As the finale of Annika begins, Annika Standhed (Nicola Walker) talks about the God Prometheus who gave people the gift of fire. She mentions the good things about fire before saying it can destroy homes and everything in them. Annika watches a crew trying to put out a fire. DS Michael McAndrews (Jamie Sives) informs her that they believe it was doused with fuel first. Alex Carrigan (Rebecca Root) is distraught when running over to check out the scene. Annika asks Michael to get divers in and start door-to-door. At home, Morgan (Silvie Furneaux) asks Annika to give her a lift back from the driving course.

Magnus (Sven Henriksen) offers to take her, but Annika tells him he is on dinner detail. When they’re alone, Morgan tells Magnus she is taking credit for the new father-daughter thing. Magnus mentions that she never asked about her father. Outside, Jake Strathearn (Paul McGann) approaches Annika to give her a drinking horn. Annika thinks he took it because he loves her dearly. After Jake says he does, Annika questions whether they’re saying that now. Jake is saying it now, but he says Annika can choose her own time. He asks about coming in more permanently. Annika is hesitant to let him move in with her, but she agrees to think about it.

At the station, Annika speaks to DC Harper Weston (Varada Sethu), DC Blair Ferguson (Katie Leung), and others. It is confirmed that the victim was DI Jacqueline Drummond and she died from smoke inhalation. DCI Diane Oban (Kate Dickie) worked with her for a short time. Jacqueline retired three years ago. According to Alex Carrigan, the victim had someone staying with her. Michael reveals there was a report of someone running from the scene just before the fire. When Harper is asked about phone records, she confirms there is only one number unaccounted for. Jacqueline had a daughter named Imogen who was raised by her father. The father claimed she went to Glasgow a couple of months ago.

Imogen wasn’t staying with her mother since she is enrolled in a university. Her social media account suggests she doesn’t know about her mother yet. Annika tells them they need to look at Gary Nair who was released from prison three months ago. He killed a family in a house fire. There was a lot of talk inside about coming after her. Blair says he relocated to Glasgow. Diane says she’ll be all over this one because Jacqueline was one of them. When Michael and Harper visit Alex Carrigan, Harper notices a petrol can in her boat. Alex claims she was coming home from a gig last night. She tells them about a guy Jacqueline met at a bereavement charity that she volunteers with.

Alex knows he is in his thirties, black, and has addiction problems. Then, Alex confirms Jacqueline dropped by in the morning. She asks them to find him. If he did it, Alex wants to see him burn too. Annika says the Gods were fond of Prometheus before things turned sour. He was asked to form mankind out of water and clay. While working on his creation, he grew fond of mankind and that’s why he gave them gifts. Annika meets Imogen who admits she grew up with her dad because he always seemed to be there for her. She knows her mom was probably busy, but she picked her dad when given the choice. Jacqueline and Imogen gave one another a second chance though.

They were bonding over creating a podcast about having a cop as a parent. Her mom had many stories to tell and some of them were supposedly very dark. Annika asks him about Leon who was staying with Jacqueline. Imogen never saw him because Jacqueline always asked him to leave when she was coming over. Michael and Harper find prints leading away from the barge. They follow them to a bus stop and see a CCTV camera above them. Later, Michael finds Morgan at the station. When he approaches her, she asks him what the road sign is for ducks in the road. Michael tries to help her before saying she’ll be fine because they’re right behind her.

Moments later, Michael tells Annika about the visit. Then, they watch CCTV footage five minutes before the fire crew was called. It appears Leon gets on the bus before getting off near a place that rough sleepers use. Gary Nair’s probation officer thinks he is doing cash-in-hand work somewhere. He has a new place and got a greyhound. Based on his phone’s data, Gary and the victim were in Glasgow three days ago. It is believed the fire was started using petrol from the can found on the barge. Harper saw one with the same design on Alex’s boat. Michael reveals he got a call from the venue which said they canceled the gig Alex was supposedly at.

Annika agrees to speak to Alex. Harper and Michael use the bike to question some of the homeless people close to Leon’s drop-off point. Morgan makes it to the Youth Drivers Club. Michael sees a man who looks like Leon so he informs Harper. The man Leon is talking to attacks Michael while Leon flees. Harper can’t catch him. Michael tells her that Leon told his pal he was a trafficker so he can’t really blame him. Harper calls for help. Annika catches up with Alex who claims she let Jacqueline borrow a can of diesel. She wouldn’t have done it if she’d known someone would do that with it. When asked about the gig, Alex says they went to the nearby club instead.

Annika notices a picture of a tattoo on Jacqueline’s arm that says, “20/08/93”. Alex isn’t sure what the purpose of it was. Annika leaves. Jake speaks to Morgan about the driving school. Annika returns home and learns Magnus invited Jake to dinner. Magnus tells them about the significance of the dish. After briefly talking about Annika’s case, Magnus says he has decided to go home. He isn’t going to leave Annika’s mother because they’re better together. Magnus credits Jake with helping him make that decision. Out of nowhere, Morgan questions whether Michael is her father. Annika says yes.

Morgan only says okay before going upstairs. Annika follows her and Magnus puts the food up for tomorrow. Annika speaks to Morgan in her bedroom. She tells Morgan she loves her before stepping out. Blair calls her to tell her about someone getting kicked out of a bar yesterday. Gary was the one doing the kicking out. Blair goes into labor. Once Annika catches up with Michael, she learns that he told Astrid. Annika tells him what happened with Morgan last night. Gary Nair approaches them and says he is confessing. He offers himself up with his hands out. Morgan chases Magnus outside to say she didn’t realize he was going home today.

