Spoiler alert! Do not read until you’ve watched Episode 8 of Bellevue. 

[Make sure to check out my chat with Bellevue co-creator Jane Maggs after this review.]

When we last met following last week’s episode of Bellevue, Brady (Billy MacLellan) lay dead across the hood of his truck and Annie (Anna Paquin) was handcuffed inside. Tonight, we find out it is Adam (Patrick Labbé) who saved his little sister. Adam “tried a different way to end the cycle” with Annie, whatever “cycle” means. So even though the man responsible for Jesse’s (Sadie O’Neil) murder is now dead, this final episode solves the Sandy Driver’s murder. We will also learn how that murder is connected to Jesse’s death. And finally, what everyone wants to know: what did Adam tell Peter in the confessional? It becomes Adam’s mission to close the story on Sandy Driver. No one yet understands, but Jane Maggs ties this all up with a great big bow for us.

Police arrive at the scene of the accident, and Peter (Shawn Doyle) confides to Annie he just wants Adam dead. Eddie (Allen Leech), fighting for his family and his relationship with Annie, arrives to take Annie home and tells her to just let it all go—for the sake their relationship and for the sake of Daisy (Madison Ferguson)— to just “walk away.”  But can she? Of course, she doesn’t. If she did, we would not have much of an ending!

Adam plays the Pied Piper and manages to capture his three little rats. First, he lures Tom (Vincent Leclerc) to the path in the woods with a recording of his daughter, and to his trap—literally. Once caught, Adam carves the name “Sandy” into Tom’s chest and leaves him to die … or not. Annie, Peter and Virginia (Sharon Taylor) reach him in time.

Annie and Peter decide to pay a visit to Maggie (Victoria Sanchez) for answers. Maggie reveals the four of them—Tom, Jameson (Joe Cobden) and Mother (Janine Theriault)—and she formed a blood pact in the old New Horizon’s shed. They all had their parts. Tom used the watch Maggie stole to lure Sandy to the woods, Jameson humiliated Sandy—he liked his girls dirty—and Mother did everything. “She planned it.”

Peter then ties the clue, “The lion has come to lay waste to the land,” to the waste that was thrown at Sandy. Adam is leading them to his victims. At the landfill we find Jameson, hanging from a crane, with the name Sandy carved in his forehead. Questioning of Jameson reveals that Lily locked Sandy in the shed because Sandy got the role of Mary, the role Lily felt was hers. “You didn’t take things from Lily back then.”

So now, where is Lily? There are no clues. Annie has the whole story. Lily is not meant to be found. Adam killed Sandy. So why is Adam leading Annie on this path? Because Annie needs to understand why he killed Sandy. Annie has the answer and now we also understand why her father killed himself. He didn’t do it because he couldn’t solve Sandy’s murder but rather because he did.

Sandy’s murder was the first clue, the clue Annie needs to solve in order to find Lily on time. Sandy was posed, pointing to town: “no sin; find me where there is none.” It is not original sin, but no sin. There was “no sin” in Sandy’s death. Adam needs for Annie to understand that Sandy’s death was merciful. And what happens to sit on Mercy Street? The brewery that Mother is trying to get up and running to bring jobs back to Bellevue.

The key players from the department converge on the brewery and discover first a dead lily, and then a crate hidden within piles of dirt. Hops? Barley? At any rate, Peter takes over the dig and reveals the wooden crate. He pries it open to discover Mother alive inside.

All right, so our main players involved in bringing Sandy to the point of wanting to die have been tortured and rescued, but that leaves Adam still out there, misunderstood. Annie still needs to understand. And how best to do so? Daisy. Adam goes to Annie’s while Daisy is home and Daisy lets him in—despite having seen the wall of creepy clues and pictures in her home—and Daisy gets to know her uncle.  She intimates she wishes she had an end to her project and Adam takes her to the forest to show her the ending.

