NOTORIOUS “Tell Me a Secret” Recap

By Kirsty Pearce

So, that happened…

What, you might ask? Read on to find out … or just to relive last night’s shocking turn of events on ABC’s Notorious with us.

After finding out last week that the mysterious person who emailed Julia those three damning photos of Sarah with bruises, in bed with Jake, and Oscar having an affair was, in fact, his business partner Levi (I totally called it!), this episode opens on Oscar’s prison interview with Louise. After Oscar publically denounces Levi, LHL then switches to another live breaking story concerning the death of Jason Moore, a Uni football player whose body was just discovered after days of being missing. While this update is airing, a post appears on an app, Tell Me a Secret, which pins the murder on a young drug-dealing loner named Dax Edwards who was best friends with Jason. Dax’s sister Chloe and other best friend Finn then show up at Jake’s office to beg him for help as Dax’s mom went to college with him, and he owes her a favour from long ago.

A smear campaign towards Dax from Jason’s football coach Ryder, who is hailed as being a straight-talker, is then seen on the news. Continuing the pattern of showing Julia once again putting the show before her relationships, she decides to book him on the same show as Dax’s sister without telling Jake before-hand, an action that naturally stirs his anger, and escalates when an incriminating voice-mail is then played on the show from Dax threatening Jason to stay away from Chloe, causing her to run from the room.

Jake reveals his more vulnerable side again as he confides in Julia that in high school he was the guy who could have stopped the bullying of a kid just like Dax, but didn’t. His personal involvement with the case prompts Julia to apologize for blindsiding him and Chloe by getting her ex-boyfriend Eric (yes, the one who liked prostitutes) to push through something that will help Dax. And, while she told Louise earlier that some part of her still misses Eric, Julia finally burns a few items she still has that remind her of him with Louise as a witness.

Ryan, who dropped by Gregorian & Gregorian to ask Ella out on a date earlier in the episode, then helps her flush out some suspects in the murder, who turn out to be football buddies of Jason’s who hazed him the night he died. However, although this hazing ritual, subtly endorsed by the coach, ends up coming out while Ryder is on-air with LHL, very satisfyingly damaging his credibility, we soon learn that it was actually Finn who killed Jason and framed Dax. After Jason, who had called Finn for a ride after the hazing, said Finn a loser, and that he finally had real friends on the football team, Finn snapped, throwing a rock at his head.

Levi, who we also discovered last week has been cat-fishing Oscar, is now being hounded by paparazzi, and we see him buying a gun. In the last scene of the episode, he accuses Julia of getting the story all wrong. Going over to his house to hear what he has to say, Levi maintains he sent her the pictures to protect Oscar from both Sarah and Jake. Seeing numerous photos of Oscar on the wall behind his desk, Julia concludes that Levi is in love with Oscar. Clearly not able to handle his feelings, Levi then proceeds to blow his brains out, covering Julia with his blood.

We also see a deepening of the emotional ties between Ella and Ryan since their first kiss last episode, as she shares that she was home-schooled, and has been living in a motel for the last three year because she and her mum moved around from motel to motel so much when she was young no other place felt like home. Placing her trust in him after he had followed through on his promise not to tell Julia about the football players, they start making out in a VERY chemistry-laden scene. I’m really enjoying the back and forth between these two, and hope their relationship continues to be captivating and romantic viewing.

With the strong thematic thread running throughout this episode of best friends turning against each other, it was the relationship between Dax and his sister which I found the most touching, as she never stopped believing in his innocence. Couch Ryder made for a fantastic love-to-hate villain of the week, which was surprising given the fact he’s played by Dylan Bruno, whose character on the show Numbers I greatly enjoyed. The music also continues to be edgy, and perfectly mirror the scenes it’s playing in the background of.

Unfortunately, while a layer or two was successfully and interestingly peeled away from Jake and Ella this week, the little bit of vulnerability we saw from Louise last episode appears to have disappeared, her outburst toward Julia seemingly forgotten. Although I like the fact that this quick turn-around of forgive and forget is just more evidence of the strong friendship the two have, I hope the ramifications of seeing Louise with her guard finally down do not fully go away in the coming weeks. The reason for her apparent devil-may-care attitude now obvious (I mean, being an embedded military reporter has got to leave more than a few scars), I think some more probing into this area would make compelling watching, as Kate Jennings Grant plays both sides beautifully.

Can’t wait for next week, as events surrounding Sarah’s death, and now Levi’s suicide, appear to be coming to a head.