As the series begins, a young Sarah Manning darts down the dark street. She spots a man walking directly in front of her. After the intro, we see Lee Manning (Paul Popowich) arrive at the Sofitel hotel. He sits on the couch and grabs a magazine. Inside, he finds an envelope containing paperwork. Then, he uses the phone to get in touch with the minister. He explains that he is with a pharmaceutical company. While he waits, he gets a call from Sarah (Elaine Cassidy). They talk about their future plans. An older gentleman looks at a picture of Lee on his cellphone. Then, he heads downstairs and speaks with Lee. We see a splatter of blood on the man’s shirt. The conversation ends as Sarah arrives at Gumbiner-Fischer Pharmaceuticals. The man tells Lee that the minister would like to chat elsewhere. Lee follows the man back to his vehicle.

Sarah speaks with Barry Lehane (Risteard Cooper) for a few seconds. Then, she informs a worker that she doesn’t want to return to work just yet. Sarah is told that Dr. Hoffman (Morten Suurballe) would love to have her back. This doesn’t change Sarah’s mind. Meanwhile, Cormac Walsh (Eddie Jackson) breaks into Sarah’s home with help from a female friend. Sarah chats with Hoffman, before leaving her former workplace. She arrives home just in time to spook Walsh. He flees the house without taking anything. Sarah notices some oddities, but doesn’t suspect a thing. Meanwhile, Lee’s body is thrown out of the vehicle and discovered by police a short time later. Detective Emer Byrne (Angeline Ball) arrives and informs Sarah that a body has been discovered in Canada. The man was carrying Lee’s driver’s license. Sarah begins to break down. A cop inspects Lee’s body and discovers a gunshot wound to the back of his head.

Hoffman speaks with his colleagues about the murder, while Emer tries to obtain as much information as possible from Sarah. Sarah admits she doesn’t know what hospital Lee was visiting. Secrecy was a part of the company’s policy. Moments later, Sarah’s sister, Nuala Mulvaney (Lisa Hogg), learns about Lee’s death. She rushes to Sarah’s side immediately. Nuala agrees to pick up the children from school. Outside, Nuala tells Emer about the death of Sarah’s first husband three years ago. Sarah begins to notice odd things around her bathroom. She is interrupted by Nuala seconds later. A detective in Montreal inspects the hotel. He finds a sign for the World Health Conference. He speaks Lee’s room and finds a gun in the safe. Sarah speaks to her friend about her previous husband’s death. Emer learns about the handgun. They contemplate why a sales rep would need a gun. Nuala gets the kids. They’re returned home seconds later. Moments later, Sarah sits down and explains the situation to the kids.

Nuala heads to the carpark to get Lee’s car. She finds Walsh and runs him off. He drops a GPS device, which he removed from the vehicle. Emer and her colleagues are surprised by the sophistication of the GPS system. That night, Emer begins to research the death of Ciaran Boyle, who was a former public relationships office with the pharmaceutical giant. She meets up with Lehane and tries to obtain info from him. After the kids go to sleep, Sarah begins digging through Lee’s belongings. Nuala arrives in the morning and tells Sarah about the car. Emer arrives and asks Sarah about the gun found in Lee’s safe. Sarah seems stunned and insists she knew nothing about it. Then, Sarah tells Emer about her suspicion that someone was in her home. Someone from the Canadian embassy calls Sarah. She is told that she will need to come and identify the body. Before Emer leaves, she tells Sarah that she doesn’t believe she is crazy. She understands how much stress she must be under.

Meanwhile, Hoffman speaks to a crowd. He tells them about the new manufacturing plant. Then, he introduced Morrice O’Hanlon (Rory Nolan). After Morrice speaks to the audience, he speaks with Hoffman in private. They chat about the death of Lee. Emer is shown surveillance video of Walsh meeting with a female near the airport. Later that night, Sarah gets a visit from Barry Lehane. He tells her that something strange is going on at the pharmaceutical company. He believes that someone there might be responsible for Lee’s death. Outside, Walsh’s friend sneaks up and takes something from Sarah’s vehicle. She sets off the security alarm. Lehane chases her, but falls to the ground as the episode ends.

 

Acceptable Risk Review

Acceptable Risk has a great cast. Everyone did great in their respective roles. The story isn’t too bad either. However, it is slightly cliché. So far, there isn’t much differentiating Acceptable Risk from the many other murder mysteries out there. I thought the episode was okay, but slightly boring. Nevertheless, I plan to stick with it. I have seen far worse television shows and there is a good chance that Acceptable Risk could get better with time. The opener scores a 6 out of 10.