Eddie, realizing Daisy is missing, freaks out and chases Annie down at the brewery. They go on a hunt to find Daisy and Adam in the woods where Peter joins them. Adam lays a trail, in keeping with his doll theme, to lead Annie to Daisy. Once found, Annie sends Daisy back to her father and talks with Adam. He explains that he just wanted Annie to understand how tortured he was to not be a part of things. How betrayed he felt by the actions of their father. And it was whilst in his rage that he discovered Sandy, locked in the shed. It was in Sandy he found someone who was living with just as much pain as he. Sandy’s death was a suicide pact but Adam ultimately could not follow through with that act.

Now, years later, he has come back to finally end the cycle and pretends to attempt to kill Annie, but tells her to “just do it.” Annie does, killing her own brother; finishing the cycle.

In the aftermath, Annie and Eddie pack up to move. Annie can finally leave the family home. And we see Danny (Cameron Roberts) sitting down with Maggie to share his movies of Jesse.  But wait, we still don’t know what Adam said to Peter…

“There is just one thing I would like to say before this all ends happily for you. You love her. You’ve loved her ever since she was a kid, and you have just been waiting and waiting for her to grow up. So you can just…” And that was so very evident on Peter’s face as Annie, Daisy and Eddie drove away.

I caught up with Jane Maggs and asked her to share some thoughts now that Bellevue Season 1 is complete.

First, How do you feel now that you see this come full circle, from project conception to tonight, completion?
Jane Maggs: I feel incredibly thankful for everyone who came together to make this thing that at one point was just a paragraph on a piece of paper. The calibre of people we had in every role was humbling to me daily.

And perhaps if you could share a memory from shooting the show that has not yet been shared, something that will, say 10 years from now still be with you?
On our last day of shooting I was late because I as doing some second unit stuff and I showed up (we were in a studio that day). I walked to the studio door and before I went in one of the crew members told me “Billy [MacLellan] is nailing it in there.” It was the day we were filming the stuff at the end of Episode 7 and he was nailing it. But I was struck mostly by the feeling of unity that our cast and crew felt, really part of something and proud and invested personally. That was underscored by the fact that I went in and there was cast there who were not even shooting that day but wanted to be around, support Billy, Anna, Sadie and Amber who were all shooting some intense stuff. It’s a day I won’t forget.

Well, that is all Bellevue-ites! No word as yet if there is a Season 2 somewhere in the future, but this has been a great ride! And thank you to Jane Maggs to take some time out of her day to touch base.

What did you think of Season 1 of Bellevue? Let us know in the comments below.

Spoiler alert! Do not read until you’ve watched Episode 5 of Bellevue.

“Paths can take you wildly away from anything you recognize and still bring you back to your door.” —The Riddler

And so we will follow the paths of remembering, and witness the pain that comes with discovery and growth as we gather more information and fit these pieces into the puzzle that is Bellevue this week.

We are now into the second half of the series and this episode, entitled “How Do I Remember?,” opens with Annie (Anna Paquin) reminiscing with The Riddler via her home surveillance system. She intimates that he made her life bearable after she lost her father.  Annie then questions The Riddler about Neil Driver (Andreas Aspergis) and Jed (Neil Napier) and their connection to the case. But I am beginning to wonder, is Annie still in control here? Is The Riddler needing a connection to Annie to reinforce his own sense of self worth and therefore manipulating Annie into this relationship? Or is he involved in the case(s) himself? Is he someone who knows Annie and wants to help? And is Annie falling back into the bad habits of her youth? A final cryptic message coupled with a request by The Riddler: “I dropped the stone but you are not seeing the ripples. Tomorrow at the funeral, wear the watch.”

The town attends Jesse’s (Sadie O’Neil) funeral to remember and celebrate Jesse’s life and it is the youth of Bellevue that are embracing the choices that she made. I was touched by the moment when Bethany (Emilia Hellman) stood up despite her mother’s (Janine Theriault) objections and brought a reluctant Danny (Cameron Roberts) back to the congregation. Unfortunately—or fortunately for the purposes of the investigation—Mr. Driver crashes the funeral and accuses Maggie (Victoria Sanchez) of ruining his daughter.

“You deserve this. The world needs a place to channel its evil, so God provides children to kill and he gives them to parents who deserve the pain. You know what you DID!” Alright already,  what did Maggie do?

