As the Bloodlands finale begin, DCS Jackie Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch) gives DNA samples before DCI Tom Brannick (James Nesbitt) tells Birdy (Chris Walley) about the interview team from Belfast. He is promptly introduced to Heather Pentland (Susan Lynch) who tells Tom she has a soft spot for the funny looking ones. Heather interviews Jackie and reminds him that incriminating evidence has been found in his possession. Niamh McGovern (Charlene McKenna) joins Tom and they watch Jackie’s interview. Tom tells her that Heather is letting Jackie lead the conversation. Jackie is asked about the books since Adam had a similar collection, but he claims he never crossed paths with Adam.

He is asked about the last time he saw Adam before Jackie replies that he has only seen him dead. Then, he is asked about the Dunfolan Arms pub and whether he drank there regularly when he was an RUC officer from 1986 and 199. He says he did while Tom receives a phone call. Heather explains that Adam was a regular at the pub and was often asked to leave until he was eventually barred. Jackie admits he remembers that before he is confronted with evidence that he bawled Adam Corry out one night telling him to stay away from his officers. A journal entry from Adam claimed Jackie told him his brother got what he deserved. She finds it laughable that Jackie says he might remember that, but Jackie explains that Adam was a nuisance and his brother was a terrorist.

He is forced to admit he knew Adam, but he can’t recall when he last saw him alive. He gets upset and denies that the book belongs to him before his attorney gets involved. Tom gets another call and tells Niamh that Izzy (Lola Petticrew) is upset with something and he’ll need to pop out. Tom leaves and meets up with Tori Matthews (Lisa Dwan) to tell her about Jackie being taken into custody. She wants to know what else they found so Tom says forensics relating to Adam. He mainly says fingerprints in the caravan and this concerns her because they need more. Niamh checks in with Birdy who says they’re chasing forensics on the postcard found in Jackie’s caravan but they’re getting nowhere. Tom returns to Heather and tells her they need to go after the details that point to him being Goliath.

Niamh picks up a call from Izzy while Tom encourages Heather to go after Tom’s work with Special Branch and how he accounts for running an unofficial IRA source. Niamh learns that Tom was lying about checking in on his daughter. She agrees to pass something along to Tom, but he can’t understand why he would lie to her. Tom picks up the phone and asks who last called. He seems distraught so Birdy checks on him. Moments later, Tom joins Niamh as they listen to Jackie being questioned about his work for intelligence. Tom claims Izzy is happy one minute but not the next and won’t say what is going on with her. Niamh seems skeptical while Jackie is asked about the post office box he used for operational duties. Jackie says they all did before confirming his box’s number was 2421. Then, he is asked about using it to communicate with Joe Harkin.

He is forced to admit that it was never approved so Heather warns him they’re talking about a serious breach of security. He learns that the incident was mentioned in Adam’s diary. Jackie says he couldn’t declare it because he was a Catholic officer working for the RUC and some of his colleagues thought he was the enemy. He goes on to say that the rules back then were open to interpretation before he is asked about staying in touch with Joe’s widow Siobhan Harkin. He is shown the cellphone police found taped under the sink in his caravan. Only Siobhan’s number is found on the call log. He admits he talked to her recently and warned her that this might come out. He is told that the rules now are not subject to interpretation. When questioned, he admits he talked to Siobhan about the kidnapping of Pat. He is asked if he has influenced police investigations for Siobhan, but he claims he hasn’t influenced anything.

Heather suggests Jackie encourages his subordinate officers to note investigate Goliath but he denies it again. When questions about replacing Diane McAllister, Jackie says she was losing control of her district. He is accused of putting himself in the position to interfere with the Goliath investigation if need be. Heather suggests he pushed the Pat investigation to deter the Goliath investigation. He says his permanent residence is in Belfast, but he is staying at the caravan on the shores of Strangford Lough. Jackie says he always locks the caravan. He is told that the caravan had no trace of forced entry but he isn’t sure how someone could get inside.

