This episode of Annika begins in Jura, Inner Hebrides. Annika Standhed (Nicola Walker) talks to Michael McAndrews (Jamie Sives) about Jura. Once they get off the plane, DC Harper Weston (Varada Sethu) tells them that a local officer has set up an incident room. Harper informs Michael that she transferred there. He didn’t know because Annika likes to wait a few years before telling him stuff. When she is alone, Annika talks about George Orwell and his life before he wrote 1984. Once he decided to write about fear, he selected that place. At Jura Fisheries, Harper shows them the victim’s body which is frozen in ice.

They get in touch with DC Blair Ferguson (Katie Leung) and go over their timeline. Harper believes someone dumped the body encased in ice in water around 3:40 AM. At 4:10 AM, three fishermen snag the body and notify the harbor master who is referred to as Salty Stewart (Matt Costello). He has agreed to show them exactly where the body was found. There were no international vessels in the area so the body was dumped locally. Michael suggests Islay is their best bet. Harper says a team of specialists is coming to start the thawing process. Until they can view the face, they won’t be able to identify the body.

She believes it is a middle-aged white man though. There is nothing outstanding in the missing person’s reports. They hear screaming nearby. Eilidah Das (Sophia McLean) tells them that she left her husband, Qaiyum Das (Ryaan Ali), locking up the shop but he never came home. Everyone was convinced he had run off with his ex so Eilidah didn’t report it missing. Half of the money in their joint account was transferred to her. Eilidah deleted the pictures she had of Qaiyum because she couldn’t face looking at him. She confirms he took a passport and small photos when he left. Morgan Standhed (Silvie Furneaux) speaks to Blair about being grounded.

Blair insists her sister Erin was wrong to dump her by text. She told Erin she needed to do better next time. Annika tells Michael that Morgan is under Blair’s surveillance. They approach Salty who tells them that they found the body right between the two islands. He recommends checking out the private jetties before giving them a list of people who were out on the water. Salty underlined Chris Gray (Angela Costello) who works at the conference hotel on Islay. He found it odd that she was alone at that time. Salty takes them to Islay Harbour and shows them where the boat is. When Annika asks Michael about Morgan, he suggests she needs a distraction after Erin.

Chris Gray approaches them to see what they’re doing. They go inside where Chris claims she was there in the morning. She believes the hotel manager will vouch for her although she is busy because of the conference. Harper contacts Michael from the workplace of the woman suspected of killing Qaiyum. She shows Michael that it is called Frozen Fun and is an ice factory. Annika steps into the other room where Jake Strathearn (Paul McGann) is speaking about maternal relationships in child psychology. Harper is shown around the ice factory while the boss is unable to get in touch with Jeanine. He tells Harper that anyone can make a big block of ice.

Jeanine texts him to say she is busy and ask them to come back later. When Harper says she is investigating the murder of Qaiyum Das, the man identifies himself as Qaiyum Das. Later, Michael tells Annika that the hotel manager confirmed Chris was working and not on the water. They won’t be able to trust the list. Harper is telling Eilidah that her husband isn’t dead. Michael leaves without Annika who goes back inside the motel to speak to Jake. She talks to him about the participants being able to identify themselves through the case study. In the morning, Annika contacts Morgan to make sure she is up and to ask her what she was doing last night.

Annika notices Chris speaking to the manager outside. Morgan sees Jake on the phone. Annika claims they were just discussing his conference papers. After the call, Annika and Jake try to figure out what their relationship means. At the incident station, Annika tells Michael and Harper that she saw Chris hand the hotel manager an envelope full of cash this morning. The manager claimed it was payment because the ghillie punched a gust and made a mess of the bar on money night. The money was Chris making it right. Harper reveals that the victim may be Ronan McIntyre. Michael asks Annika if she settled the score because she is wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

In private, Annika talks about how there is a lot of sneaking about in 1984. Annika and Harper speak to Abeni Ogunwe (Adura Onashile) about Ronan who stays with them for free. Oliver Forbes (Grant O’Rourke) admits that McIntyre treats them like they’re his staff. McIntyre introduced them to one another. They doubt that McIntyre is dead and suspect he could be with a woman instead. McIntyre hasn’t been there since he set off on his boat on Monday morning. They confirm that they have a private jetty like most people. Annik and Harper prepare to break the news to them about McIntyre. Later, Blair says she got the victim’s schedule for work.

