Loveday Writing

The episode is all about family – real and made, for the victim, murderer, and Alexa.

The episode kicks off with Alexa running into courier, Enzo (who was a main player but not the murderer in Season 2, Episode 8 – Hidden Gems). Enzo delivers her a wedding invitation to her mother’s wedding, only to discover it was two weeks earlier. Whilst Alexa seems angry, she tells Enzo she loves him.

Alexa goes to a museum to meet up with Harry to get the details of the case of the week – a robbery at a coconut oil factory, Tipoula, where the owner, Ropati Tavu’i, was shot dead, and his friend and business partner, Chris Sanders, witnessed the robbery and was shot in the foot. Harry also tells her that Ropati’s family, the Tavu’i family, are known for their dance troupe, which is led by Ropati’s cousin, Setu, who has now inherited half of the coconut oil business. When Alexa and Madison tell Reuben about the case, he goes with Alexa to speak with the Tavu’i family matriarch, Eme.

When Alexa and Reuben meet with Eme, Chris is with her, as he was taken in by Eme when he was a child and escaping an abusive household. Chris tells Alexa and Reuben that he and Ropati were working late as they had to return a product, Ropati went into the storeroom whilst he poured a whiskey, and that’s when the robbery occurred. Later, Madison discovers that $5,000 from the dance troupe’s bank account was transferred to Setu’s personal account, then redeposited shortly after.

Later, Alexa goes to Tipoula to visit Setu, she finds out from Setu that some people wear glycerin in to the coconut oil to keep it in its liquid state, but Chris and Ropati preferred to keep it in a warm room to ensure it remains pure. Alexa then finds out from Chris and Setu about one of their competitors, Fia Collins.

Alexa later finds out that Fia Collins’ company operates like Tipoula but on a larger scale. When Reuben visits, he tells her that she hires Pasifika people and treats them well, and he also translates an insult that Chris used to describe Fia. Alexa goes to see Fia under the guise of writing a feature on her and her business practices. When Alexa asks Fia if she planned to take over Tipoula’s business before or after Ropati’s murder, Fia throws Alexa out of her office.

Meanwhile, Madison goes to the dance troupe’s studio to interview Seti. Seti tells her that he never wanted Ropati’s share of the business and he tells her that the money he withdrew from the dance troupe’s account was used to buy new uniforms but the deal fell through. Later, Alexa’s brother, Will, drops by her house and brags about being their mother’s favourite child for attending her wedding. Alexa then asks Will why someone would steal money from a non-for-profit organisation, transfer it, and then transfer it back to the original account. Will suggests that a financial advisor helps themselves to a client’s money to invest and double it, and then puts the original amount back to keep the profits. When Madison presses Setu further, he reveals that he got an insider gambling tip and won enough to pay off his debts.

Later, Alexa and Madison break into Fia’s store to get into her office safe where they find a copy of a business plan of some sort, and identical product labels to Tipoula’s, where Madison suggests she copied the product and then killed it to suppress Tipoula’s as a competitor.

Later, Madison finds an email chain between Ropati and Fia, where Fia screwed Ropati over on buying their products, and ghosted him. When Alexa and Madison confront Fia, she tells them that she kills the competition not people. When Alexa gets a call from Harry, they go back to Tipoula’s and find that someone burnt Chris’ car. Chris tells a lie about dropping a lit cigarette, however Eme tells Alexa that Chris has never smoked and that she believes Vinnie, Chris’ sister, set the car on fire. Madison reaches out to Vinnie posing as a consultant for a reviews company. When Madison meets up with Vinnie at Reuben’s, Vinnie sees through Madison’s cover story and Madison questions her, but she runs off and leaves Madison with the bill.

Later, when Alexa visits Chris and Eme to discuss Fia’s copycatting of their designs, she finds a bucket of coconut oil in the sleepout where Chris stays. When Alexa spots a phrase in the email chain between Ropati and Fia, she shows it to Reuben who tells her what it should say and that what the actual phrase translates as is rude. This leads to Alexa going to see Fia in her office and asks if her dealings were only with Ropati, she says yes and that they never met in person.

When Alexa gets home, she finds Will waiting for her, where it’s revealed that Alexa’s issues around their mother and her latest (fourth) wedding stem from their first stepdad not keeping in touch with her after the divorce. When Will tells her the story of their new stepdad getting accidentally shot in the bum, this leads her to ask him how much alcohol it would take to dull the pain from being shot. Later, Madison returns from having to purchase the used thongs Vinnie left behind after she stole a pair of designer high heels, with the CCTV footage confirming she didn’t kill Ropati. Alexa tells Madison that she has also discovered money being embezzled from Tipoula’s.

When Alexa goes to see Vinnie, she asks her why she set the car on fire. Vinnie tells her she did it to get Chris’ attention, and that Ropati gave her a job at Tipoula’s, not Chris. Alexa and Madison later discover that Vinnie’s credit history had recently improved, and Alexa breaks into Eme’s house to steal the bucket of coconut oil she spotted earlier.

Later, Alexa goes to Tipoula’s with the bucket to see Chris. She reveals to Chris (and the audience) that he stole from Tipoula’s to pay Vinnie’s debts and clear her credit history, to get her to leave the country and his life, and that he planned to rip Fia off to reimburse Tipoula’s. However, when Ropati found out, he shot him and himself in the foot, hiding the gun in a bucket of oil, which left gunshot residue behind. Alexa tells him that if he had told the truth to Ropati and Eme, he would have been forgiven.

The episode ends with Alexa and Eme watching a performance of the dance troupe, with Madison, Harry and Reuben out on the dancefloor.

Overall, this was a good episode with the dual exploration of family through Alexa and ultimately the motive for the murder. I enjoyed Will’s first appearance of the season and the banter between him and Alexa. I also appreciated the cultural aspects of the episode and Reuben’s input into the investigation.

Stray Observations:

-Reuben is trilingual, he also speaks Tongan.

-Alexa’s mother married a sheep rustler.