There’s a juxtaposition to how we open the third episode of When the Streetlights Go On — a beautiful sunny day in Colfax with everyone gathered at the pool going on about their lives as if a girl and a teacher weren’t just brutally murdered.
It’s a reminder that not everyone is hit by a specific tragedy. But there are certain people that are affected more than others. Charlie, who found Chrissy and Carpenter, and Becky, who lost a sister and continues to feel the guilt weigh heavily on her.
Ever since he happened upon the crime scene, Charlie has lost his humor. Things that should be funny no longer are. That’s what happens when you come across two dead bodies, including a neighbor and a former teacher.
But Charlie doesn’t seem like someone that’s going to ignore this and try to put it behind him. While he comes off as the quiet, good boy, he’s driven by a determination to seek the truth. After all, he is a journalist.
It’s the first day of school, and Charlie finds himself in journalism class as they’re preparing stories for the first issue back. While there’s some non-threatening things like cafeteria food, Charlie insists he wants to write about the murders. You know, his account of that night and what he saw. He’s aware it’s a touchy subject, but he’s searching for the truth. More than that, he’s demanding it. And, given his connection to the case in discovering the bodies, he’s determined to be the one that finds answers.
Not to mention, this is a subject that needs to be discussed. It can’t be ignored as so many are trying to ignore it. The truth is out there, but it’s yet to be discovered. And Charlie isn’t going to let it get away from him.
Then there’s the fact that Charlie needs to channel the emotions whirling inside of him. He’s haunted by the face of Chrissy Monroe. And instead of letting it drive him mad, he’s choosing to act upon it. Maybe if he can settle this, then maybe he can force Chrissy out of his mind.
On his typical way home from school — which includes biking through the woods at the spot where the bodies were discovered — Charlie happens upon Becky, who’s drinking a beer and wallowing in grief and guilt.
And guess what, they finally speak words to each other! My ship is making progress, y’all.
Charlie and Becky share a beer and talk about Chrissy. Charlie gives his condolences to Becky, and Becky lies that “it’s fine.” It’s clearly not, you can hear it in her voice. She proceeds to tell Charlie that “I didn’t even like my sister when she was alive.”
Which might be true. But just because she didn’t like her sister doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her sister. And, right now, you can see just how hard Becky is taking Chrissy’s death.
We get a quick glimpse at the crime board that Detective Grasso, the badass Queen Latifah herself, and I legit paused and was jotting down notes. From the look of it, it’s your basic evidence and suspects. I still stand on the hill that Brad is not the killer. He’s someone they definitely need to suspect, they’d be stupid not to, but it seems way too easy and way too obvious. There’s something more at work here.
But there was something that caught my eye on the board. The sticky note on a newspaper article that said “Connected Crime?” Could it be that the boy that was found murdered in the pool, the same pool everyone was just playing in at the start of the episode, was killed by the same person that killed Chrissy and Carpenter? And if that’s the case, there’s gotta be something that links the two of them together. A person, maybe?
Just when you didn’t think things could get more intense in a 7 minute episode, Becky hears the phone ringing in Chrissy’s bedroom. She goes to answer it — just like the night Chrissy answered it before leaving and getting murdered. And , just as you’d expect, we get the same heavy breathing following by “sorry” that we heard with Chrissy’s call. The only difference is that the “sorry” is followed by “wrong number” and hysterical laughing. Talk about FREAKY.
I mean, we have to assume that was the killer on the phone, right? But why is he calling Chrissy’s phone if he killed her? Could he be trying to make Becky his next victim? After all, Charlie’s warning of the summer ending with both Monroe sisters dead continues to haunt me.
You can catch new episodes of When The Streetlights Go On daily on Quibi.
