As the fourth episode of Better begins, Lou Slack (Leila Farzad) drinks while remembering her conversation with Esther Okoye (Olivia Nakintu). Esther complains that she wanted to be her and she was on the take the whole time. Lou explains it wasn’t a one-way street because many of her biggest cases were made on information Col gave her. Esther asks why Col has to pay her if it is mutual. Lou questions if it matters because she is out now. She is going to bring him in, but it has to be done her way. Esther doesn’t want to be treated like an idiot although Lou insists she isn’t lying.

Esther is adamant that she’ll have to tell Sandy Mosby (Lucy Black). Then, she says she won’t tell her if Lou tells her. Lou says she can’t. If she betrays Col, he will come for her and her family. Esther says he can’t if he is inside and she’ll have to tell Sandy. Lou pleads with her to let her make this right. Esther says she can’t lie for her because it is wrong. Later, Ceri (Samuel Edward-Cook) finds Lou in the attic and worries she is going to wake Owen. Lou says it is over and they have to get all of this out of the house because Esther caught her doing something for Col. She is worried they’re going to search the house when Esther speaks to Sandy. Lou will deny everything to prevent Col from finding out.

Ceri offers to take it and burn it if he has to. Lou knows she is no use to Col if she gets caught. Ceri recommends resigning tomorrow. He says it is an end and nothing else matters since it isn’t her problem. They’ll be free and they’ll get to walk away. A little later, she tells him that she feels condemned. Ceri believes she needs to just get through this part. Lou arrives outside the police station and calls Esther who is already inside. Esther ignores the call as Sandy enters. Lou leaves a message asking Esther to call her back before driving away from the police station. Lou visits Col (Andrew Buchan) and says they need to talk. Once she is allowed inside, Lou tells him that there is a taskforce, he is the target, and they’ve deliberately kept her off it.

She believes they know about them because that would be the only reason they’d freeze her out. Lou says they have enough to get a search warrant on the house and they could be on their way now. She suggests cleaning out the house now. When she mentions the safe, Col says everything is encrypted. Lou isn’t sure he should take the chance so she encourages him to clean out the house now. Esther approaches Sandy to ask if she can have a word with her. While she waits for Sandy to finish, she gets another call from Lou. She steps out to take the call and immediately tells Lou she can’t change her mind. Lou asks if she wants to bring Col in because he is leaving his house to dispose of evidence.

Esther asks what he’ll be carrying. Lou thinks it’ll be computer stuff like hard drives. Esther tells her to forget it before hanging up so Lou calls again. Lou argues that this is her opportunity to make a difference. If she is wrong, the only thing that will happen is that Esther will look daft. If she is right, they get to bring down Col today and they can decide what to do to her later. Lou urges her to get over there now. Esther gives Sandy an excuse so she can leave. Esther parks behind Lou and they begin waiting for Col to leave with the evidence. Once Col pulls out, Lou tells her to do everything by the book. Lou will go back to the station. Esther begins following him.

Lou goes back to the station and hears Esther calling it in on the radio. Esther gives them updates as she continues following Col who pulls into a petrol station. She watches as Col gets a bag out of the boot. They’re worried he could be getting rid of evidence, but Sandy tells Esther to wait for uniformed officers to arrive. Esther believes he is going in with the bag so she jumps out to confront him. He tells her she’ll have to ask his lawyer. When two officers arrive, Col agrees to let Esther look inside his bag. Once she checks the bag, she tells Sandy that it is nothing. She explains it is just office stuff like printer paper and post-it notes. They question whether he is messing with them. Lou begins panicking.

Donal McHugh (Ceallach Spellman) visits Owen at home. Donal tells him that he won’t need his chair or his phone. Instead, Owen decides to turn the phone off because his parents would freak. Lou calls Ceri to tell him that she tried to set up Col and he knows. She tells him not to go home because Col might have people watching the house. Lou goes home to look for Owen only to find that he isn’t there. She calls Owen and gets his voicemail. Lou receives a call telling her that her lad is safe for now. She is told to meet him at the farm in half an hour. Owen struggles to walk so Donal decides to carry him the rest of the way. Ceri goes to Col’s house to confront him. When Alma comes out, Ceri threatens to kill Col if he hurts Lou.

She doesn’t know where Col is and encourages him to leave. Once they reach the water, Donal tells Owen that his dad used to call him a Tasmanian Devil. It used to get so bad that his dad would take them far away from anyone. When his dad brought him there, he’d be chill. After Owen kisses him, Donal says he isn’t like that. Owen believes he already knew. Donal’s phone beeps. Owen says it is obvious it is his girlfriend and that is completely fine. Donal snaps a selfie of them together. Once Lou arrives, she is searched and Bulgey punches her in the stomach. Col knows she tried to set him up and has been working against him for a while now.

