A few words about Jack and his inconsistent behaviour. Jack is a surgeon and worked with Joe in the past. We now learn that Catherine went to Jack to talk about Joe (presumably the assault allegation). Jack then embarks on an affair with Catherine, stood as a character witness for Joe against Catherine’s claims, and then some years later encouraged her to apply for a job working as Joe’s receptionist, providing a reference for her. “Why?” Joe rightly asks. “Why not?” says Jack. See above for the multitude of reasons. So Jack’s not out of the frame as far as we are concerned, though the police only have one person in their sights.
The police think Joe’s desperate attempts to try to find the actual killer could be some ridiculously elaborate scheme of Joe’s to become detective for his own case in order to deflect the blame from him. “If that’s Joe’s game plan,” Ruiz speculates, “then what’s his next move?” Frankly if that’s Joe’s game plan it’s not a very good one.
And now Joe has gone to visit Cara, his alibi, only to find she has been killed by strangulation. He, of course, runs. And the police, without doing the relevant forensics, immediately assume it’s Joe.
At this point, The Suspect has moved far away from being reality adjacent, allowing us, the viewer, to go along for a plausibility-free ride. And while the show is nonsense of the highest order, the performances and production values are strong.
So, back to Bobby Moran née Morgan (Bobby Schofield). A chance conversation between Joe and his stepmother reveals that Bobby had apparently been working as a handyman for their family. He carved her a whale (he loves a whale – is Joe his White Whale?!), and even encouraged her to learn Spanish. Oh god… but Joe’s wife is a Spanish teacher…
Not generally speaking at home to Mr. Coincidence, (the question “Who would win in a fight between a Lion and a Tiger?” is a key clue because no one’s ever asked that before), The Suspect’s pieces begin to fall into place. This appears to be a very elaborate long-term plan on Bobby’s behalf and now his scheme is becoming clear. This is a tale of revenge, and it’s bigger than anyone could have imagined. It’s also a perfect storm of people not telling each other things and making stupid decisions. But crime drama was ever thus.
