As this episode of Annika begins, DI Annika Strandhed (Nicola Walker) tells Jake Strathearn (Paul McGann) how she has been checking her pulse. She decided to check it away from home to get in a couple of low readings. Jake thinks she should go if Morgan Standhed (Silvie Furneaux) has arranged this holiday. He urges her to have fun before leaving. Annika talks about the time her dad, Magnus Standhed (Sven Henriksen), took her on holiday to see King Lear. As it turns out, King Lear is the name of a gas field in the North Sea. Morgan is at the Blane Park Eco Resort in Perthshire.

Casper McCray (Dominic Watters) works overhead while the others receive updates from Louise Keanny (Lesley Harcourt). Then, everyone welcomes Morgan who will be shadowing Louise. Annika argues with her father about having to fly. She checks in with the pilot, Geoff McInver (Andrew Watson), and learns his dad passed on the plane to him. Annika’s pulse rises rapidly just before the plane takes off. At the police station, DC Blair Ferguson (Katie Leung) shows DC Harper Weston (Varada Sethu) her ultrasound. Blair also points out that Gary Nair is being released even though he killed a family. DCI Diane Oban (Kate Dickie) interrupts and welcomes Harper.

Harper is given a desk. Annika asks Magnus why he is there. He asks if it is strange that he wants to spend time with his granddaughter. Louise comes over to check them in. Casper tells Louise that they’ll have to keep the walk in the clouds closed for longer because he has an appointment. Annika isn’t thrilled to learn she is going to be sharing a cabin with her dad. Once she goes to the cabin, Morgan suggests Magnus is there because he wants to see them. Magnus comes in and promises Morgan to try to have fun. Morgan tells them about the senior stargazing event before leaving.

Once they’re alone, Annika tells Magnus that she needs to know what is going on if they’re going to play happy family. She suspects her mom has kicked him out. When Magnus says he is thinking of leaving her, Annika says he isn’t. Magnus asks Annika not to call her because he came there to think and talk it over with her first. Annika goes for a walk. In Lofoten, Norway, Jake receives a call from Annika who tells him what her father just said. She suggests it is the wrong way around with her dad being there and Jake being in Norway. Annika looks in the water nearby and sees a hand.

Astrid McAndrews (Cora Bissett) receives a call from Annika who learns Michael is ill. Annika tells Astrid about the murder and she relays that information to Michael. After the call, Harper tells Annika that the victim is Casper McCray. Annika remembers seeing him and that he was going to an appointment. His next of kin is his husband Lance Wallace (James Anthony Pearson) who lives nearby. Remi Lennox (Helen Katamba) comes over to tell them the cause of death is likely a high-force impact. She thinks the mark on the left shoulder is probably a friction burn. Harper suggests it could be from his safety harness.

Annika tells Harper they need to find the crime scene and determine whether the body could’ve drifted down the water. Harper says she’ll get the CCTV sent to Blair and she organized a mobile incident room that should arrive in the morning. When Annika goes back to the cabin, she is surprised by Magnus who is still waiting for her. She reluctantly joins him for a drink. After a brief chat about the blue lights in the resort, Magnus goes inside. In the morning, Harper visits Lance who can’t imagine staying in the house now. They got married last month after three years of trying to talk Casper into it. When Lance asks to see him, Harper warns him that he doesn’t look like he remembers.

Lance says Casper found the resort job stressful because the owner is very demanding. He suspects his appointment was in Glasgow since that is where his business and partner are. He calls Casper’s business partner a nightmare. Casper bought an SUV for work about a week ago. Magnus joins Morgan outside where she is cooking. He talks to her about his company doing the pipelines and how he was proud of that. They take a selfie together. When the mobile police unit arrives, Magnus admits he believes Annika is using it as an excuse not to talk to him. Louise asks Annika not to park the incident unit near the bunny trail. She admits she was annoyed with Casper because he used the wrong wood.

Morgan arrives and begins moving the bunny. Neither saw Casper after he left reception yesterday. However, Dana Ashraf (Maryam Hamidi) supposedly signed in to see him. Morgan invites Annika to have dinner at the restaurant since she has the night off. Harper calls Annika to say the victim’s car is missing and they didn’t notice because it is registered to a different company. Blair is on it. Harper is getting his laptop to digital forensics. When Harper watches a woman break out a window, she tells Annika she might want to come over. Annika comes over and finds Lance and Nell Dwight (Gabriel Quigley) throwing pool balls at one another. She quickly calms them.

Nell explains that they’d buy properties and sell them to developers. She accuses Lance of being a gold digger. Nell goes on to say Lance is the only one who benefited from this. DCI Oban and Blair notice a kid close to the mobile van. They speak to Annika and Harper over video chat and tell them about Coorie Solutions Limited. Nell is in the clear because she was in a spa in Glasgow at the time of the murder and there were a dozen witnesses. Blair isn’t sure the company will be lucrative for the husband because it is being sued for fraud. DS Michael McAndrews (Jamie Sives) joins them and says he can do some digging.

