White House Farm Episode 2 Recap

At the beginning of the second episode, Colin Caffell (Mark Stanley) speaks to investigators about his relationship with Sheila and how it started. He explains she was taking a secretarial course in London and their relationship moved along very quickly. The couple lost one pregnancy before the twin boys were born. Colin is asked about arguments between himself and Sheila. He confesses that she put her hand through a window once and that she would often throw and smash things. She also experienced a nervous breakdown. Stan (Mark Addy) wants to know if Colin ever thought the boys were in danger. Colin says he wouldn’t have left the boys with Sheila if he thought she was capable of harming them.

Stan tells the group that one of them will need to make a formal identification of the victims. Colin says he cannot do that since he wants to remember the boys as they were. Ann Eaton (Gemma Whelan) agrees to do it and Julie Mugford (Alexa Davies) agrees to go with her. The two women head to the station and chat about being dragged into this type of situation. Jules tells Ann that Jeremy said Sheila had been acting crazy for a few days. Stan arrives and they prepare to identify the bodies but Ann pulls out at the last minute. Julie is forced to identify the victims alone. Moments later, Colin spends some time with Jeremy (Freddie Fox). Colin can’t seem to wrap his head around the events that took the lives of his two wins.

Jeremy reveals that he saw some rabbits so he decided to grab the Anschutz to sort them out. When he returned home, he left the gun out and that allows Sheila to get it. He also claims that his parents want to find a foster family for the boys since they needed a stable home. Jeremy didn’t say anything but admits he should’ve. The statement rattled him and he left the gun out so he now blames himself. Colin comforts him. Meanwhile, Taff (Stephen Graham) learns that the newspapers are going to run the story his way. Tomorrow, Sheila’s name will be on every front page in the country. After receiving instructions, Taff steps inside and joins the press conference. He gives the press a rundown of the events that took place.

After that, Taff learns more about the suspect’s mental history. She was getting injections but they had recently cut the dose in half. Taff believes that was the cause of the murders. We also find out that Sheila and her brother were adopted from different parents. Stan brings up the fact that Sheila was shot twice. Since the place was locked from the inside, Taff doesn’t believe anyone else was involved. Later that night, Ann checks on the kids before speaking with Peter (Oliver Dimsdale) and another about speaking to their children about the murders. Ann is suspicious that Sheila was responsible for the murders and Peter finds it odd that a mother would harm her children. He admits that it does happy though.

In the morning, Stan and the others arrive for the postmortem. It is confirmed that the shotgun was fired 25 times despite the magazine only holding 10 rounds. The doctor is not able to determine the order of death. They discover burn wounds on Nevill’s back and those burns are a mystery. The kids died instantly. Sheila has two marks and both are bullet wounds. The first as basically a serious flesh wound so she would have been able to pull the trigger again. Stan asks if there is any sign her body was manipulated or moved. The doctor does not believe the suicide was staged. He’ll wait for toxicology to arrive but he believes it is a murder suicide. Stan is reminded that he has been asked to tend to the family.

Moments later, Peter shows Ann the newspapers about the murders. Ann learns about Sheila taking drugs so she decides to ask Jeremy about it. Jeremy says to give it a couple of days and the police will know what she had been taking. Stan interrupts seconds later. Jeremy tells him that they can burn anything with blood stains on them and Stan promises they’ll replace the broken down. Jeremy leaves so he can speak with his parent’s lawyer. Before he leaves, Stan asks Jeremy about Sheila using the Anschutz. Jeremy says something a little different about the target shooting this time. Stan tells Mick (Scott Reid) he doesn’t know how Sheila would’ve changed the shotgun magazine without chipping her nails.

A news report indicates that Sheila had big drug debts. Meanwhile, items from the family home are taken outside and burned. Stan and Mick detail the last movements of June. They explain that Sheila and Nevill both went downstairs. They walk the medical examiner through the scene until Taff arrives and puts an end to it. He gets angry with Stan for taking over his crime scene. Taff orders them to get the place cleaned up while telling Stan to come outside with him. Taff warns him that he’ll get him removed if he doesn’t follow orders. Stan doesn’t believe Sheila was responsible but Taff won’t listen to him. Later, Jeremy speaks to the family about the will. He makes a joke about it at first. Then, be explains that he will get the businesses while the others will get money.

He doesn’t know if he’ll sell the land holdings and businesses yet. Ann wants her auntie’s wedding ring but Jeremy says he will not be able to help her. He also reveals he is going to have everyone cremated. Ann isn’t happy about that at all since they wouldn’t have wanted it. Ann decides to go to Taff and tell him that Sheila wasn’t capable of committing that type of crime. Taff won’t listen to them. He gets angry and sends them out of the room. Stan Bews decides to use that to his advantage. He goes with Ann to the house so they can chat about things. Meanwhile, Colin spends time with Jeremy. He takes Colin to a place where he used to hang out as a kid. Sheila also took the kids to the same location. They speak about old times and such.

Stan gives Ann the new keys before telling her where the bodies were found. It is revealed that the gun had a silencer but the investigators haven’t been able to find it. The didn’t even know about it. Nevill always let it on the rifle so Jeremy might’ve taken it off when he used it. Ann tells Stan that she thinks Jeremy might’ve been involved since his behavior has been so odd lately. Back at the station, Taff and Stan interview a man named Frankie who often gave Sheila money. He says she had a kind heart but she had a terrible temper. He confesses she went crazy and said she was the Virgin Mary. She claimed the boys had the devil in them and she did too. She also said the same about her mother. He claims Sheila said the devil could make her do sex with the boys.

The alarm goes off at the property but there is no sign of a disturbance. Ann is told that moments later but she is worried. She goes into the property and looks around. She finds a bucket full of red liquid and a window that appears to have a broken latch. She calls Stan and tells him about the new evidence. Ann shows her that the lock will slam back down when shut. That would give the impression that nobody broke in. Jeremy tries to find someone to give the dog to but cannot. Instead, he decides to have it put down.

 

White House Farm

I really want to like White House Farm but I find it a bit too slow. I think it would’ve been much better as two or maybe three episodes. Six is too much since this gives writers plenty of time to drag things out beyond belief. The good thing about the show is that it has gotten me interested in the case. I won’t look it up until I finish the show though. This episode was slightly better at the very end. Maybe things are going to pick up from here on out?

I hope that happens because the show has been mediocre so far. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Previous recaps of White House Farm are available on Reel Mockery.