S02.E03: Lady in the Lake

[shapeshifter]

S02.E03: Lady in the Lake
Drops on Paramount+ June 10, 2021

Quote

Alma and Bertram devise a plan to bury a potential setback. Dee enlists Vern's services when she suspects Scooter of lying. Rita attempts to clear the air with Catherine.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practise to deceive!" (from "Marmion,"  Canto 6, stanza 17, by Sir Walter Scott).

Oh Rocco, you rascal pup! Always digging!

PI Vern Loomis (Jordane Christie) is everything Bertram Fillcot (Nick Frost) hopes/pretends to be, but Vern likely too saw death in WWII, or was it something else that caused his injury?

7 more episodes to go!

 

[CRT]

This episode is titled after the 1947 film noir Lady in the Lake, starring Robert Montgomery (who also  directed), Audrey Totter, and Jayne Meadows; in it, a PI is hired to find a missing woman, and soon after, the body of a dead woman is found in a lake.

I've never buried a body, but I think putting it in the yard is a terrible place to put it! Sure, you don't have to drag it elsewhere, but if someone comes along while you're burying the body, you're screwed; or, if the dog digs up a recently buried body because you couldn't dig deeper, you're screwed.

"You got away with how many murders? Honestly, I don't know how you managed without me."  Alma's clearly starting to enjoy some of the things that Bertram's "hobby" have led her to do. She looked so happy when she got to dress up in Mrs. Yost's clothes!

I like the push and pull of Alma and Bertram's marriage; they're certainly facing some major issues but are there for each other when needed.

(Scooter to Rita): "I have never met this woman." (Scooter to Dee): "Dee, please go."  Just when Scooter seems as dumb as a man can be, he finds a way to get even dumber.  Rita and Scooter and Dee found out about each other's lies quicker than I'd have guessed. 

So, Vern's leg: an injury from the war?

[Chaos Theory]

Angel of Mercy killers have such a high death count because they kill in places where people are already sick and dying.  Plus I am guessing in the 1940s police didn’t dig too deeply into suspected suicides.  So I can see a well respected and liked man Bertram being able to kill with impunity.   What will be interesting is now that Alma is over thinking it how things will spin out of control pretty quickly.  
 

Rita and her husband’s daughter (whose name I can never remember) are going to make interesting adversaries because they actually really don’t like each other and yet the flip side is they both actually hate Rita’s husband.   What havoc they could reek if they joined forces but what fun would that be?  

 

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[CarpeFelis]

When Rita gave Catherine a drink I thought it was going to have poison in it.

I felt bad for Alma ruining that beautiful suit, but it was really dumb of her not to hang onto her purse before sinking the car.

Speaking of dumb… Scooter is (as Joe Bob Briggs would say) dumber than a box of rocks. Dee was awesome when she told him off!

I wonder who’ll be the first to notice Mrs. Yost’s hand…

I about died laughing when Rita told Scooter, “Well, at least ONE of us can act”!

Edited June 11, 2021 by CarpeFelis
typo

[shapeshifter]

55 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

I wonder who’ll be the first to notice Mrs. Yost’s hand…

And will Bert and Alma have to kill them?

So far Alma has only disposed of a body and Bertram has only performed unsolicited euthanasia on the terminally ill. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by shapeshifter

[allonsyalice]

The guy playing Scooter is giving everything to his broke actor himbo character. The way he said “aw jeez” in the café had me rolling! 
 

disposing of a body in your own front yard is a terrible way to have done it. It’s the 1940s. They could have dropped that body on any random street, spilled some blood around and walked away. With no dna testing, no cameras, no forensic aid, the cops would have run cold on that case in hours. 
 

I really want Dee and the PI to hook up!

[shapeshifter]

12 hours ago, allonsyalice said:

disposing of a body in your own front yard is a terrible way to have done it. It’s the 1940s. They could have dropped that body on any random street, spilled some blood around and walked away. With no dna testing, no cameras, no forensic aid, the cops would have run cold on that case in hours. 

