Tell Me a Story – Ever After

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

After shooting Detective Chapman (Jeff Benninghofen), Olivia (Danielle Campbell) texts Chapman’s police companion that he’s just interrogated Tucker Reed (Paul Wesley) and now has a wild goose to chase. She then informs Tucker that the police came over and starts showering bullets through the door. One of them hits Tucker. He blocks the door with furniture while Maddie (Odette Annable), who has finally managed to unlock her handcuffs, drugs Olivia by jamming a syringe into her arm. She then tries thinking of an escape route, but gets continually distrupted by Tucker. She drugs him, too. While burying Ron’s body in the woods, Derek (Christopher Meyer) receives a call from Simone (Ashley Madekwe). She reveals how Ron stole Cora’s hard drive and jewelry. Now she hopes that the police consider it as evidence. Derek encourages her to tell the whole story— right from the alibi to the air vent and promises to support her. Simone looks stunned. How did he know about the vent?

Ashley (Natalie Alyn Lind) is getting ready for her come-back performance. Her regular gorgeous ensembles don’t speak to her anymore and upon Rebecca’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) suggestion she changes into something from her own closet. Both are worried about Maddie as she has been unreachable for hours. Rebecca gifts Robbie’s mended guitar to Ashley who wells up with joy and hugs her. Officially back on patrol duty, Beau (Eka Darville) drops by Gwen’s (Felisha Terrell) office and realizes how thrilled she is for him. Their conversation segues into Ashley’s bomber getting arrested. With the police still unclear about a motive and the prime suspect denying all the pressed charges, Beau wonders if he even is real culprit. After saving an X-ray image on her phone, Taylor (Audrey Corsa) is about to leave for Ashley’s concert when Donna (Karina Logue) stops her. She doesn’t want her daughter to get into trouble and considers harming Ashley unnecessary. Taylor; however, wants the Pruitts to pay for what they did. As her last resort, Donna stands in her way with scissors. Taylor pushes her in retaliation causing Donna to get impaled and die.

Jackson (Matt Lauria) gets home. Simone is there. She helplessly reveals about Derek being the real murderer and how he might be chasing her as they speak. Jackson asks her to stay calm and quickly receives a call from his mom. It’s about Maddie’s whereabouts. Jackson says that he has no idea and hangs up. Upon returning he finds Simone gone. However, Derek appears from nowhere and punches Jackson in the face. Tucker regains consciousness and asks Maddie to allow him to help her smash the window. He is scared that Olivia will be up any minute now and that sooner or later she will oust both to the police. Maddie refuses to trust him, especially after everything he has done. Olivia wakes up and finds gasoline in the basement. After packing her bombing equipment in a backpack, Taylor gets to the theatre donning a fake arm cast. She beeps her way through the metal detector and blames the metal pins in her arm. As planned, she flashes the X-Ray photo. Taylor gains entry. She rushes to the utilities section and plants the bomb in the main electrical board.

Simone meets Veronica (Garcelle Beauvais) and tells her the truth about Derek. Veronica doesn’t believe a word she says and swears to hand her over to the police. Simone stresses that Derek’s anger from being belittled since childhood has now manifested in this murderous way.  Meanwhile, Derek calls Simone and asks her to meet him at the distillery where Jackson has been held hostage. Beau meets Ashley backstage and gives her a rose. She is ready but is feeling like a fraud hiding behind the mask, especially as her song is about fearlessness. Beau encourages her to take it off as her scars are a mark of strength and that they make her more beautiful. Ashley takes it off. Beau caresses the scar and they kiss. Simone reaches the distillery and finds Jackson being held at gunpoint. She begs Derek to drop the gun, but he is in no mood to negotiate. He wishes that he, Veronica and Simone would have been a family but instead Simone ran away. Derek is about to kill Jackson when Veronica enters the scene shocked. She feels worse upon learning that Derek gives her as the reason behind all his evil deeds— killing Frank as he never would’ve left her anything, killing Cora as she’d ruin her, and killing Ron as he was a heartless son. Veronica forgives Derek and asks him to hand over the gun to her. He does. Veronica aims at Simone and immediately fires towards Derek. She calls 911 and signals Simone to move Jackson from there. Derek is flabbergasted at the turn of events.

Maddie’s struggling to crack open the window. The gasoline has starting to leak into the basement. Olivia comes downstairs and pours it all over the basement, too. To calm her down Tucker admits that they’re the same. Olivia denies his statement and thanks him for letting her embrace this homicidal side of hers. She soon sets the floor ablaze. Maddie manages to break the window and leaps out with Tucker’s help. However, when she extends her hand to help him Olivia grabs her from behind and takes her to the docks while Tucker struggles to escape, all on his own. Olivia wants to pay a befitting tribute to the Anna’s horrific death and pushes Maddie into the water. Maddie pulls her in, too. They fight underwater while Tucker screams Maddie’s name from the docks. Olivia grasps his collar and pulls him inside where they fight until they collapse. Maddie manically searches for Tucker and manages to drag his unconscious body to the docks where she performs CPR on him and then calls 911.

Ashley’s performance is underway. Rebecca is proud of her daughter who is killing it on the stage amidst an equally supportive crowd! Beau, who is keeping a close watch from the audience, spots Taylor. He immediately alerts Jeff (Tom O’Connell) to get Ashley off the stage. Taylor notices Beau and activates the bomb from her phone which sets the electrical board on fire. In no time the lights go out and panic breaks loose. She attacks Beau and runs away with his service gun. Jeff escorts Ashley and Rebecca to a safe location, but before they can reach their car Taylor guns down Jeff and orders the Pruitts to follow her. While Beau commands security to block all exits, Ashley leaves a rose trail while following Taylor. Beau finds Jeff’s body, picks up his gun and starts following the trail. Taylor makes a stop. She blames Ashley for being born with a silver spoon, especially when she was the rightful heir to all the Pruitts’ riches. Rebecca realizes that she’s Taylor Conroy…Robbie and Donna’s daughter. Taylor feels cursed to have had such a mess of a mother and to have grown up with absolutely nothing while Ashley grew up with everything! Just as she’s about to shoot Ashley we see Beau come in and fire a bullet at Taylor. There‘s an exchange of bullets. Taylor dies and Beau gets gravely injured. He is rushed to the hospital. Maddie is there, too. She’s weeping for Tucker who will probably be in a permanent vegetative state.

Meanwhile, Derek gets arrested. Veronica decides to put the entire distillery business in Simone’s name just as Frank mentioned in the original trust. Simone is thankful. Soon Jackson asks her to listen to a message he sent while being held hostage by Derek. Simone listens and realizes that he confessed his love for her. She does the same and they kiss. Then, Jackson gets a call from his mom. He learns about Ashley and Maddie and rushes to the hospital. The siblings share a hug. Ashley goes to meet Beau who’s just regained consciousness. They talk about him returning to NPD and really wanting to make that date happen. Ashley blushes. Maddie visits Tucker who is in a coma. The news is covering Tucker’s story and how, after having found two bodies buried under a rose garden, they’re searching for Olivia Moon. Maddie is amused to find a familiar rose bouquet next to Tucker.

According to the nurse a woman left them this morning. It is none other than Olivia! We get to see her and Reba, both hale and hearty driving out of Nashville, while poor Tucker remains stuck in a never-ending nightmare of being pulled apart by the corpses under the rose gardens.