The second season of Murder In A Small Town takes off right at the end of the first season. The last time we saw them, Cassandra and Karl decided to keep trying, despite their differences, i.e., not having enough time for each other. This proves to be a bit more difficult than they imagined, though, because things are worse now that Cassandra’s plan has worked and she’s been elected. Karl has definitely assimilated with the town’s people, and it’s especially apparent because of how much he cares for his colleagues in the police force, as they, too, care for him. Also, I find it a little bit funny how often the show’s writers keep reminding us that this is a small town and everyone knows everybody. But this becomes even more ironic considering the number of murders that take place in said “small” town. At this rate, there’ll be no people left to police or counsel.
Spoiler Alert
Who Killed Garrett?
Murder In A Small Town episode 1 begins with a woman and her sister covering up a murder the woman, Denise, accidentally committed. Denise is married to Garrett, a local drunk, and someone who is considered to be involved in criminal activity. He’s caught up in some shady business, and his wife wants to help him, but in his drunken state, he charges at her, leading to her acting in self-defense. But in the process of trying to protect herself with a pan, she ends up knocking her husband out. She thinks he’s dead, and she doesn’t know what to do until her sister shows up. Her sister never liked the man, from what we can see, and so instead of suggesting they go to the police with the truth, she thinks it’s best to get rid of Garrett’s body, considering he’s already seen as someone who moves in criminal circles.
The girls put Garrett’s body in the trunk of his car. Denise’s sister, Marita, tells her that it won’t be difficult to get away with murder, because everybody will blame it on the people Garrett’s been hanging out with. Clearly, he was in some sort of trouble. In the meantime, there’s a new cop in town, Leila Jackson. She learns from the night shift guy that there was a drunk man who went to his friend’s house and threatened his wife and kids, but the drunk was never found. The drunk guy happens to be Garrett. At the same time, it looks like the force is low on numbers, and they’ll take any help they can get.
Leila finds out that the drunk man is Garrett Walker, and goes to Denise’s house. Denise says he’s not home, but she doesn’t know anything about him having threatened his friend, Raj Kohli’s family. The sisters obviously didn’t expect them to be looking for him so soon. This makes things difficult. The cops then find the abandoned car in the woods, and while there’s blood in it, there’s no sign of Garett himself, so where would he be now?
Soon, there’s a call at the station, and Garrett’s boat is found, shockingly with a charred body in it. Autopsy reveals that the body was Garrett’s. But the shocking news is that Garrett didn’t die from the blow to his head, nor from the stab wounds in his chest; it was the smoke inhalation that got him, which means he was still alive when the sisters (presumably) set him and his boat on fire. On the other hand, Karl’s already noticed the bleach on her house floor, which means he suspects the sisters, but Denise pretends she has no idea where Garrett is and acts as if she’s worried about him.
Meanwhile, Leila, who is not having the best time in town because she doesn’t fit in yet (I wonder if this is a subtle race thing), learns that Garrett was alive after he got hit in the head, and went to meet a woman named Susan. He was having an affair with this woman, and Marita had found out, hence the hatred for him. After his wife tried to kill him, he went to her because he was looking for a place to stay, but she said no. Turns out, Garrett was actually murdered by a man named Renny, who was a close contact of Susan’s. She was the reason Garrett ended up in proximity to criminals.
On the other hand, after being interrogated, Marita gets a new idea. She realizes it’ll be best if the two sisters take Garrett’s money and build a new life of their own. While Denise isn’t sure she wants this, her sister is eager, so she agrees. Not long after they leave, a gang of bikers show up for the money. They notice the girls driving off and, after trashing the house, realize they need to follow them. A big chase ensues, and Denise ends up calling Karl for help. The bikers end up crashing in the mess, but Denise and Merita are safe, though they might get arrested. The thing is, Garrett was laundering money for Susan, but he ended up stealing some for his gambling habit. This led to him getting in trouble with Susan, who wanted her money back, so she had Renny take care of him. Ultimately, Karl solved the case, but with a major breakthrough from Leila.
What’s Happening With Karl And Cassandra?
At the time of this case, there’s an art exhibition, and Karl encounters the new mayor. She finds him looking at a painting done by his mother, but she doesn’t know this, from what I understand. Later, she tells Karl that there are going to be other districts reporting to him, but he’s already short-staffed, so he tells her that he needs at least 6 more officers. She uses this as leverage to get him to tell his girlfriend, Cassandra, the councilwoman, to cancel plans for her art center. They clearly don’t see eye-to-eye. On the other hand, Sid’s daughter seems to be in some sort of trouble of her own. He needs to be around more often, because she’s shown up drunk to school (yikes). I bet this is going to be part of the next case, because the girl seems to be missing now. Additionally, Leila seems to be making progress now that she has done so much for this case. Everyone has a place in the town of Gibbsons, eh?
At the end of episode 1 of Murder In A Small Town, Cassandra tells Karl that they’ll get through anything together. Karl thinks they need to make sacrifices because nobody is backing off in this case, but Cassandra makes light of it because what’s important right now is their healthy relationship.