Lou learns that Donal has been pretending to be James while hanging out with Owen. Col says Owen thinks he is just having a nice day out with his pal and that doesn’t have to change. They can’t have any more lies. Lou confesses that she wanted to bring him down because she thought her part in saving Owen was stopping Col. When Col asks why she didn’t just walk away, Lou says he is the problem. Col doesn’t think he is the problem because he sells something that people buy freely. Lou says the drugs he sells ruin lives. Col argues that people ruin their lives in other ways such as drinking, smoking cigarettes, takeaway, and betting. His dad never broke the law for his fix because every drop of alcohol was legally obtained.

Lou tells him not to try to justify what he does. Col reminds her that heroin used to be legal and obtainable with a prescription. He goes on to say they did this together because they’re exactly the same. Col knows who he is, but he thinks Lou is a lair. He says she lies to everyone including Ceri and Owen. Lou says he isn’t as honest as he thinks he is. Col says he’d get Donal to blame Lou before he kills Owen. Lou threatens to kill him and says Ceri will rip his eyes out. Lou mentions that Aoife killed herself with Col’s gear. She goes on to say Aoife hated him. When Col points a gun at her, Lou promises there will be no more lies. Col tells her to go home. Donal will bring Owen back unharmed and this is the last time they’ll see each other.

He warns her that everything will change if she tries to come after him again. She sees the van and notices that it was ready for her murder. After getting the good news, Donal tells Owen they should probably start heading back. He wants to go for a swim first. Owen jumps in with him moments later, Lou calls Ceri to tell him to come home. Owen thanks James for today. He asks him what they’re doing if he doesn’t want that. It would be nice to have some sort of road map. Donal says it is just nice to have someone to talk to. Lou rushes out to greet Owen as he walks in. Ceri sees Donal in front of his house and learns that Owen thinks he is from the group. After Ceri pulls him out of the car, Donal insists it is over and he was never going to hurt him.

Ceri punches him a few times before Donal warns him that his dad will kill him. He goes inside where Lou sees his knuckles. Bulgey tries to tell Col that Lou will come again. Alma is surprised that Col just let her go. Col says she either wants out of this life or she wants him to kill a woman who was sitting at their table two weeks ago. She complains that he hasn’t kept them safe in a long time. Donal comes in bloody. Ceri and Lou talk about whether they’ve ruined it. Esther visits to ask Lou if she knew Col had nothing on him. Lou says she tried to smoke him out and he saw straight through her. Esther learns about Owen and suggests going in to get protection.

Lou says he is giving her one more chance, but she knows Esther has to do whatever she must. Donal tells Col that he is going with whoever he sends to deal with Ceri. Col reminds him that he took the man’s son and he isn’t going to fight his battle for him. He thinks Donal should leave it be. Bulge spits in front of him and questions what happened to him. Alma slaps him. Alma asks Donal if he even fought back. When Lou visits Vernon, he says that is the best possible result. She isn’t happy that he is still out there. Vernon thinks she should do the right thing. Lou believes someone could be outside so she begins looking around. Bulge enters and catches them off guard. He hits Vernon before Lou hits him and they begin struggling for the gun.

Vernon ends up getting another gun and shooting him. Bulgey passes away. Vernon tells Lou to get out of there because the neighbors will have heard the gunshot. He says he has a place in Guadalajara for such eventualities. Vernon is glad that she came because he has never helped anyone before. Once Lou leaves, Vernon decided to burn down his flat. He calls for help and tells them he shot an intruder and set his house on fire. Vernon opens a bottle of wine and begins drinking as the fire rages in front of him. Lou returns home to eat with the family.

 

Better Review

Despite some believability and pacing issues, Better seems to improve with age. At the very least, it has grown on me. As the story moves forward and Lou finds herself deeper in trouble, the action has become more exciting. One issue with Better is the real lack of connection to the characters. Unfortunately, Col could’ve shot Lou at the farm and it probably wouldn’t have been emotional.

The only exception to this has been Owen who has been sympathetic from the beginning but more so in this episode. Other than that, it is really just watching to the end to see what happens and who comes out alive. There is no cheering for one character or another. The overall quality of the series will depend on the finale and whether it makes the show a justifiable binge.

The fourth episode was one of the best though and included some fine performances, especially that of Andrew Buchan. It scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Better are available on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our independent website at this link. Find out more about advertising opportunities on Reel Mockery here.