‘Tell Me A Story’ Season 2 Episode 9: 'Quiet spectator' Derek Garland exposes killer side and it is shocking!
Let’s be honest here. We have been missing some blood-pumping action and thrill for quite a few episodes of this show now. But episode “Favorite Son” compensates for all the missed excitement. Or should we say, it gave us ample shock for one episode!
Derek Garland (Christopher Meyer), Vanessa Garland’s elder son and Simone’s stepbrother, has always appeared to be the more mature and wiser of the two sons. Despite having a scheming mother like Vanessa and his even more crooked and ill-tempered brother, Ron, Derek has not let them influence his behavior or approach to life.
Growing up amidst such a hostile environment, he had managed to keep his composure, agreeing to disagree with his brother and mother. And yet, he had not left them and supported them silently for everything that they did. Even if it meant kidnapping Simone or devising a plan to kick Simone out of their dead father’s trust.
So far, Derek has remained the quiet spectator and the silent sidekick to his family. But not anymore! This episode (9) saw him in shades of his character that we have never seen or even imagined before.
He first helps Simone to dig up some evidence on Ron and prove that he is the one behind their lawyer, Clay Callaway’s, freak accident. Then when Ron faces him with fear that their mother might be framing him, he sees, as do we, a different avatar of Derek.
Gone is the docile, conscious, family-loving man, who never raises a finger even if he doesn’t approve of something! Derek Garland stands there, gun cocked in his hand, threatening his brother, while Ron realizes what Derek would have done.
For the love of his mother, Derek killed Clay and perhaps their stepfather too! And as Ron decides to expose him, he pulls the trigger one more time to kill his own brother. This is not just a shock but a scenario impossible to image, especially how the storyline of Simone Garland and her hostile step-family was going.
It is perhaps the magic of these dark, convoluted plot arcs that can make such unexpected revelations of characters. And it is also in the DNA of this show to surprise the audience (this writer included) in ways beyond our imagination or expectations. And in all honesty, we would have never anticipated Derek to be a killer and a cold-blooded one at that.
With only one more episode left for the drama thriller to close its curtains, we can expect more such shocks, awes, and unimaginable surprises in the upcoming and last episode.
You can catch ‘Tell Me A Story’ Season 2 finale on Thursday, February 6, at 12 am only on CBS All Access.