The ending of season 2 of our favorite small-town murder show, where there is a murder in a tiny American town almost every 3 days on average, is here. Anyway, it’s interesting to me that there are so many people in Gibsons even after one gets murdered every few days, but jokes aside, it’s more interesting that Karl needs more people in his department because so many people are dying left, right, and center. Anyway, the second season continued to give us nostalgic murder show vibes while integrating some of Cassandra and Karl’s pasts into the story now that we know these characters better. Anyway, the ending of Murder in a Small Town gives us an exciting event to possibly expect in the next season, but there’s a chance things will go south; only time will tell. But having said that, I think it’s time to dive into the final episode of the show’s second season and discuss what to expect next.
Spoiler Alert
What Happened to Doug?
Episode 10 of season 2 brings us to the heart of Gibsons, because not only are Karl and his team figuring out who killed their latest victim with a trip wire, but Holly is also eager to help Cassandra get closure for her friend’s death from years ago. If you’ve been watching Murder in a Small Town, you’re definitely familiar with the name Lauren Park, but who killed her? We’ll find out by the end of this episode. In this case, Karl notices that a man who appears to have accidentally fallen down a flight of stairs tripped on a trip wire and was then strangled to death after he didn’t immediately die. This case is a little bit confusing, because there are too many characters for such a short episode, and everyone is a suspect of some kind.
Nena is the wife who doesn’t seem to care at all that her husband is dead. Also, this is the 3rd show this week where I’ve had to deal with a character named Doug. Are there really this many Dougs in the world? Anyway, Nena seemed to have been in the house at the time of her husband’s death, but was sound asleep thanks to the cocktail of drugs and alcohol she was on. One of the witnesses suggests Doug was “pining” for somebody all the time, but that Karl should probably ask his housekeeper about the details. This housekeeper is a woman named Maeve. Meanwhile, Karl and the team also learn that Doug was a volunteer at a horse shelter, and it turns out the guy who runs it, Will Raker, is actually Doug’s brother. Karl doesn’t talk to Will because he’s not around, but the in-house vet, Ella, is. The second she learns about Doug’s death, you can tell they were seeing each other, and she’s probably the person the witness was talking about (pining).
Meanwhile, things aren’t going great for Laila, who has started drinking again, and though her “friend” (and ex) is trying hard to help her, Laila continues to ignore her and all the signs that she’s really messing up after having shot someone in a previous episode. But by the end of the episode, Laila admits her mistake and even signs up for help, so she’ll be okay. It’s revealed that a woman named Yvette is the housekeeper’s alibi. She tells Karl that they spent the night together watching TV and drinking. At the same time, Karl learns that she was fired 6 weeks before Lauren Park died, and it turns out Lauren lied about Yvette stealing, which is what got her kicked out.
Anyway, in the middle of all of this, Cassandra tells Karl about Lauren Park and the instinct that she didn’t die by accident. More importantly, Holly wants to visit a closed flower shop. Turns out, they carried Enchanter’s Nightshade, the flowers that have been seen at Lauren’s grave for 20 years. Cassandra warns Holly and her sister not to do any more sleuthing and research by themselves, knowing how dangerous these things can get. However, when Cassandra returns to the library after doing some councilwoman work, she finds that both girls are missing. This immediately sends her into stressed “stepmom” mode, and she calls Karl. But when he doesn’t answer, she realizes mid-voicemail that she’s the one who has to go rescue them. Somehow, shockingly, the big twist of this episode leaves Ella dead too, but before she drives her car into construction equipment, she’s screaming on the phone, but it happens to be voicemail. Turns out Ella and Maeve are related; the latter is the mother, but Ella hated her. Moreover, Doug and Ella were having an affair, and Maeve was dead set against it. Can’t believe Ella died in such a sad way, though.
Who Killed Lauren Park?
It appears everything is linked somehow, and Cassandra was right about one thing: there’s a serial killer in town, and nobody’s had the slightest idea until now. By the time Karl realizes what her voicemail means, he also learns that Maeve’s the big culprit in all these cases combined. So I guess you could say Cassandra’s the one who realized who the killer is first. Cassandra rushes to find the girls, but only Maeve’s at her house. Her first reaction to seeing Cassandra is to tell her she didn’t vote for her (funny). Maeve seems to be the kind of unhinged woman a person like Cassandra should not run into. But when she realizes Cassanda is asking about the nightshade and knows about the flowers on Lauren’s grave, she invites her in. An innocent Casandra walks into the lion’s den, but is quick to catch on to what’s going on.
Maeve tells Cassandra that the flowers symbolize revenge, and immediately pulls a knife on her, but Cassandra is quick on her feet and runs out of the house just in time for Karl to catch her. Maeve talks about rotting in hell (her aunt was a nun) and something about how everyone there is a sinner (oh, this is why there are so many murders in this town, eh?). Before Karl can get upset, though, Cassandra’s quick to tell him that she knows she was a fool to have come all this way by herself, but she was worried about his daughters. Karl reminds her that worrying and bravery are his thing, and he’s literally trained for it, but she’s also brave for having tried. Maeve doesn’t really say anything, but we know she’s a proper serial killer.
In Murder in a Small Town season 2’s ending, Holly has her big exhibition, the one about memorials (also, this girl looks so beautiful here; uff, how fast they grow up). Finally, Cassandra and Karl get some time to themselves, and the former talks about how her mom keeps messaging her, to which Karl promptly asks if he’s ever going to meet her. This is our cue, because we did see him pull out his mother’s ring just in the last episode. I don’t know what I was expecting, but asking her a hypothetical question isn’t the way I was expecting Karl to propose, but it appears Cassandra is the most surprised out of everybody in this situation. The episode ends with us not finding out if she’s actually said yes or not, so what does this mean?
What Can We Expect From Season 3?
Before Karl asks Cassandra to marry him, she asks him about his dad. This is one topic he really doesn’t like to talk about, but he does admit he knows where the man is. But Cassandra proceeds to say she doesn’t really know anything about him despite having dated him for 6 months. So, I have a feeling all of season 3 is going to focus on the back-and-forth between these two and Karl’s relationship with his dad. If Karl really wants another marriage, he needs to open up for real.
