Despite its unpopularity, I maintain that Mayor Christie Holman has been my standout character in Murder in a Small Town Season 2. By "standout," I don't mean "most likeable," as she certainly isn't that. But she has been a consistently complex and surprising figure in a show that sometimes leans on broad archetypes, and for that reason alone, her attempted murder in Episode 9, "The Fall of Holman," is a fascinating development.
While Cassandra is a suspect, her involvement doesn't last long as she has her own subplot to contend with in this penultimate episode of the season. It's strange to think that the show has finally started to hit its stride, and yet it doesn't seem like there's enough going on to build a satisfying finale. But more on that later.
Holman, it turns out, was corrupt, but not irredeemably so. The documents delivered to Cassandra in the previous episode prove she had shuffled money through her own family development company for the benefit of the Gibsons but in an unethical manner. Cassandra plans to make it public, but she asks Christie to delay for 24 hours. Later, Christie publicly resigns to focus on her charity work, seemingly removing any reason for Cassandra to harm her reputation. However, Christie is battered over the head by an unknown assailant, forcing the issue to come to light anyway.
Christie survives the attack, but who attacked her and why isn't particularly interesting. It was her son-in-law, Robert, driven by age-old justifications of greed and entitlement. But since we've been building on Christie's family life and political career for a while, her attack is intriguing in how it allows us to delve deeper into those relationships, especially her connection with Brett.
The source of Brett's issues is finally revealed in this episode of Murder in a Small Town Season 2. His father, with whom he was extremely close, had died in a car crash, and he had developed a lingering resentment towards his mother for surviving. He felt unwanted and angry, and many of Christie's decisions, including pushing him to attend military school to instill discipline, reinforced that sentiment. He didn't want to kill her but did want to destroy her political career, which is why he provided Cassandra with the compromising material. There are easier ways to get one's mother to spend time with you, but whatever works. However, it seems that Christie's near-death experience has helped their relationship, so I don't expect we'll be hearing much from either of them in the finale.
I have a strong hunch that the climactic episode will center around Cassandra and Warren, the man who was solely responsible for her disgraceful departure from Sacramento. Warren is a blatant eccentric. Once friends, he desired more from Cassandra, but when she rejected him, he attempted suicide, falsely claiming it was because she had led him on and then abandoned him. This lie shattered her reputation and sowed a lot of guilt, which compelled Cassandra to move to Gibsons. But now, Warren has followed her there. In "The Fall of Holman," he appears creepy, though not outright criminal, yet his actions border on the edge. Todd is there to protect her, but I suspect this will backfire on him, as if anything were to happen to Warren, he'd be a prime suspect. Perhaps even Karl would be implicated, especially since he reveals late in the episode that he already knew about Warren's past. After Cassandra mentioned her time in Sacramento, he investigated without her knowledge, which she views as a gross invasion of privacy. She has a valid point.
Things aren't looking good for Laila either. The officer-involved shooting has troubled her significantly, and it worsens when Vanessa breaks up with her, at least in part due to Laila's discomfort over taking someone's life. This isn't a vindictive gesture, but Laila, already emotionally vulnerable, struggles to process it. As a result, she gets extremely drunk, ruining her three months of sobriety, and attempts to drive herself home. Vanessa intervenes and takes her car keys, but this feels like it's building towards something that is likely to be addressed in the finale. Time will tell.
