Sumith Prasad
Based on the novels of Louise Penny, Amazon Prime Video’s mystery series ‘Three Pines’ revolves around Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who sets out to find Blue Two-Rivers, a girl belonging to an indigenous community who has gone missing for more than a year. While Gamache attempts to unravel the mystery behind Blue’s disappearance, he gets assigned to investigate the death of CC de Poitiers, a writer who gets electrocuted in a village named Three Pines.
The first and second episodes of the show, titled ‘White Out – Part 1’ and ‘White Out – Part 2,’ revolves around Gamache’s investigation into CC’s case, which soon becomes a murder investigation. The second episode of the show culminates in a series of jaw-dropping reveals. We break down all the major developments for you! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Three Pines Episode 1 and 2 Recap
‘White Out – Part 1’ begins with Missy Two-Rivers, the mother of Blue, leading a protest against the Québec police force for not finding her daughter. Gamache intervenes and promises to help them in any way he can. Using his resources, he finds out that Blue was last seen with her boyfriend Tommy Kis, and Tommy’s brother Kevin. Gamache asks his friend Pierre Arnot to run the registration number of the vehicle they used to discover the girl for the Two-Rivers family. Meanwhile, in Three Pines, CC de Poitiers cheats on her husband Richard Lyon with her photographer Saul Petrov. CC and Richard’s troubled marriage affects their daughter Crie.
During a curling match that happens in the village, CC sits on a chair by a heater. When she removes her gloves and touches the chair with bare hands, CC gets electrocuted and dies. Gamache’s superior assigns the investigation of the writer’s death to him, who rushes to the village along with his subordinates Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste. The trio collaborates with local police officer Yvette Nichol. After a round of questioning, Gamache realizes that each and every villager in Three Pines had a problem with CC and her behavior, which makes him consider them suspects.
Pierre reaches out to Gamache and lets the latter know that somebody has posted a photograph that features Blue a few weeks ago, indicating that she is seemingly alive. The chief inspector meets Blue’s family and shows the photograph but they believe that Blue is dead because she would have called them someway if she was alive. They also show him a denim jacket Blue had, which also resembles the jacket she wore in the photograph. ‘White Out – Part 2’ begins with a flashback that depicts how CC killed her mother Eleanor for torturing her.
In the present time, Nichol finds out that CC’s husband Richard is an electric expert, which leads Gamache to suspect him. The chief inspector interrogates him and even finds out that the husband knew about his wife’s affair with Saul. Jean-Guy Beauvoir, who has been observing Saul, witnesses the photographer trying to burn a hard drive but Gamache concludes that he loves CC enough to not kill her. Nichol makes a breakthrough in the case by finding out that CC is related to Emilie Longpré, who reveals to Gamache that she is CC’s aunt and Eleanor’s sister.
Three Pines Episode 2 Ending: Does Crie Really Kill CC? Why?
After suspecting Emilie to be the killer, Gamache goes to her house to interrogate her, only to realize that she had run away after recording a confession. Gamache plays the video and listens to Emilie saying how she put niacin in CC’s coffee and set up the “electric chair” to kill her niece. Although Gamache believes her words at first, he understands that he made a mistake after seeing CC’s boots. In her confession, Emilie doesn’t mention anything about the rubber-less boots, which are an integral part of the murderer’s plan. Without the boots, CC wouldn’t have gotten electrocuted and died.
Thus, Gamache concludes that Emilie is confessing to the crime for a loved one who was able to make sure that CC wore the specific type of boots, which leads him to Crie. After losing almost all her family members, all Emilie has left in the world is her sister’s granddaughter. She even chose to not retaliate against CC’s vicious actions fearing she will move from Three Pines with her daughter, separating Crie from Emilie. When Gamache meets Crie, the latter realizes that there isn’t anywhere to hide. As far as Crie is concerned, CC is nothing but the destroyer of her family.
When Crie’s father Richard was suffering enough for the survival of their family, CC was being selfish and has been having an affair with Saul. CC never cared about Crie or Richard and hasn’t done anything for the betterment of their family. Even on the occasion of Christmas, all Crie sees is her mother causing a fight as she chooses to spend her day with her lover rather than with her or her father. As a daughter who loves her father, CC’s actions infuriate her so much that she eventually becomes her mother’s killer. Crie repeats what CC did to her mother for making the writer’s childhood a miserable one.
Why Does Missy Kill Herself?
After Gamache starts investigating Blue’s missing case, he makes commendable progress. He not only finds a photograph to prove that Blue is alive but also garners a report made by a police officer who saw Blue alive with Tommy. After garnering the evidence, he gets forced to close the missing case. Even then, Missy believes that her daughter is dead. She unflinchingly stands by her belief that her daughter would have called her if she is alive. When the investigation comes to an end, she kills herself by jumping from the terrace of the police headquarters.
Missy must have killed herself to pressurize the police force to conduct a better investigation to find out what really happened to Blue. She must have realized that protests aren’t going to change how the system works, especially when the victim belongs to an indigenous community. Missy may have thought that her death will make the police force more accountable and answerable to the public and her community. She most likely knows that her death would turn the attention of the media to the officers, who will have no other choice than to investigate the case fairly and satisfactorily.
If that’s not the case, Missy must have confronted the possible truth Gamache explains to her. She must have stooped to distress when she likely starts to believe that Blue ran away from her and doesn’t want to return to her. As a mother, the last thing Missy wants to know is her daughter had sought an escape from her. After enduring the emotional turmoil caused by Blue’s disappearance for more than thirteen months, the possibility of her daughter severing all the ties between them may have led Missy to kill herself in distress.
Read More: Where is Three Pines Filmed?
