Landscapers Review: Episode 2 (Season 1 Episode 2)
With the Edwards now in custody, it’s time for viewers and police to finally get some answers about the mysterious murders. Landscapers Season 1 Episode 2, “Episode 2,” pulls back on some of the fantasy to reveal the sad truth about Susan’s past.
The delusional confidence the couple share about being able to get out of trouble by sticking to their fabricated story is quickly shattered.
Episode 2 still uses different film styles to convey the tone of the scene, but it’s easier to see through the fantastical elements when they’re intercut with Susan and Chris in cells and interrogation rooms.
The tension between the two that simmered while hiding in France sparks into something much more desperate while they’re separated. Watching them try to calculate one another’s move when the police force them off script gives us a better sense of the power dynamics.
Susan no longer seems as cunning, revealing quite openly that Chris is the one who saves her and not the other way around. Chris is careful to vouch for his wife while never actually implicating himself in the murders.
David Thewlis gets much more to do on this episode as the smug Chris thinks he’s outsmarted the police. He seems more in his element in the interrogation room than in a French boardroom.
It’s entertaining to watch the police chip away at the veneer of the couple. With every new clue, Susan and Chris begin to falter.
The biggest bombshell of the episode is not that Susan and Chris killed her parents. The shock is that Susan’s alleged reason for the murder was learning her mother knew that her father sexually abused her as a child and did nothing about it.
This revelation is a bleak reminder that Landscapers draws from the lives of real people. The show is basing the overarching story on the investigation and trial, but as viewers, it’s hard not to come to our conclusions about Susan’s justifications.
Olivia Colman’s anguished performance indicates Susan is telling the truth about her abuse, but there are still plenty of questions around the true motives of the murder. Individuals can be victims and perpetrators, and Susan may be both.
In the context of her abuse, her maladaptive daydreaming made real through the cinematic interludes makes significantly more sense. She carries the coping mechanism she developed as a child into her adulthood.
It’s an interesting way to portray a character who likely has PTSD. The device also feels uncomfortable knowing Susan is based on a real person whose interior life we can’t really know.
Landscapers is not the only show to raise questions around the ethics of the exploitation of true crime for entertainment. There’s a burden on both the creators and the viewers to decide how comfortable they are with the blurred lines.
The show never claims to be a precise and accurate retelling and includes news footage in the end credits to give a more grounded account. Still, it’s hard to not let real-life opinions be colored by the portrayal, especially for audiences outside of Britain who may be even less familiar with the sensational case.
Landscapers still has far to go to get to the truth of the case or at least its idea of the truth.
What did you think of this episode of Landscapers? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Landscapers airs Mondays at 9/8c on HBO.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.