Ordeal By Innocence season 1, episode 2 recap: “Episode 2”

In case viewers missed it in the first episode, Ordeal By Innocence makes it undeniably clear every single person in this family is capable of murder.

While Jack is the black sheep of the Argyll family, he’s the only one unlikely to hurt his mother. He doesn’t take much pleasure in violent altercations, but manipulative mental games to bring out others’ worst impulses. Luckily, Ordeal By Innocence lets viewers spend more time with him in “Episode 2”. Anthony Boyle is having so much fun in the role, that it’s impossible not to wish we could trade one of the living siblings to bring Jack back.

For anyone who had any doubts, it’s officially confirmed Arthur Calgary is telling the truth about Jack. However, that doesn’t mean he’s been entirely honest with everyone. After trying to come clean to Hester, Mickey grabs him and throws him on the first train. While Calgary does seem to consider leaving and never coming back, he ultimately chooses to return to the Argyll residence.

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Of all the siblings, Hester seems to be the only one who ever believed in Jack’s innocence. It explains why she’s so desperate to trust Calgary despite her family’s warnings. When the doctor returns to tell the truth about his time in the asylum, she declares he’s to be trusted. However, the family doesn’t have many options either way because Elliot Gould, Jack’s arresting officer, died during an attempt to murder Calgary himself. That alone should make the circumstances of Jack’s arrest fishy on Ordeal By Innocence and has Leo look even guiltier.

“Episode Two” also throws some blame towards Hester and Tina. The former thinks she might have had a fit she doesn’t remember but Tina settles her down. Turns out something happened that night that left the youngest Argyll’s life hanging in the balance. Meanwhile, quiet Tina is harboring some dark secret that had her mother screaming derogative words at her. She definitely has more going on than any of the other siblings expect.

It’s hard not to pity Mary despite her cold attitude towards her sisters. She’s clearly desperate to cling onto the teachings her mother left her with but is suffering because of them. Is she trying to atone for murder? Probably not but it’s still sad to see her try to make her marriage with Philip work. Especially when he takes out all of his poisonous hatred on his wife. Yet, he finally bites the dust after he drunkenly tries to call the police. As he astutely points out, if Jack didn’t murder Rachel that means there’s a killer living in the house. Calgary and Leo find the man dead by overdose in the shower.

Yet the highlight from this episode of Ordeal By Innocence is every moment spent with Jack. The audience gets their first look at his “rambunctious” antics that embarrass the family. Whether it’s drunkenly walking in on a piano recital naked or sleeping with Gould’s wife, Jack just wants to have fun. But he has a deep hatred of the facade his mother puts on in public as this adoring parent. In truth, Rachel seems to resent her children. However, we now get a pretty strong motive for Gould to want to see Jack wrongfully killed: the boy not only slept with his wife and stole from him, but also accused him of pedophilia.

Suddenly aware that a killer lives in their midst, the remaining Argyll siblings all gather together to get their stories straight. Honestly, at this point I don’t believe for a second any of them did it. Gwenda, Leo, and Kirsten are definitely the most likely perpetrators for various reasons. However, Tina and Mickey are clearly hiding a secret about the night their mother died. Considering the way they’ve acted around each other and the flashback to Rachel screaming at Tina, the two were probably carrying on an affair.

Are you enjoying Ordeal By Innocence? Tell us who you think the murderer is in the comments below!