The episode begins in the back of a cargo van with Simon (Harry Egan) and his crew from the B&B dressed in hazardous suits and gas masks. Simon offers a few inspirational words about fear and not living with any as several of the members appear to be mixing ingredients in a tub between them. When one of the men, monitoring a manual scanner of sorts, reports no activity, Simon assures the team they’ll be ready when there is.
Jim Bracknell (David Threlfall) wakes at the fracking site to discover Lilly Wells’ (Matilda Freeman) handiwork with the burnt mannequin. Under his breath, he curses Lilly and professes his innocence while dragging the imitation body to the gated entrance. Despite the early hour, there is a gaggle of protestors already on site.
At the police station, Nish Chowdry (Arian Nik) and Ali Day (Ella Bruccoleri) are in the middle of ranking themselves as people on a scale of 1 to 10 when Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku) shows up. They waste little time congratulating her on solving the missing bin case. Riya attributes the win to Ali while also pointing out that the discovery only confirms her suspicions about the strange events in town. As she attempts to check the registry website to see who owns the lockup, she tells them about John Trowbridge (Jack James Ryan) being found in the woods. Before uncovering the owner of the lockup, she orders Nish and Ali to start inventorying the site.
Breakfast at the Well’s Residence is ruined when Katie (Rowan Robinson) receives a text from Vicky Trowbridge (Gemma Wardle) about John being in the hospital. Although Eddie (Barry Sloane) doesn’t deny or confirm involvement, Joanne’s (Natalie Gavin) response to Katie’s accusations suggests she believes Eddie is innocent.
Riya arrives at the gym where she confronts Tony Corrigan (Sean Gilder) about the missing bins. He admits to owning the lockup but attempts to insult her by saying if she was better at her job, she would have discovered that he loaned it out two years ago. Although he doesn’t reveal to whom, Riya’s next visit to Derek Jackson (Daniel Ryan) at the bread factory suggests that he likely blabbed. Their confrontation reveals that it was Derek who found John. She teasingly asks him how he knew John would be in the forest before asking about his leasing of the lockup. He admits to looking at the lockup but claims it was far too small for his intentions. Before leaving him terrified and steaming, she mentions Terry Jackson (Debbie Rush) running tests on a strange liquid found in one of the bins.
Much to Riya’s surprise, she’s approached by a factory worker, who claims that Nina Karlsson (Synnove Karlsen) has been living under the name Claire and working at a farm in Doffston. The discovery leads Riya to the farm where she discovers Claire and her husband (David Atkins) working on the farm just as the factory worker said. Claire initially denies everything, but once Riya gets her alone, she admits to spending a week in Chadder Vale at the B&B with a man she met online. At the time, Claire was emotionally struggling and shared this with the man. When he woke up one day and found her missing, he reported the incident. Also according to Claire, the name Nina Karlsson came from a popular Swedish crime drama.
Constable Linda Markel (Jo Hartley) is already frustrated when she discovers Nish, Ali, and Terri at the lockup. She only gets madder as she learns more. Linda quickly puts an end to the operation and tells Riya that she wants to speak with her later.
A very quick meeting between Sue (Clare Burt) and Nick Goodheart (Tom Lister) suggests that her mental condition is rapidly worsening, which only frustrates him. Elsewhere Derek expresses a similar frustration during his discussion with Kane Jackson (Nico Mirallgro). Despite how cryptic their encounter is, it’s clear that Derek blames Kane for Riya’s poking around the factory. According to Derek, he bought a $20,000 machine to dispose of whatever Kane was putting in the stolen bins. The scene ends with Derek threatening to hang Kane out to dry if Riya gets too close.
Although the details of her request aren’t shown at the time, Linda calls in her favor with Michael Douglas at the Met.
