As Whitstable Pearl season 2 lands, here’s a handy season 1 recap of everything you need to remember about the Acorn TV show.
Whitstable Pearl follows a restaurant owner named Pearl as she gets swept into becoming an amateur detective.
So, what happened in season 1? How did the first series end?
Everything you need to know!
Whitstable Pearl season 1 recap: How did the show start?
The first episode began with Pearl Nolan (Kerry Godliman) on her boat on the Kent coast, but it quickly became clear that this was not a normal boat ride.
Restaurateur Pearl called out for oyster fisherman and friend Vinnie – to no answer. She pulled the anchor and chain on another boat, and she revealed poor Vinnie’s body!
DCI Mike McGuire arrived on the scene and questioned Pearl about the body of Vinnie Row.
While all of the fisherman’s friends thought that it was an accident, Pearl didn’t. And some flashbacks gave us a clue as to why that was.
Pearl recalled Vinnie worrying about money, and a voice saying: “I’m Stroud and he owes me money.”
Pearl arrived home to her mother Dolly and son Charlie and it was revealed that Pearl wasn’t just out on her boat looking for her oyster delivery, but that someone had hired her to look into Vinnie.
When Stroud turned up dead, the whole investigation turned lopsided.
One of Pearl’s employees Ruby revealed that her boyfriend Max was involved.
Mixed up in a drug-dealing scheme, Max killed Vinnie over money. Max’s father, Arzeni, killed Stroud to try and protect Max.
Upon discovering all of this, Pearl is nearly killed by Max herself! But Arzeni stopped his son just in time.
What happened between Pearl and Mike?
From the very first episode of the Acorn TV show, there was chemistry between Pearl and Mike!
At the end of the first episode, the two sat on the beach and it seemed like romance could blossom between the two of them.
In the second episode, Pearl and Mike did agree to meet for a drink. But just before heading into the bar, we saw Mike panic and stand Pearl up for their drink.
At the end of the third episode, they finally got that drink and Pearl opened up about the loss of her father.
But Pearl cheekily left and texted Mike “revenge” for standing her up.
In the bar, Mike recognised a picture of Dolly and Vinnie on it.
He ripped the part of the photo with Dolly on it – after it was revealed that she and Vinnie possibly had a past.
Whitstable Pearl season 1 recap: Everything we learned about Mike’s dark past…
We knew that Mike suddenly left London and wasn’t all that happy with his move to a small town.
But, in episode four we finally learnt that Mike had a dark past when he received a call from a woman who talked about the death of his wife and that Mike should visit her grave.
Pearl could tell Mike seemed to be in a bad way over the call but he was reluctant to let her help him.
Pearl later invited Mike to her Christmas party and Mike turned up – much to Pearl’s appreciation.
In the episode, when Pearl invited him to her New Year’s Eve party, he finally opened up that his wife was an introvert and he wasn’t used to going to parties.
Pearl promised the only things her parties have are heavy drinking, and he should come.
And at the party, we finally saw the first kiss between Mike and Pearl! Under the New Year’s fireworks, they shared a romantic and pretty cinematic kiss.
Read more: Whitstable Pearl series 2: Everything we know as it’s confirmed by Acorn TV
How did series one end?
In the last episode, when everything seemed to finally go well for Pearl and Mike, it all took a turn.
Mike was called to the discovery of a body that the police believe has been there for 30 years – the body was Pearl’s father, Flash.
Mike admitted to Pearl that he took that photo of Vinnie and Dolly from the bar and thought there could be something to it.
Pearl was understandably upset and believed that her mother had nothing to do with her father’s death.
But when others in the town began reliving their memories of Pearl’s father, she realised she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did.
A former member of Flash’s crew, nicknamed Stanley the Giant, implied that Flash was involved with drug smuggling just like he and Vinnie were.
Mike couldn’t help but investigate further and discovered that Flash had beaten Dolly more than once, but Dolly never pressed charges.
He theorised that Dolly might have killed him in self-defence and hid his body in the water.
Mike got a warrant to search an old beach house that Dolly owned, expecting to find a murder weapon, but they discovered Flash’s suicide note.
Flash admitted to being a bad husband but hoped he was a good father. His dying wish was for Pearl to be protected from knowing he killed himself.
Mike cleared Dolly of any wrongdoing and Pearl thanked him.
As the episode ended, it was unclear if they were going to continue their romance after all the drama.
Will Pearl and Mike get together in season 2? We hope so…
Whitstable Pearl season 2 episodes 1 and 2 are currently available to watch on Acorn TV.
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