The show begins with an empty cell. Christopher Edwards (David Thewlis) is talking to his stepmother, Tabitha Edwards (Katheryn) while the camera shows various scenes. He asks her to not disclose a secret he is about to tell her. Chris and his wife, Susan Edwards (Olivia Colman) are passengers in a vehicle. Susan takes a seat immediately upon entering the movie set. The call between Chris and Tabitha continues. Susan has a flashback of her childhood. Young Susan (Connie Kiss Mee) is standing in a field with a white horse.
Susan is in a police paddy wagon surrounded by media. She arrives at her location. In the background, Susan is writing a letter to Chris. She tells him, being shut off from the real world never bothered her because she was prohibited from arriving there in the first place. She joins Chris in the defendant box. He does not acknowledge her presence.
In a flashback, Susan and Chris are dressed in Western garb. They struggle to remove the bodies from inside the house to a truck waiting outside. When she gets into the truck, Chris says, “I’ll be back before you know it, just hold tight.” She turns around to see him standing by a tree. A few seconds later, you can hear him urinating.
Tabitha hears a rapping on her front door. She gets up to look and discovers a letter attached to the doorframe with a knife. She removes the knife and begins to read the letter.
Chris and Susan are in the defendant box at court. The prosecutor is going over the case with the jury. She calls the defendants “cold-blooded killers.” Susan is feeding the horses while Chris sits quietly, staring out at the landscape. He drinks from a canteen she brought him without acknowledging her.
Tabitha has arrived in town. She finds DC Emma Lancing, (Kate O’Flynn), DC Paul Wilkie (Samuel Anderson), and DCI Collier (Daniel Rigby) sitting on a porch. She gives an account of how the letter was found on her porch, where Chris left it. She hands the letter to Wilkie who gives it to Lancing.
The truck with the corpses travels down a dirt road. Expert witness, Dr. Dickson (John Mackay) explains decomposition to the jury. Decomposition begins almost immediately upon death. The decomposition phase, putrefaction (bloat) begins three or four days later in a warm environment. In the defendant box, Susan looks over at Chris. Dickson continues to talk about the decomposition process. Swelling and foul-smelling gases are contributed to microorganisms eating body tissue. In this phase of decomposition, the foul-smelling gases can induce nausea and vomiting. Susan covers her nose with a cloth while they continue to their destination. The prosecutor asks the expert witness if Chris and Susan could avoid the decomposition gases. He says no.
On horseback, the detectives are searching for Chris and Susan. Susan’s solicitor, Douglas Hylton (Dipo Ola) watches them through a spyglass. The prosecutor questions a witness about rigor mortis, which dissipates without refrigeration about three days after death. The defendants claim the victims’ bodies were in rigor mortis when they were buried six days after death. The expert witness says it is highly improbable, suggesting their timescale must be mistaken.
Chris and Susan gag when the bodies are removed from the bed of the truck. The detectives discover their previous campsite. A witness demonstrates the trigger action of a double-action revolver. The trigger action occurs in two phases. Pulling the trigger requires a bit of effort. It is unlikely, the trigger could be accidentally pulled. Chris is standing by a pile of burning brush. The bodies of Patricia Wycherley (Felicity Montagu) and William Wycherley (David Hayman) are laying on top of the fire.
Chris is sworn in. He tells the jury about the American actor, Gary Cooper. The prosecutor says they loved Western movies, with gunslingers and outlaws. Chris corrects her, saying Susan loved Western films. He views them as being “harmless”. A 2700-pound invoice for a Gary Cooper letter is presented to the jury. The prosecutor describes the defendants’ financial state as “on the verge of bankruptcy.” Chris designs the allegations. He smirks when asked about his correspondence with actor Gerard Depardieu. When he tries to explain his relationship with Hollywood actors, he is cut off by the prosecutor. He says, “Well, now you’re interrupting my answer” and shakes his head in disbelief. He tells the jury about a revolver he previously owned. The revolver was compatible with .38-caliber cartridges.
