#docu-trauma

The first thing we see is Danny and Lacey making out in Lacey’s room. Danny insists that he has to leave before his mom gets suspicious. While he’s putting his shirt back on, Lacey asks if he’s learned anything from his mother about his dad and what he might have been doing with Regina and the apartment. He tells her that talking about his father is a touchy subject in his house. Before he leaves, he suggest that they tell Jo about their relationship but Lacey tells him that it might be for the better right now if they keep it quiet.

At the diner, Rico can tell that Jo is still thinking about Danny and tells her to stop torturing herself by thinking about it. He tries to stop her from thinking about him but ends up almost revealing his feelings for her. She decides that the only way to stop thinking about it is to tell Danny how she feels about him

At the Desai house the next morning, Danny asks his mother if she knows how Regina got the necklace. He tells her that he thinks his dad might have had something to do with it. Karen says that he couldn’t have given it to Regina because when the estate lawyers went through the house they couldn’t find it. Danny tells her that he may have been seeing Regina outside of their marriage and Karen gets mad at him for even insinuating that. She goes to leave for her job and screams. Danny runs over and they find that their front lawn is covered in hundreds of red jump ropes.

At school, Lacey, Serida and Phoebe are all talking about Lacey’s break-up with Archie when Serida shows Lacey the news picture of the jump ropes on Danny’s lawn. When Lacey gets upset and shows sympathy for Danny, Serida makes fun of her and Lacey snaps, saying “I’m sorry for not wanting to relive the most traumatic day of my life.” Serida immediately apologizes before Lacey walks off.

Elsewhere in the building, Tyler approached Danny and Jo who are talking about what happened. He asks Danny for an interview for a documentary he’s making about Danny’s return to town. Danny turns him down so he asks Jo, who also turns him down. He then decides to ask Jo out on a date and then realizes that he may be cutting into Danny’s “territory”. Danny insists that Jo is like his sister. Jo looks heartbroken and says no to Tyler, still upset by what Danny said.

Over at the police station, Chief Masterson is still looking at the necklace when one of his officers, Eddie, comes in and asks why they haven’t made any arrests. The Chief admits that he doesn’t want to destroy the Desai family yet and that he wants to give Karen one more chance to confess before he does anything.

That night in McNally Park, Lacey and Danny are enjoying a secret date. Lacey asks Danny if he wants to talk about the jump ropes but he refuses, insisting that it didn’t bother him too badly. They begin kissing when Danny notices that someone is watching them. The person, wearing a mask designed to look like Danny is soon joined by a small group of people wearing the same masks. Danny breaks a bottle that he has and they leave without saying a word.

At the Masterson house, Tess and Jo are having a stressful dinner and things are tense. Jo admits to her mother that Danny thinks of her like a sister and would never like her the way that she likes him. Tess tries to console her heartbroken daughter but it doesn’t really help.

Over at the diner, Chief Masterson is having coffee with Karen and they discuss the ropes and how Danny was coping. He also mentions that Tess has pictures of Jo and Danny dancing at Fall Fest and segues into her going into McNally Park that night. He tries to get her to confess but she refuses to say anything without her lawyer and agrees to meet him at the station the next day.

At school the next morning in an AV closet, Danny asks Lacey if she’s alright after what happened. Lacey is worried that the masked stalkers may have seen more than they think and that they might expose their relationship. She tells Danny that they have to lay low before leaving him in the closet.

Outside, Jo and Rico are talking and Rico tells her that there are other people out there for her and that Danny may not be the perfect match. Danny comes over and tells her to just say yes to Tyler. Jo decides to take his advice and goes over to Tyler. Rico gets mad and tells Danny that he doesn’t trust Tyler because all he does is party and that’s why he’s popular. At that moment, Danny decides to throw a party the next night.

Later that day, Danny approaches Tyler in the hallway and invites him and Jo to his party. Knowing that he won’t get many people on his own, he asks Tyler to get people to come to his party in exchange for an interview. Tyler agrees and tells Danny to expect at least half the school to be there.

Back at the police station, Chief Masterson is trying to get Karen to confess but she continually insists that she was home and was not at McNally Park the night of Fall Fest. Chief Masterson pulls out the necklace and she breaks down, forcing her lawyer to drag her out for counsel.

