Tag: Daisy Head

Guilt: What Did You Do – Season Finale Fail (Review)

DAISY HEAD, EMILY TREMAINE, BILLY ZANE

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.

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Guilt: The Crown v Atwood – Driving Miss Daisy (Review)

DAISY HEAD

Guilt this week sees Grace on trial in “The Court v Atwood.” Quite a lot happens. Bruno reneges on testifying against the prince. Roz testifies in his stead and Neville, poor little blighter, is found hanged. Bruno and Natalie head to Hertfordshire and find the amazingly well preserved body of Jessica Marshall.  A plot is hatched between the van driver and Miss Daisy.

As Stan Gutterie is shut down on every turn, Grace looks close to being railroaded for the Irish girl’s murder. Although Gutterie still manages to bring the prince into the proceedings via Roz. The DJ “madam” also provides proof that Molly was impregnated with the royal’s seed…

Patrick comes close to using his IRA weapon against Theo but the stricken testimony causes the royal to hide. With the hospital visit cancelled Patrick’s mate suggests he use Kaley (Amber Jean Rowan) as bait. Ryan refuses but later it appears that Kaley has different ideas. 

The Elephant in the Plot:

With the truncated recap sorted it is now time to look at the flaming great elephant in the plot – The Driver and Miss Daisy.

While there have been moments in Guilt that  were far off the mark in terms of reality, this one takes the biscuit.  There are a number of things wrong with this portion of the plot.

Firstly: Police vans, which this clearly is, are not used to transport prisoners, even ones on remand. The accused would be transferred via HMPS van, in a very few cases, or, most likely, via a company like G4S or the new GEOAmey.

Secondly: The driver would not be on his own. (Neither, for that matter, would Grace have the entire van to herself, she would be in a cubicle and not have contact with anyone else. This includes the driver.) Standard protocol for escorting officers is two; a driver and an officer.

Lastly: Escort officers are not prison officers and would not be allowed access to prisoners, even those on remand, i.e. innocent until proven guilty inside the prison.   Escort personnel are not allowed access inside any  prison apart from the sections that deal with prisoner transport.

Ergo, this plot line is beyond nonsensical as it could never happen.

Oh dear.

It should also be pointed out that as the case, in the show, is meant to be high-profile, Atwood could have a police escort but she would not be escorted via police van.

Back to the Rest of the Episode:

So Neville, the eyewitness who saw the prince standing over Molly’s dead body; knife in hand, has been murdered.  Daisy has talked her escort into helping her escape.  Bruno was told that if he testified Natalie Atwood would die. The woman missing since last November has been found, dead, sans one earring.  Patrick still wants to kill Theo and Kaley has placed herself in danger.

At this point in Guilt the finger of blame is placed squarely on the prince. Grace is now firmly in the role of innocent girl being set up to take the fall for Molly’s murder. The missing woman has been found, buried where Theo met Ryan, and this will, once again, change things in the case.

Or will it? Thus far, Theo’s minder Philip Baker (Osi Okerafor) is clearly the obvious suspect for Molly’s murder. This same man threatened Bruno, telling the suspended cop that Natalie would die if he testified. It takes little imagination to then place Baker in role of murderer to protect his charge. 

(We did actually include Baker early on as a favorite suspect.)

Guilt airs Mondays on Freeform.  Tune in and see if we ever find out who really killed Molly Ryan and if Grace manages to escape.

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Guilt: Eyes Wide Open – Prince Theo Vs DS Bruno (Review)

KATIE CLARKSON-HILL, SAM CASSIDY

Guilt is trundling on to a trial for Grace; a hearing where the crown has to prove that it has enough evidence to actually proceed. Atwood was thrown in prison for Molly’s murder last week.  In rapid succession she was accosted in the showers and she then stabbed herself. In “Eyes Wide Open” Grace undergoes hypnosis and DS Bruno takes  on Prince Theo. It is the crown, versus the “Crown,” so to speak.

Grace Atwood learns, through her regression with the psychiatrist,  that she did not murder Molly Ryan after all.  During the regression, Grace relieves several memories. Some nice and others less enjoyable. The night that Molly was killed Atwood was furious at the Irish girl  for flirting with Luc.

Grace finally remembers finding Molly’s body and stepping in her blood. She sees a man covered in blood but cannot make out his features in the session.  At this juncture Grace appears to be innocent.

Natalie urges DS Bruno to speak with Neville (Ryan Gerald) who  has been placed in a  psych ward.  The detective sergeant is not overly thrilled with Atwood’s interference. He claims that the mentally challenged young man will not be believed. He does however  agree to check the vehicle’s registration number in the system.

Roz  and Kaley (Amber Jean Rowan) have a massive falling out after Finch is killed by the prostitute.  The DJ attempts to calm her savior, but Kaley kicks Roz out.  She heads over to ask Luc (Zachary Fall) is she can “crash” at his place. The French artist is busy doing drugs. We learn that he too worked at The Courtenay. 

Prince Theo and Charlotte (Katie Clarkson-Hill)  also have a fight.  She is certain that Theo killed Molly. His story about his dog, which she knew was false when she saw the headlines, aroused her suspicion.  

Stan Gutterie goes to see Veena Patel (Sujaya Dasgupta) he promises her exclusive coverage of Grace’s trial. She warily agrees to help and invites him to her flat. Once there, Stan finds that the husband of the Judge who was to set the trial was a client of The Courtenay.

James does a runner. He leaves in case the Russian mob try to make Grace pay for his indiscretions.

