Guilt: A Simple Plan – Mistakes (Review)

Luc’s arrest last week has put him in the perfect position to interrogate. The crown prosecutor has a go and then DS Bruno takes over.  Grace, Roz and Natalie attempt to set up Finch.  Kaley has  a shock and she takes the ledger back to her boss. Patrick zeroes on on “Gentleman 33” and he and Kaley share a moment. This episode if full of mistakes from the Atwood side.

Grace suckers Natalie into helping to plant Molly’s phone in Finch’s car, with help from Roz. It all turns into amateur night at the Apollo.  The older sister tries the seduction act on a  thug who runs a BDSM themed brothel.  Things do not go according to plan but Roz saves the day by hitting the fire alarm.

Natalie finds a camera along with Finch’s car keys (Part of the plan.) and finds a flash drive trove in a hidden compartment. One of these says Molly and the other has Grace’s name on it.

Theo is preoccupied with Molly, who was pregnant with his child, and her death. He has a nightmare and calls  out her name. His soon-to-be other half asks about Molly, the name blurted out in his sleep and he goes all “Zombieland.” (In other words he turns the dead Irish colleen into a dog.)

After his midnight confession, Theo’s fiancee tells the butler, valet or whatever the heck he is meant to be, about Molly. The man is surprised and concerned. Theo’s intended says, with disgust, that there is no way that Molly was a “dog.”

Theory:

It may seem all “Clue”  aka Cluedo – as in “it was Col. Mustard in the library with a spanner – but it may turn out to be Prince Theo’s “Man Friday.” He is fiercely protective of his royal charge. After all, he was not above getting DS Bruno to falsify evidence to convict some innocent soul. In essence, the “butler” did it. Just a thought…

Fat Finger of Guilt:

The big fat finger of guilt is pointing straight at Grace. After  Gwendolyn Hall fails to crack Luc,  Bruno takes his turn.  As a result,  Grace’s drug addict boyfriend “drops her right in it.” Revealing that Atwood was away from him for a whole hour on the night of the murder.

Oops.

This gives the favorite suspect of “The Yard” a clear window of opportunity and Grace herself has shown time and again that she could have had motive. The “Old Bill” go to arrest the youngest Atwood sister.

(Sidenote: At no time, either before or after the first arrest, does anyone read Grace her rights. – Yes they do have a version in England. A bit more tongue twisty, it goes like this: “You do not have to say anything. but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”  A bit long winded and there is no mention of “right to an attorney. It is  bit odd that this reading of rights  has been left out…twice.)

Finch:

One cold blooded pimp does not necessarily  equate to a slicer and dicer of pregnant young Irish girls. Sure he killed the MP after beating the merry hell out of him but as Patrick Ryan points out, the murder of Molly was a personal thing.

Finch is a right naughty chappy but it is all business with him. He will now be on the most wanted list with the police after the girls planted Molly’s phone in his car.  Out of all the “suspects” on offer, Finch will have an airtight alibi. He is a permanent fixture at the club.

Natalie:

The Boston prosecutor is  slowly learning that Grace is not a pure as the driven snow.   This young student has a number of issues, not least of which is a streak of self interest a mile wide.  Clearly she is hiding something and despite her cries of loyalty to Molly was not really the dead girl’s BFF.

(Another sidenote: Would a US prosecutor really have planted evidence? Even with her sister’s earnest pleading that Gwendolyn Hall has in it for her, it seemed very far fetched that Natalie would put herself in that position.)

Whether Grace is guilty or not, it seems that big sis may not feel the same way about her little sister when this is all over.

Final Thoughts:

At the end of the episode it is Bruno who arrests Grace and puts those cuffs on her spindly wrists.  A lot has been going on. Finch now knows who Patrick Ryan is and Kaley, despite being all lovey earlier, gives her new protector up to the big boss.

It is interesting to note that this drama, with a little procedural mixed in, makes not use of or reference to the CCTV scattered all over England. There is, according to the Daily Telegraph (back in 2013) one camera for every 11 persons country-wide.  The amount of camera’s even figured as a plot device in a  2009 action film titled The Tournament.

Perhaps it is not mentioned because it could put off tourists… “Oh yes, let us show red British Telecom phone boxes but leave out the CCTV stuff. We do not want everyone believing  the UK is Orwellian to the extreme.”

Guilt airs Mondays on Freeform. Tune in and see whether Grace really is guilty of more than being a spoiled, selfish and entitled brat. So far a huge amount of mistakes have been made by Natalie, Grace and Roz.  The biggest one may be believing in her innocence.

CAST:

• Daisy Head  – Grace Atwood
• Billy Zane   –  Stan Gutterie 
• Emily Tremaine  – Natalie Atwood
• Anthony Head  –  James
• Cristian Solimeno  –  DS Bruno
• Sam Cassidy  –  Prince Theo
• Simona Brown   –  Roz Walters
• Kevin Ryan  –  Patrick Ryan
• Naomi Ryan  –  Gwendolyn Hall
• Michael Lindall  –  Finch