Amanda and Ted are back with the new season of Troppo. Six months have passed, and they are still together, solving a case in the town of Crimson Lake. Julian Naughton, who runs an organization called Family Tree to help people struggling with drug addiction, is found dead. Even more shocking, another body is discovered at the same crime scene named Erin. But that’s not all. Remember Brooke from last season? She was the reason Amanda went to prison, because she and Lauren (the girl Amanda killed) spiked Amanda’s drink, making her lose her mind and kill in fear. Brooke ends up dead too, and it seems the killer has some connection to Ted’s past. Just like last season, this one involves multiple simultaneous cases. We learned why Amanda was called a murderer last time. Now, we get to see what happened to Ted and why he’s been labeled a pedophile. Is he really guilty, or is there more to the story?
Spoilers Ahead
What happened to Julian and Erin?
Let’s start with the obvious: what happened to the main victims, and why were they burned alive? Amanda and Ted were hired by a girl named Tyla to solve these mysteries. Tyla is Raphael’s girlfriend, and Raphael is Julian’s son. Tyla wanted the murders solved to make her boyfriend feel secure and to find answers about his father’s death so that he could find peace. However, she didn’t know that her own mother, Ronnie, was responsible for Julian’s murder. Actually, as I mentioned earlier, Julian has been involved in helping people deal with addiction as a part of his family’s legacy. The inspiration for this work came when his wife passed away, and his own son Raphael struggled with addiction. By featuring his son as the face of the company, he was able to change people’s lives—or at least that’s how people perceived it. I’m not sure if it was genuinely out of a desire to help or purely a business tactic, but truth be told, he did seem to exploit his son in the process.
Anyways, Ronnie and Tyla had a banana farm on the outskirts of town. Their crops got infected with fungus, which caused them a huge loss. Ronnie wanted to earn some money, so she sought help from Twist. Yes, remember Twist from the first season? It turns out that he is Julian’s halfbrother. But it wasn’t enough, so Ronnie started dealing drugs by planting Duboisia crops in their field with two guys, Reggie and George, who were connected to this drug lord Khalid. Julian found out about Ronnie’s drug dealing and knew it could destroy Raphael. He wanted to burn down the Duboisia field to protect his son from falling back into addiction or going to jail. Julian also feared for the future of his organization if this scandal ever got out.
One night, after a big fight with Raphael about cutting ties with Tyla and Ronnie, a physical confrontation occurred. Raphael refused to leave Tyla because Ronnie was like a second mother to him, and he cared deeply for Tyla. So naturally Julian was angry and frustrated and went to the forest to set fire to the Duboisia crop. Ronnie was in her car in the forest at that time and discovered his plan. To protect her business and her daughter’s future, she ran Julian over with her car twice. But Julian was still alive. Reggie came there at that same time, stepped in, and killed him by setting him on fire and throwing him off a mountain. Erin, who was at the crime scene with her boyfriend, witnessed this. To silence her, Reggie burned her alive too, but her boyfriend escaped. When Amanda and Ted confronted Ronnie, she confessed to her crime. She went to the police station and surrendered herself. Ronnie was not a murderer by nature; she regretted her actions every day. She just wanted to protect her daughter; that’s why she wanted to save this side hustle business to make proper money and pay off her debts.
Who killed Brooke?
This season, more mysteries get solved. Remember how the police claimed Ted assaulted a little girl named Claire? That was far from the truth. The real culprit was a guy known as Brett Tucker, but his real name was Colin Finch, a journalist. Colin was also the one who killed Brooke. I hope you remember that Brooke’s actions had landed Amanda in jail, and Amanda never forgave her. Brooke kept seeking forgiveness, but it didn’t matter. She worked at a bar, and one day Colin started flirting with her. Brooke didn’t know his true intentions. Actually, Colin appeared to be a decent guy, but he was snooping around town to gather intel about the murders. He even got close to Ted’s family and Amanda by gaining everyone’s trust to do his job. One night, after flirting with Brooke, one thing led to another, and she went to his house. While there, she found a drawer containing a written feature, kind of a confession about Claire, which revealed that Colin was the real assaulter, not Ted.
Brooke wanted to tell Amanda but couldn’t reach her. She left Colin’s house, but he followed her, assaulted her, and ended up taking her earrings as a sick trophy. She died eventually. Previously, he had done the same with Claire, taking her bracelet. When the police got close to catching him, Colin planted Claire’s bracelet at Ted’s house to frame him again. But Ted knew about the missing bracelet, and he knew if he could give it to the police, they would understand he was not responsible. Also, the police confirmed Colin was guilty of killing and assaulting her through DNA testing and by finding Brooke’s one lost earring at his motel, which led to his arrest. Colin managed to escape and confronted Ted at his house by pretending to celebrate Billy’s birthday. Ted, hoping to clear his name and move on, faced Colin’s attack with a knife. Thankfully, Amanda arrived in time. Together, they fought off Colin, who ultimately fell into the crocodile-filled lake near Ted’s house and met a gruesome end.
Ted, who had been harassed time after time by authorities and the townspeople, finally cleared his name. He could now live with his family without the guilt of a crime he didn’t commit. Ted was finally happy and ready to move on. Initially, he thought leaving for Sydney would be best so he could spend more time with his family. However, he realized that he felt more at home in Crimson Lake, solving mysteries with Amanda. So, Ted decided to stay, as he was truly happy there. We see Amanda’s growth throughout the season as well. She used to have anxiety attacks, triggered by the memory of killing someone in a car. By the end, she overcame her fear and moved on. Not only that, but she also opened up romantically. Amanda, who’d once had a strict no-touching policy, fell for Detective Sweeney. Sweeney had come to town and worked on solving the crimes simultaneously with Ted and Amanda. Their paths crossed, and they fell for each other. However, Sweeney will be leaving town, and it’s unclear what will happen with her and Amanda. Despite this uncertainty, both Amanda and Ted have found happiness and a sense of purpose in Crimson Lake, surrounded by the mysteries they solve together.
What will happen to Twist?
Well, if you know Twist, you know he has a tendency to poke his nose where it doesn’t belong. He found out that Reggie killed his brother Julian and that Reggie’s drug business with Khalid was competing with his own. When Ronnie couldn’t pay Twist back, he forced her to sell drugs for him instead of working with Khalid. Naturally, Khalid’s people were furious, but Twist didn’t care. For killing his brother, Twist let wild dogs kill Reggie. It seems Twist has a pattern; last season, he used a snake to kill a guy who deceived him, and this season, it was dogs. However, Khalid’s men weren’t happy. They kidnapped Raphael and demanded that Twist surrender himself in exchange for Raphael’s release. Normally, Twist is known for being selfish and wouldn’t sacrifice his life for someone else. But this time, it was different because he found out Raphael was his son. Twist felt he had to protect him, so he surrendered himself.
What happened to Twist in the end is still a mystery, which sets the stage for next season. There’s a chance that Twist was killed by Khalid and his gang, but there’s also a possibility that he managed to deceive and kill them instead. Twist’s history shows he’s not someone who can be easily taken down. Guess we’ll have to wait for the next season to find out.