The Dinner Party
Episode 7 of White Lines begins in the past as we see Axel on his birthday, riding with the group in his car while singing happy birthday. Back in the present, Zoe hangs out with Kika and tells her that she’s slept with Boxer. Dave arrives midway through their conversation and tells them he’s going to host a dinner and they’re all invited, the intent of which being they’ll all sit around and discuss the good times with Axel. Marcus has his house repossessed and watches as Anna rides off with the kids. Left with a jeep full of gear and his dogs, he heads up to a business meeting and sits with Kika, Oriol and the others as they discuss the future of their drug trafficking business. As the conversation turns to the Romanians, two of the men mention about the abandoned fishing boat and how they dived down below but didn’t find anything. Zoe runs into another problem back home when she learns the dirty picture she was supposed to send Boxer was sent to Mike instead. Fretting over what he’ll do when he sees it, he instead phones through puzzled given they haven’t done anything like that before. That night, the dinner party gets underway at Dave’s house but Clint and Juan watch from afar and decide to try and get Dave’s photos to continue the investigation into Axel. It turns out a few days before Axel died he sold all of his properties, which is certainly suspicious. As the group all sit at Dave’s and discuss their past, Kika chirps up and mentions how as time goes by it’s harder to find something beyond ordinary. Anna mentions how sex is actually the key to finding memorable experiences, which prompts some awkwardness around the table given Marcus’ affection toward her. This ultimately acts as the catalyst for what follows as the truth starts coming out and all the secrets are revealed. Marcus tells them all he slept with Anna, Boxer and Zoe’s affair is out in the open too and as awkwardness descends on the table, we cut back in time and see the happiness the group shared as kids. In the aftermath of this, Zoe establishes that her fling with Boxer is simply “friends with benefits” while George sits with Marcus and talks to him about what happened with Anna. Back at the table, she tells him she wants George not him, and this revelation is one step too far. Marcus turns his attention to Dave and admits that he’s an ex-heroin addict before mentioning that everyone around the table had a reason to kill Axel. Marcus also goes on to admit how Axel screwed Anna over too. Even more damning than that, Marcus admits that Dave was in love with Axel. Dave bites back though and tells them that Axel himself wanted to die and suggests it may have been an assisted suicide. Boxer decides to pass on friends with benefits and gives Zoe an ultimatum, telling her he wants them to be in a relationship together. Instead, Zoe tells him she’s made a big mistake and decides not to pursue what they have, regretting her actions and heading off alone. Down by the docks, Zoe’s Father sits with her and he finally opens up about Axel and how he felt about him. As they continue to talk, he apologises to her and tells Zoe he wants to find who killed him too. After a couple of episodes that have meandered along and not added very much to the overarching plot, White Lines fires back with a damning assessment of all our group over a very messy dinner party. Although a little melodramatic at times, it serves its purpose well and delivers some really good dialogue and exchanges in the process. There’s a lot of bad blood and secrets here and seeing all of this messily spill over is certainly one of the highlights of the series so far. The more questionable element of the series though comes from the plot continuity surrounding the Romanian drug dealers. Hearing the guys at the meeting mention they didn’t find anything at the bottom of the ocean but only one body ending up in the grave is a bit of an oversight on the writing side of things (although if I’m wrong here, do feel free to correct me in the comments!) and acts as another nail in the coffin for this one being anything above an average-at-best thriller. Still, the subject of Axel’s death is finally back in the forefront of this drama and quite what happened to this troubled boy remains a mystery. If this episode is anything to go by though, it looks like we’re finally getting closer to some answers!
