Underwater – As the opening episode of After The Flood begins, Sergeant Phil Mackie (Nicholas Gleaves) tells PC Joanna Marshall (Sophie Rundle) and others that their top priority is to evacuate everyone safely. Jo is told to get in the back and Trev will get up front. When they crash, Jo gets out and tells Deepa Das (Tripti Tripuraneni) to come with her. Then, they find a woman trapped with her baby in the car. The woman drops the baby causing it to float down the water. A man (Jonas Armstrong) jumps in to save the baby. Although he grabs the baby, Jo no longer sees him. Once he emerges, Jo manages to grab the baby but the man loses his grip and floats down the water.

Deepa arrives and learns that the water took the man. Jo tells her to put a call out for the units down river to look for him. The baby is returned to its mother moments later. Deepa tells Jo they’re wanted on Colliery Road. Jo provides a description of the man whom she calls a hero. After the intro, Jo learns they haven’t heard anything about the man. Deepa tells Jo she was a natural. The driver goes on and on about the flood. Pat Holman (Matt Stokoe) calls Jo to complain about her going into the water while pregnant. Jo tells Deepa that she is training so she is like a trainee detective. Next, Jo calls the Sergeant from Friston Avenue. She is told to ferry everyone up to Holness Primary School. Jo is told to check the road to see if anyone is still in their houses.

Sergeant Mackie wants her to look out for manholes. He confirms there is flooding from York Way to Batts Road. Jo calls Pat to tell him they’re evacuating his sister’s road and she doesn’t want them to come to their place. She asks him to tell Kelly they can’t come with them. Jo tries to check on Mr. Allen to see if he is okay. Mr. Allen (Ray Castleton) comes to the door and tells Jo about the flood gates they’ve installed. He is adamant that they won’t change their minds about leaving. As Jo walks away, she contacts Sarge to see if there is any news on the hero but there isn’t. A group arrives at Holness Primary School. Sarah Mackie tells some of them that they’re here for them until they return home. Molly (Lorraine Ashbourne) asks if they’re okay.

She is busy serving food. Mrs. Markham acknowledges Joanna. Jo admits to Molly that she is still scared of her. Molly asks Andrew to make a sandwich for Jo who is her daughter. Greg argues with the councilor about the sandbags. Jo isn’t thrilled to see Kelly (Faye McKeever). She learns that Pat agreed to let them stay so Kelly wants the keys. The guests begin asking questions about thieves and other things before Phil pulls Jo away. Jack is asked if his tractor is still in action. Jack Radcliffe (Philip Glenister) says yes before he is sent to Orton Road. Sarge urges Jo to go home because he is going to need her tomorrow. Keith (George Bukhari) annoys Jo as soon as she gets home. Kelly yells for Sophie to come down. Jo tells them they have to lay down some house rules since Keith is ready to open her wine.

She calls Molly to say she is coming over to her place, but Molly says she won’t get through. Jo goes downstairs and apologizes since she has nowhere else to stay. She goes outside to use the bathroom and thinks about the man. Later, Pat comes home and finds her sleeping in bed. Jo tells him about Kelly and the family before Pat admits Sophie ate her pizza. He brought her treats instead. They talk about the man who saved the baby. Pat warns her that the same could happen to her and their baby. The man gets up and hears police sirens all around him. The next day, Deepa and Jo patrol the flooded streets. Jo decides to check on Mr. Allen and notices smoke inside his residence. They get the door open and found that the water got in.

Mr. and Mrs. Allen are going deceased. Jo calls it in before learning they’ve found another body so she has been called into town. Once she arrives, she learns that the body is in the lift. Before she can look around, others arrive to pry the lift door open. Jo is asked to see what ID the man has on him. She finds nothing on him. Later, Deepa tells the Sergeant that Jo is looking pale. He tells her to go to the A&E. Phil reminds her that they lost her dad because he wouldn’t go to the hospital. He reveals that the government ministers are flying in to showboat. Molly arrives at the hospital worried because she is expecting the worst, but she learns her daughter is only there to see the baby from yesterday.

Jo says she is fine. Back at the station, Deepa tells her that the man in the lift died three days ago before the flood. Jo speaks to Pat about it and explains that the caretaker uses the lift every day. She questions who put the body there. Pat asks her not to talk about things she doesn’t know about. Jo says hello to Babak who tells her the man died of blunt force trauma to the head. The toxicology report came back clear. Jo ends up passing out. At the hospital, she is told she has a vasovagal episode. The baby is fine and there is no infection. The doctor says she is in her third trimester although Pat thinks she is only six months. Jo admits she is seven months, but she wanted to start the training course.

Pat isn’t happy. Molly worries she isn’t big enough for seven months. The doctor says otherwise. At the station, Jo suspects Pat has said something about her being on maternity. Babak tells her they’ve got nothing on the lift man before letting her use his computer. She leaves a message so everyone will know she isn’t on maternity leave. When no one is looking, Jo checks out the photos of the autopsy and moves everything to a thumb drive. Jo goes to her mom’s place to complain about Pat. She is adamant is going back on Monday for the detective course. Molly mentions the hero who likely drowned. She wonders how she is going to do something to make a difference. While she complains about Sarah Mackie, Jo looks at the photos she took from Babak’s computer.

Jo tells Molly about the man in the lift. Molly tells Jo that she sounds like her father. Molly wants to get Waterside Council off their backsides. Jo shows her what she needs to do to become a councilor. Jo takes her mom’s advice and decides to run the man’s DNA through a genealogy database. When she goes to the doctor for an ultrasound, she tells the doctor that her husband doesn’t come to any of these visits. Jo is told the baby is looking good. Molly and the others try to clean up the flooded homes. Sarah approaches her to say the flooding isn’t the council’s fault. Molly argues they’re not doing what they can. Sarah asks if their new foster kid Andrew could plant some stuff at Bren’s allotment.

Molly quickly says yes before saying she is going to stand in on the next election. Jo learns that the DNA match is back. She tells Molly that the man’s sister is 24-year-old Tasha Eden who is living in France. They can message her. Before they do anything, a foreign number calls. Jo answers it the second time. Tasha tells her that she got an email about a sibling match. Jo tells her that her brother died a week ago in Waterside. Tasha yells her brother died five years ago. Pat arrives to help.

 

After The Flood Review

The opening episode of After The Flood was a tale of two stories with the first half being much different than the latter half. The first twenty minutes or so at least felt interesting and different, but the episode quickly descended into mediocrity and the same old same old. Personally, I think the series would’ve been better if it had just focused on a flooded town and the people impacted.

Everything that came after that point has been done so many times before that it is exhausting. A pregnant woman who pushes herself while her husband complains about it and the multiple health scares. Besides all the clichés, the episode really became unbelievable in the latter half.

The genealogy website wouldn’t have worked like that obviously because you don’t just drop a file into your web browser to submit DNA to such services. Everything surrounding that aspect of the story was contrived and really unfortunate because it made the writing look so lazy and ignorant.

The costumes could’ve been better, especially Sophie Rundle’s police uniform. Her uniform was so baggy it probably made MC Hammer jealous. A police officer couldn’t function effectively in something so loose and baggy. Plus, she never really looked pregnant which is probably why they threw in that bit at the hospital.

Again, Jo didn’t need to be pregnant and there didn’t need to be a murder mystery. The first twenty minutes showed promise, but the writers just couldn’t help themselves and had to fill the script with so many clichés. The opening episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of After The Flood can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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