Scarpetta Recap ‘Benton’: Childhood Lair

Scarpetta Season 1 Episode 6

When Benton went to a motel (not a fancy hotel, an interesting choice given how the show has emphasised Benton’s wealth) following another major fight with Kay, my first thought was, the motel looked like one of those places a serial killer might like to stay in. It was very private. The rooms opened to a parking lot so there was no need to pass by a lobby every day. After registering and paying, they never even need to see whoever was running the place anymore, until checkout. Indeed, after the show provided us a closeup of Benton’s face after he watched with fascination as an insect died in a bug zapper, the next shot was that of Gwen Hainey’s murderer, face still obscured, leaving one of the rooms whilst carrying that small cooler that contained her hands. After episode after episode of being really subtle with Benton Wesley’s latent sociopathy, to the point where it would have been really easy to miss unless you suspected it based on the casting alone, Scarpetta was now spelling things out for us.

Developing and portraying present day Kay’s relationship with her husband Benton was one of the casualties of the show choosing to be as storyline packed as it is. On the one hand, I could choose to view the show’s structural choices more positively and say that we are getting three shows for the price of one – a 90s period mystery, a modern, tech-heavy Lucy show, and a present day Kay mystery focused on the Gwen Hainey murder and all the espionage and national security implications and FBI interference included. Yet, Scarpetta had Nicole Kidman and Simon Baker. Could we not have had more of them?

It is to Simon Baker’s credit that he infused Benton with an echo of darkness that made him look off even on his earlier, more innocuous scenes. This is far less notable in the 1998 scenes, until this episode, when young Benton acted off when Kay told him Lucy saw him at the movies with his wife and children. There was no apology there. He even seemed as though he was about to kiss her.

The MacDonald Triad was a 1963 hypothesis that identified three childhood behaviours – persistent bedwetting, fire-setting, and cruelty to animals – that predict future violent, sociopathic, or homicidal behaviour. Benton’s mother was a psychologist who recognised the signs on her young son. She taught him the symptoms so he would understand himself, to keep him from hurting anyone. The secret room he went to after his first major fight with Kay was his childhood lair, where he read books like Why They Kill: Characteristics of Sexual Homicide. The torn page we saw from last episode was from this book. 

Marino may have been the object of Benton’s jealousy, but it was him who talked Kay down, who pointed out that she kept a huge secret from Benton too. The episode interspersed scenes of Marino in the car with Kay, calming her down, with scenes of a drunk Dorothy at home riling Benton up about Kay’s secret, the reason why she was so bothered by Matt Petersen’s name coming up again after all these years, all whilst drinking one of Benton’s investment wines. Dorothy and Marino were already in a much better place as a couple as of last episode – Dorothy even rented an Airbnb and invited Lucy to live with them – but it looked like hearing from Lucy that Marino nearly beat a suspect to death reawakened Dorothy’s frustrations with Kay. She blamed Kay for putting her husband in that position by dragging him back to work when he had already retired, and she got drunk and decided to needle Kay’s husband. 

Bear in mind, Dorothy did this whilst aware of the secret that so bothered her sister Kay. Dorothy was chaos; I could appreciate the character whilst at the same time wish we had more humanising scenes of her. It was a mark of Dorothy’s isolation within her own family that she was most human with AI Janet.

It was a drunk Benton that Kay came home to, and though she apologised for her earlier behaviour, this time, it was Benton who allowed his anger to show. He wanted to know what happened with the Matt Petersen case that so frightened Kay. He asked Kay if she slept with him. He accused her of dating city attorney Boltz, which she denied.* He wondered if he should ask Marino about the secret. Benton gave Kay an ultimatum, be honest with him or he would leave. Kay told him to leave – his own house, which his family has owned for generations, where he allowed Kay’s niece, sister, and brother in law to live for free. I am glad Scarpetta’s second season has been confirmed. I hope the second season spends more time in developing Kay Scarpetta the character (more specifically, older Kay) because at this point, we are in episode six of eight and I still don’t feel like I know her.  

The young Kay scenes were, again, the better half of the show. The killer was notably far more violent this time. Abby thought she was the intended target, because she has been writing about the killer and linking Matt Petersen to the story. Marino was disappointed when Kay identified the time of death; he had his eyes on Matt during those hours, so it could not have been him. 