True. And if they had really dumped her in the lake, even better!
Maybe write a fake suicide note to leave in her car. <-- wouldn't work because of the scissors in her back.

But neither Alma nor Bert are experienced criminals in the usual sense of the word.

With the reveal of the backstory sob stories in this episode, right now Scooter is the only one left for the audience to choose to have any murders pinned on, even though I doubt he'd ever even attempt anything that complex.  

But they're all dummies. If Bert and Alma had just called the police and reported a peeping Tom at their window and a loud noise, well, we wouldn't have all of this hijinx.
But Alma thought it would hurt her chances of getting into the garden club. 
But from what went on at the meeting, I'm not so sure it would have mattered. But on the fourth hand, it might have.

Edited June 12, 2021 by shapeshifter

[CarpeFelis]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

True. And if they had really dumped her in the lake, even better!
Maybe write a fake suicide note to leave in her car.

That wouldn’t work. Who commits suicide by plunging a giant pair of shears into their own back? Forensics may not have been very good back then but I’m sure an ME would be able to tell which side of the wound was entry and which was exit.

[Chaos Theory]

Alma and Bert really had no good options.   Alma was right about that.  Someone dying on her lawn would have at absolute best caused enough gossip to probably cause her her spot at the garden club.  At absolute worst it might have cast suspicions on Bert which even if it went nowhere again….no garden club.     Burying the body was done in a panic and everything else was done to combat some overthought they thought of later.   As much as Bert is a killer he doesn’t really disturb anything (except for his trophies) and kills people who won’t be missed or who are already on deaths door to begin with.     I am thinking if Alma gets caught it’s going to be because she is overthinking this.   Or possibly using it to get advantage when other people need to be disappeared.  The first murder is always the hardest.

Edited June 12, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

That wouldn’t work. Who commits suicide by plunging a giant pair of shears into their own back? Forensics may not have been very good back then but I’m sure an ME would be able to tell which side of the wound was entry and which was exit.

Oops. Forgot about those pesky scissors going through the back.

[txhorns79]

On 6/11/2021 at 12:38 AM, shapeshifter said:

 

So far Alma has only disposed of a body and Bertram has only performed unsolicited euthanasia on the terminally ill. 

I mean, Bertram is a serial killer.  He selects people to kill, then murders them.  He might have an elaborate justification system to explain his actions, at least to himself, but when it comes down it to it, it's just murder. 

[allonsyalice]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:18 AM, allonsyalice said:

hey could have dropped that body on any random street, spilled some blood around and walked away. With no dna testing, no cameras, no forensic aid, the cops would have run cold on that case in hours. 

They also could have put the body in the trunk of her car and abandoned it, preferably yes, in another town. Remove all bits of id, and they are golden. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:18 AM, allonsyalice said:

disposing of a body in your own front yard is a terrible way to have done it. It’s the 1940s. They could have dropped that body on any random street, spilled some blood around and walked away. With no dna testing, no cameras, no forensic aid, the cops would have run cold on that case in hours. 

What a good point

On 6/11/2021 at 8:18 AM, allonsyalice said:

I really want Dee and the PI to hook up!

Of course!  Since episode 1 I wanted this... LOL

[Joimiaroxeu]

Yeah, I'm liking Carlos' daughter versus his wife too. Catherine and Rita are both pretty slippery and obstinate. This will be fun.

Guess all of Alma's neighbors have poor vision if they couldn't tell she and Bertrand were not only absconding with Mrs. Yost's car but also her dog. In broad daylight.

Not a second honeymoon, a first crime spree!

Doncha love it when your hot piece of a high school ex-lover catches you in the middle of covering up a crime? And he's getting divorced? I'm surprised he remembered her though since it sounds like it was a simple pump and dump situation. He likely pulled a lot of those scenarios as the star quarterback.

