Down Cemetery Road Recap: Strangers on a Train

Down Cemetery Road
Neglected Waters
Season 1 Episode 6
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
Previous Next
Previous Episode
Next Episode

Last week was all about the emotional toll killing people, rescuing people, and discovering people-killers has taken on our motley crew. This week is all about action. As we near the finale, tensions are mounting to a fever pitch. We’re entering the part of the story which should compel a reader to read while walking, and the show delivers in creating a viewing experience that replicates that hold on the viewer’s attention. The highlight of the episode — if not of the series as a whole — is the chase sequence on the train to Scotland, when Zoë escapes from Amos’s grip within an inch of her life.

We left off last week with Amos’s realization that he was being followed; now, he finds out who is following him. As it turns out, Axel’s main passion in life, besides killing people, was journaling. He made sure to include a photo of Zoë in his little red book, with a caption explaining she was Joe’s wife. In brute force, Zoë is no match for Amos — he could probably take her down with a stare. But unfortunately for him, Amos is not as witty or charismatic. Zoë’s ability to connect with people saves her life.

After making sure his gun is loaded with bullets and a silencer, Amos finds Zoë. He sits across from her just as a PSA advises passengers to alert the authorities if they see something suspicious. Zoë has a better idea: she strikes up a conversation with the chatty American couple sitting next to them. She introduces herself as Julia — Amos picks the alias “Andy” — to Bob and Shelley, and, noticing that Bob is carrying Bananagrams like any self-respecting American looking to have a good time, she asks them to play a game. She takes Bob up on his promise that he can “play all night,” hoping to ward off Amos. But Amos waits patiently until Bob and Shelley decide to go to bed. When Shelley wants to take a picture with them, Amos pushes “Julia” in and offers to be the photographer. 

Zoë follows the couple to their cabin, then begins the hard work of losing Amos. A train is an excellent stage for a chase sequence; from Skyfall to this year’s Highest 2 Lowest, some of the most memorable chasing in cinematic history happens on trains. It’s a great setting because there is only one way to go, and leaving a person’s sight is hard when you’re essentially walking down a long hallway. But Zoë manages to hide behind people, suitcases, and, eventually, inside a staff room. I was worried when she locked herself in, because even though Amos’s shoulder is injured, he looks strong enough to break down a door. If Zoë found herself locked in a room alone with Amos, it’d be game over; the genius of being in Bob and Shelley’s company was that it precluded Amos from acting. But all’s well that ends well. A conductor catches up to Amos and asks if he’s having trouble finding his room. He seems to consider shooting the conductor, too, but gives up. He knows that Zoë is headed to his same destination, after all, and it’d be much more convenient to kill her somewhere private.

Zoë finds an available empty cabin. She gets a FaceTime call from Morgue-Boy Wayne, who sends along the decrypted video evidence that the British government used chemical weapons on its own troops. Zoë asks him to find out where exactly in Scotland Dr. Wright tested on his guinea pigs. Wayne delivers just in time, telling her to go to Firinn Village. Amos, who knows they are close by, sets off the fire alarm, so the train has to evacuate. He takes off in a stolen taxi, unluckily for Shelley and Bob, who have the misfortune of being his passengers. They try to get him to stop the car, even threaten to call the police, but their questions are too grating for Amos, who shoots them both. 

Genius twisted mind that he has, Amos uses the killings as an opportunity. Though he sees Zoë’s taxi drive by, there is no chance he could’ve seen her inside, given how far he was standing from it and how fast the car was going — yet, when it comes to being a psycho, Amos always knows what to do. In an Oscar-worthy performance, he calls the police, crying to report two dead bodies on the side of the road. He describes a woman he saw running off: spiky short hair, a leather jacket, and big boots. He wipes his fingerprints from the surfaces of the car and heads off — the teddy bear is only a little more than 14 miles away. 

Zoë’s cab driver, who was already annoyed, only becomes more irritated when she tells him to go past the village and towards a disused army base Wayne texts her about. The car takes a right on a fork where Sarah took a left, toward the village. She is walking around because Downey took off in Ella’s car and left her sleeping in the woods. It’s little wonder Downey wanted to shed the deadweight after last week’s performance, but there is a deeper motivation, too: Downey doesn’t want another death on his conscience, particularly not when he and Sarah have developed something resembling friendship. When she asks him, the night before he leaves, if he thinks they are close (to finding Dinah), his first instinct is to interpret that emotionally — like, emotionally close. That’s a long way from the guy who could barely look Sarah in the eye in their hotel room, all that time ago. 

