Sometimes, it’s the not-knowing part of any mystery that’s enough to drive anyone mad. And that’s where we find ourselves at with When The Streetlights Go On, as we’re desperately trying to figure out who’s the culprit behind the murders of Chrissy Monroe and Mr. Carpenter.
Like I discussed in my previous review, the entire town of Colfax wants so bad for the killer to be Casper Tatum. You know, the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. It wouldn’t be hard to assume he was behind it all. And they all want someone to blame. Someone they know can be locked away and the danger taken off their streets.
The thing that I realized watching this fifth episode of this movie is that this town is ignorant to what’s happening outside the own bubble of Colfax. They don’t want to believe that there’s a world outside of this town, where others could come inside and shake the foundation of their world as they know it.
But something else I’m even more certain of following this episode is that Casper Tatum is NOT the murderer. And I was already convinced. Although I was more surprised by Casper’s reaction when he learned that Becky was Chrissy’s sister.
If Casper was guilty, he’d be determined to keep his distance in order to prevent her from learning a damn thing. Instead, Casper insists on pursuing Becky. He’s got the hots for the dead girl’s sister. The hots for the sister of the girl everyone thinks he killed.
But what better way to pursue Becky than to exonerate himself of the charges against him? So Casper goes to Charlie to help tell his story to the world…well, at least Colfax High.
Casper recounts what happened the night of the murder…what he saw. And it’s more than anyone, including Charlie, has seen to this point. Casper was high on acid, driving his motorcycle through the woods when he happened upon the bodies of Chrissy and Carpenter. He didn’t know if he’d done it or not, at first. Casper knew that just being there at the scene of the crime — knowing his troubled past and how this all would look — decided to take off rather than report it to the cops.
But there was something that caught Casper’s attention — a perv peeking from behind a tree taking it in. If the perv saw Casper, I’m not convinced that the actual killer doesn’t go to extremes to try and prove it was Casper…that is, if the killer is still in town.
Charlie spends the rest of the night writing his story about Casper’s accounts of that night “Notes from the Wrong Side of the Tracks” when his journalism teacher reads it. Assuming it’s Charlie writing it as if Casper can’t be completely exonerated, his teacher refutes that.
His teacher recalls a similar instance during his youth when he was obsessed with the murder of a girl in his town. He was obsessed, just like Charlie is, about finding the truth. The whole town thought it was the girl’s boyfriend that had murdered her, including him. But the police could never pin it on him…because it wasn’t him.
A couple of years went by and he read in the newspaper that it was the pizza delivery guy that had murdered her. That’s it, just a random stranger. It wasn’t premeditated — it wasn’t the boyfriend.
So, he warns Charlie, there’s a good chance that Charlie might never find out who murdered Chrissy and Carpenter.
When it comes to figuring out who the actual killer is, it’s difficult for the residents of Colfax to believe it’s not Casper Tatum. Because his troubled past and the fact that he fits the narrative in their heads is more comforting than the alternative. You know, where a stranger from another town has breached their safety bubble and committed the unthinkable.
Because then, they’d know that Colfax isn’t as safe as they’d once believed. And that’s not a reality they’re ready to face just yet. But, unfortunately, it’s a reality that they’re going to have to face sooner or later.
You can catch new episodes of When The Streetlights Go On daily on Quibi.
