My Thoughts On “In the Dark” Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2

Hey guys!

As much as I love “In the Dark,” I’m not really a huge fan of how the CW offers their App. First of all, the show isn’t described! That’s crazy to me because hello? The show does have blind people in it! Secondly, while I certainly understand marketing strategies, the CW only allows you to stream episodes for a short time on their App before they delete them. Deleting them is so stupid to me! This season isn’t online anywhere on streaming services yet, so thank God I caught myself up on episodes the other day! If this post is missing any details, it’s because I missed visual pieces or because I can’t go back and watch it again before I post this. This post is going to cover episodes one and two.

In episode one, “All About the Benjamin,” Murphy is in the hospital trying to convince her mom to leave. Her mother uses the clock method to tell Murphy where her food is on her plate which I really liked they showed something like this. I don’t often have people do that for me, but I know what they’re talking about if they do. Someone might say, your meat is at twelve, and your pasta is at nine. Even though Murphy’s mom worries a lot, worrying about food could be a valid concern. In real life getting food as a blind person can be hard sometimes on a college campus during a terrible winter day. The internet tells me this episode opens with Murphy’s face bloody and Benjamin, Chelsea’s brother, (mentioned later in this) appears to be a victim. Anybody watching care to fill me in about that so far? Before leaving the hospital early, Murphy looks for Dean. She discovers he was no longer arrested. Dean had the chief police officer drop charges and he was told Murphy’s recording didn’t mean anything since he didn’t consent to it. I cannot believe the chief let Dean get away with killing someone and they put him back on the case in episode two as if nothing happened! Nia comes to visit Murphy and tells her that Jess and Felix stole money. Murphy was clueless about this but tells her they will pay her back. Nia doesn’t accept any money. Once Murphy left, she explains to Jess and Felix that they need to pay Nia. They weigh the pros and cons and decide they should return the money to the police. Murphy’s mom, Joy, calls her extremely upset that Murphy left the hospital early. She makes her go back to the hospital, and explains that if she doesn’t, their insurance won’t pay for it. Murphy tells her friends that people can’t just leave the hospital whenever they want, so she has to go back. We all know Murphy is crazy. Are we surprised she left? On the way to the police station to return the money, Jess and Felix get in to an accident and hit a guy on a bike. Felix gives him money, but he wants more so they clear out Jess’s savings account. When Murphy leaves the hospital, she meets Jess and Felix at the police station just in time for their meeting. We meet a new cop, Jean, and having arrived right as the meeting began, Murphy takes over. She makes up a story about littering. She, Jess, and Felix explain that they picked up a backpack full of trash and go on about how serious littering is. Jean tells them he’s glad they are concerned, but they didn’t need to meet with him about it. In this episode we also see Darnell make his way back to his apartment only to find Jules is dead. How terrible! They want him to think she died of suicide but he knows Jules didn’t kill herself. Poor Darnell! Dean tells Murphy to stay away from Chloe, but she goes to her house planning to tell her about her dad killing Tyson. Once there, Chloe tells her she doesn’t need to explain why she broke up with her dad and they share a laugh over how horrible Murphy’s nicotine gum smells. Murphy decides she cannot tell Chloe and reassures her they can still be friends. I like that they are still together. Murphy might be crazy, but they need each other in a way as two blind women.

Whoa! A lot happened in the second episode! Episode two, “Cross My Heart and Hope To Lie,” opens with Jess freaking out about keeping the money a secret. Murphy doesn’t understand why it is so hard for her because it took her twenty-three years to come out. She and Jess are trying to figure out how to use the guide dog school to launder money with Felix being such a paranoid person. Murphy is secretly seeing Max because she ran into him at the bar. He tells her not to tell anyone, not even Jess, and tells her to meet him at the hotel he’s staying at. He says he misses Murphy. I can’t help but wonder. Do you actually miss Murphy, or do you miss hooking up with Murphy? Rather than tell Jess right away, she tells her she spent the night with a guy who was hitting on her.

