Taking nothing away from what makes Motive such a compelling show—the crime and the guest stars—but so far it’s been the Season 3 relationship twist that has been entertaining me the most.
Heck yes I was thrilled to see Ally Sheedy and Bonnie Somerville in “Calling the Shots,” battling toe-to-toe over money invested in a Ponzi scheme that led to murder. Did I have a crush on both at points in my life? Why yes I did. (I still miss Somerville’s Kitchen Confidential.) Having Sheedy play Stephanie Carson, an uptight mom who viewed the death of Somerville’s Erica Gray as not only dispatching a rat but also helping further her own daughter’s chances at scoring a gymnastics scholarship? Immensely entertaining.
But it was the relationship between Angie, Lucas, Vega and Betty that had me grinning with pleasure the most. And why not, thanks to back-and-forth conversations like the following?
“The proof is in the pudding,” Vega opined to Angie upon learning a prison inmate was killed over the creamy dessert.
“The plot thickens,” Angie shot right back.
And later, during the murder investigation and subsequent clearing of a virgin who Erica had given the bum’s rush to meet with Stephanie:Â “Are you ready for this? They had rhubarb pie and watched Doctor Who,” Vega exclaimed to his partner. It’s exactly that witty dialogue that sets Motive apart from other shows in the genre and keeps me tuning in.
The cherry on top of this Sunday night confection is Lucas. It’s only taken the rookie detective six months to go from babbling young cop to confident crime-solver—four solves in four cases—something that has put Angie on her heels. She’s used to being the lead and not having to clear anything with Lucas. But now she has to, and it’s definitely going to be a learning curve. I hope her education continues so that we get more awkward morgue scenes between the four like we did this week.
Motive airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.