Abby freaked out when Bill Boltz entered her house, and Marino had to escort him out. Whilst Marino talked to Boltz, Kay sat down with Abby. Boltz’s story was that Abby took him to dinner after she did a day in the life piece featuring him. He took her home, they had sex on the couch, then Abby fell asleep. He left after that. Marino did not look like he bought Boltz’s story, or his explanation that Abby’s outsized reaction was because he did not call her. Marino also noticed that there was a fake dog warning sign on the wooden gate. Abby had no dog. How did the killer know that?

Meanwhile, Kay got a very different story from Abby. They did go to dinner, and Boltz drove her home, but she had no memory of what happened after that. Abby thought that he drugged and raped her. She did not tell anyone because she thought no one would believe her. 

I would have loved Marino for his skepticism whilst talking to Boltz, but his later conversation with Kay showed that he was still a man. It reminded me of this exhibit I went to a few years ago, that showed the clothing worn by rape victims. To this day, I have carried the weight of that exhibition with me. Kay rightfully called him out for being very wrong, and she demanded that Boltz be added to the suspect list. She pointed out that if Bill drugged Abby, it was premeditated; people did not carry around roofies. 

Kay was still ranting about Marino to Benton as they discussed the serial killer they were hunting. To his credit, Benton did not dismiss Boltz as a suspect. Benton mentioned that whilst the killer covered his tracks, he also seemed to crave notoriety. Kay came up with an idea to flush him out, and he and Benton went to see Abby.

They told Abby they suspected the killer to have Maple Syrup Urine Disease, based on the smell that both Matt Petersen and Abby mentioned had lingered when they arrived. If untreated, it can cause mental deficiencies. As the killer prided himself for having above average IQ, it would bruise his ego to suggest otherwise. They had specific guidelines for Abby and hoped that the article would rattle the killer and flush him out. Then, Benton tactfully went to the kitchen so Abby and Kay could speak alone.

It was horrific that it took a terrible tragedy to bring these two women together, but their conversation highlighted one of the many reasons why the young Kay storyline was by far the more compelling one. Abby and Kay were both women in male-dominated fields, who needed to fight every day to make a living. Older Kay was already established in her field. She was married to a very wealthy man. The niece that she practically raised also happened to be very wealthy. She had an established support system in Marino. Young Kay was still trying to make her name, she had more to lose than older Kay. Her hunger added an edge to her scenes. 

Abby told Kay that she went to Kay’s house to warn her about Boltz, when she heard they were dating. She saw she had company, and she drove off. So she was the one in the car when Kay was saying goodbye to Benton. Abby saw who Kay was with that night, and assured Kay she could be counted on to keep a secret. For a brief moment, there was a pause on atrocities and emotional upheavals. Two women sat next to each other, and finally, we had a scene that breathed.

Rating: B+ 

Strays

🔬 *In the book Postmortem, Kay did date Boltz. 

🔬Benton told his partner Sierra, called Tron, that every time he spoke to her, he ended up saying one thing he wished he hadn’t. Hmm.

🔬Kay took Marino with her when she personally went to the FBI to deliver the special slugs and confirm her findings. She wanted the evidence they buried on the Cammie Ramada case. They refused, so Kay ordered an exhumation. Her boss Reddy summoned her to his office, which Kay took to mean that she would be fired.

🔬Kay and Marino went to where Cammie’s body was found, and Kay found a flat penny which could be the killer’s signature. 

🔬Benton entertained both the possibilities that the person who hacked Kay’s computer could be the killer, or someone who wanted to damage her credibility.

🔬Young Kay called Dot, not really believing she would show up to pick up Lucy, but it seemed that Dot was already bored with her newest husband. But, Kay had already changed her mind about sending Lucy away. She wanted Lucy’s help in figuring out who hacked her.

🔬As AI Janet tried to talk to Lucy about Dorothy, Lucy also was seemingly growing closer to Fruge. 

Episode Title: Benton

Episode Writer: Maisha Closson 

Episode Director: David Gordon Green

Original Release Date: March 11, 2026

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