Already agitated, Riya is in no mood for Jakub Makowski’s (Hubert Hanowicz) humor when she randomly appears at the garage. When he finally convinces her to share what’s got her so upset, it becomes clear that she fears her skills as an investigator are slipping. Jakub doesn’t provide any words of comfort but his kisses appear to do a sufficient job of putting Riya at ease. This is until Linda makes a surprise appearance. Linda’s favor from Michael is revealed when she tells Riya that she’s being transferred next week.
Tony surprises Jim at the fracking site with a bottle of liquor. Jim refuses the offer but his maniacal ranting about the constant harassment leads to him pulling what looks like a medical bag from a nearby filing cabinet. Tony tells him that he’s only numbing the pain when now might be the opportune time to face it.
Lilly and Katie end up in a heated argument when Lilly says Katie’s reaction at breakfast that morning reminded her of Eddie. Katie tells her that burning mannequins is much more like something Eddie would have done. Before storming off, she points out that Jim would have a hard time opening a can of beans, let alone throwing Mehmet Shah (Shervin Alenabi) off a tower.
Jim continues to struggle until he decides to pay Eddie a visit at home. Although Eddie doesn’t answer his knocks, he nestles up by the front door. Lilly appears to be doing the same upstairs, as Jim professes they are both monsters with no concern for other’s feelings. Sometime later that evening Eddie visits the boxing gym where he goads several of the locals into beating the crap out of him.
While Eddie gets the crap kicked out of him, Katie visits Inaya Shah (Anna Tymoshenko) to offer her help around the café. Joanne finds Eddie, beaten to a pulp, in their bathroom. Although she teases him about seeking sympathy from the beating, it apparently works because she insists on cleaning his wounds.
Riya is in the middle of celebrating her transfer at the pub with Jakub when Nick’s arrival surprises them. After a few minutes of good-natured joking, the trio knows all about each other and their problems.
Despite John’s condition improving to the point where he can now speak, his story of what happened in the woods throws Katie for a loop. Although she initially accuses him of intentionally trying to overdose, she begins to believe his story once he tells her about seeing his father, Tom Trowbridge (Michael Hodgson), and his worst fears play out.
John’s confession inspires Katie to return to the woods to confront whatever monster/evil is out there. After several convoluted visions, she passes out. Elsewhere, Derek receives a threatening call from the head office. An ensuing scene gives the impression that the team from the B&B has picked up a signal. The apparent team leader, Simon, is also shown later making a call, confirming the successful capture of their target.
Nish pays Ali a surprise visit at home on her day off. After telling her about Riya’s transfer, he suggests they do something to help her out Even more to her surprise, he relates the transfer to an experience he had in school where he thought he wrote a good essay but his teacher demeaned him, and the work in front of the entire class. When they return to the lockup and continue to search the bins, Ali asks what his essay what about. It was about Grand Theft Auto, the video game, and the freedom and independence it offered.
Ali and Nish later take several bags to Riya at Jakub’s garage. Although they haven’t found anything incriminating, they suggest they might be able to pull prints from some of the items. It turns out they don’t need to because one of the bags contains a pack of Houston Blue cigarettes and Riya says there is only one person in town who smokes that brand.
The cigarettes are revealed to be Kane’s when Riya calls him in for interrogation. He admits to using the lockup and claims he used it for bread factory waste. It’s apparent she doesn’t believe him and doesn’t see what watches, overall, and compasses have to do with bread. His response is, ‘You’d be surprised.’ Realizing he will not give her any more information, she sticks him in a holding cell while she further investigates.
Riya heads to the bread factory and sends Nish and Ali to Kane’s farmhouse. Although the factory doesn’t lead to anything useful, Nish and Ali find Katie’s bracelet at the farmhouse.
Passenger Review
As far as character and story development go, episode 4 hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, the biggest portion of it was practically useless. I did enjoy the throwback to GTA, and Nish and Ali’s little interactions are becoming more and more entertaining. I, however, do not appreciate how both Jakub and Nick are like Riya’s doormats. There are at least one or two scenes in every episode where she treats them like doormats. Other than that, there isn’t much to say. I’d rate the episode a 5.5 out of 10.
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