scott that night. Crystal and Carrie refuse to answer questions. In the hallway, Vera and Joe talk about the type of evidence they need since they’re not talking. Paula tells them that the blood on the cloths is Scott’s blood. They found DNA, but it doesn’t match Carrie or Crystal. It is a man’s DNA.

Vera tells Joe they have to assume that they know the man in question. They wonder if it could’ve been Ant Daleson. Vera wants to know if he rode in the ambulance with his brother. They visit Ant to speak to him about it because the paramedics said only his mom was home with Finlay. Vera and Joe suspect he didn’t finish cleaning up because his mom called about his brother. Ant admits he asked his mom to lie about when he came home. On that evening, Scott was rude to Rachel. Ant got upset and left to walk around for a while. When he got back, Ross had already left. Only Scott was there and he was attacking a woman. Ant says he got involved and killed Scott. Afterwards, Crystal told him why Scott went for her and how they knew what he’d done to their grandma.

Vera and Joe don’t believe he stabbed Scott. Vera thinks Carrie stabbed Scott. She warns him he is looking at 15 years if he takes the blame. Ant takes the blame anyway. Later, Vera tells Joe that Ant is taking the responsibility to protect Carrie because she was nicer to him than Scott was. Joe says his dad has passed away. Vera confronts Carrie with the evidence that the fact that Ant said he killed Scott. She tries to get Carrie to admit to stabbing Scott. Carrie admits to stabbing him. Vera tells her she’ll be charged with the murder of Scott Rhodes. Joe joins Vera in her backyard later. She tells him about getting Carrie to confess. Joe tells her about the funeral arrangements. They talk about Joe’s career. Vera tells him he doesn’t have to be the strong silent type as a dad.

Vera is glad she has her people but they’re not living with her. They drink to colleagues, the fathers lost, and the fathers still with them.

 

Vera Review

The finale of Vera didn’t stand out much compared to the previous episodes although the ending was a lot messier. The writers have probably run out of ideas at this point because it has become the same old song and dance repeatedly. The episodes rarely stray from the traditional formula so they really don’t do anything to distinguish themselves from others.

Once you’ve seen one of them, you’ve pretty much seen them all. This was probably the weakest episode of the three for a number of reasons. For starters, the death of Joe’s father was barely a blip on the radar and mattered very little because there was no emotional connection there. The revelations at the end continued for way too long and had two or three unnecessary twists.

For instance, it was stupid for Ant to predictably take the blame and for Vera to seemingly go along with it only to get a confession from Carrie afterwards. God forbid if the series had an ounce of originality. The extensive runtime makes the story unfold at a snail’s pace with the same formula becoming tiresome after the first go around.

The first 10 or 15 minutes are the best with a new murder. Then, it becomes Vera speaking to people, updating the team at the station, interrogating suspects, and repeating this for eternity until an arrest comes out of left field.

The amount of information shoved into viewers’ brains in an hour and a half is pointless because little of it matters and only a bit will be remembered once the cuffs are finally put on the culprit. At some point, viewers will expect and want more from Vera while receiving the same old thing once again. This episode was a good example of that since it doesn’t leave an overwhelming desire to see what is next.

Where is the hook for another series? The episode scores a four out of 10. Recaps of Vera can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.