Following the funeral, Daisy Ryder (Madison Ferguson) returns to the location where Jesse’s body was discovered and the other youth of Bellevue who were closest to Jesse are also there. It is here they celebrate Jesse’s courage and her life. I have now watched this episode twice and I couldn’t help it, I cried both times. Jane Maggs and her team created such an honest reaction, and completely captured the essence of youthful innocence as these teens cope with their loss. Their grief was palpable. This scene was perfect!

Now, on to the investigation. Annie first questions Jed about his MDMA, more specifically, how he and his employees package the drug. He believes there must be a new dealer in town working to compete with Jed. Further questioning of Danny’s father (Peter Miller) confirms Jed’s suspicions. There is indeed a new head that has sprouted to replace the old, and rumour has it if you have any unpaid debts, bad things will come your way. Doing some routine neighbourhood canvassing, Annie questions Maggie Sweetland’s neighbour Cali (Catherine Kidd).

“Sometimes you poke around, you might not like what you find,” and Cali queries Annie about Eddie’s (Allen Leech) well-being. Further conversations with The Riddler suggest Eddie is the connection between Sandy Driver and Jesse Sweetland’s deaths.

Meanwhile, just as Cali intimated, Eddie is in trouble. It appears his pill addiction and lack of employment have caught up with him and now he is indebted to the new dealer in town. To make good on his debt, Eddie is ordered to put the pressure on someone else who is not paying his dues. Annie’s curiosity is further piqued after chatting with Eddie’s latest “friend,” Briana (Amber Goldfarb), so she searches Eddie’s home, only to find Daisy’s dog frozen in a locked freezer. They need to talk! Annie accuses Eddie of planting the drugs in Jesse’s room, but no, Eddie admits that the drugs were stolen from him after Jesse was killed. And this is how you “get your shit together”? I guess The Riddler is right. Eddie is connected since somebody stole the drugs and planted them in Jesse’s room. But who? And, if The Riddler is correct, how is Eddie then connected to Sandy Driver?

FINALLY tonight we get to see Allen Leech’s talents. Up until now Eddie has been more of a supporting role. All of this time I have been waiting to see Leech let loose and tonight I was not disappointed. If you thought the chemistry was good in the parking lot scene two episodes ago, tonight these two ratchet it up a few notches! Eddie’s character is losing control under the pressure. He wants to change and his past keeps catching up to him. Annie convinces him not to play the enforcer and he speaks to Peter (Shawn Doyle). Eddie admits he owned the drugs. Eddie will testify as to his ownership of the drugs and swears this was a one time thing. Eddie returns to buy some time from Cali, letting her No. 2 beat the crap out of him. This is the dynamic moment for Leech’s character. Up until now, both Eddie and Annie have been stagnant within their complicated relationship. Each are so dependent on each other and yet they are not together. Eddie: “You love me too much the way I am. I don’t want to be the way I am anymore.” Eddie has effectively tossed down the gauntlet. If these two are to have a future together, Annie must change her ways too.

Once more Annie connects with The Riddler. She confesses that she felt his presence back at the burned shed. He confesses in kind, admitting that yes, he was there watching her. She pokes the bear, telling The Riddler that really he knows nothing, deliberately antagonizing him and he also admits he doesn’t know who killed Jesse. The Riddler is no longer a source. Annie wants him out of her life and orders a trace. Annie has been playing The Riddler for intel after all. She rules him no longer relevant to the case. The trace leads Annie to the cemetery where The Riddler has left his phone at the grave of Sandy Driver with the message, “You’re not crazy”.

Despite being in the minority, Annie is still convinced Jed is not guilty of killing Jesse, and returns to speak to Maggie one more time. “You are the only one who knows. My kid was killed because of me. Retribution for what I did to her. It all started with me. Sandy,” says Maggie. But Maggie has taken too many pills and collapses. Maggie is rushed to the hospital.

The episode closes with Annie trying to re-establish a connection with The Riddler: “I was wrong, you do know things.”

This was such a convoluted episode. So many twist and turns. Lots of new information, and new connections that fold back onto earlier events. So who do you think is The Riddler? Who do you think killed Jesse Sweetland? How is Jesse’s death connected to Sandy Driver? Let me know in the comments below!

Bellevue airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.