I’ve seen enough murder mysteries in my life to know that the person you think was the killer — the one that the police try to find a way to prove it’s them — isn’t the killer at all.
In When The Streetlights Go On‘s fourth episode, we were finally introduced to the first suspect in the murder — one that has motive, but the motive doesn’t exactly add up to murder, at least in my opinion.
Casper Tatum fits that profile. So he quickly becomes the guy that everyone believes committed the murders. More than that, he’s the one that everyone WANTS to be the killer. Why? He fits that “killer profile” that people believe, as if a perfectly well-groomed, well-off person couldn’t possibly commit murder.
But Casper fits the murder profile — he grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, known as “plain, white trash” to many. He smoked cigarettes, slept with grown women since junior high, was in a grunge band, and apparently was a drug dealer.
Oh, and it turns out he also has motive. As in, everyone knew that Casper hated Mr. Carpenter because he refused to pay for the large stash of marijuana that he bought from Casper.
While on the surface it makes sense. Casper is a bad boy with a bad reputation that had a grudge against one of the murder victims, I’m not buying it. Like Brad, it’s too obvious. And something tells me this show isn’t obvious — and the killer either.
While the police found tire tracks that belonged to Casper’s Honda, he drives through the woods every day. It’s not proof. Plus, if he were to kill two people — including someone everyone knew he hated — he wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave tire tracks. Right?
Oh, and to make matters far more complicated, turns out Casper is in love with Becky, you know, the sister of the girl that the town thinks he killed. Oh, and he has no idea that Becky is Chrissy’s sister. So, this should end well.
It was Homecoming at Colfax High, where the students were trying so hard to pretend that everything’s normal. As if a classmate and teacher hadn’t been brutally murdered just weeks prior.
But it’s not something that’s exactly surprising. When it comes to trauma — even trauma that doesn’t quite hit as close to home for some — it’s easier to pretend that it never happened in the first place.
Although, some are luckier than ever. Becky Monroe, however, cannot ignore the fact that her sister was murdered. Because, while she didn’t exactly like her sister, she loved her. And life hasn’t been the same. Becky’s entire world has been turned upside down, even if she won’t exactly let everyone in on that secret.
You know who does know? Charlie. And Brad. Brad, you know, Chrissy’s ex-boyfriend that has taken a liking to Becky, because she reminds him of Chrissy.
While Brad was that obvious suspect — the boyfriend that might’ve been scorned after his girlfriend cheated on him with her teacher — I never suspected he was the one that murdered them. I didn’t think he had it in him.
Although, after this episode, there’s something fishy about Brad’s behavior. Like he’s hiding something. Whether it was the way he was acting all weird around Becky — wondering if he’d something that might’ve been damning — or the way he threatened to kill Casper Tatum, the new suspect, if the police failed to act, Brad is acting suspicious as hell.
From Brad’s actions, he’s looking to pin Chrissy and Mr. Carpenter’s murders on Casper. Brad wants so badly for the killer to be Casper. Why? Unless he’s hiding something. “He’s going to pay,” Brad warns.
Is this just Brad wanting to find the killer rather than let him wander free? Or is Brad trying to cover his own tracks? I’m still not convinced that Brad is the murderer, but I’m not exactly ruling it out that he isn’t, either.
Well, folks, we’ve got quite the murder mystery on our hands. And I’m absolutely enthralled by what’s going down on When The Streetlights Go On.
You can catch new episodes of When The Streetlights Go On daily on Quibi.
