Rosewood - Asphyxiation & Aces - Review: “King of Hearts”

Rosewood - Asphyxiation & Aces - Review: “King of Hearts”

2.12 - “Asphyxiation & Aces”
Directed by Vahan Moosekian
Written by Marc Halsey
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount

This week’s episode starts off in a club. Villa is stunning, as always!

Villa, Adrian, Rosie, and a random girl are on a double date. Rosie admits that he just met his date twenty-four hours ago. Yikes! Villa and Rosie telling stories about being out on a case. Rosewood tags Adrian in on the next investigation. He wants him to see what it’s like out in the field. Rosie’s date comes back and asks, “What’s a pathologist.” The look on Villa’s face is priceless!

We cut over to a party. A girl named Dani threw a party for Emilio, who is getting ready to leave in the morning for Las Vegas.

The next day, a man is getting ready to clean a large pool when he finds a chest sitting at the bottom of the water. With the help of a lifeguard, they haul the chest out of the water and open in. Inside lies Emilio’s lifeless body.

Over at Villa’s house, Adrian is cooking waffles. He’s surprised by Villa’s mother. Uh oh! Hornstock is there too. Adrian and Hornstock see each other have a weird moment. He asks, “What happened to the schedule?” Hornstock refuses to eat waffles. Instead, he eats an apple.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any time for breakfast, Villa and Rosie need to go investigate Emilio’s dead body.

On the ride to the crime scene, Villa asks Rosie if he’s done vetting Adrian. He’s not even close to being done yet. Better watch out, Dr. Webb!

Rosie and Villa arrive at the crime scene. It looks like Emilio put up a good fight. He died from asphyxiation. He was tossed in the pool in the airtight box, where he suffocated. There is dander on Emilio’s shirt and he has carved the letter V into his chest.

Emilio’s body has a lot of previous injuries and loads of caffeine in his body. The team finds another line by the V, Emilio was carving the letter K into his chest. Mitchie thinks Emilio was trying to identify his killer.

Rosie and Villa head over to Emilio’s apartment, where his best friend, Danni, and her boyfriend, Nathan, are hanging out. They were going to help Emilio fill the moving truck, but he never came home after leaving his going away party.

Danni says that Emilio was more like her brother. He and Nathan were close too.

Rosie and Villa ask about the signs of abuse on Emilio’s body. Danni informs them that he was an escape artist and that he loved, “all kinds of music.” He had just booked a gig off the Vegas strip and was excited about his new job. They last saw Emilio at his going away party. He left around 10PM and said that he wanted to get, “a good night’s sleep.”

Back at the station, Rosie asks Dr.Webb why someone who wanted, “a good night’s sleep,” would have so much caffeine in their body. Rosie thinks Emilio went out after the party and, “finally got himself into something he couldn’t get out of.”

Rosie tells Adrian that he’s tagging him in. Adrian is nervous about going out in the field.

Villa shows up. She hypothesizes that Emilio might have had an enemy, someone who was jealous of his success and maybe that’s what got him killed.

Emilio was a member for the Society of Magical Arts. Rosie and Villa go to see the head of the organization, Zavier. He says, “Magic fulfills a fundamental human need… Illusions can happen anytime, anywhere.” After performing an illusion and impressing Rosie, Zavier gives them the organization’s membership list.

Over at Magic City Labs, Pippy has identified the dander from Emilio’s body. It belongs to a special type of diamond dove that is not found in the area. He also has an allergic reaction on his arm from an unidentified plant resin. Pippy is looking into it.

Emilio’s trunk is dropped off at the lab. Mitchie gets to work right away. He is REALLY into this trunk! He says he wants to give the trunk a second look with, “a magician’s eye.” Mitchie says that, “This isn’t just a trunk, you guys. It’s a murder weapon.”

Villa and Rosie pay a visit to Kristoff, a magician practicing illusions on the street. What do you know, he has a special diamond dove, the same type of dove that left dander on Emilio’s body. The magician makes a break for it, but luckily, Hornstock is there to catch him and says, “You didn’t think you were going to get away that easily, did ya?” I love Hornstock.

Villa has the magician in cuffs, which he takes off and puts back on in a matter of seconds. Villa asks why his dove’s dander was on the victim’s body. He says that he met with Emilio, but didn’t admit to killing him.

According to Slade and Hornstock, Villa is getting too heated in the interrogation room. Slade switches out with her, which gives Villa time to ask Hornstock what’s going on. He’s dressed up, is wearing his favorite tie, and he skipped out on waffle breakfast. Something is definitely up but he’s not spilling.

The magician has an alibi, Hornstock is going to confirm it, but if it holds, he isn’t there guy.

Villa and Dr. Webb find themselves in an elevator together. They have a quick but intense make out session. He’s confused, because Villa told him no PDA at work. She says, “Well, we need to enjoy this while it lasts.” Excuse me, what? Dr. Webb is equally confused and asks, “Enjoy the ride or?” Interesting! What exactly is going through Villa’s mind when it comes to him?