Heather accuses him of a handful of things before Jackie says it is all bull crap. She tells him that Adam’s diary concluded he was the most likely candidate for Goliath. Tom gets upset, says he can’t watch it anymore, and storms out of the room. Next, Niamh goes to the caravan and asks Dinger (Michael Smiley) if they’ve found anything. He admits they haven’t. Dinger admits he isn’t a fan of Jackie but says they would’ve found something if he was responsible for the murder. He says she needs to find the person who has the most to gain from framing Jackie Twomey. Niamh returns to the station and takes Jackie something to drink. She tells him that his file says he is an Irish speaker and he confirms it. She admits she thinks someone is trying to frame Jackie and she has concerns about her boss. She says he is desperate to believe it and he has been telling lies to hide the truth.

She wants to help so Jackie tells her to look into when Emma Brannick disappeared and take down this number. The person who will answer owes Jackie a favor. After that, Niamh meets with the man who says he’ll do what he can to help Jackie. He won’t reveal his identity so Niamh says she needs to learn as much as she can about Emma’s disappearance. Emma worked under the call sign Greenfinch. The man tells her to give him a few hours. Tom gets a call from Dinger who was news. Then, we learn that the forensic analysis on the postcard has been returned and it is not from the same batch found in the Keenan investigation. They’ve also found signs that the caravan door was forced open. Heather says they have to discount the evidence, but there are still substantial concerns about Jackie.

Tom says they should put it in their report and they need to focus on who tried to frame DCS Twomey. Jackie is freed and Birdy gets his clothes moments later. Tom is upset about it and immediately tells Tori who is angry. She is worried what is going to happen to her and an apology from Tom isn’t going to cut it. Tom walks through the parking garage before being bashed by a colleague of Pat Keenan. Pat wants to know about the investigation into Pat before he asks about the woman. Tom doesn’t want to answer his questions so Pat asks about Izzy. Then, Pat says someone will answer for what happened to him eventually. Pat gives Tom his phone numbers and tells him he’ll be waiting for his call when he finds out who the woman is. Tori shows up and Izzy asks her where she was. Tori says she needed headspace to get herself right so Izzy offers to listen, but Tori doesn’t want to talk about it.

When Izzy puts her father’s necklace, Tori wants to know more about it. Tori checks it out and notices the T placed on the back of it. Tori is clearly surprised by the necklace. Meanwhile, Niamh checks Tom’s medical records and tells Birdy about him going on medical leave for a rugby injury when his wife disappeared. She finds out that he left on February 19, 1998 due to sickness for a recurring hip injury. It never happened again. Niamh gets a call from her source before telling Birdy about the order of the Goliath disappearances. She says it was Joe Harkin, Simon Quinlan, David Corry, and Emma who disappeared on March 1, 1998. However, Emma last reported to her unit on February 18 of that year and it was three days before Joe went missing.

Niamh theorizes that Emma was actually the first to go missing, and Tom went on leave the following day. She is convinced that everything started with the boss and his wife. Tori calls Tom to ask if the necklace with the owl is still with Adam’s evidence. She doesn’t believe Tom turned the evidence in. He tells her to listen to him, but she isn’t going to because the time has passed. Tom hears his daughter’s voice in the background before arranging to meet Tori. Before the call ends, Tori warns him that his daughter could always disappear. Birdy watches through the window as Tom runs to his vehicle and leaves. Niamh checks on Jackie who claims they’ll come after him again.

She says she followed up on the evidence and they need to talk about DCI Brannick. She claims the way Tom described his wife’s disappearance is in doubt and Emma might’ve gone missing three weeks before Tom reported it. Next, Tom ignores a call from Niamh and turns his phone off. Birdy confirms they’ve been tracking his phone. He is headed to the Mournes. They wonder if he is going to the Free State so they notify the border immediately. Tom arrives and his daughter opens the door. She tells him not to screw this up before he steps inside. Izzy tells her dad good luck and leaves them together. They go to a private room and Tori admits she didn’t tell Izzy anything and Tom says he came alone. He admits he is armed but he says she has nothing to worry about. She believes Tom is worried that his daughter will find out what kind of man he is.

