Twist After Twist
Why Women Kill has been one of my guilty pleasures this year and this episode in particular really personifies just why this has been such an enthralling watch. As the layers of comedy peel away in favour of a more melodramatic, serious tone, Why Women Kill pulls out all the stops to deliver one of its best episodes. As has been the case in previous entries, we begin with a brief intro to set the scene, this time with narration from deceased loved ones in all three time periods. In 1963 Beth Ann drives April to the Doctors while sowing seeds of doubt in her mind about Rob. After some deliberation, Beth Ann decides to pack her things and leave. As she folds clothes in her suitcase, we flash back and see the heartbreaking moment Emily is hit, setting off the events to follow. April asks Rob about their future after the baby and in doing so, tells her about Beth Ann’s dream of being a concert pianist that failed to come to fruition. While April deliberates over what to do next, Beth Ann arrives at Rob’s work intending to break up with him for real. It turns out Rob’s been cheating on her for years and Claire, his secretary at work, was the one who left the gate open. In a cruel twist of fate, Beth Ann was not to blame for Emily’s death – Claire was. To make matters worse, Rob knew all along and blamed it on Beth Ann, forcing her to live a life of regret. In 1984 Simone and Karl’s membership to the club is revoked after Naomi tells everyone about her affair and Karl’s homosexuality. To make matters worse, when they head home Naomi arrives soon after and promises to make her life a living hell. Amy returns home and tells Karl she knows the truth about his Aids. The only way to salvage her wedding, given many people have decided not to go, is to make sure he doesn’t turn up. Despite Simone’s objections, Karl agrees to stay behind, prompting her to stand by his side. The next day, Karl and Simone head outside where they find someone has written “die aids faggot” on the wall. Passing out, everyone refuses to help Karl until Julio, one of the workers at their estate, helps Karl to the car. At the hospital, they learn that Karl is really ill and there’s a chance he may not survive. In the hallway she sees Naomi and begs her to leave him out of it and go straight for her – a far cry from her early selfish ways and a reminder of how far Simone’s character has come over the weeks. Tommy gets dressed and berates his mother for what she’s done. He shuns her, telling Naomi that she’s no longer his Mother before kicking her out the room. In 2019 Jade continues to weave her wicked web of deceit as Eli prepares for a meeting with Scorsese. As Eli makes it to the office, it turns out it’s actually a meeting with Taylor, who tells him that Jade’s real name is Irene. He rejects the truth and leaves the office, telling her that Jade/Irene builds him up and he’s happy to live with that. Picking him up from the office, Eli, with seeds of doubt sown in his mind, confronts her over the truth. It’s here he learns everything he’s been told is true as Irene incredulously asks how he found out before crashing the car. Taylor rushes to the hospital where she learns Eli has fractured ribs and is currently passed out. Before he was sedated however, he left her a note with one word – rehab. Meanwhile, Irene heads back to Duke’s given she has nowhere to go. She asks him outright who he told and it’s here he admits to telling Taylor the truth. Grabbing a knife, the two fight resulting in Irene stabbing him multiple times. As the episode closes out, Naomi charges her car toward Simone while Beth Ann buys a gun, leaving things wide open for the season finale. There’s an awful lot going on in this episode and along with some solid pacing, Why Women Kill boasts some incredibly endearing writing and well written twists. Learning the truth about Beth Ann’s past is a tough moment to watch while the revelation about Irene’s (Jade’s) murderous ways certainly injects some much-needed excitement into the 2019 story. For me though, the 1984 narrative has been the most interesting and tonally diverse over the weeks. Lucy Liu and Jack Davenport have some wonderful chemistry on screen together as Simone and Karl and their characters have had the most depth across the season. From comedic quips and witty retorts through to heartfelt drama and empathetic highs, this storyline is ultimately the glue that holds everything together. Quite what will happen in the finale remains to be seen and whether we’ll see our trio of husbands meeting their predestined demise or not is still left up for debate. One thing’s for sure though, it’s going to be one heck of an episode!