Villa heads home to confront her mother. She wants to know what secret her mother is keeping from her a.k.a why Hornstock is acting so strange. Villa’s mother is hilarious! She tells Villa that Joe isn’t really her uncle. Villa respnds with, “Wow, that’s really upsetting,” but that isn’t what she’s asking about. She wants to know about why Hornstock is acting weird. Villa’s mother spills the beans.

Villa confronts Hornstock. He applied for another captain position, but it’s in Palm Beach. Hornstock is conflicted about the opportunity.

Villa and Hornstock find out that Emilio was withdrawing large sums of money on a regular basis. Perhaps he owed someone a lot of money and that’s why he was killed?

Meanwhile, Kristoff’s alibi checked out and Pippy has identified the resin on Emilio’s arm. The resin is from the pachira aquatica tree, which per Mitchie, known as the “Mexican money tree.” The victim also had large amounts of oxygen in his blood. Strange!

Donna and the team at Magic City Labs ask Rosie about Dr. Webb. Per Rosie, so far, so good. Donna says she knows what’s happening next, “Phase Two,” which is one-on-one time. Rosie is looking out for Villa and while I love that she’s happy with Dr. Webb, I hate that she and Rosie aren’t together yet. Emphasis on YET!

For their one-on-one time, Rosie takes Adrian to a casino. Adrian gets it, he knows Rosie wants to make sure he’s the right guy for Villa. Adrian really likes Villa, but he’s not sure what she’s thinking. It seems like he wants a relationship, but Villa is hit or miss. That’s because she really loves Rosie, duh!

Anyways, Rosie says that he brought Adrian for the casino for more than a chat about Villa. He calls it a “hunch and munch.” The victim had the same playing cards that are used at the casino’s poker tables, the room is pumped with oxygen, which helps gamblers stay awake for longer, and there is a potted pachira aqautica tree. The victim was impacted by all three of these things. It would be way too much of a coincidence if Emilio wasn’t at the casino.

Rosie points out the video cameras and says that if Emilio was there the night of his murder, that it will be recorded on tape. He tries to get a waitress to take him back to the security room, but fails. Dr. Webb gets up and works his magic. The waitress agrees to something, but I’m not sure what, as I believe she is speaking Portuguese with Dr. Webb. He is super pumped and declares, “That’s the juice!” Rosie is proud of him and agrees. Here’s one quick question, why not ask Villa to get a warrant and pull the security tapes legally?

Uh oh, looks like the juice didn’t work. The casino security staff approaches Rosie and Adrian and want to know what’s up. Luckily, Villa comes to the rescue and requests the footage from the night of the murder. She tells Rosie and Adrian, “I’ll talk to each of you later.” Uh oh, the boys are in trouble!

Villa scans the footage from the casino and she finds Emilio, who’s winning every hand. With a closer look, it appears as though Emilio was cheating. Not good! Also, he had a partner there with him, Nathan, Emilio’s best friend’s boyfriend, who claimed that he was at home the night of Emilio’s murder. Ha ha! Dr. Webb says, “Let’s do this!” and he and Rosie bump fists in front of Villa. Her expression is priceless. Man, I love this show!

Villa has Nathan in custody. She notices that his right hand is injured. She thinks he hurt it hitting Emilio in the face the night of his murder. Dr. Webb joins Rosie and Captain Slade in the interrogation room. The three of them are just way too hot! Anyways, Nathan admits to Villa that Danni has been hiding something from him. He went to Emilio, thinking he would help him, but instead, Emilio tells him that he has to ask Danni. Nathan tells Villa that he got mad and punched Emilio, but he did not kill him.

Adrian and Rosie believe Nathan. Slade gives them a look. Ha ha!

Hornstock pokes his head in the room. He found out where Emilio was spending large chunks of money. He was paying over $1,000 a month in medical bills. Rosie finds this strange, as Emilio’s autopsy doesn’t show any signs of a short or long term illness or any recent surgeries. Hornstock points out that if anyone knew where Emilio’s money was going, it was Danni. He gets a phone call and excuses himself.

Over at Magic City Labs, Pippy is standing in front of the chest when Donna walks in. The chest is moving. Uh oh! Is Mitchie in there? Yes! Ha ha ha! He is in there! The noise stops, causing Donna and Pippy to freak out. They go to open the box when Mitchie magically appears behind them and says, “I knew there had to be a way out.” Oh, Mitchie! Mitchie figures out that something slowed Emilio down, as he had ten minutes to get out of the chest on his own. Now they need to figure out what that something is!

Rosie and Villa are talking to Danni. Rosie figures out that Danni is sick. She admits that she is and there isn’t a cure. Emilio, who took her to her first doctor’s appointment had been looking after her ever since. He even wanted to cancel his Vegas show to take care of her. She admits that Emilio had been paying her medical bills, but she didn’t know that he got the money by cheating at poker. She thinks she might have gotten him killed. Rosie comforts her and says that it isn’t her fault.