So that’s four of our crew in Scotland and headed to Firinn — we’re only missing Malik, who is put on a chopper by a very disappointed-looking C. He surprises Malik while he is walking his dog, telling him that Amos is very much alive and leading Downey to Dinah. C prepares him for the trip by telling him that if he isn’t able to deal with “whoever or whatever is left,” he won’t be able to keep him around much longer, though it’s unclear whether that means getting fired or killed. Either way, at least C gives Malik a gun, with instructions to take out Amos, Downey, or both, and some parting words of encouragement. He sort of tenderly grabs Malik’s chin and says, “Strike like a cobra.” Right, because Malik is renowned for his stealth. 

C is only human, so he has to deal with his own boss, Talia, who wants his input on a “big important speech” about the budgeting plans we’ve been hearing about. Talia is practicing it, clad in athleisure, when C arrives. She wants C to tell her how she should respond when and if a journalist asks about the British government’s stance on and development of chemical weapons. “The weapons industry is the most regulated in the world,” is his recommendation. “I would suggest we don’t give space to speculation.” A perfect example of how to say absolutely nothing while sounding like you’re saying something — hopefully some attentive journalist will catch it and push back. 

Firinn Village is picturesque and the people are friendly. A shopkeeper tells Sarah that local teenagers are stealing her booze and cigarettes and going to an old army base nearby, the very same one where Zoë is headed. This is the first of a few too-happy coincidences that zip some of this episode’s strength, but at least Sarah is on her way. She sees Ella’s car empty and locked on the side of a road, but there’s no sign of Michael. We don’t see much of him this week, but we do see that he is down to one Histropine pill. It’s all going to hit the fan at the same time. 

Realizing this, Sarah literally runs to the base. The scariest thing that happens there is that she runs into a group of taunting teenage boys, the worst possible thing that could happen to anyone. Sarah follows some clanging sounds, and we cut to Dinah’s holding room, where the two guys, Nev and Ty, play soccer. The ball knocks over a folder of photos of the chemical burns, which they, along with Steph, are just seeing for the first time. This is another detail that doesn’t seem totally earned. After days spent locked away, not being told what they’re waiting for or what’s going on, wouldn’t they have at least snooped around? Anyway, they see a shadow coming through the CCTV. We think it’s going to be Sarah, but it turns out to be the provisioner, who is greeted with two guns pointed at him. 

Sarah herself was preparing to use the foldable knife she took from Paula’s if necessary when she turned a corner to find Zoë. It’s not what she wanted, but it was what she needed. When Sarah slumps on the floor and says she wants to give up and go home, Zoë reminds her that she can’t. One, she’s in way too deep; two, there’s nothing guaranteeing she can make it back to Oxford alive — in fact, all evidence is pointing to the contrary. Zoë shows her the video to galvanize her: They are this close. 

Zoë and Sarah decide to discreetly find out from the villagers where the experiments were conducted. In a pub, Sarah finds the shopkeeper from earlier doing crosswords with the bartender. They talk about the “army types” that come through the town under Sarah’s guise as a “military nerd.” Meanwhile, on the dock, Zoë overhears the provisioners say something about being paid to keep quiet. Out of all the convenient coincidences in the back half of this episode, I found this one most grating. Zoë’s biggest weapon is her ability to make people tell her things they probably shouldn’t. Why not have her outwit these guys? 

At the pub, Sarah notices that the map on the Puffin tour pamphlet she took from the bartender is missing an island when compared to the map that hangs on the wall — bingo. Putting her dormant restorationist skills to use, she traces where the island is supposed to be on the pamphlet, and is almost out the door before she hears the bartender pick up a call from Callum, the police officer at the scene of Bob and Shelley’s murder. We saw him a little bit earlier with his colleague, who found the picture of the couple with Zoë in Shelley’s purse. He gives the bartender Zoë’s description and asks her to keep an eye out. Overhearing this conversation — annoyingly written to give Sarah every piece of information she needs — Sarah runs to tell Zoë the police are looking for her because of two dead Americans. Zoë seems to register immediately that it must be Shelley and Bob, which makes her cry. But they have an invisible island to find. All they need now is a boat. 

So, they get one. A captain standing by tells them it’s too windy to go out for a tour, even when they lie that it’s their honeymoon and insist they have strong sea legs. Sarah is at the absolute end of her wits. She shoves the old guy inside the hull, takes his keys, and locks him into his cabin. Zoë gives her a look like, Good for you, girl, which is all Sarah has ever wanted to hear. She takes the helm as they drive forward to try and find the island. Amos has his own menacing black dinghy waiting for him on black-sanded shores. Downey has his own boat, too. Everyone is en route, Malik by chopper, the rest by sea. The question as we head into next week is: Who’s going to get there first?