‘Whitstable Pearl’ Recap: ‘Hidden Treasures’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Whitstable Pearl’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of crime dramas and crime stories that isn’t discussed enough, is how cold they can sometimes turn out to be. Which is somewhat understandable, since they are often about unpleasant topics, so being emotional could backfire for the viewer/reader and leave them in a tough place emotionally. So, instead, these stories detach from emotion and keep things clinical. Leaving all of us to wonder what would happen if by chance, real emotion and realism in general was injected into them, and the crimes committed in these stories. Would such a decision in fact, break us and make us uncomfortable? Or would it instead surprise us and move us and plunge us deeper into the world that the hero or heroes, inhabit?
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Well as it turns out, those are questions that the Acorn TV series, Whitstable Pearl, was eager to answer in its next episode. Because ‘Hidden Treasures’ presented us with a unique crossroads for both Pearl and Mike, since neither side was talking all that much with Mike’s new edict in play and that allowed for this story to explore crimes that were intimate in nature and were emotional to boot. For instance, Mike and Nikki investigated a case, without Pearl, that turned out to be quite sorrowful in nature. Wherein a husband and wife that owned a local shop in town, claimed to have suffered through a robbery. But after digging into the clues, they came to learn that the husband set up the robbery to get the insurance money to keep the business afloat. A crime that served as a sobering reminder of the world and where it is at today and how desperate some have become to keep going with the odds against them.

Oddly enough, Pearl dealt with a case in a similar vein during her journey this week. Because strange occurrences were happening at Dolly’s, to the point where both mother and daughter thought maybe by chance… Dolly was losing control of her mental faculties. Prompting video surveillance that eventually revealed, she was fine, there was just a visitor in her home. A broken man named Bill that harbored a sorted past and was desperate for a do-over in life. Which Dolly granted him since she opened her doors and her heart to Bill. A move that Pearl didn’t care for since she really had suspicions about him, but her best work turned up nothing but a trail of mistakes and remorse. Leaving her to simply let things be and to keep eye on this from afar. Which was… another unique and moving storyline about second chances and the stigma that our past can carry.

Yet while those two storylines could have been enough to carry this episode and move us every step of the way… there was still more intimacy and humanity on display here. Since Mike was in a tough spot in this tale. Because his love for Pearl and the pain he still carries prompted him to reach out to her in an hour of need, and be near her, despite his past claims. Which of course she was happy to oblige, but it was costly for Mike. Since his new love was beyond frustrated by this and because Pearl isn’t ready to be with him again just yet, but this too was powerful and spoke to how broken Mike is at the moment and how much work he needs to do and really, in the end… this was simply stunning to watch and supremely real and raw for certain and in this episode deserves a standing ovation for everything it sent our way in this tale.

Simply because… this is… a crime drama that defied convention. For it was intimate and human and really explored how life can drive some to commit crimes in the name of noble ideas, such as the case that Mike and Nikki investigated, alongside a grand look at the stigma that hangs over those who have done their time for crimes committed, and of course… just what it means to be human. How hard it is for us to heal and how that keeps us from connecting to others or how it connects us to the wrong individual, and it was wondrous to know this is what crime dramas could be like if they went this route, and it really does leave us eager to dive into the season two finale. To see what other bold storytelling awaits and to see as to whether or not, Mike and Pearl can finally be honest with their emotions for one another. Until next time.

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