Unmasked
Episode 8 of Suspicion Season 1 begins this finale inside the hotel room ,with Natalie shooting Martin Copeland. Sean is shocked and points a gun at Natalie. As the others rally by her side, Sean grabs his gear and leaves. When he does, alarms wail as a smoke grenade is dropped in the hallway. Tara and the others just casually walk out together, showing their face everywhere and managing to walk past law enforcement mustering on the streets.
What happens with Leo Newman? Is he killed?
When they eventually make it to safety, an hour timer starts counting down, with a live broadcast of Leo being shown to the whole world to see. Owen Neilssen brings word back to Katherine about this, as she decides she wants to go and see Martin for herself. With Tara leading the way, the motley band of suspects head inside where Tara reassures Natalie, telling her she checks notes didn’t kill anyone. Okay then. Tara deflects the blame across to Sean, sticking with the narrative that he shot Copeland. But the icing on the cake comes from Natalie, who realizes she left her gun in the hotel room. Meanwhile, Creswell is interviewed by Vanessa and Sean who clearly aren’t watching the monitors. He knows who Leo Newman is and claims he “knew they’d come.” Whoever this is, they’ve buried all of Creswell’s work. Creswell’s mention of “them” catches Vanessa’s attention, realizing that this references there’s more than one person involved in what’s happening. One of those, as we’re being led to believe, is Natalie.
Who kidnapped Leo Newman?
Back with the group, they show up at an abandoned office space where they find Leo with the gun himself. He staged the whole event and there was no kidnapper after all. Tara reveals that she’s actually part of Leo’s group. We’ve seen foreshadowed glimpses of this in the past, given Tara’s close ties with her students, and now it’s apparent she’s working with Leo to take his mother down. Natalie is enraged and claims she’s set them all up. “You let me kill Copeland!” Natalie exclaims. According to these kids (and Tara), these suspects were chosen specifically because they were part of what allows Cooper Newman’s PR to keep spinning. No one was supposed to get hurt but Natalie killing Copeland has changed all that.
Why did Tara do this?
Tara’s stake in all this is to force Katherine Newman to open up and reveal the truth about Eric Creswell’s work and how she discredited the climate change claims. Unfortunately, they’re also stitching up Aadesh and Natalie to make it seem like they’re the kidnappers. There’s a whole bunch of discourse here about right and wrong… but Natalie realizes that Eddie happens to be holding her handgun. He picked it up from the hotel room after all. Now, it’s worth noting that Eddie is holding this without gloves, meaning his fingerprints and DNA are all over it now. Anyway, Tara knows that Eddie is a cop and reveals all to them now, as Aadesh and Natalie are both shocked.
What does Tara send her daughter?
Meanwhile, Daisy opens up an envelope from her mum which happens to have a phone inside, complete with a video message. Within this, she confirms that Eric Creswell is her father and reveals the truth about how Newman and her cronies completely destroyed Cresswell’s reputation. Daisy remains silent about what she’s seen when Vanessa phones the family, but a snow globe of Times Square on her dresser is enough for her to realize where Sean and the others are. Back in the abandoned building, Eddie is shot in the head by Sean, who arrives and immediately organizes traffic. He found them all via a tracker he planted on them. He ignores Tara’s pleas to stop and grabs Leo Newman, forcing him down to his knees.
Does Katherine tell the truth?
Meanwhile, Katherine decides to open up and admit the truth to the world, claiming Cresswell did nothing wrong and that the rumours about him are completely false. She goes on to mention climate change and how those in the upper echelons of society have built up a lack of trust across society. She’s truly sorry for her part in all this, as Tara watches the broadcast and hears her exonerate her father. The only people who know about what’s happened with the kidnapping are those inside this room, so Tara suggests they come up with a new narrative, something that will save all of them and stop anyone going to prison.
Does Eddie survive? How is Leo found?
Despite being shot in the head, Eddie is still alive…somehow. Anyway, he allows Aadesh, Tara and Natalie to go, radioing in that there’s an active shooter. That shooter, of course, being Sean. Given he’s with Leo Newman and about to shoot him in the room across the hallway, it’s incredibly convenient to make it seem like he’s the one responsible. Anyway, the police arrive in pretty spectacular form (10 seconds between the gang leaving and police arriving!) and surround the room. Leo Newman is found in an underground parking lot, as it would appear the room Sean took him in had a stairwell leading down to the basement.
How does Suspicion Season 1 end?
Katherine receives a message from Martin’s phone, reading “Double X Me he goes for good.” This happens to be Sean, who manages to get away without being arrested. Natalie is taken away in handcuffs though, while Aadesh and Tara both don masks and slip away into the crowd. Despite their facial recognition software, Vanessa and Sean have been unable to find the pair as they walk through the busy streets of New York. Sean Tillson happens to be on a bus leaving town and he checks his account, realizing he has 1 million now. Aadesh and Tara are on a boat to freedom while Natalie is arrested, presumably for a long time.
The Episode Review
What an absolute mess. Suspicion has been a really sloppy crime drama and the only thing this show had going for it was its final twist to reveal who’s responsible for everything. In the end, no one gets their comeuppance, there’s no reckoning for those who have done bad deeds and the fate of half our characters is left unknown. Aadesh and Tara just slip away while Eddie’s fate has some serious question marks around it. Martin Copeland’s death has gone completely unaccounted for and that’s probably the biggest issue that hasn’t been resolved. Now, given it was Natalie’s gun – or at least a handgun from her family – Eddie’s fingerprints are now all over the handgun so we’re left to assume he’s going to be arrested and charged with murder. And what of Natalie? And who the police believe is the kidnapper? All of these questions are left completely unchecked and it leads to a sloppy end to a show that’s meandered on and tried to get by based on its twists alone. The lack of logic and foresight put into this story is pretty surprising and to top it off, the show adds in a crowbarred message about climate change and companies needing to do better. Compared to shows like Mr Robot which tackle the same subject with far more panache and style, Suspicion bows out with a really poor finale.