Harper says they’re looking upstream to see if they can find out where Casper was killed. The resort footage shows Casper’s SUV leaving at 5:30 although they cannot see the driver. They’re waiting on the GPS data. When Annika tries to show them something on her phone, she ends up showing them pictures of herself with Jake. She eventually gets the Blane Park visitor pass for Dana Ashraf who works for the community center. She is an unhappy client. When the GPS data comes in, they find out where the SUV is and that it hasn’t moved since last night. Harper takes Annika on her motorcycle to try to find the SUV.

Michael speaks to Nell about her business and how it is being sued. Nell thinks they should be looking into Casper’s husband. Michael reveals he has an alibi thanks to a neighbor. Nell says Casper gave fair assessments of the properties. Michael wants a list of everyone she sold to and everyone who sued them. Annika finds keys. She begins talking about how it was hard for King Lear to admit he’d made a mistake by giving away the keys to his kingdom. Harper interrupts when she finds the SUV. Based on the mark on Casper’s shoulder, they suspect he was the passenger in the SUV during the crash. Annika shows Harper the keys with the pelican and suspects it is connected to the Pelican Community Center.

They go there and speak to Dana Ashraf who claims to know nothing about Casper’s death. Dana says they fundraised and paid Casper to fix up the place, but he kept putting it off until they canceled it. She went to Blane Park because Casper was withholding the deposit and they needed it back. Annika tells her about the key ring she found. Dana reveals he bought the car with their money and she just found out he bought this place too. She says she just took the car and Casper was long gone when she took it. Dana just wanted him to know what it is like to lose something. Annika wonders who the meeting was with if it wasn’t with Dana.

Annika joins Morgan for dinner. She tells her daughter that she isn’t going to fix a lifetime of stuff like this. Louise comes over to see if they’re closer to solving the murder before she is pulled away by a staff member. Annika tells Morgan that Magnus is having a few personal issues. Louise comes back to tell Annika that something is going on with her father. They find him drunk and feeding deer. Louise tells Morgan to get a cleaning crew. Harper comes over after Magnus admits to Annika that he has been talking to her mom on the phone.

Harper says there is no evidence anyone was in the SUV when it went over. She shows Annika what they found in the glove box with 5:30 PM written on the back. Annika tells her to find it and they’ll meet in the morning since she has to deal with her father. In the morning, Morgan tells Annika how the pilot missed the oyster run. Annika asks Magnus if she is going to tell him what last night was all about. He says he feels humiliated before asking her to let him deal with it on his end. Later, Annika talks about the many deaths in King Lear. She explains that King Lear died of a broken heart. He had a child who saw the hurt and was willing to do anything to help her father.

Annika tells Michael about the pilot, Geoff, missing the oyster run. The victim was last seen heading in the direction of the seaplane jetty. Harper reveals the victim was set to visit another house and he likely traveled by plane. Michael says there is a person with the same last name as the pilot who sold their property to Casper’s company. Blair finds Rod McInver’s obituary. His house is the one Casper was living in with Lance. They try to find Geoff’s plane. When he sees the police, Geoff takes off on the plane. Michael notifies Annika and Harper who are on a boat. Once they see the plane, Harper suggests playing chicken.

Geoff eventually stops the plane to avoid a collision. On land, Geoff says Casper cheated his dad out of his money. His dad walked by the property to try to shame the builder, but they thought he was just some old man. Geoff says it killed him and he never went out again so that needed paying for. He admits to offering to show the builder a home and got him on the plane. Casper didn’t even recognize him. Annika speaks to Jake before Magnus comes to pick her up. Astrid checks on Michael at home. He tells her that his daughter isn’t his firstborn. Michael goes on to say Morgan is. Astrid learns that he hasn’t known for long and Morgan doesn’t know yet.

Astrid questions what is going to change. Magnus heard Annika did very well. He tells his daughter he has always been proud and he is sorry he didn’t say it earlier. That is the other reason he came. Magnus offers to get Annika and Morgan something to make it up to them. He starts laughing when Annika asks for his car.

 

Annika Review

This episode of Annika was okay although a little silly at times. In particular, the investigation ended a little too easily in the end. It is hard to believe Annika and Harper would seriously play a game of chicken with a suspect in a plane on a hunch. It also seems the killers are often too willing to confess near the end of the episodes. There will be eye-rolling moments in Annika so that is something viewers will have to accept to enjoy the series.

Meanwhile, this episode put the Morgan stuff on the back burner while focusing more on Annika’s relationship with her father and the issues he is facing. Personally, I am glad the series is pivoting back to the Morgan stuff because that is more impactful, but this episode did a good job with the father-and-daughter angle. Overall, the episode was enjoyable enough with a few funny moments scattered among the murder investigation.

It may not win awards or innovate the genre, but Annika is usually a pleasant, easy-to-digest watch. Plus, it gives viewers another chance to enjoy Nicola Walker at work. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Annika are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.