Bruno runs the registration and learns that it was Prince Theo’s minder’s  car. Philip obviously drove the Prince to Molly’s flat. The detective then plants Molly’s blood on the car. Unfortunately Philip sees him do it.

Natalie agrees to meet with Bruno at his apartment. He tells her to come in the back entrance.  Philip and Prince Theo come in the front door. The young royal and the cop exchange words, none of which are Happy Christmas.  Theo punches Bruno in the face and   says he will  expose the detective for falsifying evidence in another case.

Bruno says he will take the prince down with him. Philip and Prince Theo remind the cop that he violated Molly Ryan’s corpse to get blood and used it to falsify evidence.  He also mentions the cop “shagging the prime suspect’s sister.”   The two leave and Natalie has witnessed the entire incident. Atwood is not pleased with the cop.

DS Bruno later goes to see Gutterie and tells the lawyer he will take the stand against the prince. It now really is a case of Prince Theo versus the cop.

Meanwhile Patrick Ryan gets a sniper rifle from his cousin to kill Theo.  The IRA has managed to keep a few weapons after all.

Bruno stands up Gwendolyn Hall and Stan stops by to tell her that Judge Manning has been replaced.  Gutterie obviously now believes he will have the advantage in the courtroom.

It will be interesting to see where the series heads next. Regardless of whether they do the preliminary trial or not there are still a number of questions that need answers.

While it looks like Theo may be guilty it is not necessarily true. Neville may have seen the prince standing over Molly with a knife but that does not prove he killed the Irish girl. The royal says he loved his little part-time prostitute even if she was pregnant with his child.

Roz may have much more to do with Molly’s death than the prince. Plus Daisy is still not necessarily  in the clear. Hypnotic regression is not an exact science. Take hypnosis in general; someone being “put under” cannot do something that they would not ordinarily do. It therefore stands to reason that Grace would not incriminate herself while  “under.”

Guilt airs Mondays on Freeform.  Tune in and see if Grace goes to trial, if Patrick shoots Theo and to learn who really killed Molly.

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Guilt: A Fall From Grace – Another Faux Pas (Review)

DAISY HEAD

Guilt has moved on rather quickly from last week‘s “stitching up” of Mr. Finch, proprietor  of The Courtenay.  “A Fall From Grace” has the youngest Atwood sister in gaol for the murder of Molly Ryan. And herein lies the massive faux pas in this week’s episode.

Prison landings  in England are run by officers not guards. There are no “prison guards” nor are they referred to as “guards.”  Convicts, aka inmates, aka prisoners refer to them as “screws” or Guv’s or “boss.”  Not guards.  (Having been a prison officer 10 years for Her Majesty’s Prison Service  makes the use of the word “guard” a prickly subject.)

Back to the plot: Daisy is now on remand for suspicion of murdering poor Molly.  The planting of evidence by Roz, Natalie and Daisy has not worked.  Crime does pay, or at least running  a high-end brothel does, as Finch’s car has a security camera in it. The handy little device catches Atwood planting the phone.

Stan Gutterie reprimands Natalie for being involved with the attempted subversion of justice.

Meanwhile, the defense attorney tries to get the  journalist   Veena Patel (Sujaya Dasgupta) to publish information that Molly was a “high-end” call girl.  She refuses.  If Gutterie can provide proof however, Patel  will be happy to print the story.

Kaley (Amber Jean Rowan) gets a peak at Gentleman 33, aka Prince Theo.  She tells Molly’s brother Patrick about his sister’s regular customer at the  brothel revealing who he is. Natalie goes to question Molly’s stalker Neville (Ryan Gerald). He tells Grace’s big sister that Prince Theo killed Molly.  

While the lad seems most sincere this seems a bit too pat.  Should it not be harder to find out who killed Molly?

This latest bit of information could clear Grace if the cops learn about Neville’s eyewitness account of the murder.  However, it seems unlikely as the lad is, apparently, mentally challenged to some degree.

Which leads to the other issue of his fingering the prince for the Ryan girl’s murder. Did he really see Prince Theo slash Molly to rag doll ribbons?  Our money is still on that very handy butler, the prince may have been there but it would not be surprising to see his “handler” Philip (Osi Okerafor) actually doing the dirty work. 

There is also the possibility that Grace did kill her bestie.  She was, after all, gone for quite some time and she did walk through the blood.  Neville, despite being stabbed in the leg by Grace, may be covering up what he really saw.

It is interesting to note that despite step father James visiting his little poppet in prison, and singing her a little song, he is quite willing to send her up the river. His Russian mob connections are not too happy with him at the moment.

ANTHONY HEAD
Anthony Head as James

Back to Roz and Kaley:  Roz starts dumping records and sets them on fire.  Finch turns up and accuses her of helping Patrick steal the ledger. (She actually did help a little.) Roz protests her innocence as the glorified pimp pulls a  pistol out of his pocket and starts to shoot her in the face.

Kaley bashes Finch’s head in with a ornament of some kind and as the camera moves back, the now former manager of The Courtenay is laying  in the alley, eyes open, unmoving  and clearly dead.

There are two more episodes, apparently, left in this season. Will Grace be proven innocent or guilty?

Guilt airs Mondays on Freeform.

 

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Guilt: A Simple Plan – Mistakes (Review)

DAISY HEAD

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.

CRISTIAN SOLIMENO, ZACHARY FALL
DS Bruno cracking Luc

(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.

CRISTIAN SOLIMENO, DAISY HEAD, EMILY TREMAINE

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.

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