Down Cemetery Road - Episode 1 to 3

On October 29th Apple TV+ released the first two episodes of the new series Down Cemetery Road, and a third episode was released on Wednesday. Have you taken the time to watch it yet?

You will be warned, there will be spoilers ahead.

Recap

The series starts with a bang — literally. While Sarah Trafford and her husband host potential clients and their neighbours, Denise and Rufus, a nearby house suddenly explodes. Authorities call it a tragic gas leak, but amid the chaos, Sarah and the rest of the neighbourhood see a young girl carried from the wreckage — the same child Sarah had briefly met earlier that afternoon.

The next day, Sarah decides to visit the girl, Dinah, to bring a card made by one of the neighbour’s children.  At the hospital, she’s not allowed to visit the little girl - the hospital workers were not able to confirm that Dinah was a patient there for obvious privacy reasons.

Soon, we learn that the explosion wasn’t an accident at all. It was orchestrated by a covert government operation. When the agency discovers that Sarah is asking questions, they realize they have a problem: a curious neighbour who won’t let go.

Sarah spots a suspicious man in a van — the same one she saw at the scene. Searching online, she finds a news photo doctored to erase Dinah being carried from the ruins. At the police station, she’s told the case is “flagged” and off-limits. Leaving the station, she again spots the same van following her. That’s when she notices she was in front of a building with one of the tenants being Oxford Investigation and decides to go in.

There she meets Joe Silvermann, a struggling private investigator with money troubles and a strained marriage to fellow investigator Zoë Boehm. Convinced someone is erasing Dinah’s existence, Sarah hires Joe to find her. Joe later discovers the girl is in the ICU and about to be moved that night. Sarah rushes to the hospital, sees the same mysterious man again, and witnesses Dinah being driven away — nearly getting run over by a van as she tries to follow.

When Sarah returns to Joe’s office, she finds him dead — his wrists cut, a supposed suicide. The police are quick to close the case, citing his debts and despair. But Zoë doesn’t believe it for a second. Joe might not have had much money, but he wasn’t the kind of man to take his own life.

Going through Joe’s belongings, Zoë finds an envelope addressed to Sarah and decides to deliver it herself — but not before doing a bit of digging and meeting Sarah in person, aware that her husband’s death was likely linked to the investigation she started.

When Sarah opens the envelope, she discovers it isn’t an invoice but a letter from Joe. In it, he admits that the case she hired him for might be beyond his reach. He recommends that she keeps looking at the Singletons and explains that he’s already submitted a freedom of information request on her behalf to help move things forward.

Sarah is attacked in her home by Rufus — whose real name turns out to be Axel — after he had spent some time listening to and comforting her. Despite putting up a fierce fight and making a mess in the process, she’s overpowered and on the verge of being strangled — until someone bursts through the door and shoots her attacker.

Downey kills Axel and then forces Sarah to leave with him “for her own protection,” though to her it feels much more like being kidnapped. He tells her that he’s been following her because he, too, has been searching for Dinah — and suspected Sarah might be doing the same.

Amos Crane meticulously cleans up the scene, including disposing of his brother’s body — a little too well, even fixing a door handle that had already been broken. When Zoë returns to find Sarah, she notices the suspiciously tidy aftermath and immediately switches into “find Sarah” mode.

The third episode closes with Sarah finally managing to reach Zoë on the phone.

Highlights / Strengths

Down Cemetery Road starts with immediate intrigue. The pacing is tight, keeping the story moving as Sarah’s curiosity snowballs into something much bigger.

The performances of Emma Thompson as Zoe and Ruth Wilson as Sarah carries the show. Together, they elevate the material.

Critique

My biggest complaint is with Sarah’s motivation. The show never provides a convincing reason for why she becomes so deeply invested in the explosion and the little girl’s fate. Beyond the brief encounter earlier that day — and her sense that the child reminded her of the kind of girl she once was — it feels like weak grounding to justify her relentless pursuit and decision to hire a private investigator.

Final Thoughts

Beyond the weak initial motivation behind Sarah’s interest in the explosion and the little girl, it’s easy to see why she keeps pushing her investigation forward. There’s still so much left to uncover — why did the government need to orchestrate the explosion in the first place? How is Downey connected to Singleton? And will Zoë join forces with Sarah to get to the bottom of it all?

We’ll have to wait and see next Wednesday. Down Cemetery Road has all the makings of a solid whodunit. What are your thoughts — and what do you think will happen next?