In the first 2 episodes of Down Cemetery Road, we were introduced to Sarah, an art conservationist, and Zoe, a sleuth who worked with her husband, Joe, at Oxford Investigations. During a dinner party, Sarah’s neighbor’s house went up in flames. When Sarah tried to get a “get well soon” card delivered to Dinah, the only survivor of that explosion, at the South Oxford Hospital, she started facing a lot of pushback, largely because Dinah was a person of interest for C and Hamza, who were members of the Ministry of Defence. When Sarah sensed that a cover-up was in play, she showed up at Oxford Investigations, and Joe took up the case. Joe discovered that Dinah was being covertly moved from the hospital and conveyed that info to Sarah, who tried to stop what was essentially a kidnapping, but she failed. When she went over to Joe’s office to talk about the next steps of the investigation, she found out that Joe had been killed. After learning about Joe’s death, Zoe took interest in the explosion, Dinah’s disappearance, and Sarah. Since their team-up meant that the truth about the blast would come to light, Hamza ordered his associate, Amos, to send an assassin to take out Sarah. That assassin was Rufus (whose real name was Axel), and even though he was a long-term friend of Sarah’s, he had no hesitation when it came to killing her. While Sarah and Rufus got into a tussle, Downey, the guy who had been following Sarah for a while, barged into her house and shot in their general direction. Who died and who survived? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Amos Is Technically Fired
In episode 3 of Down Cemetery Road, we see a masked individual cleaning up Sarah’s house and disposing of the body there. Hamza’s meeting with C reveals that that cleaner is actually Amos. C wants to know where Sarah is, and Hamza assumes that she is either dead or with Downey. Due to his lack of certainty about the situation, coupled with the fact that Hamza’s collaboration with Amos and Rufus has been a nightmare, C orders Hamza to fire Amos. Speaking of Amos, he buries Rufus’ butchered body in a spot where a great tree once stood, and then plants a new tree atop Rufus’ grave. Through his prayer, Amos reveals that Rufus was his brother, which means that this whole thing has become personal for him, and no matter what his bosses want from him, he won’t stop until he kills his brother’s killer, which is Downey. Amos meets Hamza and conveys all the info he has gathered regarding Downey’s whereabouts to him, along with the fact that he has Rufus’ phone. Hamza wonders if they can track Rufus’ phone, but Amos says that it’s untraceable, much like the one he himself uses.
That gives Hamza the perfect opportunity to talk about Amos’ inability to follow protocol and then segue into the topic of his firing. Amos doesn’t react to that information in a civil manner. He throws Hamza to the ground and gives him an earful about all of them being in this mess because of something that was sanctioned by the government. He reminds him that he and Rufus have been cleaning up said government’s mess even though they don’t get paid or appreciated enough. Hence, kicking him out all of a sudden just because the clean-up job isn’t going as smoothly as the government expected is unfair and unacceptable. Therefore, he is going to continue working on this assignment until he comes face-to-face with Downey. But what’s that “something” sanctioned by the government that Amos was talking about? Well, of course, the show is not going to reveal that so early; however, through a conversation between C and an individual named Isaac, we get some more hints towards what’s in the bigger picture.
C Meets Isaac
Through C and Isaac’s chat, we get to know that Tommy Singleton, Maddie’s husband and Dinah’s dad, probably didn’t die in the blast, but the people behind this whole conspiracy have made it look like he did. He was registered as a John Doe, and his body has been removed from the morgue so that there’s no way of properly identifying him. The reason why this is confusing is because Wigwam said that Tommy had died a long time ago, and that Dinah had never met her father. But now it looks like he was kidnapped by Isaac and his crew, tortured somewhere, and once he croaked, his body was put back in his house and blown to smithereens. Isaac says that, prior to his death, Tommy was on a drug called histropine (I don’t think this is a real medicine), and that was prolonging his time on this planet. Isaac calls it an “antidote,” which could mean that Tommy was experimented upon, thereby indicating that the thing sanctioned by the government was some kind of experimental drug, and Tommy as well as Downey were test subjects.
Maybe both Tommy and Downey wanted to get out of whatever facility they were being kept in and tell the truth about what was happening there to the world. Tommy couldn’t make it, but Downey did, and now C is afraid that, before taking his last breath, he’ll expose the government’s corrupt practices to the world. Isaac assures C that Downey is on borrowed time, and maybe he’ll die before he manages to access some kind of a public platform. Before we can learn more about it, Talia Ross, the Defense Minister—and C’s new boss—enters the scene, which prompts C and Isaac to put their conversation about their secret passion project on the backburner. Going back to Amos, since he isn’t even close to finding Downey, he gets desperate and calls on his brother’s phone, hoping that Downey will just pick it up. Well, he doesn’t. So, he takes a trip to the safehouse that Dinah is being kept in and drops off her favorite teddy bear. However, it’s not a simple teddy bear; it has a tracker in it as well. So, yeah, even though Amos has technically been taken off this assignment, he is making sure that he doesn’t lose sight of Dinah, because that’s his key to getting to Downey.
