Where I Want To Be – The episode opens with a fuming Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin) racing back to the station to find Shane Bradley (Frank Blake) right in the middle of fabricating a report, under the watchful eye of DS Murray Canning (Desmond Eastwood). It doesn’t take long before the confrontation turns physical, with Annie hitting Canning. Helen McNally (Joanne Crawford) just happens to enter the room at the same time Annie throws her punch. McNally is left with no option but to order Annie home.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, both Tommy Foster (Nathan Braniff) and Aisling Byrne (Dearbhaile McKinney) attempt to make light of it while Dr. Lambert (Catherine Rees) gives him a clean bill of health.

Canning meets with Chief Nicola Robinson (Andrea Irvine) who can’t stop singing his praises and asks how he’d proceed. He says since Lee Thompson (Seamus O’Hara) is far smarter than the suppliers before him, it would be in their best interest to monitor his activities for now. At nearly the same time across town, Lee is doing his community outreach by sitting down with some of the locals. One lady in particular named Stacey (Kelsea Knox) appears to have accumulated quite a debt. Much to her surprise and gratitude, he not only forgives her debt but gives her a parting gift. As Craig McQuarrie (Craig McGinlay) calls in the next patron, Stacey tells Margaret ‘Mags’ Thompson (Sena Kerslake) what a great man her brother is.

While Annie spends her newfound time off visiting with Grace Ellis (Sian Brooke), McNally goes to bat for her with Nicola. Despite McNally’s pleas, Nicola only appears to see the situation as Annie assaulting a superior. Shane attempts to be as accommodating as possible upon learning that he’s being paired with Grace but only receives a ‘cold shoulder’ response from her.

Robin Graham (Derek Thompson) is on his way home when he’s approached by Tom Lowry (Thomas Finnegan) from Crime Ops. Although Tom is there to tell Robin that they are searching his home under the Official Secrets Act, Robin takes it in stride while willingly complying.

Shane continues to get Grace to see him in a different light when a mental health call comes in over the radio. Shane is not only familiar with the address but he’s been there before. Upon arrival, they discover Brendan (Dave Elliot) in what appears to be a violent rage tearing his home apart. After addressing the man by name and offering him a cigarette, it appears that Shane might be getting through to him but out of nowhere, he randomly attacks Shane. Grace takes her sweet time coming to his aide.

Despite being ordered to stay home, Tommy shows up at the station with Aisling to break the news about his attacker with Sandra Cliff (Andi Osho). Although Sandra is stunned to hear that Keith Wylie (Adam Best) is back on the streets, she’s even more stunned when Tommy requests to see the video of Gerard ‘Gerry’ Cliff’s (Richard Dormer) shooting. When Tommy leaves Sandra’s office, he runs into Canning who wastes little time singing Tommy’s praises. Tommy pretty much tells him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Shane fails to draw any pity from Grace with his newly bloodied nose as they drop Brendan off at Central Booking. She even tells him that he doesn’t have any friends after he points out that he and Canning aren’t mates.

While Grace considers daytime drinking and reminiscing over old photos, Jen Robinson (Hannah McClaen) arrives at the station to collect Robin. Although Robin appears surprised when Jen takes the blame for his arrest, he ultimately surprises her by claiming he is exactly where he wants to be.

Mags becomes a bit hysterical when she can’t locate Henry Thompson (Alfie Lawless). Later learning that he is with Lee and Craig doesn’t appear to ease her concerns. Shane and Grace return to the station where Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) encourages him to step up and do the right thing for Annie. Shane does later approach Canning about dropping the issue. Canning insultingly tells him that won’t be happening. Shane is shown later requesting to speak with McNally about the case, but the context of that conversation isn’t revealed.

Craig appears to be uncomfortable with whatever Lee has planned as he’s ordered to take a lookout position outside Keith’s apartment. After he’s told not to worry about Henry’s presence, Keith doesn’t waste any time apologizing about the incident at the club while simultaneously pointing out how the attack helped Lee. In turn, Lee insults Keith and lets Henry order him to leave Mount Edna and never return.

