Guilt was a show I was desperate to like. It was set in my home country (for roughly 32 years) and it was a crime drama. The show started with an Amanda Knox premise but shifted into something else after a few episodes. There were things that were not correct, in terms of the legal system, and last week’s episode was so far off the mark it became farcical and tipped the scale to “fail.”
Some of the mistakes could be attributed to the show’s makers either not giving a toss about accuracy or believing that their target audience (a country full of young Yanks) would know any better.
The storyline where Grace talks the driver into letting her escape was ludicrous. Not to belabor that point, as it was covered last week, but suffice to say that this managed to kill any remaining interest in the series.
It was also hard to believe that the writers managed to use the circumstances of Princess Diana’s death (Chased by paparazzi until the car she was in crashed.) as the excuse for Daisy and her accomplice’s crash. Just as difficult to believe was the claim that in London there were a few blocks of streets with no CCTV coverage.
On to the finale: After finding the dead body last week, DCI Pike rushes the crime scene evidence through forensics. It turns out that Luc murdered the woman found buried in the garden at Hertfordshire.
As the jury deliberate on the verdict, Pike and Bruno speak to Luc. The French drug addict and painter confesses to killing the woman (an accident) and Molly (on purpose). Theo was a red herring. He was, however, a pretty good one. Philip was impressed enough to murder the “slow” Neville to protect Theo.
Daisy’s driver disables the tracking system on the police van (that would not have been used to transport a prisoner to and from court) and she has second thoughts about escaping. She wants to stop and her escorting guard does not.
She grabs the steering wheel and crashes the van.
Meanwhile Prince Theo meets with Kaley (Amber Jean Rowan) as Patrick waits to kill the prince with his sniper rifle. Phillip picks up Charlotte (Katie Clarkson-Hill) and takes her to where her fiancee is shagging the prostitute.
There is a confrontation and Patrick gets a clear shot at Theo but he cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. As he contemplates what he almost did, another shot rings out and Theo is down with a gunshot wound to his chest. Charlotte refuses to dial 999.
Patrick was set up by his cousin Declan (Sam O’Mahony) who shot the prince instead.
Luc confesses to Pike and Bruno. After he tells how he killed Molly, Luc shoves a craft cutting knife into his throat. Before he dies, Luc tells them he fed his bloody clothing to the dragon.
In the nick of time, Grace is returned to the court proceedings to hear the verdict. Bruno and Pike arrive just in time to enter Luc’s confession and the bloody clothing in evidence. Gwendolyn Hall drops the charges and Grace goes free.
On the way to the airport, Natalie drops her sister off at her old flat. Grace wants a sweater that Molly gave her. Inside the apartment she finds Roz watching a video of Molly and her. The DJ and the Irish girl were lovers.
Roz confesses that she pushed Luc into killing Molly as she chose the prince over her. Grace snaps and grabbing a lamp or an ornament starts bashing Roz’s head in. It is not clear whether the DJ is dead when Natalie comes in and stops Grace mid-swing.
The reporter that Stan fed all the news items to turns out to be his illegitimate daughter from when he was in the country 26 years earlier.
Grace Atwood was never a character that the audience could get behind. She was self centered and beyond stupid. Natalie, her big sister, became more likable but was incredibly naive for a prosecuting attorney from Boston.
In actuality none of the characters were likable. Zane’s American in London was eccentric not a character whom one would trust in any situation.
While the show apparently gained popularity, at least according to IMDb, it seems hard to believe. Guilt started with a bit of promise and then a lack of attention to detail allowed the whole thing to slide into pile of old rubbish.
Final Verdict:
Guilt may be enjoyable enough for anyone who has no knowledge of the English legal system or how it works. The story was not overly original, obviously using the Amanda Knox trial as a basis to start, and falling on a “perverse” royal to mix things up a bit.
Another problem was with Grace Atwood. The character appeared guilty, even after being proven innocent. So when she does bash Roz’ brains out, we are not surprised in the least. This was, by the way, not Daisy Head’s fault but that of the writers.
All in all, this was series was a fail.
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
One thing that just kept bothering me was the horrible, horrible accents Anthony and Daisy Head had. Worse, it sounded like Emily Tremaine was trying to make her accent match theirs.