He did not possess the gun or cartridges in May 1998. He acknowledges that Susan was afraid of guns. He describes her mental state as “fragile.” He admits to being interested in the military history of guns. He sold his guns and surrendered his firearms certificate when Susan moved in with him in September 1995. Susan did not like for him to be away from her. He enjoyed the hobby and feels it was a mutual choice to give it up. It was mutual to bury Patricia’s and William’s bodies. The prosecutor continues to grill him about his relationship with Susan. He married Susan because he loved her. He has been living her life with her since their wedding. Susan unhappily watches from the defendant box.
At the campsite, Susan is awakened by a twig snapping. Chris demonstrates precision target shooting. The detectives gradually approach their campsite. When Chris demonstrates how to pull the trigger of a revolver, a gunshot causes the member of the jury, prosecutor, and other attendees to scream and scatter. Susan watches in horror. The detectives raid their campsite. Chris fires his weapon, hitting members of the posse. She refuses to leave with him. She questions how the detectives knew their location. She knows Chris told Tabitha about her parents. She angrily grabs the gun, walking in the direction of the detectives, she fires it. Chris flees the campsite when he sees Susan is hit in the upper left arm.
Susan has a flashback of her childhood from her cell. She is in the witness box. She gives the jury a recount of what happened the night her parents died. Patricia insults Susan before she is shot. The casings and the gun are disposed of in a trash can in the middle of the street. Hylton becomes anxious because does nothing to stop Susan from speaking. She picked up 20 bottles of air refreshers after opening a bank account. The prosecutor asks her to acknowledge if she knew the revolver utilized to shoot her parents did not discharge casings. She responds, “No.” She wrapped her parents’ bodies in duvet covers to avoid seeing them. She breaks down on the stand but continues to deny being “fragile.” She is broken and can no longer be hurt by anyone.
At the campsite, Susan begins to scream for Chris. She grabs her injured held and attempts to stand. She fires her weapon multiple times before her attorney shoots it out of her hand. She turns around shocked. Hylton watches passersby from a park bench.
At the prison, Susan discloses more information to Hylton about the Gerard Depardieu correspondence with Chris. She learned how to replicate his handwriting. She continued to write letters to Chris from Gerard Depardieu. After Chris began to question why all the letters had London postage marks, she purchased a franking machine. Hylton says her story is “sweet.” He says she helped him appreciate his life, calling himself “lucky.” They shake hands. She has a flashback of a white horse in the field.
Susan and Chris stand in the defendant box as Judge Blacklock (Souad Faress) speaks. She believes they acted together.
Lancing and Wilkie are discussing the case at the British Waterways. She tells Wilkie about a time when she threatened her dad for abusing her mother. Wilkie asks what happened. She says he left. Lancing stops Wilkie when he tries to hug her. She refuses his offer to go out for a drink sometime. She would, in theory, but not in practice in about 10 years before her eggs dry up. She calls him a “sensitive lad” as they walk away.
Susan receives a letter from Chris. She reads the letter as a scene of Susan at the campsite appears on the screen. The detectives stand as she walks away from the campsite. Chris removes and tosses his hat, wig, bandanna, and gun belt in the brush. He puts on his glasses and continues to walk down a dirt road. A bright light appears with Chris. They are on a movie set. They hop on a white horse and ride away into the distance as the episode comes to an end.
Landscapers Review
There is only one word to describe the finale “rubbish.” The combination of dark comedy and drama was not a good choice for the Chris and Susan murder case. Ed Sinclair and Will Sharpe made light of a tragic event that left two people dead and two others in prison for at least 25 years. There is little evidence to support the chain of events portrayed in the show. Other than a vague Wikipedia page, the evidence is little to none. So, viewers will only have to guess what led up to and how the Wycherley’s murders played out. Hopefully, the acting crew, especially David Thewlis and Olivia Colman will be more selective in their future roles. The episode deserves a 5.5.
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