The TV series Troppo Season 1 is set in the wild nature of a small town in North Queensland, where the wildlife is the heart of the town. Tourists come all year round to see the crocodile-filled lakes, and enjoy watching the animals in their natural habitat. One day, while tourists were watching the crocodiles in the lake, a man named Lars suddenly appeared from the forest with his dog and called for help on a tourist boat to take him in. Before the boat could reach him, he jumped into the crocodile-filled lake and was eaten by one of the crocodiles before everyone’s eyes. Most people, even the authorities, stated it was a suicide. However, a private investigator named Amanda believed it couldn’t have been a suicide. Soon after this incident, another man named Jong Park went missing. No one knew if he was killed by crocodiles or murdered. His wife, Yoon Sun, hired Amanda to solve the mystery. Amanda asked for help from Ted Conkaffey, an ex-cop, to solve these cases. But the problem is that both Amanda and Ted have dark pasts and have been accused of serious crimes. In spite of that, together, Amanda and Ted start investigating to uncover the truth behind these strange incidents. Will Amanda and Ted be able to solve the case? The investigation is tough, and their pasts make it even harder. The answers to these questions unfold in this recap of Troppo Season 1.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Amanda and Ted join forces?
Before explaining how they joined forces, let’s first get to know the detectives. Amanda was working as a private investigator, but her past was dark. The townspeople detested her and called her a murderer, and while it might not be immediately clear why, the story eventually reveals the reason behind their harsh treatment. When she was 17, she went to prison for murdering her schoolmate, Lauren, who was the same age as her and was an athlete. One night, at a party, Amanda stabbed Lauren twelve times in the back of a rusty car in the middle of a forest. She served her time, but the whole town never forgave her. By now, Amanda had grown a thick skin to cope with the constant hatred. She shaved her head and covered her body with tattoos to inflict pain on herself every day for what she did. It felt like not only the townspeople, but she herself never really got over her dark past. She had no one except Lars, his wife, and his dog, and she often crashed at their house. When Lars died in a crocodile attack, she was devastated and couldn’t believe it. She knew Lars well and was sure he would never commit suicide, which made it especially difficult for her to cope with his death.
Meanwhile, Amanda met Ted Conkaffey at a vet clinic when he came there to treat a hurt goose. She noticed a licensed gun in his pocket and realized he might be a cop. But in their town, there were no job openings for cops, so she knew he was likely in hiding. As Amanda got to know him, she learned that Ted had been in jail for abducting and sexually assaulting a little girl named Claire Bingley. Even though the police let him go due to lack of evidence, Ted wanted the case to go to trial to prove his innocence and clear his name, but that didn’t happen. To take some time off and be away from his daughter and wife, he moved to the small town to clear his mind. But in a town where word spreads fast, Amanda was known as a murderer, and Ted was known as a pedophile, and both were shunned and treated badly. Even the cops in the town, especially Lou Damford, were really harsh on both of them. So, you can imagine how heads turned when these two teamed up. They decided to work together when a wealthy man named Jong Park vanished, and his wife, Yoon Sun, asked Amanda to solve the mystery. Amanda thought Ted would be a good partner because of his past experience as a detective. And that’s how an ex-con and an ex-cop joined forces to solve the cases together.
What happened to Lars?
As I mentioned earlier, Amanda had always been sure from the start that Lars didn’t commit suicide. He was an honest man who truly cared for Amanda as a friend and stood by her when the whole town turned against her for the murder of Lauren. So, when she began investigating Lars’ death with Ted, she was determined to uncover the truth. While digging through Lars’ belongings, Amanda found something strange: a number scratched onto his dog Daisy’s collar. They had no idea what this number meant until they uncovered the truth. It turned out there was a man named Ezra Cole, known as Twist, who had a collection of snakes at his house. Twist used their venom for private pleasure purposes, never to drug people or sell for that matter. Lars used to work for Twist. One day, he caught a man named Bryce sneaking into Twist’s snake chamber and taking a vial of venom. Bryce was involved in smuggling and planned to sell the venom as a magical elixir to make a quick profit. Lars told Bryce to leave the vial there, but Bryce ignored him. Fearing that Lars would tell Twist about the theft, Bryce decided to take action. One day, while Lars was out in the forest, Bryce attacked him from behind and injected him with venom, which caused an overdose. Lars lost consciousness but managed to scratch the number of the missing vial onto Daisy’s collar before he faded out. Desperate for help, Lars tried to signal the tourists’ boat to take him in, but in that half-conscious state, he accidentally jumped into the crocodile-filled lake and became their feast.
What happened to Bryce?
