As the 3rd episode begins, Emer Byrne (Angeline Ball) learns more about Cormac Walsh’s death. At the time, he was carrying his money roll and a cellphone. The team begins working to collect the records for the phone. We see that Barry Lehane (Risteard Cooper) is still in the hospital. Meanwhile, Sarah Manning (Elaine Cassidy) speaks with the Canadian detective about Lee’s death. She doesn’t believe that the murder had anything to do with organized crime. She receives nothing of interest from the detective. Before leaving, Sarah gets the extension number for Detective Dusquene (Geordie Johnson). Morrice O’Hanlon (Rory Nolan) gets in touch with Jimmy. O’Hanlon wants advice for dealing with a current matter. Meanwhile, Emer checks out Cormac’s phone. The detectives manage to get it to turn on. Sarah gets her kids from school. They remain standoffish with her.

The detectives are able to find the call log on Cormac’s phone. Photographs are also found. They discover the picture of Cormac and the woman. Emer gets a call. She is told to take the file to someone. Sarah gets a visit from Alisa Bell (Fiona Bell), who was Lee’s first wife. They chat briefly. Sarah begins to believe that someone sent the woman to see what she knows. Sarah is given a picture of the couple, before Alisa leaves. Emer visits James Nulty (Lorcan Cranitch) and gives him a rundown of the evidence. Emer suggests that someone with the United States embassy might be involved. She is reminded that the murder is a job for Montreal. Emer is taken off of the case. She is told that she will be sent to London for an eight-week course. Sarah calls Emer and tells her about the visitor. Emer pays her a visit right away. Emer breaks the news about leaving the case.

Eamonn (Elijah O’Sullivan) interrupts and reminds Sarah about his upcoming performance. Sarah believes that Emer got close to something that they didn’t want anyone to know about. Rose (Gloria Cramer Curtis) watches as Sarah leaves with her brother. Next, Emer gets in contact with Nuala (Lisa Hogg). Nuala tells Emer about the last time she saw Lee. He set up an elaborate scheme, so he could chat with her about Ciaran. Meanwhile, Sarah watches her son’s performance and Rose cuts up family pictures at home. Later that night, Emer gets a call from her boss. When Sarah returns home, she finds out that Rose has gone missing. She blames Nuala. Emer tells her boss that something is very wrong with the pharmaceutical firm. She is ridiculed for disobeying orders. Nulty meets with O’Hanlon. Morrice tells Nulty that he needs votes too. He offers to help him become police commissioner in exchange for help.

Nulty tells him that the case has been handed on. Emer calls the phone number and speaks with Cormac’s friend briefly. She denies knowing Cormac. Sarah finds Rose at the pier. She manages to convince her to go home. Then, he speaks with the man in charge and learns that Lee visited his boat right before his trip to Canada. She is shown surveillance video from that day. She returns home and apologizes to Sarah. Then, she puts Nuala in charge of watching the children again. She heads to the boat and ransacks the place looking for evidence. She returns home and shows Nuala what she found. She admits that the police were right all along. The information contains details about Lee’s travels and Ciaran as well.

Meanwhile, it appears that Billy Lehane dies at the hospital. Nuala finally tells Sarah about her last conversation with Lee. She believes that Lee was investigating Ciaran’s death. Nuala believes that Lehane might have suspected that Lee was a threat and was at the canal at the time of Ciaran’s death. Sarah doesn’t want to hear it.

 

Acceptable Risk Review

Acceptable Risk is simply mediocre. The acting is good and the scenery is nice most of the time. Unfortunately, it is hard to really connect with the characters. I just can’t seem to become engrossed with the mystery of Lee’s death. The whole US embassy angle has been overdone so many times that it isn’t even funny anymore. The show isn’t a total bust, but it probably won’t be memorable either. This episode scores a 6 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Acceptable Risk now.