Zoe Finds the Truth About Rufus
Zoe enters Oxford Investigations presumably for the first time since Joe’s death and immediately exits the premises. She goes to Mal’s corner shop to get a lottery ticket because winning big is the only way to pay off all the debts that she has amassed. I like the mini joke where Zoe pays for the lottery ticket with her credit card, and it’s declined, but Mal doesn’t say anything, because how could you ask a broke and recently widowed person to pay for a lottery ticket, right? Obviously, Zoe doesn’t strike gold, but she does notice that Mal’s shop has CCTV cameras, two pointing at the alley and another one inside the shop near the refrigerator. While parsing through the footage of the night of Joe’s murder, Zoe spots Rufus coming out of the Oxford Investigations building and assumes that he’s the killer. As far as I remember, Zoe hasn’t crossed paths with Rufus, but Sarah had told her that she was being followed by a Black guy. So, I think that’s how Zoe realizes that the guy in the CCTV footage is the killer and the one following Sarah. Hence, she calls up Sarah to tell her that she is coming to meet her. But when she gets to Sarah’s house, nobody answers the door, which is why she has to break in.
It doesn’t take too long for Zoe to realize that a murder has been covered up; the repaired bathroom handle is a dead giveaway. Before she can analyze the crime scene any further, Wigwam shows up at the doorstep. Although their interaction starts off on the wrong foot, Wigwam eventually informs Zoe that Mark is in London, her own husband (Rufus) is missing, and both Sarah and Rufus’ phones are switched off. Since it’s odd that two people living in such close proximity are nowhere to be found, Zoe goes with Wigwam to her house to look for some clues, and she immediately comes across a photo of Rufus, which confirms the fact that Joe’s killer is Wigwam’s husband. But I guess Zoe still thinks that Rufus is the one who has kidnapped Sarah. While rummaging through Rufus’ stuff, Zoe bags the cap he was wearing the night he murdered Joe, and she tells Wigwam to take her kids and get somewhere safe, because she anticipates that things are going to get nasty. After watching the first 2 episodes, I predicted that Wigwam is a spy as well, and is in cahoots with Rufus, but now I am not so sure. Either she is putting up such a great act that Zoe and the audience can’t see through her lies, or she genuinely is as naive as she seems. Anyway, Zoe leaves her number with Wigwam and tells her to give her a ring if Rufus or Sarah tries to get in touch with her, and then she heads over to the police station with Rufus’ cap and that CCTV footage.
Zoe Befriends Wayne
Officer Plod completely rubbishes Zoe’s findings, probably because he has been told to do so by Hamza or because he knows that Zoe is doing a better job of solving this whole mystery surrounding the explosion, Joe’s murder, and Sarah’s disappearance than him. As Zoe comes to the realization that she has hit a dead end, she gets a text from Janice regarding arranging Joe’s funeral. Before getting to that task, Zoe decides to track down Mark, and she discovers that he is actually having an affair with Emma, his colleague, which explains why he has been treating Sarah so miserably. Zoe first makes a video of Mark hanging out with Emma, then follows him all the way to his place, and then tries to learn where he was the night Sarah went missing. As Mark begins to reveal what an awful person he is, Zoe whips out the video that she has just recorded and leaves. The color drains from Mark’s face, because he knows that if Zoe knows Sarah, that footage is going to reach her one day or the other. As Mark contemplates that, Zoe reaches the Bereavement and Mortuary Services and asks Wayne, a worker at that establishment, to show her Joe’s body, because she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to him. Wayne is a stickler for protocol, but he falls for Zoe’s poor old widowed woman act and takes her to the morgue. Zoe says that she needs some privacy because she wants to grieve alone. So, Wayne has no option but to step out. This gives Zoe the opportunity to go through all the other bodies that have been stored in that morgue. She spots Maddie’s body, and she also notices a John Doe, but his body seems to be missing, which strikes Zoe as odd, but she doesn’t make a big deal of it yet. She tries to look at Joe’s body, but she is unable to because of the pain she’s in; she masks it with her jokes and nonchalant attitude, but it’s clear that she is hurting. Hence, she exits the morgue, and on her way out, she thanks Wayne, tells him to continue pursuing his dream of becoming a live-streamer (it’s a pretty hilarious exchange between the two), and gives him her card as well.
Zoe goes back home to analyze all the information she has acquired so far. This is where we get some more important info about the project that the government is desperately trying to cover up. So, apparently in 2021, eight soldiers were court-martialed. Three months later, all of those soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Cyprus. And then one week ago, an explosion occurred in South Oxford, and a corpse (Tommy’s body) went missing. Zoe can’t seem to find the connection between all this, but from what I gather, those men didn’t die in that helicopter crash. Their deaths were faked so that they could be taken away to a secret facility and then experimented upon by the government. I don’t know what the incentive was, but it’s apparent that Tommy and Downey were the last 2 survivors of that project. Tommy was killed, and now all they have to do is get to Downey. Zoe’s analysis of this whole affair is interrupted by her boyfriend, Bob Poland. After getting frisky with each other, Bob reveals that he is on the government’s payroll and he has been sent to warn Zoe to stop her investigation. This agitates Zoe a lot, and she literally throws Bob out of her house. Then she heads back to the morgue, and with the help of Wayne, who scans Tommy’s face and reverse-searches it online, she uncovers a website named Veterans Reunited, which features 8 soldiers, and one of them is Downey. Of course, Zoe doesn’t recognize him, but we know that that’s Downey, and I think this furthers the theory that these guys’ deaths were faked for the sake of an off-the-books government program.
