Loveday Writing

This episode was all about dogs and deception.

The episode kicks off with Alexa coming across a friendly dog at a dog-friendly beach, before Harry arrives to brief her on the case of the week. Coral Belton, a woman who made millions off the eco-friendly floor polish she invented, was found dead six weeks ago at the bottom of her stairs. She died of a broken neck, conducive to a fall probably caused by her crazy high heels. Coral recently separated from her husband, Doug, and they were in a bitter custody battle over their dog, Frances. A neighbour heard Coral call for Frances at 8pm, with the coroner putting the time of death at 8:30pm. Frances was missing but the gate was shut, and was eventually dropped off at an animal shelter the next day. Alexa asks Harry the question of how Frances escaped if the house and gate were secure.

Alexa then goes to see Doug at his home. He tells Alexa that he and Coral were married for three years and their marriage fell apart when her business took off. When Alexa asks him how Frances escaped, he avoids the question. Meanwhile, Madison goes to the animal shelter to get their CCTV footage to see who left Frances there.

Later, Alexa and Madison go to Coral’s house and discover that there were no high heel marks on the floor near the stairs, which means she wasn’t wearing them when she fell. Madison receives the footage from the shelter, which shows Doug leaving Frances at the shelter. When Alexa confronts him about it, he tells her that Coral was alive when he left and heard her calling out for Frances, and he thought that the dog sitter she hired was there, as Coral was on a holiday at the time.

Alexa and Madison go to see the dog sitter, Bailey Browne. Bailey tells them that Coral was on an off-the-grid retreat but came home early, and that Doug turned up at the house acting aggressively and wanting Frances. Doug later tells Alexa that he went to a petrol station to get dog food for Frances when Coral was killed. When Alexa and Madison later look at Bailey’s social media posts and see her wearing the same robe Coral was wearing when she was found dead, they come to the conclusion that Bailey was the target not Coral.

Later, Coral’s laptop displays a notification from Prospero, an elite dating site. However, when Madison notices that Coral’s profile says she went on four dates whilst she was on her holiday, they realise that Bailey was pretending to be Coral to get access to the dating site. This leads to Madison suggesting to Alexa that she join Prospero to meet “Coral’s” dates, and discovering that Will has his own Prospero profile.

Alexa meets her dates at Reuben’s, with the fourth date, Kirk Maxwell, lying about his millionaire status, relationship status, and the fact that he knew Bailey. Later, Bailey tells Alexa and Madison that she had dinner with Kirk and hooked up with him a couple of times, but when she discovered he was married, she broke up with and blackmailed him.

Alexa goes to Kirk’s house, where she meets his wife, Sloane, and Kirk introduces her as a new investor, before Sloane leaves for a meeting. When Alexa asks him questions, he angrily tells her to leave. When Alexa returns back to her apartment, Sloane arrives shortly after, having followed Alexa. Alexa tells her about Kirk having an affair with Bailey, and asks her if Kirk would be capable of committing murder to save their marriage. Sloane tells Alexa that she doesn’t know what he is capable of anymore.

Alexa goes back to Kirk’s house, where he tells her that he was at Landry Towers the night Coral died with another woman. When Alexa returns home, she finds Bailey has come over. Alexa tells Madison in private that she views Bailey as a suspect, as the murder is a tangled web and Bailey is in the centre of it. When Bailey, Madison and Alexa watch the doggie cam footage of Coral’s house, they see someone in pyjamas and slippers follow Coral.

Madison and Bailey go to Sloane’s house, where Madison looks at Sloane’s calendar and finds she was at “Shirley’s Gym” the night of the murder. Madison goes into Sloane’s cupboard, before Bailey finds her. They then find the slippers seen in the doggie cam footage. They then hear Sloane come home, and they witness her slashing Kirk’s clothes with a knife. Meanwhile, Will sees Alexa going through Bailey’s stuff, and he reveals that he is tempted to go back to grifting again, as he is barely surviving on his landscape business income. Alexa also finds that Bailey still has the key to Coral’s house.

Later, Madison tells Alexa that “Shirley’s Gym” doesn’t exist online. Alexa goes to speak with Sloane and asks her where she was when Coral was murdered. Sloane offers to take Alexa to where she was to see for herself, and finds that Sloane goes to Smash Palace, a smash room venue, every Wednesday to blow off steam. Sloane also tells her that someone broke into her house and left something behind.

Meanwhile, Madison finds Bailey wearing Alexa’s robe, a pet sitting trick so Chowder will warm up to her. Later, Madison and Bailey go to Reuben’s, when Bailey goes to the bathroom, Madison goes through her phone and finds another online profile of hers, Betty Snowden, and tells Reuben about it. Bailey overhears the conversation and runs off. When Madison returns to Alexa’s apartment, she finds a note. Alexa walks in and Madison tells her that Bailey has run off and taken Chowder with her.

Alexa goes back to the house that Bailey is currently pet sitting at and finds Chowder in a cat carrier, and Bailey waiting for her. Alexa tells Bailey (and the audience) that she went back to Kirk for blackmail money and killed Coral, as Kirk’s threats would stop as he thought Bailey was Coral, and Coral was dead, and Bailey planted her slippers in Kirk’s home to frame Sloane. Before Bailey can throw Chowder into a pool, Alexa grabs the cat carrier and Bailey falls in, as the police arrive to arrest her.

The episode ends with Will revealing to Alexa that he didn’t end up conning his own Prospero date, and Madison and Alexa going to the Smash Palace to have some fun.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid episodes with a lot of good red herrings, as well as a good twist with Bailey involving herself with Madison and Alexa, only to be the murderer all along. Whilst Chowder was never going to get hurt, I appreciated the temporary raise in stakes. I also appreciated the minor subplot of Will possibly going back to his old ways, only to be successfully talked out of it, which he wanted Alexa to do to begin with, which shows character growth.

Stray Observations:

-Alexa went to school with a girl named Frances who drank the PVA glue.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “I think I can do better than dating murder suspects!” “Well, it’s just that you don’t meet anyone else.” (Alexa-Madison)
• “Alexa, you didn’t hook up with a murder suspect, did you?” (Madison to Alexa)
• “Are you telling me my husband is so stupid that he can’t even have an affair properly?” (Sloane to Alexa)