When Amanda confronted Twist about what happened to Lars, Twist immediately knew Bryce was involved. Lars had been one of his favorite workers, and Twist wasn’t about to let Bryce get away with killing him. Twist decided to make Bryce pay for his crime. He forced Bryce to take one of the snakes out of the chamber and extract venom from it. Bryce, clearly out of his depth, got bitten by the snake in the process. Twist then made Bryce confess to the crime he committed. After Bryce’s confession, Twist left him there without any antivenom. Bryce suffered and eventually died from the snakebite, which felt like fitting payback for killing Lars.
Who killed Park?
Jong Park was a world-renowned engineer who worked with Dellagua, a private organization known for its efforts to improve the world by harvesting earth minerals, protecting wildlife, and saving marine life. Given the honorable work he was involved in, it was shocking when he disappeared one night. When he didn’t come home, people suspected he might have been having an affair with Olivia De Grandi, the head of the research and development program at Dellagua. They thought maybe he was trying to hide it from his daughter and wife. But when his body was found in the lake, it raised many questions. They initially thought he might have been eaten by the crocodiles, like Lars, but that wasn’t the case. In the forest, they found his car with “I am sorry” written in Korean on the rear window. This led them to wonder if Jong had committed suicide due to guilt. However, the autopsy revealed he was murdered before being dumped into the water. As Amanda and Ted dug deeper, they first suspected Olivia might have been involved in covering up their supposed affair. But that didn’t seem like a strong enough motive. They decided to investigate Dellagua itself and discovered the real issue.
It turned out that Jong and Olivia were not involved in an affair; they were working on a research project together. Jong had developed a prototype for mining metal deposits in the ocean. Unfortunately, their research had unintended consequences: the chemicals released were poisoning marine life. Jong tried to convince CEO Roy to stop the project, but Roy was more concerned with his reputation and profits and ignored the damage to the ocean. Jong wanted to expose this, and that might have made him a liability in Roy’s eyes. However, it turned out that Roy was not behind Jong’s murder. But that wasn’t the whole story. The real twist in the tale was that Jong Park’s death was actually an accident, and it was caused by his own daughter, Ah Rah. She was in love with a boy named Charlie, a ranger’s son. Park had always disapproved of their relationship. That night, Jong Park found his daughter Ah Rah with her boyfriend Charlie, and a fight broke out between Jong and Charlie. In a panic, Ah Rah grabbed a metal rod and hit her father from behind to protect Charlie. The blow caused Jong to bleed out and die instantly. It was a terrible accident—neither Ah Rah nor Charlie meant for this to happen.
Was Amanda Framed For Lauren’s Murder?
These weren’t the only cases solved in the series. Throughout the show, we see how Amanda had always been labeled as a murderer by the townsfolk, but the full story behind Lauren’s death is even more shocking. It turned out that Lauren was having an affair with Officer Lou Damford. On the night of the party, Lou and Lauren’s friend Brooke were also there, and Lauren and Brooke spiked Amanda’s drink with drugs as a prank for crashing their party. When Lou realized Amanda was in danger, he sent Lauren to find her. Lauren, wearing a mask to hide her identity, went to help Amanda. However, Amanda was already hallucinating and scared. Seeing Lauren in a scary mask made Amanda panic, and she stabbed Lauren in self-defense. Lou found Amanda at the scene, and instead of helping her, he left her there while Lauren bled to death. Lou was terrified that the truth would come out about his affair with a seventeen-year-old. To cover his tracks, Lou tampered with the evidence and changed Amanda’s blood test results to hide any illicit substances. This way, it wouldn’t look like Amanda had killed Lauren by mistake, as she was not in a proper mental state. Lou wanted to punish Amanda for taking away his “love” and framed her for Lauren’s murder. He couldn’t forgive her or himself, and his anger led him to make sure Amanda was blamed for the crime.
At the end of Troppo season 1, we see how things took a dramatic turn. When Lou confessed to hiding evidence and framing Amanda, Ted jumped in to help. Fearing that Lou might kill Amanda, Ted shot Lou in a panic. It seemed that, over time, Ted had developed a special connection with Amanda. Having been accused of a crime he didn’t commit himself, Ted understood the pain and guilt Amanda was feeling. Despite everything, Amanda didn’t want Lou to die. So, Ted and Amanda rushed Lou to the hospital. We don’t know for sure what happened to Lou in the end, but it looked like they got him there just in time. There’s hope that Lou might survive after all. As for Amanda and Ted, their partnership showed they made a great team. We can look forward to seeing more of them working together to solve crimes. Their bond is truly something special.
