In the summer finale, the Major Crimes squad investigates the brutal murders of two unrelated victims; Rusty’s dangerous secret is uncovered.
Recap:
Rusty’s secret, scary penpal is at it again.
Sykes gives the detectives the rundown of the crime scene. Their victim, Joe Fox, was found in the bathtub, bleached and tortured. There are blood smears all over the house, and the numbers 4610 are written in blood on the door. Tao notices that the victim’s head is only partially cut off, as if the murderer was interrupted.
Jump with me to read more.
We cut to the time of the murder. It was a call from his grandmother that interrupted the task. He’s the model grandson, refusing money from her. He doesn’t even stop to wash the blood off of his hands before making a pizza in the victim’s home.
As the detectives sift through the trash, they find that he hung out in the home for the entire weekend. They also find bleach in the second bathroom of the home. Apparently, John Doe Murderer changed his appearance to resemble Joe.
The car in Joe’s garage doesn’t belong to him, and inside, they find dried blood.
Cut back to our newly bleached-blond murderer. He’s dragging a body out of the trunk and into the house and puts her inside the pullout couch.
It’s the body of a young woman, and Morales determines that she was stabbed to death, likely a week ago.
The car in the garage is registered to a couple in Ohio. They say it belongs to their daughter Caitlin, likely the woman on the slab, and say that they’ve been texting her this past week. They send one more text, since the police have called, and once the murderer sees it, he destroys the phone.
They go over to Caitlin’s house to find a similar crime scene. He lived in there too, snacking on more pizza after murdering Caitlin.
Caitlin’s neighbor identifies her mysterious friend as Bobby, but thinks that he was too cute to be a bad guy.
Tao finds an empty gun case under Caitlin’s bed. They assume that he will shoot his next victim.
We cut back to whom we now know as Bobby. He’s going clubbing, possibly to find someone else to room with and torture.
Joe Fox withdrew $400 from an ATM around the time of his death. But was it Joe, or pseudo-Joe?
Tao finds only one connection between the two victims; High Crest reality show “Poster Boy†phoned both Joe and Caitlin within the past week.
Bobby’s in bed with a girl he met at the club, and she convinces him to let her take a photo and send it to her friend.
The detectives find that the bloody numbers on Joe’s door were his pin number; Bobby likely tortured Joe for them. The security footage at the ATM makes it seem as if Joe withdrew the money, but after meeting with the producers of “Poster Boy,†they realize that it is their murderer. He didn’t make it onto the reality show because he was boring and too short.
Bobby’s real name is Brandon North, and he’s from Akron, Ohio. He left Caitlin’s home number as his contact info with the producers.
Taylor wants to release his photo to the media, but Raydor wants it contained. He’s killing for shelter and food, and Taylor thinks that withholding his photo is a public safety issue.
Rusty receives yet another letter. This one reads, “I hope you enjoy your very last days of summer.â€
At home, Rusty and Sharon watch Brandon’s audition on the news. One of the reporters interviews a doctor that seems to sympathize with Brandon, and it turns out to be a ploy.
Brandon’s new roomie, Raquel, is all ready to go out with her new friend. Unfortunately, her friend watched the news and tries to alert her to the murderer in her apartment, but reaches Brandon instead. After smothering Raquel with a pillow, Brandon searches for the names of his victims on her computer. He leaves her apartment with her cash and her iPad.
Raydor puts out a warrant on the search engines for anyone searching the names Joe Fox and Caitlin Harvey. Someone, presumably Brandon, searched Caitlin’s name, along with a fashion show, just a week ago.
Brandon searches for his victims’ names again, this time, in a café, but is somehow tech savvy enough to elude the tracking devices.
Kris approaches Emma Rios about the letters Rusty has received.
Carlo De Luca is the star of said fashion show, and Raydor fears that he may be Brandon’s next victim.
Brandon’s grandmother, on the other hand, is appalled at these accusations and is sure that her sweet grandson didn’t do anything wrong. She also mentions that Brandon calls her every day, prompting Raydor to use this connection to get Brandon to speak with them.
He’s already inside De Luca’s home, trashing it, and receives a FaceTime request from his grandmother. It’s actually Sharon Raydor; they’re camped outside Luca’s home, hoping that Brandon will drop his gun and come out.
Sharon tells him that they’ve found the bodies of his victims, and Brandon is only apologetic over Raquel’s death. Apparently, Joe and Caitlin had it coming. She tries, unsuccessfully, to talk him out of the house, going so far as to put Carlo, his idol, in front of the camera. But he chooses to shoot himself over the call.
Raydor isn’t happy with the outcome of the case, and she’s even more disturbed after finding out about the letters to Rusty. Rusty is pulled out of class by two officers and is led into a room with Rios, Raydor, and Taylor.
The episode ends with our writer drafting a new letter, this time to Sharon.
Review:
This episode could have been called Creepy Ways to Use FaceTime. All of the obvious Apple product placement aside, it was a good episode, and I miss the transitions from present day to murderer point-of-view.
My favorite part? Sykes telling Rios not to scream when they uncover the second body. She may be the show’s most annoying character, but she was at least good for a laugh in this episode.
How are they going to keep Rios from putting Rusty into Witness Protection? Or is Sharon going to play ball with Rios because Rusty hid these from her? I need answers, not a hiatus!
– Lindsay