Then, she accuses Tom of taking revenge on the man who stole his wife before complaining about Tom convincing her to plant evidence. She doesn’t believe they have a common cause. She isn’t sure what makes him tick, but she is confident that he has killed. Tom says he came home and found his baby alone in her crib. She was screaming and hungry. David Corry called and told Tom he had his wife. Tom was told he would need to do certain things to save his wife and that includes killing Tori’s father. Tom says they never had any intention of keeping the peace and were waiting on a shipment of weapons. He was best placed to know their whereabouts. They went to an island to obtain the weapons and only the RUC knew where they would be. They were to leave the delivery alone. When asked how they died, Tom says quickly.

Tom told David he had done what he asked before he was told to leave the weapons, go home, and wait. Emma would be returned to him. However, Tom knew what the weapons would be used for so he couldn’t leave them. Tom hid and waited on the island until they came together. They were behaving like a couple so Tom knew she would never come back to him. He admits he shot David before standing over Emma. He knew he could kill Emma, but she was his wife so he told her to leave. He doesn’t know where she is now. Tom says Adam worked it out and he had to kill him. He goes on to say killing Adam was the worst thing he had done in 22 years. Although every day with Izzy has been a step further away from that, Tom realizes he is still the same man and he doesn’t want to be.

Tori tells Tom she cared about her dad even in death and says Tom will face justice for what he has done. She threatens to tell Izzy to prevent Tom from enjoying a life that he has no right to. Tom wants to talk to his daughter so he tells Tori about the gun that ties him to all of the murders. She leaves moments later and Tom stays to talk to his daughter. He contemplates what to do before pulling his phone from his pocket. Birdy finds out where Tom’s phone is and tells Jackie and Niamh. Jackie tells Eddie they need to get out there and stop Tom now. Tom tells someone to repeat something back to him. Izzy steps out to check on her father and Tom tells her that Tori left. Tom leaves before Tori makes it to the place where the gun is hidden. Before she can get it, she hears a loud thud behind her.

Pat approaches her with the gun and says she might not recognize him with his clothes on. He shoots her dead before putting her body on a boat. Tom arrives and Pat says he was right to call him since someone has answered for him being humiliated. Tom says not quite. We see cops in the distance before Tom shoots Pat and walks toward him. He shoots him again. Tom disposes of Pat’s phone before police rush in. Jackie notices the 9mm in Pat’s hand and suggests it is the Goliath firearm. Tom admits to shooting Pat before Izzy arrives and finds out what has happened. Back at the station, Jackie watches as Tom approaches his daughter and says they should go home. After that, Tom is interviewed and asked about a call made from his registered mobile phone.

He says Tori gave him the number and said it was her work phone. He called it when she didn’t come back to the house. He isn’t sure what happened to the phone before admitting she wasn’t what she seemed since she was Simon Quinlan’s daughter. Plus, her DNA will prove she was involved in Pat’s kidnapping. He says she must’ve thought Keenan was Goliath. As for Tom, he says he thinks Pat was Goliath. Tom returns home with his daughter and cuddles with her on the couch.

 

Bloodlands Review

Although Bloodlands wasn’t perfect, I think the finale pulled everything together and made it at least worthwhile. I was really surprised to learn they’re going to renew it for another season but I’ll watch it anyway. Still, I think they would’ve been wiser to kept Goliath’s identity hidden until the finale. Still, they did well with the story in the end.

I am not confident everyone will feel the same though since a few episodes were pretty dull at times. The show wasn’t the worst I’ve watched, but it was nowhere close to being the best either. Still, the finale made the season worth watching. For that, I’d give the finale a 7 out of 10. Past and second season recaps of Bloodlands will be available here when Reel Mockery has them.