Abigail’s Goodbye
After last week’s decent episode, The InBetween returns this week with another case to dissect, one that adds some much-needed closure to the ongoing saga with Abigail. This week’s episode feels like two distinct narratives running parallel to one another and although at times this feels a little messy, The InBetween does just enough to prevent this feeling tonally inconsistent, thanks to Cassie’s supernatural powers. We begin with Cassie hearing a baby crying as she wakes up and begins brushing her teeth. Heading out to the bar, she has another vision, this time of a strange tree with the face of a minotaur on. As liquid pours from its roots, the vision ends and she phones Tom to let him know what she’s seen. Tom and Damien then arrive at a crime scene where they find what’s suspected to be a lone gunman engaging in a hit-and-run. They head to the hospital and begin their line of enquiry to reaffirm their suspicions whilst the victim recovers in surgery. It turns out the bike had gang stickers on it which leads Damien to wonder if her facade as a campaign volunteer is being used to mask that she’s actually a gang member by night. The plot thickens as Tom and Damien notice ties with a Phillipino gang nearby. Cassie meanwhile continues to be harrassed by the baby cries so she takes the afternoon off work. As she gets into her car to head home, the engine starts automatically and her sat nav blinks a nearby location. She decides to follow the tip which brings her to a house with a baby sitting on the floor by an unconscious lady who happens to be Abigail’s mother, Hannah; a victim of domestic violence. Abigail then reappears and taunts Cassie over her Mother’s weakness in failing to report the abuse. Cassie attempts to reason with her, bringing up her own family life, but Abigail is having none of it – she’s happy her mum is unhappy. As the investigation continues, a lead brings Tom and Damien into the heart of a gang safe-house where a man named Olly has been stuffed inside one of the barrels. After conducting an autopsy and digging deeper, it turns out the man had ties to Edward, the campaign manager, who also was linked to the woman murdered earlier in the episode. As it happens, both of them grew up in the Philippines before emigrating across the the US. Back at the station, Tom and Damien go over all the clues, linking the Philippines, Edward, a Phillipino village and the strange ritualistic torture of a man with a minotaur head together. They crack the case and reveal a man named George is behind everything. With the window of arrest tight, given he’s about to catch a train to Vancouver, they find him on the docks courtesy of a handy Cassie vision of a lighthouse and pile of bodies. After a little resistance, they eventually arrest him. Abigail then appears and screams for Cassie to hurry and check on Hannah. She scrambles over and once there finds Abigail’s Mum in shock, sat on the floor covered in blood. She’s murdered her husband. After arresting George, Tom assures her that she wont go to prison as it will be deemed as self-defence. This prompts Abbie to finally say her goodbyes to Cassie, having now found solace with her Mother. While most of the episode progresses both storylines nicely, the ending to the gang-related crime does feel a little disappointing, especially given the reveal of George as the culprit. We get little in the form of an explanation from his mouth and despite a few gunshots on the docks, his threat is quickly extinguished. Still, for most of the episode the focus is squarely on Cassie though and it’s here where the episode does reasonably well. Gaining some closure with Abigail is a nice touch but whether this is actually the last we see of her remains to be seen. There’s a thinly veiled message about domestic violence here too and thankfully this is handled in a respectful way, without feeling overly preachy. For the most part though, The InBetween does well, delivering another enjoyable slice of crime drama, even if it does pale in comparison to last week’s effort.
