Lovers – As the second episode of Curfew begins, Helen (Alexandra Burke) goes for a run. When she returns, she finds a pamphlet about the cohabitation certificate on her car. Later, Patrick (Oliver Alvin-Wilson) and Helen have to ask permission from the UK government to get married. They speak to Tom (Ciaran Owens) about their relationship. They tell him how they do equal work in their relationship. Tom explains he’s just assessing whether Helen would be safe living with Patrick. Pamela (Sarah Parish) tells Sarah (Mandip Gill) that they’re searching her flat. She suspects they won’t find one incriminating thing. Sarah insists she’s wrong if she thinks a man did this. Pamela asks about her daughter Cass and tries to get her to disclose who she’s covering for.

Once Pamela leaves, Eddie (Mitchell Robertson) warns her that meeting with a suspect without their legal representative violates several codes of conduct. The chief wants them to inspect the suspect’s car before forensics do. She asks why he became a cop and whether his friends belittle him for it. Eddie admits they do. Pamela can’t understand why Sarah is doing this. She asks Eddie to get uniform to pick up Cass. Pru (Emily Ross) calls to tell Pamela she’s found a ring in the victim’s pocket. The victim had sexual contact in the last 24 hours, but there are no signs of a sexual assault. Pubic hair and semen have been sent to the lab. Eddie points out the numbers on the ring. He finds out that they applied for their cohab certified two months ago and attended several sessions before their application was rejected. DS Zhao (Yuriri Naka) is the family liaison officer and should be with the boyfriend now.

Aisha confirmed Patrick was under curfew all night. Pam wants to speak to the cohab counselor. When they visit Tom, he immediately suspects it’s Helen Jones. Pamela asks why he denied their request. Tom tells them about weaponized incompetence in which men pretend to be bad at stuff so they don’t have to do it. At first, that’s all he thought it was. He asked for a few more sessions to get to the bottom of Patrick’s resistance. When they came back, he got worried. Tom claims that man has a very dark side. In the past, Helen complains that Patrick didn’t say what that man needed to hear. Patrick claims that man is a fruitcake. He says it’s a brave new world and he doesn’t know how to keep up. Sarah calls Helen to say the man she Tasered died. Patrick takes the phone and tells Sarah to try solving her own problems for a change.

After the call, Patrick tells Helen he knows she lied for Sarah. Pamela goes over her theory and says they need to speak to Patrick. Eddie admits he keeps thinking about Paul Townsend. Helen witnessed what happened and Sarah could’ve faced a manslaughter charge. Pamela and Eddie speak to the manager at the tagging center. She shows them Sarah’s office and mentions a civil suit. Paul’s family sued for wrongful death and came after Sarah and the center for damages. The manager tells them about the tagging process. She insists coders never leave the building. Pamela makes her open the safe. They realize the coder is missing. The manager doubts Sarah would’ve taken the coder. Outside, Pamela says that means a man could’ve killed Helen. Eddie wonders what brought Sarah there last night. She was there for four minutes.

Pamela believes they need video. She notices a coffee stand nearby with a CCTV camera installed on it. The clerk tells her they’ve been there for three years. She’ll need to talk to the boss if she wants to see the footage. After a call, Eddie tells Pamela that Paul Townsend’s husband runs the coffee stand. Arjun (Riz Khan) doesn’t seem eager to give them the video footage. He complains that the police didn’t want to press charges. Pamela tells Arjun and Sita (Pearl Dsouza) that she’s sorry for their losses. She threatens to get a warrant. Arjun says he looks forward to ignoring it. At the station, Becki Sutton (Phoebe Sparrow) asks what they found in the suspect’s car. Pamela says they found nothing of note. In private, Eddie reminds her they didn’t look at the car. Pamela argues she’s not going to waste her time because Sarah is not a murderer. Eddie speaks to his mom on the phone.

He tells his mom that Pamela has a bruise. Janet (Anita Dobson) tries to speak to Pamela about Hannah’s case. She tells her that Sarah didn’t do this. Janet complains about men searching through her mother house. She goes on to say Sarah had no reason to do it. Pamela asks if Sarah ever bought Helen any jewelry. Janet says it wasn’t romantic like that. Sarah likes men against her better judgment. Janet wouldn’t be surprised if Greg was involved. She saw Greg like ten days ago. Janet refuses to let him come inside because men aren’t allowed. Greg says he was a victim of circumstance because his car wouldn’t start. Sarah comes out to speak to him. Greg tries to smooth things over with Sarah. He promises he can be a better man and that he’ll never hurt her again. When she refuses, Greg gets mad at her and curses her.

