'In the Dark' Season 2 Episode 9: Murphy's decisions get murkier as we get closer to Ben's death
Spoilers for 'In the Dark' Season 2 Episode 9 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Dying'
For much of the second season of 'In the Dark' on The CW, the story has followed a trajectory that has been markedly different from the first season, with Murphy Mason (Perry Mattfeld) and her friends, Felix Bell (Morgan Krantz) and Jess Damon (Brooke Markham), getting pulled deeper into Chicago crime boss Nia Bailey's (Nicki Micheaux) ring.
We are now in uncharted territory and this week's episode just made it more so. Let's take a brief look at what went down in the episode before we figure out what this means for the rest of the season.
Murphy keeps making murkier decisions
In last week's episode, Murphy realized that she got her cane exchanged with that of Chloe Riley's (Calle Walton) when the drugs she stashed in hers to give to Max Parrish (Casey Deidrick) were not there. Add to that the fact that Jess decided to leave Guiding Hope and Chicago, leaving Murphy in dire straits.
Perhaps she is now tired of all the stress and uncertainty that comes from working with Nia. With Darnell James (Keston John) gone, she decides to work with Nia's competitor to take down Nia.
Nia's competitor, Josiah, at first, turns her offer down thinking that she is a small player in Nia's game after subjecting Murphy to sexual assault when he makes her take all her clothes off at gunpoint, a scene that left us very uncomfortable. However, when Murphy gets Nia to bring in her shipment to Guiding Hope, thanks to a tip from her new love interest, IRS officer Josh Wallace (Theodore Bhat) -- she is able to get Josiah to work with them.
Speaking of Josh, that was a development we did not expect, especially after last week's episode, we felt that there was still hope for Murphy and Max. Is Murphy just manipulating Josh or does she genuinely have feelings for him?
Whatever the case, the fact that she used Josh to tip Nia off, thereby ruining his mission, would not stand well with him once he finds out. Moreover, we also see that Ben's death (flashforwards for which we have seen multiple times through the season) happens just four hours in the future from when she leaves Josh's flat in the middle of the night to help Josiah.
Dean has ups and downs
With Dean Riley (Rich Sommer) having found the heroin stashed in Murphy's cane, he is finally confident he can bust both Murphy and Nia. However, the fingerprints on Murphy's cane are not enough to convict her, so he gets his daughter, Chloe to return the cane to Murphy and lie about it. Moreover, he takes some of the heroin samples to trace it back to Nia.
However, when the forensics on the heroin comes back, he learns that the signature does not match with Nia's drugs, putting Dean's job in jeopardy. He is left out of a crucial meeting with the DEA and the IRS by the police chief, and even though he tries to come in unannounced, he is made to leave, with the police chief deciding to take Dean off the case.
With his job in trouble and his financial issues (now that he doesn't work for Nia, he is unable to afford to pay Chloe's tuition at the expensive school), Dean decides to take another drastic action. He drops the charges against Max and manipulates him into believing that Murphy is in trouble. Max then goes to Murphy to talk to her just as she leaves Josh's house, but there's a wire on him. From a van, Dean looks on gleefully as he thinks he's finally got Murphy in the bag.
Getting Nia and Murphy would not only assure Dean his job but also a solution to his financial woes. However, in the flashforward four hours later, we don't know what happened to Dean or Max as Felix and Murphy clean up Ben's blood. If this plan also fails, Dean may have to resort to yet another drastic action, this time for his own benefit rather than the case.
Final thoughts
Jess may be the only one who seems to have it sorted out with her having decided to leave Chicago with Sterling (Natalie Liconti). She even proposes to Sterling and it all seems to be going well even though Jess knows of Sterling's involvement with Nia. But this being a The CW show, we are certain this is going to come crashing down before the end of the season.
So much happened in this week's episode that we were left at our wits' end to see where 'In the Dark' is going with this season. Murphy has acknowledged that part of her likes this work with Nia, but she also seems to realize the danger it is putting her and her friends in. With her now being involved with Josh, where does that leave her with Max? We're not sure Murphy knows what she wants, but we certainly hope that the writers do and chart out a way for the remaining four episodes of the season.
Just as Murphy keeps having lucky escapes, Dean keeps having lucky breakthroughs and while both provide temporary bursts of excitement, more than halfway into the season, we are tired of the story remaining stagnant, especially in Dean's case, and we hope something big happens with respect to the character soon.
'In the Dark' airs on Thursday nights at 9/8c on The CW.