The kidnapping of Leo Newman remains unsolved in this week’s episode of Apple TV+ thriller Suspicion, as a new suspect enters the game and the stakes jump into the rafters for all concerned. No one is ever going back to their old lives after this.
The original three suspects are taking stock of the damage done to their personal existences when in walks new patsy Eddie and Sean, the psychopath who looks to be out to get away with kidnapping and murder.
It’s been standard-issue mistaken identity so far. But what happens when the body count starts climbing? When the suspects increase without any rhyme or reason? This week’s mostly very solid episode of Suspicion starts asking harder questions — and giving more dispiriting answers.
Suspicion recap: ‘The Devil You Know’
In the episode, titled “The Devil You Know,” inspector Okoye (played by Angel Coulby) and Agent Anderson (Noah Emmerich) have brought in their latest suspect, fast-living Eddie Walker (Tom Rhys-Harries). Turns out he was in New York getting very laid at the time of the kidnapping.
Eddie’s flippancy puts the two cops on edge. They let him go after they determine they don’t have enough evidence to hold him. Plus, Katherine Newman (Uma Thurman) doesn’t know who he is, and neither do any of Leo’s (Gerran Howell) friends when she asks them.
But the authorities are still watching Eddie like a hawk. They’re still watching everyone like a hawk, in fact, knowing to the block where all the suspects are at all times.
Not exactly taking to the notion of being surveilled 24/7, Eddie hits upon a risky idea. Why not find Aadesh Chopra (Kunal Nayyar) and see if he wants to collaborate on finding the real kidnappers?
A simple plan
Aadesh is the most famous of the suspects so far. A bunch of conspiracy theorists found him at work, so now everyone knows what he looks like. Certainly, as the only suspected kidnapper to fit the most racist stereotype of a terrorist, he’s the one who’s got the most to lose.
Of course, Aadesh has already lost plenty. His wife has kicked him out, he lost his job, her family doesn’t trust him and he’s sleeping in his car. Why not hear Eddie out? Naturally, Anderson and Okoye take it as proof that Eddie and Aadesh are working together.
Meanwhile, they’re still pressing Natalie Thompson (Georgina Campbell) pretty hard for information about her financial misdeeds. She still pleads a certain stripe of innocence (aren’t the super-rich the real villains here?), but Okoye’s only half-charmed by her attitude. They set up a sting operation to have her hand over the money she owes to some of the dangerous people she’s in dutch to (because they believe the kidnappers will show up) and she winds up shot for her trouble, but not dead.
All this and Monique (Lydia West) is still mad at her. Natalie’s having quite a day.
Sean Tilson (Elyes Gabel) does show up to get the money, but he easily gives the authorities the slip. Then one of his contacts tries to kill him, to no avail. This guy’s going to be a problem….
Katherine sets up a press conference and pleads ignorance about her own financial crimes. The kidnappers see it, though, and invade it like they did her Senate hearing. Now the world knows where to look for the next clue to malfeasance.
Was it worth it?
I like Eddie as a character. He’s exactly the kind of dipshit who’d immediately snap into action, thinking that he’s uncovered a conspiracy and that he knows his way around it.
Aadesh is kind of a dupe too. So when Eddie starts seeing spies in every passerby, he can’t help but believe him. When they show up to talk Tara (Elizabeth Henstridge) into joining their cause, they all get thrown in the back of a van (by the real kidnappers?).
Trying to both free themselves and plead innocence is going to be quite the chore. Helping things not a bit: Sean Tilson shows up at the moment they’re about to be killed, and does away with the whole envoy. Monique is gunned down in the chaos, and they all wind up in Tilson’s car headed god knows where.
The action direction in Suspicion needs a little tightening. You can see cars not driving as fast as they ought to, or people not running at full speed so their scene partners can catch up to them. It’s not a lethal impediment to enjoying the intrigue, but it’s a hair disappointing because, beat for beat, the show remains compulsively enjoyable.
Just when I was starting to think the show was headed toward repetition, it takes a big swing with the airport shootout. Now, Suspicion is suddenly in a whole new place.
I like not knowing where any of this is going. But in the back of my head is the (deep breath, raise eyebrows) suspicion it won’t be as exciting when it’s over. I’m having fun, however, and that’s what matters most.
Watch Suspicion on Apple TV+
New episodes of Suspicion arrive Fridays on Apple TV+.
Rated: TV-MA
Watch on: Apple TV+
Scout Tafoya is a film and TV critic, director and creator of the long-running video essay series The Unloved for RogerEbert.com. He has written for The Village Voice, Film Comment, The Los Angeles Review of Books and Nylon Magazine. He is the author of Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Form of Tobe Hooper, the director of 25 feature films, and the director and editor of more than 300 video essays, which can be found at Patreon.com/honorszombie.
