Death in Paradise season 8 episode 2 review: Who killed Xander at the zoo?
This time around, the deceased party is a zoo owner by the name of Xander, someone who was killed in a most unusual manner: With a deadly poisoned dart. It was quiet enough that nobody would hear it, and with so many employees together at the same time, it was hard to imagine that any of these people (all colleagues, and also some members of his family) could be guilty of killing him.
While a zoo owner doesn’t seem like the sort of person who would have a lot of enemies, there was a lot about Xander that the team was able to extract! For starters, his wife (pictured above) had a history of animal activism and there was a possibility of her past colliding with her present. Meanwhile, there were discussions that the two were getting extorted, and there was also chatter about the zoo being sold.
One of the more entertaining exchanges of the episode tonight was getting a chance to see Florence go undercover — basically, as a possible date for one of the suspects in Dylan. This was a chance to get closer to him and understand more of what happened — including a snake-bite incident from many years before that could have given him a motive. Dylan could’ve killed his own brother Xander out of anger that he got to control the zoo, even though Xander was the one sent away from the island for many years.
Well, here’s a twist
As it turns out, the wife and Dylan had a relationship of their own in secret. She admitted to Jack that her husband was cruel and she was looking for comfort elsewhere — but assured them that she would never hurt anyone.
Eventually, the team was able to secure a suspect — someone who had both a poisonous snake and a dart gun in their possession. The problem here was that Ruby Patterson, the team’s new employee, accidentally shot one of her fellow cops before making the arrest. Oops. As it turns out, this guy didn’t even know Xander; he was just running a snake-based operation alongside one of the other employees in Iris at the zoo.
Piecing together the answers
This wasn’t easy, but as it turns out, Ruby shooting Officer Hooper was actually useful in resolving the case. Sometimes, getting stung with a dart doesn’t mean you are poisoned immediately. It takes some time. This was actually set up by someone within the zoo, and someone who planned this out as meticulously as possible. Dylan’s story about the snake and Xander wasn’t entirely accurate — Xander was responsible for the death of the zookeeper’s brother many years ago, and he eventually came to Saint Marie and take a job at the zoo in order to plot out revenge.
Theo, of course, thought he had it all figured out given that so many people in Xander’s own family had clearer motives for killing him and his past was buried deep — yet, the truth with Death in Paradise always comes out.
CarterMatt Verdict
Tonight’s new episode did feature a fascinating mystery that made use of a unique setting, and also some fun guest stars including Call the Midwife alum Charlotte Ritchie as Iris. We do think that Ruby’s enthusiasm may be an acquired taste for some, but we rather like seeing someone this enthusiastic about their job!
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