Blackmail
Episode 2 of The Stranger begins with Heidi walking down the street and being followed by the stranger. She gives her a website address for “sugarbabies” and goes on to tell her Kimberley, Heidi’s daughter, happens to be part of this operation. In order for all of this to go away, they blackmail her for £10,000 and given they hold all the cards, promise to go viral with the material they have and her daughter will never work again if she doesn’t pay up. Meanwhile, Adam awakens and tries to phone Corinne but fails to get through. It’s here he learns that Corinne hasn’t been at school for a while and worse, one of the teachers, Vicky, mentions that Corinne talked to her about the issues she and Adam have been having for a while now. Johanna learns that Dante was on MDMA as well as drinking and smoking the night of the party. We also learn that Tom’s friend Mike was the one who cut off the alpaca head, which is why it’s at Tom’s house. Unfortunately before they can dispose of the evidence, Adam returns home and prompts the kids to hurry out. Still deliberating over what the stranger told him in the previous episode, Adam buys a paternity test and questions whether to use it or not. As Suzanne Hope continues to play on his mind, he heads up to the ex-police officer Killane’s house and asks him for help tracking her down. While he does, Adam heads into the court where he’s grilled by the prosecutor there – who happens to be his Father – regarding the housing property issue. Heidi confronts her daughter about what’s happened and she admits that extortionate university fees are the sole reason she used the site. Heidi promises not to tell her Father and agrees to pay off the ransom if she stops using the site. Adam learns where Suzanne lives but before he can go there, Ryan calls and lets him know he’s locked out the house. Tom and the others head to see Dante but act shadily, making Johanna immediately suspicious of them and believing they’re involved in some way. Vicky arrives at Adam’s house soon after he does and shows the text from Corinne which simply says “Won’t be in.” She also goes on to admit Corinne acted tense and stressed at work. Adam eventually arrives at Suzanne’s house but it’s her husband who answers the door. Upon hearing Corinne’s name, he snaps and begins beating him down before shutting the door in his face. Adam them receives a call from Ryan telling him police are at the house. The trio of kids decide to plant the alpaca head in the woods with satanic carvings as a way of throwing the police off their scent. Only, it turns out Dante has an app on his phone that allows the two detectives to track them down which is exactly what they do. Heidi is greeted in the middle of the night by the “CCU” (cyber crime unit), led by a man named Katz who’s investigating the “sugarbabies” website and those connected to it. Heidi notices something off with his demeanor though and tries to ring her husband, only for Katz to suddenly knock her to the ground. In the woods, the kids become spooked and Mike winds up separated from the others. Unfortunately as he runs, he ends up in the path of the two detectives who take the alpaca head from him and take him down the police station. Heidi meanwhile, awakens and is immediately shot through the leg. As Katz points a gun at her head, some time after this we learn he works at the police station and demands to know who the two girls are. As the episode closes out, Adam returns home as the police greet him and admit they suspect Corinne has stolen money from the football club. A little more of the strangers’ motivations are starting to come into focus now and as blackmail and money become a central part of this investigation, there are a lot more layers to this mystery building up. Has Corinne stolen money from the football club? Who is this Katz character and why is he withholding information from the other officers regarding the strangers? Will Heidi ever be able to walk again after being shot through the leg? There’s a lot of questions here and The Stranger is certainly shaping up to be a really exciting thriller. Whether it can keep this up throughout the entire series or not though without falling into incredulous, unrealistic waters remains to be seen.