Robin takes everyone by surprise when he’s interrogated by Tom. Against Jen’s advice, he not only admits to stealing the files but he claims he was doing the right thing. Despite Jen’s best attempts, she can’t prevent him from blabbing everything. It is Tom who eventually steps in and abruptly calls a recess to the session. Taking a breather from the room, Jen later learns that Nicola is also deeply tied to the case and has helped facilitate a nice settlement for Happy Kelly (Paddy Jenkins) as well as Robin’s release. Jen’s insistence to not take the deal only leads to a huge blowup and more shocking revelations that Jen was better off not knowing.

David ‘Jonty’ Johnston (Jonathan Harden) exchanges a few words with Tommy outside McNally’s office before going in to watch the footage of Gerry’s shooting. Jonty realizes the Lee situation is far worse than they imagined when Tommy recognizes two of the suspects on the video from the bar. When the video plays all the way through, Jonty apologizes to Tommy about the whole situation.

While Canning and Shane randomly show up at Lee’s pub and demand a meeting, Jonty recruits Tommy to look for new angles to approach the Lee case. Lee soon receives word from Mags about Shane and Canning’s appearance at the bar. She tells him not to bring Henry along and she’ll pick him up at Craig’s apartment.

After McNally calls Annie down to the station, she receives word that the warrant for the doorbell footage has finally been approved. Sandra decides to assign the task to Stevie and Grace, despite their request to be separated.

Much to Stevie’s displeasure, Eileen (Carol Moore) has an assortment of sweets and teas waiting on them when they show up to collect the doorbell footage. After several treats and photo albums, they finally manage to collect the footage and get on their way. Eileen’s loneliness leads to Grace breaking down and having a heart-to-heart with her feelings over Cal Ellis (Matt Carver) and being a cop.

Robin appears completely stunned when Jen returns to tell him that he’s free to go. Sandra and Aisling are on a routine patrol when they spot Keith at the bus stop. He immediately becomes violent, forcing Sandra to use force to take him down.

When Lee and Craig show up at the bar, Canning wastes little time letting them know how he feels about the war on drugs and keeping the peace. Although no deals are made, they appear to share a like-minded mentality and end their encounter with a handshake. Shane apparently doesn’t share the same opinion as he storms off.

With Lee gone, Henry loses interest in his video game and sets his sights on the wall safe. While he attempts several passcodes unsuccessfully, Canning and Shane are called into McNally’s office at the station. It doesn’t take Canning long to realize Shane has betrayed him by acting as a witness, claiming that he provoked Annie’s attack. Canning agrees to drop the charges but tells Shane he’s made a major mistake.

The episode ends with Henry discovering a gun in the safe. After a bit of playing around with it, he accidentally loads it and fires a live round out the window that appears to hit Grace and Stevie’s cruiser. Although bodily damage is not revealed, the rear window of the cruiser is shattered and the cruiser slowly rolls to a complete stop. It was Stevie who was driving.

 

Blue Lights Review

I wouldn’t say the episode was the slam banger that it should have been for a pre-series finale, but it certainly did the job. I’d like to say that I was completely stunned by the ending, but it seemed a bit obvious. I would have exactly figured that Henry would have shot at the police, but I was figuring he was going to accidentally get into Lee’s stash and overdose or shoot himself. It couldn’t have happened at a more opportune time, with Grace just spilling her innermost fears and regrets to Stevie.

It was nice to see Shane stick up for Annie. Chief Robinson’s involvement in the chips bombing was somewhat of a shocker and it’ll be interesting to see how the righteous Jen plays that out. The scene where Sandra takes down Keith and his prior insult was atrociously awful and felt agenda-based. Ultimately, it would be nice to see some of these storylines get wrapped up because, at this point, it feels like the series could have used a few more episodes.

However, I can’t say that I’m not enjoying the series. It’s surprisingly decent! I’d give this episode a 6 out of 10 as well. Get more Blue Lights recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic films, sports, crime, and celebrity happenings.