Surprisingly when Kam, Cris, Lindsey and Ulysses separated themselves from the once overwhelming pack of six other contestants, I never would have guessed their loyalty, as well as their team, would uphold until the end, but that is exactly the case. Slowly they've eliminated the rest of the group, while losing only Ulysses themselves, and though they were once drastically outnumbered they now have the upper hand. This puts them in a unique position as they are the only team with enough contestants to collect clues at each site, however they also face a huge disadvantage due to the fact they alienated themselves and have no other allies thus they must solve the riddle if they hope to stay alive. With only two members left on what is now Team Ronnie, they had to make a vital decision as to which area they would be unable to gather information. While at first Ronnie claimed he was going to investigate Geno's bedroom with Lindsey, at the last minute he decided he had less faith in Kam and needed to accompany him to the crime scene to gather clues. Melina felt like this was a horrible decision, as her doubt lies with Lindsey, but Ronnie was running the show which meant Lindsey ended up with the advantage of being the only contestant to get a peek at the last known whereabouts and the clues within. Although there wasn't much in Geno's room, Lindsey did find two rather important clues: a notepad with a ripped letter and a kahuna bead necklace. She executed a trick that all crime solvers are aware of, lightly rubbing a pencil over the notepad to reveal the message from the top sheet which the impressions from the pencil left behind. The note suggested for Geno to steal Giles' cell phone if he wants to live. In addition the kahuna necklace was covered in ultraviolet paint and seemed to be a type of garrote, this was a confusing piece of evidence initially, because as it was left in Geno's room it wasn't the murder weapon thus raising the question why would he have a deadly necklace on his bed. Kam and Ronnie had more information than either one of them was able to pick up on. Although they did notice a large bloodstain smeared across the floor to the site of the chandelier crash implying Geno was bleeding from his torso. This meant the crash of the light fixture could not have caused his death or the bloodstain. They also noticed the chandelier was not cut or frayed but rather lowered down. Kam was able to pick up on a timer plugged into a power outlet behind a cabinet and managed to hide his discovery from Ronnie in an effort to ensure Kam's team would prevail. Lastly, Cris and Melina investigated the morgue which was more gory than usual. They observed a large wound on Geno's stomach which Cris probed and pulled out a bullet most definitely shot by a gun. On his back, where the chandelier had impaled him, there was also a small wound but at this point the cause of death was quite obvious. Before examining the remainder of the evidence, Cris made another attempt to woo Melina over to their team. This is the second time she has planted doubt about the opposing team's ability to win in Melina's head and seems to have become well adept at playing the game. Upon investigating Geno's clothing suddenly a phone rang frightening both the contestants. When answered, it was revealed that the cellphone was Giles' but raised the question how and why Geno was in possession of it. Without Lindsey's help from her discovery of the note, they would have to guess as to what its relation to the crime was.
When the contestants reunited, everyone stayed true to their team and parted ways like the Red Sea into their two different groups to share their findings hypothesize. Once again, the riddle was a vital part of discovering how the crime was really committed as both teams were fairly confused. Giles read the first part of the clue and the contestants were off, but instead of running like maniacs in an attempt to solve it, they were blindfolded and led to a pitch-black room where they bumbled around with little idea as to what they were searching for. Ronnie was the first to come across a night vision scope and found a message on the wall instructing him to "find the light at the end of the tunnel" he proceeded to follow the cobweb filled crawl space that led him out a vent and into a new room in Rue Manor. There, another rhyme awaited along with an ultraviolet light. This one spoke of a "cold bed with no view" and to "find the lei", an adept puzzle-solver at this point, Ronnie rushed to the morgue in which the riddle was obviously referencing. While he searched the room utilizing his UV light, the others were still fumbling around in the dark. Kam and his team discovered the night vision scopes and eventually the tunnel leading them to the next portion of the puzzle. Now, only Melina was left in the dark room confused and disoriented, but she too finally made it to the next stop. Team Kam was not as quick to decode the rhyme, as they ran around the house searching for a lei somewhere outside. Meanwhile Ronnie had found a kahuna bead lei hidden in the morgue and followed the instructions attached in an attempt to unscramble the letters scribed in UV paint on the beads into three words with the lingering hint "monkey see, monkey do." Melina was next to make it to the morgue, showing off her ability to move from last place into second and arrive before the entirety of Team Kam. Ronnie instructed her to the beads and the need to solve the word puzzle as they frantically worked to maintain their lead. With Team Kam sufficiently behind they arrived at the morgue demanding Ronnie and Melina tell them where to find the beads. Refusing to help them out, Kam decided he would just look at Melina's work like a cheating student on an exam. He ultimately located the beads on his own and with the help of the "monkey see, monkey do" clause of the rhyme, along with his previous view of Melina's beads he solved it quickly revealing the three words as "See No Evil". He knew immediately to examine the Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil monkeys located in the library where another poem lead him to a drawer in the foyer where Geno had died. Here he found a gun with a silencer and night vision goggles stored away thus winning the round for his team.
