‘Whitstable Pearl’ Recap: ‘Civil War’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Whitstable Pearl’.
​
It is definitely safe to say that love is something that makes all of us act in an incredibly strange manner. Because once it hits, we’re suddenly motivated to go the extra mile and say and do things we normally wait upon doing in a relationship, simply because our hearts are soaring, and we firmly believe that we have hit the jackpot romance wise and what’s wild… is that love’s impact doesn’t end with being goofy and excessively happy. Because it can also make us act in a negative manner as well. For when we are utterly afraid of how strong it feels, we sometimes erect emotional walls and try to play it safe out of the fear that it isn’t real, leading to complications in a burgeoning relationship and of course… some people really do attach themselves to the feeling it elicits in a supremely unhealthy manner.
​
If anything, that stranger and sometimes more uncomfortable side to love is of relevance today, largely because it served as the focal theme of this week’s episode of Whitstable Pearl on AcornTV. Which made for one fascinating tale, since at first glance… ‘Civil War’ didn’t seem at all as though it was going to be about love. For initially this story saw DCI McGuire dealing with an unexpected death in a Civil War reenactment, wherein a surprise bullet or two took down a retired police officer named Brian Armstrong. And well… once Mike found out that the deceased was hated by everyone, including his brother and his wife, Heidi, who also happened to be quite apathetic toward his death because her late husband was a well-known ladies’ man; McGuire believed this was a matter of vendetta. One that Heidi was involved in.

But once Heidi approached Pearl about clearing her name, she and Mike pooled their resources and came to realize… that something far different was taking place here. In fact, this dynamic duo had actually managed to step into the heart of a love triangle, one that involved Heidi and Brian’s brother Kid and… the killer in question. Because apparently Brian knew that his wife was having an affair with his brother and rather than see her leave him for another family member, he planned to have her killed while she was watching the reenactment. But unfortunately for Brian… the killer was more interested in Heidi, in fact… he fell in love with her from afar. Which motivated him to kill Brian and try to ingratiate himself into Heidi’s heart by somehow looking like the hero. But thankfully, Pearl and Mike brought him to justice before he could cause more trouble or bring harm to Heidi. 

But while that alone could have carried this episode, since it truly did a wonderful job of demonstrating how love makes us do incredible and sometimes horrible and heartbreaking things, there was more to explore in this tale in regard to weird matters of the heart. For Pearl and Mike once again did their little song and dance romance wise in this tale, and since they’re both coming from broken places, the kind that have them scared to open up again… they were able to demonstrate how love can make us appear to be quite dumb for certain. Since they both put up walls and lightly hurt one another to project their past pain and their fears, but thankfully… there is still hope for romance between these two. Because eventually they realized how foolish their behavior was and opened up to one another and took things slow, which made for quite the sweet ending… to one engrossing and amazing episode.

Because this one really did take us the audience by surprise. Thanks in large part to the fact that it assembled a murder case that was about as unconventional as it gets, and every single time it appeared as though an answer might arise or that something traditional was about to happen… the case simply took one hell of a left turn. Which just goes to show that Whistable Pearl is going to be an incredibly dynamic and refreshing mystery series when all is said and done. Because this one, can simply do it all storytelling wise. Since every episode features tension and danger and depth and meaning and relatability and that really does leave the viewer eager to enjoy more of this journey, so that we can continue to partake in unique and original stories that keep us on our toes and keep us engaged, emotionally. Until next time.

---