Serenity Movie Weekend: Did She Kill Him With Her Brain?

When it comes to murder mysteries on Lifetime, there are two categories: the heroine is accused of murder, and spends the rest of the movie to clear her name; and the heroine is accused of murder, but you're not quite sure if she's innocent.

Summer Glau has played a genius girl who has been damaged by government (Serenity/Firefly) or by an accident (Dollhouse), and also a butt-kicking android protecting the future (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles). It has been rare for her to play a typical girl. Last night, though, she got her chance in a new Lifetime Movie Network film called Deadly Honeymoon. She played Lindsay, a new bride on her honeymoon with her husband, Trevor (Chris Carmack). It looks like the couple is well-matched, but looks can be deceiving. Typical murder plot for Lifetime.
The couple meets a fellow passenger, Kim, and three Hungarians that Trevor hopes will help out in a new business he and his wife want to start. However, Trevor would rather party than be with Lindsay, and even one of the Hungarians tries to make out with her.
Then, Trevor goes missing while Lindsay is found in a daze in a hallway under the ship. Is Trevor dead? Did Lindsay do it?

Now, if Lindsay were innocent, without a doubt, the movie will center on her efforts to clear her name. Not so here. The attention also centers on a vacationing FBI agent (Zoe McLellan) who gathers the details about the couple, and the Hungarians. Meanwhile Lindsay is trying to deal with all that has happened. A scene where she talks to her parents through a laptop is heartbreaking. Summer really sells this as a girl who goes from being in a daze to total devastation.
The FBI agent starts to wonder if Lindsay is as innocent as she looks. Lindsay admits there are a few things she didn't mention, but mostly because she's scared what Trevor's family would think.
There is a later scene where Lindsay talks to the captain about what happened. I won't describe it, but it is also devastating for a different reason.
As for how everything is resolved, at least one TV critic was hoping for a more surprising ending, but I thought it made sense.
I'm hoping this movie will open up more chances for Summer to be a typical girl in romantic or dramatic situations, rather than a Terminator or wounded computer genius.
Then again, we're also crossing our fingers that NBC will add The Cape to its 2010 fall lineup. If so, she'll become a crime-fighting blogger...and that's pretty good, too.