The last thing he turned up for was a whiskey tasting at the Islay hotel on Monday afternoon. It is the same hotel where Chris works. Michael checks the victim’s boat and doesn’t notice any signs of a struggle. Blair informs Annika that Ronan’s social media shows him with various women. She goes on to say his sister might be able to help, but she isn’t answering right now. When they check the CCTV from the motel, they see Chris fighting with Ronan. Harper tells Annika she’ll visit Chris when their ferry arrives. Back on Ronan’s boat, Michael finds a bottle of whiskey. A man notices him and begins fleeing.

Michael hears gas. He sees two tanks before realizing he is locked on the boat. At school, Morgan gets in touch with Jake to ask if he and Annika are a thing now. She is standing in line for the work placements right now. Morgan asks Jake to talk to Annika about it since this is about her personal growth. Jake thinks Morgan should talk to her mother about it. After Ronan’s boat explodes, Annika and Salty worry about Michael who climbs out of the water moments later. Salty notices a guy is stealing his boat and Michael confirms it is the same guy who ran before the explosion. Annika goes after the man and ends up knocking him into the water before throwing him a life ring.

Harper asks Chris about her altercation with Ronan. Chris can’t get her phone to stop ringing so Harper answers it. Blair asks for Tina McIntyre. Harper suspects Chris is Tina and the sister of the victim. Annika questions Fergus Gordon (Edward M. Corrie) who admits to causing the explosion. He says he doesn’t think rationally when he loses his temper. Fergus made whiskey for Ronan’s business. Ronan canceled even though he knew Fergus’s distillery couldn’t survive without it. Fergus insists he didn’t blow up the boat to hide evidence of a murder. He claims he was at his anger management program in Glasgow on Monday night.

Later, Tina identifies her brother’s body. She insists she didn’t hit him that hard and he only broke his watch because he lost his balance. Harper asks if she knows anyone who would want to hurt Ronan. Tina says her brother took digs and didn’t know when to stop. Later, Annika catches up with Michael who asks if she is seeing Jake again tonight. Annika admits it depends. Morgan is fine with it and is already using Jake to get Annika to agree to the week away. Michael says she’ll have to trust Morgan at some point. Annika confirms that Fergus’s alibi checked out and Tina was in the hospital with a dislocated finger most of the night. Tina was poaching which is why she lied about being on the water at the time.

At the situation center, Annika confirms that Ronan made it back to Jura and bought a drink at the café. He boarded the 11 PM ferry. He was going to Oliver’s lock-in but he didn’t make it. Harper says Ronan’s broken watch was in the cottage so he made it back to Oliver and Abeni’s place. Locals have confirmed that Oliver was at the pub all night although Michael suggests he could’ve snuck out. Blair finds him on CCTV heading in the direction of the rental cottage at midnight and returning an hour later. When they visit them, they find Abeni using a chainsaw to carve a block of ice. She tells them that Oliver took the boat.

Abeni goes into labor. Annika tries to help her through the process. Abeni tells her that the water wasn’t frozen. She doesn’t believe Oliver could’ve killed Ronan. Salty takes Michael and Harper to Oliver’s boat. He threatens to attack Michael and tells him to get off his boat. Oliver says Ronan was looking for a fight and claimed the whole island and laughing about his kid. He just wanted Ronan to stop talking. Oliver ends up throwing Salty into the water and trying to take his boat, but he can’t because Harper has the keys. Oliver is arrested and told he had a boy. Annika talks about 1984 and how Julia betrayed Winston so he betrayed her back.

She suspects Oliver will feel the same way when he realizes he doesn’t get to raise the kid they wanted for so long. She calls Morgan and tells her she can go to the resort. Annika admits Michael changed her mind. Michael goes on the plane while Annika joins Jake in the car. Moments later, Jake and Annika learn that her father, Magnus (Sven Henriksen), is back.

 

Annika Review

This episode of Annika was mostly enjoyable although the investigation did drag at points. That is probably to be expected considering the investigations are usually just okay, but the team has done a good job of being diverse with its cases through two seasons. Annika’s personal life manages to keep the series engaging and moving along while giving viewers something to look forward to in future episodes.

Annika seems to be changing how she handles Morgan while taking Michael’s opinion into consideration. Jake and Annika’s father are back in the picture so that should be interesting. I totally forgot that Tyrone was missing from this episode so he could actually be gone for good, but the role has been filled by Harper fairly well.

Now, we’re really just waiting for Morgan to find out about Michael being her father because it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. The scenery is stunning in every episode including this one and hearing Annika’s insights into 1984 was enjoyable. I recapped this without subtitles and a full cast list so there could be minor mix-ups with names and such. That combination makes things so much more difficult.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Annika can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.