Aahana Swrup
‘Get Millie Black’ is a crime drama show that follows the story of the titular Millie-Jean Black, a police officer who works in missing person cases in Jamaica. However, she had started out her law enforcement career in London’s Scotland Yard, which she abandoned under intriguing circumstances. Now, as she and her partner, Curtis, take on the case of 16-year-old Janet Fenton’s disappearance, her past returns in the form of Luke Holborn, a decorated Scotland Yard detective whose case seems to be somehow connected to Millie’s investigation. Consequently, before she knows it, Millie finds herself pursuing a web of complications that threaten to unravel her own life. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Millie-Jean Black’s Return to Jamaica
Millie-Jean Black grew up under an abusive mother who hated her son, Orville, for his inclination toward femininity. After her physical abuse toward her kid continued, Millie eventually snapped and shoved her mother to the wall. Soon after, Millie was shipped off to live with her relatives in London, with all communications cut between her and Orville. Years later, her mother contacted her to share the compassionless news of Orville’s death. Inevitably, Millie blamed herself for not being there for her brother and allowed his ghost to settle on her back permanently. Consequently, she grew up to be a cop and started working cases revolving around missing children or those in abusive households.
In a way, Millie dedicated her career to the regrets she continues holding about being unable to save Orville. However, once her mother dies, a startling revelation arrives in the form of Orville’s signatures on the death certificate. Thus, the cop’s world turns upside down as she realizes she never actually lost her sibling. The same, paired with yet undisclosed circumstances surrounding her job, pushed Millie to return to Jamaica. Yet, even with the change of scenery, she continues seeking out cases revolving around missing kids, unable to fully shake off her brother’s ghost. Thus, one fateful day brings her and her partner, Curtis, the missing person case of Janet Fenton.
A Trip to The Hot Pinky Club With Hibuscus
The first peculiar thing about Janet’s disappearance is that instead of her mother, it’s the girl’s teacher, Sister Agatha, who files a complaint with the police. Janet is a straight-A student who works with underprivileged kids in outreach programs. However, as Millie and Curtis pay her home a visit, it becomes evident that her mother is a deadbeat who expects her teenager to pay off the bills. After a sweep through Janet’s bedroom, Millie finds a business card for the Hot Pinky strip club, which instantly becomes the cop duo’s next stop.
However, Millie must stop by the lockup to pick up her sibling, Hibiscus, before she can investigate the club. Hibiscus—known as Orville before her transition—is Millie’s transgender sister. The reason Millie’s mother had told her about her sibling’s death was because she saw Hibiscus’ transition as the death of her son in her hateful and prejudiced ideology. As a result, Hibiscus was forced to live on her own from a young age in the Gully, where the bulk of the city’s transgender population resided. Over the years, she has taken to sex work, which often lands her in violent altercations with transphobes and legal trouble with the police.
Furthermore, due to their taut past, Hibiscus and Millie’s relationship remains terse despite the latter’s best efforts. For the same reason, the younger sister continues to live in the Gully even after Millie’s return, refusing to step foot in their mother’s house ever again. However, now whenever Hibiscus finds herself in legal trouble, her sister is there to bail her out. After picking her up from jail, Millie tries to keep an eye on the Hibuscus by taking her along for the ride to the Hot Pinky Club. Nonetheless, as she and Curtis begin questioning the club’s owner, Alicia Bonnet, Hibiscus manages to slip away.
Still, their trip to the club proves to be productive. Although Alicia remains tight-lipped about Janet, Miliie learns from one of the other employees that Janet has been coming to the club with her apparent boyfriend, Freddie Somerville. Belonging to one of the richest white families in town, Freddie is known for his propensity for young, underage girls. Yet, due to his family’s influence, he has never faced any consequences for his actions. Later, Corsica—a recent ex-inmate from a London prison—and his gang come looking for Freddie at the club. Thus, it remains evident that whatever hole Freddie has dug himself—and Janet—into, it promises grave consequences.
The Scotland Yard is Also After Freddie
Millie and Curtis’ investigation—which includes an unwelcomed pitstop at the Sommerville estate—reveals certain new leads in the case. As the cops discover, Janet and Freddie had visited a children’s clothing boutique a while ago. This compels Millie to wonder if Janet could possibly be pregnant. Nonetheless, once they ask around at the boutique, they learn that the couple had bought clothes for an eight to ten-year-old child. Things get further complicated once they learn that a dead body has been found in Freddie’s house. The head investigator on the scene draws up conclusions about a robbery gone wrong, resulting in Freddie’s death.
Yet, Millie holds a different opinion. The dead body remains unrecognizable due to a mangled face. Still, Millie spots signs of choking on the victim, which paints a conflicting picture with the signs of an armed altercation. Additionally, the dead body sports no piercing as opposed to Freddie’s pierced ears. As Scotland Yard’s Holborn enters the scene, he takes an interest in Millie’s opinion. As such, she shares her conclusion that Freddie must have fought back against his perpetrator and killed him before fleeing the premises.
Luke reveals that he’s in Jamaica in search of Freddie but refuses to share any other information about his UK-based case. Millie knows Luke isn’t likely to prioritize Janet’s disappearance in his hunt after Freddie. Likewise, whoever has a hit out on the man wouldn’t think twice about killing a teenage girl. Therefore, Millie and Curtis find themselves in a race against the Scotland Yard and an unknown gang to get to Freddie first.
A Showdown at Freddie’s Hideout
While the police investigate the attack at Freddie’s house, Alicia orders her men to follow Corsica around in an investigation of her own. Consequently, she learns that Freddie might be hiding away in the hills. Playing a covert game of her own, she shares the information with Millie. After some detective work, Millie and Curtis learn that Freddie owns some properties under a different name, Carson Wray—his middle name and mother’s maiden name. Luckily enough, one of those properties is in the hills. As such, the duo rushes to the address and calls for some backup.
However, instead of waiting for the backup, Millie insists on checking out the house with just Curtis, unwilling to waste more time. Initially, the house seems to stand empty without any lights on inside. Nonetheless, eventually, Janet—who has been hiding in the shadows so far—tries to make a run for the front door and gets caught by Curtis. Thus, the cops discover that Janet had run away with Freddie on purpose and is refusing to cooperate with the authorities. Yet, the same becomes the least of their worries soon enough when a gang surrounds the house and opens fire.
As bullets fly through the windows, Millie, Curtis, and Janet crouch for cover. Eventually, a man enters the house’s gates, earning clear vantage points at his targets. Although the newcomer sets his sights on Curtis, Millie saves her partner by firing at the intruder first. Still, Curtis has caught some other stray bullet, which brings him to the dangerous precipice of death.
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