You've heard, I'm sure, of the twelve gun salute. Hunter got the one gun salute right in the forehead. Harper's Island may be the funnest hour of television I watch each week, and that's saying something. As usual it's our turn to play amateur sleuths - emphasis on the amateur - and to speculate about "Who is the killer?"

The way of the gun proved very important in Episode 3, with the stable-boy-turned-fiance Henry losing a shooting competition to Mr. Wellington before Hunter opened up a Jack in the Box from Hell. Were the two gun stories related? That would seem to come down to how you interpreted the end of the not-so-sportsmanlike game.


Did Henry miss the last two shots on purpose during his clay pigeon shooting competition with Mr. Wellington? Presumably. Sure, Richard had to be getting under his skin by putting the new son-in-law's acceptance by the family at stake. I'm sure most people would have been uncomfortable. But Henry may have thrown the competition to cover up how comfortable he is with a gun.

It's exactly the sort of moment that could be played back later in a typical Agatha Christie speech. You know, the one where Hercule Poirot (or Angela Lansbury, David Tennant or Thelma from Scooby Doo channeling Poirot) tells us that they were thrown at first because the priest said he was allergic to horses but then he realized that the horse used in the murder was a very rare hypoallergenic breed.

Using the same logic, though, of starting with a Poirot speech and working backwards, maybe the reason Henry had to booby trap the shotgun was because he knew from experience that when he gets nervous his hands shake and he can't hit a target accurately. What about that?

If Henry is the killer it's no surprise to me. Last week BuddyTV writer John Kubicek speculated that it was Henry and Jimmy working together, though. So where was Jimmy in Episode 3? Does his absence suggest he's not so central after all? Or was he working behind the scenes, injecting Kelly with red ink and leaving a note for the Sheriff?

If Jimmy were simply unimportant to this leg of the story his scarceness would never be mentioned again. But here's why it will be mentioned. Shane spent the whole episode trying to kill someone and he ended up in jail. As soon as Jimmy comes to see him in prison Shane is going to ask, "Where were you when I needed you, man?" Something tells me Jimmy may not have a very good answer.

Some (and by 'some' I mean that great polling of the nation known as the water cooler conversation at work) have suggested that Chloe and Cal could be the killers. As I diplomatically told my coworkers, "Ha! Yeah, right!" Chloe and Cal may be a natural team but they're not killers.

Chloe is one of the most crush worthy women on television at the moment. She's loyal to Cal, she's honest enough to admit she's got an unhealthy obsession with violent crimes, and she looks like a romanticist painter's muse reincarnated as a Valley Girl. She's awesome. Cal is just as winning in a dude kind of way, admitting that he thinks the main reason she's attracted to him is because of his accent and that he's scared every day she'll meet a cooler Englishman.

They're two of the most likable characters on television right now. That means they're dinner. They're absolutely locks to die, and I'll hate it when they do, just like I hate it when the likable characters in every horror movie die. That's one of the things that pisses me off about horror movies. But they're definitely begging to be skewered late in the series.

I'm sure you, our BuddyTV readers, must have your own theories so I'm issuing a call for submissions. Comment below and tell us who you believe the killer is and why. We'll run the best in an article next week.



-Henry Jenkins, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)|