Eek! Hornstock visits Slade. He’s pissed off! He said that one of his boys in Palm Beach reported back that Slade called Hornstock a “wild animal” and a “loose cannon.” That is going to make it tricky for Hornstock to get a job. Slade denies saying those things, but Hornstock doesn’t want to hear it.

Turns out Emilio was playing poker with three bad guys at the casino. If any of them caught him cheating, it could lead to a death sentence.

The crew goes undercover at the casino. Rosie sits down to play poker with Villa on his arm. She looks smokin’ hot!

Rosie is talking smack at the poker table and mentions that he went up against a kid the night before who, “couldn’t lose.” One of the bad guys from the poker game Emilio was last seen playing, tells Rosie not to worry and that the kid won’t be back. Uh oh! Is that an admission of guilt?

Slade approaches a woman sitting at the bar, she was also playing poker with Emilio the night he died. Hornstock shows up and says, “She’s more my type.” Hornstock wins the girl over by claiming that he’s a “loose cannon” and a “wild animal.” Go, Hornstock!

Pippy and Mitchie head to Emilio’s apartment to look for fingerprints. They want to see if they can find any that match one of the three baddies from the poker game.

Rosie is still playing poker with the bad guy with mob ties. He asks why the kid who cheated wont’ be coming back. The bad guy gets agitated, but Villa manages to smooth it over.

Hornstock is at the bar and shows the woman a picture of Emilio’s dead body in the chest.

Captain Slade is playing the second baddie, who is pissed he just lost to Slade at the table.

Back at the crime scene, Mitchie smells something, almonds to be specific.

Mitchie found traces of cyanide in one of the cups at Emilio’s house. Yikes! Didn’t anyone ever teach you that drinking anything that takes like almonds is dangerous? That’s the first lesson in Murder 101!

The woman Hornstock was talking to and the man Slade was talking to both have alibis for the night Emilio was murdered. That leaves the man with the mob ties.

Rosie wants Emilio’s body tested for cyanide, but can’t leave the table. Luckily, he knows just the guy to help!

Dr. Webb heads to Magic City Labs. He runs the test and the results are in, Emilio was poisoned with cyanide.

Rosie freaks out, he flips over the cards at the poker table and tells Villa they have been looking at the wrong thing this whole time. Emilio loved cards. He scratched the K into his chest to point the “Suicide King,” a.k.a. Zaviar from the Society of Magical Arts! Good find, Rosie! Good find!

Rosie, Villa, and Mitchie head over to Zavier’s house. They point out that he was always the opening act for magicians, never the star. They go through a scenario where Zavier visits Emilio before he leaves for Vegas. Zavier puts cyanide in Emilio’s cup, which he can’t smell because apparently 50% of people can’t smell cyanide, which is why Rosie missed it. I guess that ruins lesson one in Murder 101! Emilio couldn’t get out of the chest in time because he was poisoned with cyanide; however, he scratched the letter K over his heart, which stood for the king of hearts (playing card). The king of hearts also goes by another name, the Suicide King, which was Zavier’s stage name. Mitchie points out the apricots, which were probably used to make cyanide. Yikes! Villa slaps cuffs on Zavier and they haul him away.

Hornstock visits Slade. He apologizes, his “eyes and ears were wrong.” He did get the Captain’s job, but he turned it down. He says, “this is my pack.” Slade replies, “this is my pack too.” The tension is thick!

Adrian shows up at the casino. He said that Rosie called him because something came up at the lab. Villa knows better, she knows that Rosie sent Adrian there on purpose. Adrian wants to know if they are going to move things forward, if not, he tells her that she should let him go. Eek! Villa tells Adrian that when she was little, “her father would disappear for weeks at a time.” She tells him that she, “learned not count on people.” Adrian says, “Hey, I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Villa calls Rosie. Adrian passed Phase Two and is now on to Phase Three. That’s adorable! Rosie has to go, but he’s happy for Villa.

NO! This is terrible news! Rosie is at the doctor and after running tests, his recent “bender” did a lot of damage to his body. The doctor asks if Rosie has family, because, “you’re going to need them.”

My Thoughts:

Another fantastic episode! The writers had me all over the place with trying to figure out who killed Emilio. Even though I think Rosie and Villa should be together, I did like the growth in her relationship with Adrian.

Although I love the everyone on the cast, Hornstock was the big winner in this week’s episode! His one liners and sweet lady killer moves were everything. It showed major you know what’s not to take the Captain’s job in Palm Springs. I wonder how Slade’s position will play out, will he continue to be the Captain or will Hornstock eventually be reinstated?

Oh, one more thing, in case I haven’t mentioned it lately… I LOVE THIS SHOW! Everything from the diverse cast to the writing is completely on point! Seriously, it is the best! If you haven’t watched ROSEWOOD yet, DO IT!

Let me know what you thought of this episode with a comment below!

Remember, you can access all of my SpoilerTV reviews and interviews right here on SpoilerTV!