Tyler and Jo go out to dinner for their date before the party. Jo confesses that this is her first date and Tyler tells her about how his first date was chaperoned. The two laugh and they seem to be enjoying themselves.

Lacey gives Danny a ride home and is constantly looking around, worried someone might catch them. She tells him that she probably won’t attend his party because it’s too risky and she doesn’t believe that one party will make people like him. The two get into an argument and Danny leaves to prepare for the party.

Later, the party is almost dead – very few people show up. Jo and Tyler arrive, livening up the party by dancing. Danny is thankful for Tyler’s help and the two of them head off to take care of Danny’s interview.

At the station, Karen and her lawyer are discussing what the next plan of action is considering she lied to him. She tells him that she did it to protect Danny and tells her lawyer that she knows how to handle this.

At the party, Jo and Rico are talking about how Jo’s date went and Rico, who is slightly drunk, tells Jo that he hopes she’s having fun before going to find more beer. Off to the side, Danny is being interviewed by Tyler when he slips up. Tyler asks how Danny is handling the “pranks” when the only known prank was the jump ropes. Danny becomes suspicious and ends the interview.

At Lacey’s house, Phoebe is trying to convince her to go to the party. She says that Tyler emailed the entire student body telling them that they wanted to be at the party because something big was going to be happening and that it would be a night that “the socio” would never forget. Automatically worried, Lacey agrees to go.

Back at the party, Danny approaches Jo and tells her that Tyler may know more about who put the jump ropes on his lawn than what he’s letting on and that he doesn’t trust him. Jo counters with the typical girl answer: “Well you’re the one who told me to go out with him and he did this for you” before walking away.

Lacey and Phoebe arrive and Lacey automatically confronts Tyler about what he said in the email and he says that the “big thing” is throwing the party. Lacey doesn’t believe him and goes off to find Danny and warn him. She ends up finding Jo first and tells her about the email. Danny finds them and they start to fill him in when someone screams. The trio rushes over to the gathering of teens and they see that the masked stalkers are back. This time, they use a mannequin and a red jump rope to re-enact Danny murdering Tara. The whole time, Tyler is filming and laughing, which makes Jo suspicious.

Karen returns home to the scene and kicks everybody out except Jo, Lacey and Rico. After the party is evacuated, Danny asks Jo if she’s alright. Jo replies that she’s fine, if not just a bit shaken. Danny tells her that he’s got to check on his mother and heads upstairs. Tyler walks over and Jo tells him that she knows he orchestrated the entire stunt for the documentary. Tyler admits it and says that people will see it and sympathize with him because it’s a mean prank. Jo agrees and breaks up with him for being a jerk.

Outside, Jo finds Lacey sitting on the swings they used to play with as kids. Lacey talks about how five years ago she was the one who decided to go inside rather than run for help. They talk about what it was like finding Tara’s body on the floor in the living room. Jo tells Lacey that Tyler set the whole thing up for the documentary and the two girls begin laughing about dating issues and how stupid it is.

Back in the living room, a very drunk Rico is sitting on the couch when Danny comes in to check on him. Danny tells Rico that he was right about Tyler being a jerk. Danny insinuates that Rico has a thing for Jo and Rico admits that it doesn’t matter because she doesn’t feel the same way. Jo and Lacey come in and Jo leaves with the drunken Rico. Lacey stays and offers to help Danny “clean” but they end up having sex on the couch. However, outside the window there is another masked person videotaping them.

Karen decides that after what just happened she needs to talk to Chief Masterson. She goes to the police station and walks into Masterson’s office. When he comes in, she looks at him and confesses. She tells him that she killed Regina Crane.

Twisted Theory

Part of me thinks Karen did kill Regina. And there is actual evidence to support this.

1.    Karen Desai is the only character so far who is left-handed. This is important because Regina’s injury was on the right side of her head. According to forensics and science, any injury occurring on the front right side of the body was caused by a frontal attack by a left-handed suspect. This is simply because you wouldn’t reach across your body to bludgeon somebody, you’d hit them straight on. So far, the only person I’ve noticed who is dominantly left-handed is Karen Desai.

2.    She’s the only person who knew that the necklace was missing when estate lawyers surveyed the property.

Despite this, I’m not so sure that she killed Regina. At this point, I’m starting to think Tyler killed her because it would make for some interesting drama for his documentary project. What do you think? Did Karen do it? What part does Tyler play in all this? Sound off in the notes below.