He tells her that he is leaving her the car although Morgan doubts Annika will let her touch it. In an interview room, Annika questions whether he wants to go back inside because he can’t cope in the real world. She receives a message from Diane asking her to step outside for a minute. Diane tells her that Nair bought a racing greyhound. He was there when it ran so he couldn’t have started the fire. Diane asks Annika to get rid of him. Annika confronts Gary Nair with the evidence. Later, Harper tells Annika that it looks like the victim might’ve been poisoned first. They also found out that Leon’s full name is Leon Archer thanks to prints lifted from the glass at the bus stop. He has a record of theft.

The guy who attacked Michael said Leon tried to sell a bag of electrical stuff. Harper is asked to check with pawnbrokers. Annika tells them about Blair going into labor. As they leave, Annika sees Jake so she apologizes to him for finding out about Michael like that. He admits he doesn’t need to move in. Annika didn’t say yes right away because there was so much going on. She agrees to let him move in if it is okay with Morgan. Harper sees Leon Archer who flees again. After they run into a building, Harper manages to take him down and cuff him. Imogen tells Michael and Annika that the tattoo was the date Jacqueline’s brother died.

The inquest said it was diver error, but Jacqueline didn’t believe that because she said he didn’t make mistakes. At school, Morgan gives a younger girl tips because she wants to look after her. Diane and Harper interview Leon who insists he didn’t start the fire. He says he left because the barge was on fire when he got back, but he did steal from her. Jacqueline was trying to dry him out. He took the stuff to get money to find something to take the edge off. When he changed his mind, he was bringing the stuff back. That’s when he saw the fire. Leon eventually asks for a lawyer. Michael and Annika wonder if the victim was working on a conspiracy.

Annika gets a call apologizing for Morgan not getting picked up for the driving course. She doesn’t understand that since she just got a picture of Morgan getting into a vehicle used by the driving course. Annika and Morgan quickly try to find out what happened. Gary prevents Morgan from answering a call from her mother. He pretends he is part of the driving course. Annika and Michael check the place where Morgan’s phone was turned off. Gary scares Morgan before saying they should go again. She says she isn’t ready for this course. Morgan would prefer to go home so Gary offers to drive her there. She tries to get out and go to the pharmacy only to find the door locked.

Leon tells Diane that he lost his mother. He eventually tells them he saw a guy leave the boat when he got there. Leon remembers what the guy was wearing. Annika and Michael find the car, but it happens to be empty. Morgan comes running out of the pharmacy nearby and tells them that he took her phone. Michael calls for backup to look for Nair. At home, Morgan is told that Jake is going to stay with her. She doesn’t mind letting him stay permanently. Annika goes back to the station where she tells Diane that Morgan outfoxed him on her own. Diane shows her the detail that Leon identified on the guy’s coat.

Annika is also shown a newspaper about Jacqueline’s brother. Diane tells her about a call that was recorded a couple of weeks ago. Annika asks for a minute with everything going on and she wants to read the article. When she is alone, Annika stares at the sketch of the suspect. She says Prometheus didn’t get away with what he did and instead was punished. An eagle pecked out his liver every day for eternity. Zeus also created Pandora because he wanted mankind to suffer too. He gave her curiosity. She was given a box and told not to open it but she did. That allowed Zeus to blame her for bringing evil into the world. Annika listens to the recorded call. Then, she asks the viewer to help her.

 

Annika Review

This episode of Annika had many strong points, especially everything going on with Morgan. However, it was slightly disappointing as a finale episode. More specifically, it was disappointing that the episode didn’t wrap everything up and instead intends to carry the story to another series whenever that may be released.

The show is likely alluding to the idea that everything is somehow tied to Gary Nair though and that’s probably why it felt the story was strong enough to keep it going. On the other hand, the episode had some very effective emotional moments with Michael and Morgan.

Although those moments were short, they really made the episode effective and memorable. Those scenes combined with some strong performances made the episode pretty good even if the ending did make it seem empty.

Update – Thanks to all the comments, I am starting to see this episode a bit differently. It makes perfect sense that Annika is worried her father could be Jacqueline’s killer. The symbol on the coat, which Morgan asked for, somewhat matches the one on Magnus’s coat.

The facial recognition sketch also resembles Magnus to some degree and that probably gave Annika pause. The oil company is called Luth Group. I am not sure which company Magnus worked for, but in episode five Annika mentioned her father taking her to the King Lear oil field. Anyway, the evidence does seem to point to Magnus most likely being the one running from Jacqueline’s boat.

As for the newspaper article about the inquest, it doesn’t provide any details because the print is so small. Even after freezing on it, you can only read the headlines. The voice does indeed sound like Magnus. Thanks for the comments and clearing things up for me! After reflecting on this new possibility, it definitely changes my perspective of the episode and probably not for the better.

It really is no wonder one would miss this because it seems so farfetched to make Magnus the murderer. He didn’t come to town right away and instead visited the resort with Annika and Morgan. If his goal was to kill Jacqueline, it is odd that he’d go to the resort initially only to return home with his daughter. It may be that he was trying to set up and alibi, but that’d be a little cheesy as well.

If I had to guess, this will be one of the show’s many red herrings and there are plenty. It’ll be a good ploy to get viewer to tune in to the third series if it is released soon enough to maintain this level of hype though. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Annika are available on Reel Mockery here.

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