Harper's Island 4/9/09 "Whap" Episode Recap  4/10/09

Whap begins with a swanky wedding party aboard a boat. The bride is Trish Wellington and the groom is Henry Dunn. The cast is slowly introduced minus a few key players. We begin to learn that Trish Wellington really likes the groomsmen because they "love (the groom) as much as (she) does." Eventually Uncle Marty shows up with a mariachi band, liquor and some hidden items in a bag in tow. This displeases Thomas Wellington to no end and he makes it visibly clear with his fiery gaze. Later on, Uncle Marty is seen in the bathroom of the boat loading his gun and sticking it in the back of his pants. Meanwhile Abby Mills arrives via taxi, hesitant to board. A one eyed taxi-driver gives her some advice and she exits the cab to arrive at the boat. We see a cut scene of the killer's first victim, cousin Ben, tied to the bottom of the ship where he would ultimately meet his untimely death at the hands of the propeller of the boat as it takes off.

They arrive at Harper's Island and the bride gets a phone call from Hunter Jennings, sayin it to Mr. Wellington as not being Cousin Ben (and consequently not answering it.) The father suggests they will send a charter boat out to get the cousin (not realizing who it is). We saw a scene where Chloe talked to Beth and Lucy about John Wakefield. Before Lucy could ask something, a bird fell and landed on their table(the three of them screamed). Abby meets her old flame, Jimmy Mance who joked her that he is already married. She calls a liar. Abby walks off on her own, rejecting a ride from the group golf-cart brigade headed to the inn. She stops along a path to see the tree her mother was hung on. The groom catches up to her and reassures her things are okay. As they leave, the camera pans out and we can see a person (unknown male or female) holding a dog leash watching them leave.

Later on, a group of people, including Jimmy, check the propeller of the boat to find a lace of some sort that belonged to Ben (unbeknown to the group) as Ben's head lazily flops about under the boat. A man grabs his bag from a wheeled by cart that carries one oxygen tank similar to the ones used to tie cousin Ben's ankles under the boat. We also met Cal Vandeusen in the bathtub of his place as he flirts away with his girl, Chloe. He also holds an engagement ring. The little girl, Madison, is seen using a magnifying glass to light a snail on fire while it was still alive.

Mr. Wellington finds an e-mail from Hunter Jennings, labeled HJ, saying that he will get to Trish tonight, while Abby gets a call from an unknown source playing the song, "Ave Maria." She then heads down to the hotel bar where she sees the groom who compliments her. She claims to have incredible fun and says to him she will supply anything he needs. Hunter sends the bride a text telling her she looks lovely in blue and then calls her out into the hallway. She comes face to face and tries to kiss her asking her if she is sure she wants to be married.

We now see a large dinner social with the bride and groom are dancing with one another, however, Trish looked very upset. Meanwhile Uncle Marty is dancing with Chloe in an erotic way. Cal was jealous, and so were the groomsmen. Lucy continues to feed her dog from the table. Lucy is sitting with Beth. While Abby, Lucy and Beth were talking, the groom finally appeared and asked about the whereabouts of JD. Abby told Henry that she will look up for JD and next was a cut scene where Shea and Trish as she confides in her the encounter with Hunter. Shea tells her she has to speak up if she has doubts about Henry, but she confirms that she loves Henry through tear stained cheeks. Uncle Marty stumbles upon a clandestine and saw Hunter and Mr. Wellington, who offers Hunter that if he has anything he needs, Hunter should ask.

Abby makes her way to the cannery where she hears birds flapping away in the breeze behind her and gets spooked with ominous music playing. She enters and sees Niki Bolton, a bartender and her old friend. Abby sees JD and texts Henry. Abby is quickly hit on by Jimmy Mance. Another cut scene where Madison finds the gift bag for Ben with his name tag attached to it. She quickly takes the tag and rips it up into shreds. Shea called her and she grabs the bag with the bottle of wine sticking out and runs. Uncle Marty, meanwhile, meets Mr. Wellington and is trying to make chit chat with Thomas. Marty wants to talk about his destiny and states he has to protect Henry from "men like (Wellington)" who interprets it as a threat and Marty indicates that soon they will be family. We cut back to the Cannery where the dynamic of Abby coming home from LA plays out. She is teased by the locals. JD meets Kelly and hits on her, which is quickly intercepted by Kelly's ex-boyfriend, Shane, who attempts to be intimidating. We learn that JD attempted to commit suicide and that Kelly and JD do a lot of macabre things to themselves. A bar fight breaks out and is quickly broken up by the Sheriff who is Abby's father.

The sheriff returns JD to the Inn and we see the Sheriff talk to Abby. He asks Abby about the truck and inquires if she got the cards he had been sending her for Christmas. She ignores him and he says he was thinking that maybe since she was here... but is cut off by Abby thanking him for the ride. She tries to exit but the door is locked and she asks her father to unlock the door, which he does.

Abby is now elsewhere watching the fire and the groom enters, apologizing for bringing her here. She apologizes for not being able to protect him. They discuss their concern over JD but she references the part of JD that is very sweet. He asks who she was playing pool with. Cal chases Chloe to the beach and says he meant the pool, not the ocean for swimming. Chloe erotically takes off her dress to reveal black lace lingerie. She is very playful and asks what he's waiting for. He nervously and quickly undoes his pants and says he wants to show her something. She quickly runs off before he can show her the ring. He clumsily trips with his pants around his ankles to the shore. Chloe screams after entering the water and disappears under the surface.

Cut scene to Madison hovering over her parents in bed in the middle of the night. She asks them "Did you know people died here?" ... "People were killed on this island." and claims her new friend told her that. Cal chases Chloe out into the water and is pulled under the water quickly before being released. He finds out its a joke by Chloe when she pops back out. He pulls her under and she calls him a jerk saying he could have killed her. She throws his pants in the water, accidentally dislodging the ring from the pocket. He can't find it anymore. Meanwhile the bride screams with Chloe but for different reasons and different scenes, Chloe, as something happens to her (Though not yet revealed what), and the bride in ecstasy as she makes love to the groom. She dismisses herself and he hears her cell phone ringing. After looking at it he sees the caller ID indicating Hunter Jennings. She suggests getting separate rooms from the shower and he says "whatever you want sweetheart." Uncle Marty falls through a bridge on his way to the beach and a sword is heard being drawn before he is abruptly stabbed repeatedly. He shoots down but misses and is slaughtered, the first of the actual suspects to be eliminated. The camera pans down and his lower half is completely missing.

Abby enters her room and turns on the light to the restroom only to find a newspaper clipping on the mirror of her mother's murder.

"Whap" is the pilot episode of the television series Harper's Island, which premiered on CBS on April 9, 2009. It is written by series creator Ari Schlossberg and directed by Jon Turteltaub.

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