'Landscapers' Episode 2 Review: A peek into theatrical minds of Susan and Chris
Spoilers for 'Landscapers' Episode 2
'Landscapers' just premiered its second episode of the season with it considerably speeding up the story. The Olivia Colman and David Thewlis series takes us on the wild journey of a murder that is exposed after years on end when a mistake causes the crime to be discovered.
Susan and Christopher Edwards are a real-life couple who were partners in crime and killed and buried Susan's parents in the backyard. The true-crime case is also known as the Mansfield murders which the mini-series will explore over the course of 4 episodes. Read on to know what happened in the second episode and what we thought of it.
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The episode begins we see Susan (Olivia Colman) have flashbacks of her parents fighting before cutting to Christopher assuring her that it'll be fine and that there's no need to worry. She just needs to tell the truth and not lie about what happened. The seemingly innocent couple are in fact quite smart as it's made clear they have revised a detailed story to dictate so as to have a united front. The episode shows Susan at an advantage as she decided to opt for legal council but Chris refuses it. This gives her the knowledge of being able to refuse answers which she's unable to share with her husband. This marked the start of the trouble to occur.
The second episode amps up the theatrics as we see the makers switch up narration styles all through the episode. From black-and-white movie scenes, interacting with the camera to shifting scenes and playing characters like in a play the makers have used quite the fun method of storytelling. A distinct yet similar mindset Susan and Chris have is almost being disconnected from reality. She's quite chirpy even in her grim situation with her happy, smiling 'no comments' to the police's question reminding us of a child who learned a new word and is proud to use it. On the other hand, Chris is quite clever and diplomatic as he calmly spews a detailed story. What is similar is the fact that both of them treat it like some sort of movie. Chris imagines himself and the police as characters from a play while Susan lives a black and white fantasy in which her husband is the embodiment of perfect and almost hero-like and dreamy.
But this is not a movie as Susan learns when the police cause her to mess up cleverly and get details to extend her arrest. Under the illusion that her loving husband said uncouth things about her, she cracks under the pressure when she believes that they don't have a united front. We then learn that after her mother shot her father Susan killed her with the same gun in a fit of rage after her mother triggered her and revealed she knew her father abused her. Quite a sad moment if we think about it, the revelation was the last straw for Susan with her revealing Chris was the one who came up with the story and he was the one who buried them for her.
The second episode explored the mind of this couple with their love for one another shining through.
'Landscapers' is available to stream on HBO MAX with new episodes dropping every Monday.