Fly, Little Bird
Episode 7 of Good Morning Veronica begins with Veronica racing up to find her Dad after the incident at her house. There, she sees first-hand the cigarette burn on Julio’s hand. Realizing that someone was there before her, Veronica wonders whether it may be Anita. This inevitably brings her to Carvana who gives her a “get out of jail free” card. This comes in the form of a trip away with her family. Veronica has a trump card of her own, including the recording of his conversation with Anita and refuses to leave despite the rising heat around her. Back home Veronica breaks the news to her expectant family, sending them away while she stays behind. Paulo is not happy and he struggles to compose himself in the wake of how selfish she’s being. Veronica bites back, telling him she’s doing this for their own protection. She wants them to go to the airport and pick a different location to cover their tracks. After saying their goodbyes, Veronica is left alone to face this threat. Speaking of alone, Janete stands up to Claudio and tells him she doesn’t want to go out again. She also presents the pictures she found to him, confronting the man outright about his past and just why he’s been hurting all those girls. Defiantly telling her he’s nothing like his Father, Janete’s urgent and panic tone raises his suspicions that she may be talking to someone else. As things turn heated, she admits to being pregnant. On the back of this bombshell reveal, Claudio promises not to hurt the girls anymore. Veronica also learns about Janete’s pregnancy but she doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore. She vows to tell Claudio they’ve been talking and walks away. If things couldn’t get worse for Veronica – think again. Nelson heads over later that day and reveals some disturbing news about Tania. She’s dead. Her death has been declared a suicide but Veronica knows there’s more going on here. At the station, she brushes aside Anita’s cold greeting and starts sifting through files in her office. There, she finds numerous pictures taken as surveillance against her. It looks like she’s been watched for a long time. As she keeps digging, she also finds pictures of Anita as a child. Veronica heads up to a local sanctuary that used to take in kids from the street. She shows the woman there pictures of Anita as a child and asks if she recognizes her. Old shifty-eyes is clearly frazzled and shuts the door on Veronica. Well, we’ll take that as a yes then. This inevitably leads Veronica back to her Father’s final case, determined to see if there’s a link between Anita and Julio Torres. Given the painful memories this digs up, Veronica struggles to maintain a level heading in the case. Eventually this leads her back to Prata who confirms her own suspicions. Carvana covered for Julio, pretending he was dead to protect him from the powers that be. Those powers seemingly including Anita. Anita appears to have been planted in the police station by this higher group, groomed from a young age for a specific purpose that – as of yet – is still unknown. Given Prata was still kicking in the station back then, Veronica comments how it’s a little suspect that he’s unscathed from what happened to Julio. Prata simply shrugs, telling her ignorance is sometimes best. Meanwhile, Janete presses Claudio to find out more about the box on her head. It turns out this is a way of “protecting” her from what he does. When Claudio leaves for the day, Janete uses her wits to hide from the cameras. She phones Nice, asking her how Mum is. She doesn’t have a lot to report but signs off with “May God protect your child.” Well God seemingly sends a sign for her. This comes in the form of a vial of poison in the bins with a sign reading “Protect your child”. Back inside the house, Claudio has a surprise for her. He’s made a crib for their baby in the workshop. Interestingly, the camera is framed in such a way to show the tools behind her hanging up – juxtaposing the violence with this single ray of hope. Unfortunately this isn’t enough for Claudio to change his mind about hurting young girls. He tells Janete to get dressed and ignores her pleas to stop. With Claudio out and grabbing the girl like before, Janete seizes her opportunity and puts the poison inside a bubbling kettle. Only, this poison is drunk by the old woman outside who happens to be Claudio’s Grandmother. In horror, Claudio is forced to watch his own flesh and blood die before his eyes. Claudio is beside himself with grief-stricken anger and he heads back to the basement. He finds Janete helping the poor girl and the empty poison vial too. Putting two and two together, Claudio handcuffs his wife to the chair, puts the box back on her head and sets the girl alight. As she burns, Claudio watches his wife burn alive. Good grief.
The Episode Review
Poor Janete, there really is no justice for her here. After all that effort across the season, she’s killed off in the most tragic and horrific way. This is a bit of a shame to be honest as I personally feel like the story would have been more impactful had she learned to overcome Claudio’s control and stand tall. Instead, we’re now left with a ticking time-bomb situation with Veronica. Claudio seemingly knows who she is as well but thankfully her family are out of harm’s way. What will Veronica do when she learns Janete has died? We’ll have to wait and see but the finale has certainly raised the stakes here.
