‘Recipes for Love and Murder’ Recap: ‘Enough Sweet Potatoes’ & ‘Pomegranate Juice and Vodka’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes Seven and Eight of ‘Recipes for Love and Murder’. To revisit the previous episodes, click here.
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There are a great many elements that go into creating a flawless murder mystery. Obviously, it needs to contain compelling characters and a unique investigator, someone that doesn’t uncover the truth in a boring or traditional manner. Plus, it needs to feature a hell of a case, one that truly stumps everyone, including the audience and above all… it needs to surprise us. For we’ve seen it all and read it all when it comes to mysteries, so when a new one shocks us or takes us in fascinating direction, it is cause for celebration. Which is why the Acorn TV series, Recipes for Love and Murder is of note. For it has managed to check off every item on that list.
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For it opened up with great and dynamic characters, and the truth about who killed Martine has been kept in the dark for some time now and well… this week’s set of episodes, dropped some serious surprises in our laps. For ‘Enough Sweet Potatoes’ and ‘Pomegranate Juice and Vodka’ wasted little time in informing us of the fact, that Candy and Martine’s brother were not in fact… killers. Nor were they interested in getting their hands on a massive fortune. Instead, dear old dad was in the hospital due to an allergy that few were aware of, and any talk of money was designed to help Martine’s daughter thrive, since in reality, plans were in motion to help her with a trust fund that Candy and her uncle would handle.

Which put our dynamic duo and the police back to square one. For there were still simply no answers as to who the killer might be. And for a time, this gap in knowledge allowed for the story to let the characters shine once again. Since Jessie and Regardt continued their whirlwind romance and while they got to know each other better and explored some potential challenges for their love, Maria found out who was following her and asked them to outright stop. Plus, we also learned that Khaya and his daughter have quite the strained relationship. To the point where she will do anything and everything to avoid dealing with her dad, much to his heart’s chagrin. Since he clearly wants to be a good father and connect with his baby.

But as is often the case in real life, time, and time away from what puzzles us… tends to bring us clarity and eventually… fresh clues regarding what we seek. For Anna was missing for a better part of this tale and when she reappeared buying pomegranate juice, the case went back into its trademark ebb and flow. For Maria and Jessie’s clarity, led them to wonder if she was the culprit after all and went into hiding to keep the cops off of her back. Only to learn she and Dirk were trying to heal, in a shockingly toxic manner. But even then, a renewed sense of purpose for the case brought forth an important message for Jessie. One from a friend that worked at the local grocery store. Wherein he provided her, with dangerous information. For someone saw that she was meeting with her friend… and followed her and possibly caused her great harm. 

Possibly is the word used there, because the story dropped quite the cliffhanger regarding that, since we just don’t know what happened to her. But any way you slice it… it is clear now… we’ve entered the endgame for this case. Because the killer is clearly worried about being discovered and is fully prepared to escalate to keep their identity a secret and of course… new dangers are arising from that and well, that is the perfect way to set the stage for the season finale. For the stakes have never been higher, our heroes have never been closer and sadly, we must wait a week to get the answers and the truth we seek. But it will be a worthwhile wait for certain, since this series consistently delivers on every front, and it has no doubt saved its best moments… for last. Until next time.

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