Why did Vern's prosthetic leg have those carvings on it? Whatever, I bet Dee wouldn't be horrfied. He should give her chance since it's clear he likes her. But, getting someone fresh on the rebound can be disappointing and he may feel like he's already got a big drawback with his missing leg.

Good boy, Rocco!

[Kiddvideo]

10 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Why did Vern's prosthetic leg have those carvings on it? Whatever, I bet Dee wouldn't be horrfied. He should give her chance since it's clear he likes her. But, getting someone fresh on the rebound can be disappointing and he may feel like he's already got a big drawback with his missing leg.

I believe they’re raised scars, like keloids, not etchings on an artificial leg. The screen was really dark. I guess we’re supposed to be too stupid to figure out by context that it’s a dark, dramatic moment. Better to not be able to see what’s happening. 🙄

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I believe they’re raised scars, like keloids, not etchings on an artificial leg. The screen was really dark. I guess we’re supposed to be too stupid to figure out by context that it’s a dark, dramatic moment. Better to not be able to see what’s happening. 🙄

Gosh, that would be fascinating and educational, especially for a show like this which likely has a predominantly non-Black audience. I don't think keloids and the problems many Black people have with them is very often addressed by Hollywood. Not directly anyway.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 6/13/2021 at 6:05 PM, txhorns79 said:

I mean, Bertram is a serial killer.  He selects people to kill, then murders them.  He might have an elaborate justification system to explain his actions, at least to himself, but when it comes down it to it, it's just murder. 

Definitely murder, but he never had to conceal the fact that someone had died. He just had to let people think it was a natural death (and not raise suspicion by being the last person to see so many people alive . . . and not let anyone find his stash of mementos). Burying Mrs Yost and laying an elaborate false trail take him out of his depth. 

It seemed like a huge mistake for Alma (dressed in Mrs Yost's clothes) and Bertram to linger over lunch with Tom Awesome. It could throw suspicion on them if her corpse in their garden doesn't. 

Rita's plan to have Scooter seduce Catherine seemed flawed. If Carlos isn’t competent to change the will right now, who would make the decision that Catherine had met the criteria to be disinherited?  

 

[Anela]

"This isn't our second honeymoon, it's our first crime spree!" Ha!

I'm enjoying this. I'd avoided it, because I thought people said they weren't. 

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Anela said:

"This isn't our second honeymoon, it's our first crime spree!" Ha!

I'm enjoying this. I'd avoided it, because I thought people said they weren't. 

My daughter and her DH decided not to watch after the first episode because it didn't follow the format of the first season. Maybe this winter when they're looking for an indoor activity they'll come back to it and realize how great it is.

[Chaos Theory]

9 hours ago, Anela said:

"This isn't our second honeymoon, it's our first crime spree!" Ha!

I'm enjoying this. I'd avoided it, because I thought people said they weren't. 

 

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

My daughter and her DH decided not to watch after the first episode because it didn't follow the format of the first season. Maybe this winter when they're looking for an indoor activity they'll come back to it and realize how great it is.

I read a lot of reviews saying people hated it because it didn’t follow the original format.    Three women living on the same house during different decades. 
 

[Kiddvideo]

5 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I read a lot of reviews saying people hated it because it didn’t follow the original format.    Three women living on the same house during different decades.

I don't understand that -- I mean, I understand why they're disappointed in the change -- but it's one of the things I liked best about S2, and I wonder how many of them gave it a chance. If they'd said this season was more of a soap opera, I wouldn't say a peep. I feel the different format forced a reimaging of motives and literally expanded the universe of answers to "Why Women Kill."

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

My daughter and her DH decided not to watch after the first episode because it didn't follow the format of the first season.…

I read a lot of reviews saying people hated it because it didn’t follow the original format.    Three women living on the same house during different decades. 

I guess they confused the innovative format of season 1 with the quality of the production and storytelling.🤷‍♀️
 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 8/4/2021 at 9:51 AM, Chaos Theory said:

Three women living on the same house during different decades. 

Isn't Rita's house the same house?