Love & Death Episode 4 Recap: “Do No Evil”

The following recap contains spoilers for Love & Death Episode 4 (written by David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

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If you were expecting a brutal murder scene this week on Love & Death, then I’m sure you are disappointed. I was half expecting a WWE-type fight before a full-on blood bath ensued, but the creators seemingly chose a quiet approach.

This week’s episode opens where last week’s left off. Candy (Elizabeth Olsen) stares at Betty (Lily Rabe), panic swirling all around her face. “No,” she pleads with Betty, but Betty has the same crazed look in her eyes that Candy had previously coined. It looks like Betty just wanted to scare Candy away from her husband. She tells Candy she doesn’t want her around Allan (Jesse Plemons) anymore and to stay away. Candy complies.

All seems “well” as Candy grabs Alyssa’s bathing suit and Betty hands over a swim towel. Then Candy did it. She and her giant garbanzos had the nerve to place a hand on Betty’s shoulder as if she were about to give Betty a pep talk. With a sympathetic look in her eye, she lets Betty know that she is sorry. Why, Candy? Why?

That’s all it took for the ax to make its screen appearance once more and for Betty to flip her lid. The ladies fight over the ax, but before Candy gains control, Betty swiftly brings down the ax, cutting off the tip of one of Candy’s toes. That’s as much of the fight as we get. The next time we see Candy, she exits the house, wet from the shower she took.

The rest of the episode follows Candy as she goes about her day. She makes sure to tell anyone who would listen about her busy morning. The alibi is that she became so caught up talking to Betty that she didn’t realize her watch had stopped. She rushed to Target for that Father’s Day card, but when she found out how late it was, she decided not to go in and race back to the church for the puppet show (which she missed anyway).

Oh, Allan.

Allan spends the day calling his house. Betty is obviously unable to answer. Feeling a sense of unease, he (finally) calls a neighbor and asks him to check if Betty is home. The neighbor begrudgingly makes his way over. After informing Allan that the garage door was left open, with both cars inside, Allan goes into full freak-out mode. He asks the neighbor to get into the house by any means necessary. Two other neighbors assist with this.

They don’t try for long, as the front door is unlocked. Inside, the fellas find a crying baby and Betty’s dead body. We only see from the knees down. The general assumption among the men and later the police is that Betty has been shot.

By now, Allan knows of his wife’s death. There are no tears, but there are a lot of pensive stares. After finding out that Betty is no longer alive, he calls none other than, you guessed it, Candy.

Pat (Patrick Fugit) is going to town on Candy when Allan calls (way to go, buddy!), but Candy stops him and answers. She cries at the news of Betty’s death, although we know those tears are for herself and not poor Betty.

Silly Police

The Wylie police don’t seem like the brightest bulbs in the pack. We watch as what looks like the whole police force and the neighbors prance around the house. Can we say contaminating the crime scene much?

At one point, the chief of police looks down at a newspaper that shows an advertisement for The Shining. He tells a fellow officer, “This is probably one of those cult deals.”

The police interrogate Allan once he’s back in town. He admits Betty has had an affair but denies that he has had one himself. Tsk, tsk.

Candy also gets interrogated. She comes to the police station dolled up, ready to charm the boys. The police chief asks Candy what shoes she wore the day Betty was murdered. He explains that they found footprints and would need to compare them.

I’m not in law enforcement, and I don’t know much about forensics, but common sense tells me that one doesn’t go around telling people what evidence you have. In doing so, the perp has the chance to cover their tracks—as is the case here. Candy promptly returns home and cuts up her flip-flops so the cops won’t have a shoe to compare to the prints.

Allan lies in bed unable to sleep. His conscience has gotten the best of him and he decides to call the chief up and tell him the truth. He confesses he did have an affair…with Candy Montgomery.

Candy simultaneously lies in bed, unable to sleep. Her signature psychotic stare returns as she burns a hole in our souls with her eyes. She must be contemplating her future, as she will lose everything should anyone find out what she has done.

What’s next?

Last week I wasn’t sure how the story could be stretched across seven episodes, but this latest one didn’t move us forward. With three episodes left, I believe we will see charges being brought against Candy next week. Episode 6 will likely be the trial, and the last episode will hopefully show us the aftermath of the murder and how it affected the families.

Thoughts…

I am astounded by how incompetent the police were in this case. They thought it couldn’t possibly be a woman because of the brute force it takes to wield an ax. You know, because women can’t lift heavy things.

Allan knew his wife suffered depression, anxiety, etc….yet it took a day (and night’s) worth of unanswered calls for him to think to do a welfare check. I’m sure murder was the furthest thing from his mind, but suicide or a murder-suicide was a very likely scenario.

Candy couldn’t leave well enough alone. Betty threatened your life with an ax, and you had the nerve to try and have the last word. As is typical Candy fashion, she wanted to be the one in control.

The most important question here is, how do we, or anyone, know exactly what happened when Candy and Betty were alone? The story goes that Betty threatened Candy first, essentially in self-defense. How do we know that? Are we going off of Candy’s version of events? I think it would be interesting if the show portrayed all possible scenarios, ending with Candy’s version of events.

Wishful thinking aside…here’s hoping we see Candy in handcuffs next week.