It was looking grim for Melina and Ronnie as they had few ideas to how the murder was committed. Ronnie was able to deduce that the riddle most likely lead to the murder weapon, a gun with a silencer along with night vision goggles which helped them come up with a rudimentary theory, but they were still missing a good amount of facts. Ronnie gave his blessing for Melina to approach the other team in an effort to save herself and while Melina believed Cris was sincere in her earlier invitation to join their team she realized that was no longer the case. Cris explained that all the information was Kam's which was as much of a surprise to Melina as it was to me. In past episodes, Kam has always acted like no matter who on his team solved the riddle the information was his to disseminate. With Melina turned away, there was little hope left for both her and Ronnie. However, I don't think that their team was at as much of a disadvantage as they seemed. Including Ronnie's assumption that the riddle lead to a gun, silencer and night goggles, all Team Kam really had over them was the timer on the outlet and the kahuna bead garrote, as Lindsey had held back the details of note from everyone. I feel as if they could have concocted a version of the crime had they worked together a little more, instead Ronnie went out on a crazy limb involving a trained monkey which sealed his fate.
So how did the killer eliminate Geno and what clues went unobserved by all? While Geno was getting ready for the luau he found the note instructing him to steal Giles' cell phone but neglected to wear the necklace the killer had placed for him. In our mysterious murderer's mind, this meant Geno had "crashed" their party and their plan to spot him in the dark with the illuminated beads that doubled as a garrote. While that was the original scheme for Geno's demise our creative criminal was forced to plot out a different course of destruction. Fortunately, Geno did adhere to the advice from the note and stole Giles' cellphone only to prove to the killer he wasn't trustworthy. With the timer set to short circuit the lights at exactly midnight, our insidious host reached for a nearby gun with a silencer attached as well as their night vision goggles and shot Geno in the stomach. They then dragged his body over to the Rue Manor crest which was adorned in ultraviolet paint and marked the spot where the chandelier would fall. Amongst the confusion they reached for a lever, a clue that none of the contestants had discovered, which lowered and released the chandelier atop Geno's already dead body and once again left a murder plot full of twists and deceptions for the contestants to solve. Lindsey was the winner this round, likely causing Cris and Kam to wonder how much she held back regarding the last known whereabouts that only she was witness to. Team Kam prevailed as they all were spared, while what was once Team Geno crumbled under Ronnie's leadership leaving both Melina and himself with "scared" cards.
Although I find myself wondering why our insidious host felt Geno's morals needed to be questioned and tested him by tasking Geno to steal a cellphone, I am still going with Lindsey as the killer. With only Kam, Cris, Lindsey and Melina left it's slim pickings, but my original guess at the nefarious mastermind still remains. Kam, while evil in his own way, doesn't seem to have what it takes to host this deadly party. In addition, he has received a "scared" card in the past, has been a vigilant player and has made ridiculous mistakes, like stating Don was scared to death by the mountain lion. While Melina has been safe up till now, her emotional outbreaks, shaking, betrayal, and tears seem too genuine for me. I don't think the producers would count on acting to keep this important secret safe until the finale, because if any scene appears too fake, it would give her away immediately. A few weeks ago, I found Cris to be quite suspicious, but with her winning two challenges and active attempts to sway other contestants, she seems snaky, but is too upfront with information and appears to be genuinely playing the game. Lindsey is still an enigma, she never solves a riddle, isn't upfront about her findings and doesn't share much information with the other contestants. This seems exactly how our sinister slayer would play the game: stick to the shadows, let the others find the important information you have laid out for them, and never be the first to cross the finish line while killing off the other team slowly and solidly sticking with her alliance. It's not long before the killer is unmasked and I am filled with anticipation!
This week's story came to an end, as it always does, with another murder. While both Ronnie and Melina received "scared" cards everyone was, or acted, surprised and pleased to see them both make it through the night. Our mischievous mastermind decided to reward the contestants with a spa day that of course had ulterior motives. While both the murders of Ulysses and Geno were in front of the rest of the contestants, we have found that these "rewards" are a clever way of separating the contestants. Our illustrious host gave Melina a facial, Ronnie hot tub time, Kam a massage, Lindsey a mani-pedi, and Cris received yoga, which I am still questioning why while the others relaxed as they were pampered, she got tasked with exercise. Amidst their alone time was a large explosion where we saw Ronnie blown out of the hot tub, twisted through the air, and land in the pool with a plume of smoke. The smoke was the most interesting clue of the scene as it had me wondering why the pool sizzled upon his landing. Possibly some sort of acid was used, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out as what we see is never the whole story and the complex murders are always full of misdirection. I believe we have only two more episodes of Whodunnit? left! With Ronnie dead, I think we will have one more murder followed by the remaining trio racing to solve their final case. While it is sad that the season will soon come to an end, the time to unmask the killer draws near which makes the ending the biggest climax yet! Stay tuned Sundays on ABC and check back here for my final Whodunnit? recaps, reviews and thoughts. Thank you for reading and please participate in the poll below to share your views. Enjoy!
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