Question L

[Jonetta]

The abductor decides to kidnap Morgan to bargain for getting Chelsea back but is thwarted in his efforts when he grabs Sophie. Your thoughts about that scene? Who did you think he was at that time?

[Robin]

I thought the person who broke into the house was Harold Burns. I wasn't sure if he was aiming to take Morgan or one of her daughters. But I didn't think Harold was the kidnapper. I thought that was his brother, Jerry.

[Jonetta]

I was almost 100% certain it was Harold Burns. That scene was frightening because Sophie was in it and it was clear she was expendable.

I actually didn’t suspect Jerry of anything at this point.

[Sharon]

I agree. I was focused on Harold. I was so afraid for Sophia and the damage it would do to Morgan. This was a nail-bitter for me.

[Lauren]

This scene did not make sense. The abductor was fixated on Chelsea, so going after Morgan was inconsistent with his characterization. It feels as if Leigh added it to increase Morgan's involvement in the case. It would have made more sense if he had tried to take Chelsea and Bella.

In terms of Burns being the intruder, he was not high on my list of suspects as Chelsea's abductor, so I didn't think it was him. Burns is just not the type of man who would want to retrain a woman to love him. He is a rapist and a killer, not a collector.

[Charlene]

I hadn't gotten around to realizing that Burns wasn't Chelsea's abductor, so I thought it was him. He certainly was portrayed as a guy who could abduct one woman to force her to turn over Chelsea, and to be a proficient housebreaker.

[Lauren]

Another clue for me that this wasn't Burns was the expertise needed to break into the house with a sophisticated wifi security system. There was no information about Burns having these skill or even breaking into houses. This solidified my belief that it was Elliot whose a software engineer. I guess Derek has similar skills.

[Jonetta]

Lauren wrote: "This scene did not make sense. The abductor was fixated on Chelsea, so going after Morgan was inconsistent with his characterization. It feels as if Leigh added it to increase Morgan's involvement in the case. It would have made more sense if he had tried to take Chelsea and Bella...."

I thought he only went after Morgan because he couldn't get to Chelsea (she was being guarded) and thought he could use her to get to Chelsea.

[Sharon]

Yes, I thought he was going to use Chelsea as a bargaining tool.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "I thought he only went after Morgan because he couldn't get to Chelsea (she was being guarded) and thought he could use her to get to Chelsea..."

That is how it is explained. But, it is a pretty big leap in logic that taking Morgan would get him into Chelsea's house. He managed to bypass a sophisticated security system but couldn't sneak by a deputy in a car? This requires too much suspension of disbelief for me.

[Lauren]

Sharon wrote: "Yes, I thought he was going to use Chelsea as a bargaining tool."

The logistics of this decision are problematic. How exactly was he going to use Morgan to get at Chelsea? Call Chelsea and tell her to come out or he would kill Morgan? Why would Chelsea be willing to sacrifice herself for a woman she barely knows?

[Sharon]

I'm not sure exactly. My guess is his plan was to kill Morgan then tell Chelsea this will happen to your family if you don't come back to me.

[Lauren]

Perhaps he just wasn't thinking logically at this point. He had obviously lost the plot early on and Chelsea's escape only made it worse.