He warns Sarah that she’s going to regret this. Cass sees all of this. Pam tries to get more information from Janet. When asked about Ben, Janet says that was too fresh. She admits it was intense though. She believes Sarah thought Ben was the real deal. In the past, Ben visits Sarah to say his youngest son has to be tagged before he can go to school. Ben asks Sarah to persuade his wife. Sarah argues Sian doesn’t think much of her. Ben tells her about the time he shot an intruder. Janet insists Sarah wasn’t looking to get involved. Sian’s involvement complicated things. Janet says Sian really wanted to make Sarah pay. Sarah learns they want a video of the incident. She calls someone to complain about it. Sarah calls the security company to see if she can get access to the files. She tries to pressure them. Sarah is told they can help her get into administrator mode. They give her the code.

Janet says Sian kept saying the video would prove it wasn’t self-defense. Janet believes she was acting out and that’s why she turned to Ben. Sarah tries to get in touch with Helen. She visits Ben’s house to speak to Sian. Ben takes her inside for a drink. He insists everything will be okay. Janet tells Pam she read about her in the papers. She knows her daughter was the last recorded stranger femicide. Janet wants those men out of her mother house. Eddie and Pamela talk about the case. Once they go inside, Pamela finds a pamphlet for “Saving the Sisterhood”. She asks Eddie if people are getting stranger. Pamela finds Steve (Mark Killeen) with Becki. She mentions that Steve is retired. Becki tells Pamela that Sarah’s lawyer has arrived. Pamela says Sarah didn’t do it for the millionth time. Eddie speaks to Steve about Pamela being a strong partner.

Eddie tells Pamela they shouldn’t be sharing information with Steve who is no longer a police officer. He is worried because he’s still on probation and she has him lying to superior officers. Pamela tells him to relax. She says he’s going to speak to Patrick no matter what the chief says. Steve tries to convince Pamela to move in with him. He admits he’s asking for a cohab. Later, Eddie tells Pamela he doesn’t drink coffee and instead drinks hot chocolate. Pamela insists she won’t let him take the wrap. Once they arrive, Zhao reminds them they’re not supposed to be there. She warns them she’ll have to speak to the chief. Patrick is asked about the ring. He claims he’s never seen it. Patrick suggests Sarah might’ve given it to Helen. Pamela asks if he liked their relationship. Patrick says he’s never had a problem with Helen having friends, but he did have a problem with Helen and Sarah being friends.

She was too intense and always thought her problems were also Helen’s problems. Patrick reveals he broke up with Helen a couple of weeks back. Becki and Sue talk about Pamela’s behavior. Sue isn’t ready to bring her in yet. When she’s alone, Sue copies the video file from Sarah’s cell to a USB drive. She deletes the original. Pamela and Eddie talk about the numbers on the ring. Eddie remembers something that may help. He says they’re coordinates. You engrave the place where you first met. Pru gets a match for the DNA found in the semen and hair. Eddie checks the coordinates and finds out that they’re for the Women’s Safety Centre. Pamela wonders who she met there for the first time. Tom is shown purchasing a ring. He asks if they do engraving.

 

Curfew Review

The second episode of Curfew was interesting at times, but it’s really hindered by its obnoxious characters. For a British drama, the acting isn’t as strong as it could’ve been. It’s pretty stereotypical though. After all, the show doesn’t really have any investigating. It’s just dialogue upon dialogue upon even more dialogue.

The problem with that is Pamela who is very easy to dislike. The character is probably one of the most annoying in any recent television show. Who thought it was a good idea to have her say “Freddie” fifty million times in every episode? It doesn’t help that Eddie has his tail stuck between his legs.

There isn’t a single person to like here, including the murder victim, the accused, or anyone else. The concept of the curfew has only become a minor point right now. The series should have leaned into that a lot more. I am not sure the characters have even been out at night though besides the opener.

The editing is also pretty bad considering how things are just thrown together and the creators expect viewers to piece it together. Curfew is watchable with the right expectations which should ultimately be very low. This episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Curfew can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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