Murphy explains to Max that Dean admitted to her that he killed Tyson and she can’t tell Chloe about it because Dean is all she has. She tells Max there’s nothing they can do about it because Dean was put back on the case. After getting interrupted by Murphy’s mom while they were discussing ideas, Felix decides he needs to fire Joy so she doesn’t catch onto anything. Murphy, Jess, and Felix decide to turn Guiding Hope into a “grooming business”, where they use Max’s truck to bring their services to the dogs. Felix hires Chelsea’s brother, Benjamin, to work out front.

We meet a new girl in this episode, Stirling, who gets hired as a kennel tech. Jess can hardly focus because all she can think about is how much she likes this woman. We see a funny moment where Murphy is playfully making fun of Jess for awkwardly telling Stirling to nail her interview with Felix. They have such a heavy friendship, so I love seeing playful moments like this. Jess and Murphy paint Max’s truck to make it look like a grooming truck.

Meanwhile, Darnell meets with Nia and tells her he can’t believe someone could get away with murder and that he needs a break because he can’t work for her anymore. Good for you, Darnell! Nia tells him he can stop working for her if he kills Max and Darnell agrees. Really Darnell?!!! Jean discovers that Max’s truck is in town and he and Dean began searching for Max. Jess leaves her phone in the truck, so she grabs the key out of Murphy’s backpack. Jess finds Max’s stuff in Murphy’s backpack and figures out Murphy has been lying to her about seeing him. She confronts Murphy and is upset because Murphy said she and Jess were in everything together. Murphy can’t understand why Jess is upset about her leaving out the fact that she’s been seeing Max out of their conversations. Here we go again Murphy with your inability to show empathy towards your so-called best friend!

Murphy leaves and takes an Uber to see Max. Meanwhile, we see Max meeting with Darnell. He convinces Darnell not to kill him and explains that the only reason he set him up was because he thought he killed Tyson. He talks about how he knew Darnell wouldn’t have been able to deal, and once Murphy told him she wasn’t sure it was Darnell, he ran. Darnell tells him he should leave and Max tells Darnell how it might seem stupid but he loves Murphy. Darnell says he understands but he can help Max get a new identity once he leaves. Max agrees. Wow Max. Back at Guiding Hope, Dean enters looking for Murphy. Jess is very upset by this and tells him never to mention Murphy again. He wants to know if she’s heard from Max and Jess covers for her, telling Dean Murphy hasn’t heard anything about Max. Leave it up to Jess to always look out for Murphy or everybody, really. Jess tracks down Murphy and tells her Dean is after Max. She tells her that Max needs to leave town and they both agree the only way he will is if Murphy no longer wants him there. Murphy cries at the thought of saying goodbye to Max again and Jess reassures her she’ll be okay. The fact that Murphy cried over Max is big for her. Murphy tells Max after everything she’s been through, she needs to be with a boyfriend who can be with her in public and who won’t be sleeping in a different hotel bed every night. Max says he knows he can’t give her those things. What???!!!! What kind of an answer is that!!! I understand loving people enough to let them go so in a way maybe that’s what he’s doing, but I’ve always had mixed feelings about Max. When last season ended, I was left feeling like he should clean himself up and he and Murphy should raise Chloe. Even though it’s hard for him to get out of, the fact that he chose dealing over Murphy, issues included, is not cool. Not cool Max, not cool. Murphy tells Jess how she loves Max and how she is sad because she never really got a shot at being with him. Wow Murphy! You saying you love anyone never happens! You really are human! Murphy explains that she wanted to tell Jess about seeing Max, but she didn’t know what to do to keep him safe. Of course, Jess being Jess, completely understands. Jess reassures her that they have each other and they cry together. This just shows that as messed up as Murphy is, and with everything they’ve gone through, they really do feel for each other. See Murphy? Somewhere deep down you do care for your best friend!

Thanks for reading, guys!

Until next time,

Miranda ❤