3 Truths and a lie from Tell Me a Story Season 1, Episode 8

Honesty is the best policy on this week’s episode of Tell Me a Story but that doesn’t make the truth any less of a bitter pill to swallow, especially for characters whose very lives may be threatened by leaving the safety net of their lies.

With two little pigs dead and only one remaining, Jordan is faced with his most difficult opponent on this week’s episode of Tell Me a Story yet. For once, he may realize he has truly gotten himself in over his head. But might it be too late for him to come clean to the detectives who have been trying to investigate his wife’s death?

Gabe is struggling to keep a hold on his sanity as he is ensnared by Esther and her cronies. The Perezes won’t be able to slip off quietly into the night with all the money they’ve taken. At this point, they’ll have to decide whether or not the riches are worth the cost of their lives.

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Spinning out after raiding Nick’s apartment and finding a trail of his secrets, Kayla must decide if she really wants to know the whole truth about what happened to her mother and what that devastating secret may mean for her and her life if she unearths it.

Truth #1: What does Esther want from Gabe?

Poor Gabe gets caught in Esther’s evil clutches when he falls for her sweet old lady act. She wants to know where the money is and Gabe’s plethora of “I don’t knows” isn’t pleasing her or her mysterious boss. Apparently, Esther isn’t the leader.

After a brief moment of relief, wherein it appears Esther is willing to release Gabe given he doesn’t have the information she’s after, Esther brings down the iron fist (no pun intended). Forced to remove his t-shirt and lay face down on a table, Gabe is rather horrifically tortured with an iron while Esther dials Hannah on the phone to let her listen to her brother’s agonized screams, thus lighting a fire under her to get a move on the rescue mission.

I don’t believe Hannah is going down without a fight. The money is important to her. She’s already risked her life for it more than once, I would hope Gabe matters more, and I believe he does, but I think her and her accomplice have a few tricks up their sleeves to try and walk away from this with both the money and Gabe in hand.

Truth #2: What are Sam’s plans for Jordan?

Last week’s episode led to a shocking confrontation between Jordan and the “third little pig” he’s been hunting since episode one. Jordan lost his upper-hand in the time it took a spray of bullets to end Mitch and Shelley’s lives. Sam appears to have overthrown Jordan as the big bad wolf in this story.

On this week’s episode of Tell Me a Story, Jordan learns of Sam’s day-job, he’s a cop, a dirty one at that, meaning the strings he’s pulling run long and blue. He labels himself untouchable and he’s not wrong. Jordan will be hard-pressed to find evidence enough to take him down.

Except, maybe it won’t have to end in bloodshed, or so proposes Sam when he pays Jordan a surprise visit at his apartment. He believes the two of them may be able to forge a truce. He’s made a mess of things by leaving behind a trail of bodies. Killing Jordan would only arouse further suspicion and Jordan can’t kill Sam without going down himself for having a cop’s blood on his hands.

Could the two of them chalk all this up to water under the bridge? I’d say it’s highly unlikely.

Truth #3: What really happened to Abby Powell?

I sensed trouble ahead when Kayla found one of her mother’s old paintings in Nick’s apartment and it appears the truth of the matter is much more disturbing than it initially appeared. Josh (formerly known as Nick) Sullivan, has been a lecherous creep in the Powell women’s lives for a while now.

Remember how Kayla firmly believed her father was cheating on her mother and his actions indirectly lead to her death? Well, she was in the ballpark of the real chain of events that lead to Abby Powell’s demise. She just pegged the wrong parent for a cheater.

In reality, Abby was sleeping with Josh, one of her students (presumably at university). But when she tried to cut things off and get her marriage back on track, Josh took a turn into The Shining territory and began stalking her.

One night, after the two of them got into a particularly nasty fight, Josh drove Abby’s car down until she crashed into a street pole and then suffocated her to finish off the job. Unable to let go of her completely, he began to fixate on Abby’s daughter, the spitting image of her artistic mother.

Kayla and Josh have already passed the passionate part of their relationship and now they’re into the stalking chapter as history repeats itself.

One Lie: Who is Katrina?

We were lead to believe Katrina was an amiable co-worker to Tim and a future love interest for the talented chef. It was nice to see him happy with someone his own age when things at home with his daughter weren’t going so great.

Except, it appears Katrina is not who she claims to be. Not in a simple I-said-I-like-cats-but-I’m-actually-a-dog-person kind of way but in a I’m-actually-a-mob-boss-and-I-have-henchmen-who-kidnap-young-boys-and-torment-them-with-steam-irons kind of way.

In my last recap, I mentioned I had suspicions about Katrina. Mainly because we never saw her as anything other than a maybe-love-interest for Tim and due to some lingering camera shots. I suspected there was going to be something sinister about her character but this development was pretty shocking. I’m certainly interested to know more about her now.

Odds & Ends

• Sam does what he does (extortion, murder, armed robbery, blackmail, to name a few) all in the name of his wife and son. He wants to remain a “hero” in their eyes. Why not actually be a hero then, dude? Seems easier than living the blood-spattered life of a criminal.
• Kevin Williamson has a pretty poor track record with violence against women in his shows. It’s unfortunate it is continuing in this one after the backlash he got during Stalker’s first and only season or for The Following.
• Anyone else have a bad feeling about Colleen? She was out pretty late to a “lunch” with her friend. I wonder if Nick is gunning for her next. She is the “grandmother” in Little Red’s story and we all know what happened to her…

A new episode of Tell Me a Story will debut Dec. 27th on the CBS All Access app.