| Death's Cleansing Embrace | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 4 | |
| |
| Air date | 21st March 2012 |
| Written by | Ross Hastings & James Griffin |
| Directed by | Murray Keane |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Charlie Truman |
Next A Damn Fine Woman |
Death's Cleansing Embrace is the fourth episode of the second season, and is the fourteenth episode of The Almighty Johnsons overall.
Synopsis[]
You have to love it when a plan comes together.
Plot[]
We find Ty as we left him, with Eva’s lifeless body.But he is very soon made aware of the fact he is not alone in the house. Agnetha is there; and she freely admits that she killed Eva – because “someone had to”. The question, as far as Agnetha is concerned, is very much: what is Ty going to do about this situation?Will he call the police on her? Or will he help her with the cover-up?
And so, in this way, Ty gets drawn into Agnetha’s perfect murder plan. Together, he and his mother plant the evidence that will paint a picture of Eva as a disturbed young woman who got drunk and stoned, then hopped in her car and ventured off into the night. Then the body is put in the trunk of Eva’s car, which Agnetha drives to secluded spot in the Waitakeres. Ty follows in Agnetha’s car and together they complete the scenario that says: drunk and stoned, she drove out here to kill herself, then walked off into the bush, fell, hit her head and succumbed to hypothermia. R.I.P Eva.
Agnetha and Ty return to the city, where they part company, with Agnetha telling Ty they should not contact each other for a while. Ty has no problem with this at all. With that he goes about his business for the day, making sure those around him know that he is worried about Eva, who seems to have taken off. Eventually the police come calling, to Ty’s place, to tell Ty they have found a body.
The unfortunate thing for Ty is that Colin is with him at this very moment. And Colin is not fooled, not for a second. He does not believe the stories of Eva’s death and he swears that Ty will pay for what he has clearly done through a much more graphic death of his own.
As news of Eva’s death does the rounds, there are others who also have cause for doubt. Dawn can’t help but feel this is a little bit too much like her own near-death hypothermic experiences; while Mike knows his brother well and gets the feeling he’s not being told the truth and nothing but the truth.
But, as predicted by Agnetha, the police declare that Eva’s death was either suicide or a case of death by misadventure. Agnetha– and Ty – have got away with murder. The Johnson boys dutifully turn out for the funeral, but when Ty returns home there is yet another surprise waiting for him, in the ice-carving room: Eva’s body, laid out on the table. Colin has brought it there in preparation for a proper funeral, with a funeral pyre, as befits a Norse Goddess – and his suggestion is that Ty might want to think about joining his wife on that pyre.
In the run up to this ceremony Mike becomes convinced he knows the truth and goes to Agnetha, to tell her in no uncertain terms he knows what she did and, in future, to stay away from Ty.Agnetha is unrepentant –Mike was too cowardly to act on his brother’s behalf, so she did the business to do them all a favour.Mike does not buy this for a moment – she abandoned them, so his family is his responsibility and she needs to step away.
And so to Eva’s funeral ceremony: where Olaf worries about Ty, after Ty has asked him about the separation of God spirit from mortal body; and Stacey too is worried, upon hearing a rumour that handmaidens are often cast onto the pyre. So when Colin asks for a volunteer to accompany Hel on her journey to the heavens, Stacey takes off. But Ty does not move, just watches Eva burn, so Colin lets him know, in no uncertain terms, that he will be coming after him.
Cast[]
- Emmett Skilton - Axl Johnson / Odin
- Tim Balme - Mike Johnson / Ullr
- Dean O'Gorman - Anders Johnson / Bragi
- Jared Turner - Ty Johnson / Höðr
- Ben Barrington - Olaf Johnson / Baldr
- Alison Bruce - Agnetha / Freyja
- Shane Cortese - Colin Gunderson / Loki
- Hayden Frost - Zeb
- Eve Gordon - Stacey / Fulla
- Michelle Langstone - Michele / Sjöfn
- Fern Sutherland - Dawn
- Brooke Williams - Eva Johnson / Hel
- Aleni Tufuga - Policeman
Crew[]
- Writers - Ross Hastings & James Griffin
- Director - Murray Keane
- Script Editor - James Griffin
- Storyliners - Rachel Lang, Tim Balme & Ross Hastings
- Producer - Simon Bennett
- Executive Producers - James Griffin, Rachel Lang, Chris Bailey & John Barnett
Music[]
- Oh My - Performed by Gin Wigmore (Theme Music)