Downey Has Rescued Sarah
Downey has “kidnapped” Sarah after killing Rufus, and he makes a pit stop in the middle of a forest because Sarah is going nuts in the back of his van. Downey lets her out for a breather and an explanation, but the understandably agitated Sarah tries to kill Downey with his gun. So, Downey gives Sarah 2 choices: she can fend for herself in the forest, or she can get back into the van with him. Sarah goes for the latter, because nobody in their right mind wants to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with zero resources. After hitting the road, Sarah tries to get the upper hand on Downey one more time, and she demands answers by pointing his gun at him. Downey says that he is looking for Dinah, and the only reason he has been following Sarah is because she is searching for Dinah too. He insinuates that the people who don’t want them to succeed in this endeavor are extremely powerful, and they have directed the law enforcement authorities to inform them if Sarah goes to the police. Hence, if Sarah wants to find Dinah, she needs to trust Downey instead of constantly trying to one-up him with the aim of going to the police. Sarah thinks that whatever Downey is saying sounds true, because she has literally seen how the police, the orderlies at the hospital, and then her own neighbor have treated her just because she wants to make sure that Dinah is okay. Which is why she puts the gun in the glove compartment of the van and then asks Downey where they are headed.
Downey doesn’t disclose the location; he just says that they need to keep moving until they are sure they aren’t being tracked. He makes yet another pit stop at a gas station, and while he waits in the car, he allows Sarah to get some food and use the loo. Sarah uses that opportunity to nick a customer’s phone and call Mark. As Sarah is about to talk to Mark, she hears Emma talking to him, and she freezes. When Mark doesn’t hear anything from the other end, he puts the phone down, thinking that he has hung up, but Sarah is still on the call. That’s how Sarah learns that Mark is having an affair with Emma, and, as expected, it breaks whatever’s left of Sarah’s heart. She tidies herself up, gets back into Downey’s van, and they hit the road again. By the way, Downey can be seen downing some histropine, and he has scars all over his right hand, which show how he was experimented upon and what kind of pain he’s actually in. Sarah doesn’t address it; hence, Downey feels no need to explain himself.
Downey Trusts Sarah
In the ending of the Down Cemetery Road episode 3, Downey and Sarah reach a motel. Sarah says that they can take turns sleeping in the bed, but Downey is not in the mood to do so. He takes the chair, gun in his hand, so that he is always ready to pounce if Amos or some other government agent ambushes him and Sarah. While he’s busy focusing on that, Sarah takes a trip to the loo and realizes that she still has Zoe’s visiting card in her pocket. She dials that number, but Zoe doesn’t pick up because she is at Janice’s place. They are seen having a chat about Zoe’s religious conversion, Joe’s love for Zoe, the investigation into his murder, and the fact that that last part could lead to Zoe’s disappearance. If that happens, Zoe wants Janice to ring a number written on an envelope and hand over said envelope to the individual on the other end of that call. I don’t know who Zoe is referring to here, but I’m guessing that it’s a journalist and that envelope is full of information on the explosion that’s been collected by Joe and Zoe. Janice notices how stressed Zoe is and tells her to sleep at her house instead of returning to South Oxford in the dead of night. Going back to Sarah, Downey asks her how she knows Dinah. When Sarah tells him the truth, he is shocked to know that Sarah is risking her whole life for a girl that she has never even met. Sarah counters by asking Downey how he knows Dinah. Instead of giving her a straight answer, he goes off to take a shower.
It’s pretty obvious that Downey is trying to avenge his friend, Tommy, by rescuing his daughter from the clutches of the government that destroyed his and his whole squadron’s lives. That’s his purpose, and he is determined to complete it at any cost. I guess the reason why he was shocked by Sarah’s response is because he couldn’t believe that in this selfish world, someone like her could exist. Sarah could have given up after she encountered the first obstacle, but there she was with a wanted fugitive, trying to find a missing girl just because that was the right thing to do. No, Downey doesn’t say all that, but the fact that he goes off to take a shower without tying Sarah down or cuffing her proves that she has won him over. Coincidentally, that’s when Zoe rings Sarah back. That’s where the episode comes to a close, but it seems like Sarah is going to reveal her location to Zoe so that she can track her down and save her from Downey’s clutches. I mean, we know that Downey is one of the good guys, but if you look at this situation from Sarah’s perspective, her fear is understandable. Right now, Zoe is the only person she trusts. So, it’s pretty logical for her to try and alert Zoe, who is looking for her anyway. How will Downey react to this, though? Well, since he is a paranoid man, I suppose he is going to doubt Zoe’s allegiance. Eventually, he will understand that Zoe means well, and I am sure that Zoe, Sarah, and Downey will work together to bring down the government officials who are behind one of the biggest (medical) scandals in the country. Those are just my thoughts on the episode, though. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
