As the opening episode of Dead and Buried begins, Cathy McDaid (Annabel Scholey) goes through a therapy session. She is told to put her heaviest memories in a box and leave them in the shed. Although she hasn’t gotten rid of them, she doesn’t have access to them. Day by day, she’ll gradually forget they’re there. Cathy rushes to get her kids and groceries into the car because it’s pouring outside. She sees Michael McAllister (Colin Morgan) after running into another woman. He checks on her before going on his way. Cathy pushes her buggy over to Michael who takes it and gives her coins. She watches Michael and remembers something from the past.

At home, Raymie McDaid (Waj Ali) asks why she’s drinking so early. Cathy insists she’s fine. Meanwhile, Michael hangs out with Andrew (Michael Hanna) and Lena McAllister (Niamh Walsh). Lena’s father calls to ask Michael if he’s read the reports. Cathy can’t sleep because of what she saw at the store. She tells Raymie who she saw outside the supermarket. Cathy is convinced it was Michael McAllister. She thought he’d still be in prison even though that was ages ago. Before long, Cathy learns Michael was released on license. He probably would’ve been released sooner if he had admitted to it. Cathy can’t believe he was in a supermarket. Alison Page (Lucy Cray-Miller) knows it’s not easy, but it happens more often than she knows. Michael has served his sentence.

Cathy says she keeps serving hers. While Raymie plays with his friend downstairs, Cathy shows Sally Bowman (Kerri Quinn) Michael’s social media page. Sally tells her she shouldn’t be doing that, but she thinks it’s good she’s stalking him. Cathy says he’s a bus driver. She suspects Michael’s wife would have to know. He’s doing well for a bus driver. He has a nice house and a nice car. They joke that Michael will kill his wife soon. Sally tells Cathy to close the computer and walk away. Cathy thought about sending him a message. She reveals she’s already set up a fake account using the name Molly Bloom. Cathy wants to say something to wind him in before telling him what a fuc**r he is. Michael receives her message moments later. When Raymie interrupts, Cathy tells him to mind his own business.

Michael responds by asking if he knows the sender. Cathy explains she was a couple of years below him. Michael asks what they called the school principal. Molly replies with “one eye McKinstry”. Sally pleads with Cathy not to do it. Molly tells Michael they were looking up people they fancied. Sally tells Cathy to let it go. Instead, Cathy messages Michael saying he was just about the only Protestant in school. Lena reminds the family no phones at the table. Michael claims he’s bidding on a vinyl record. He tells his family he was thinking about looking for another job. Lena argues her dad has given them everything they need. She makes the family pray. Sally warns Cathy what will happen if she opens a can of worms. She tells her to shut it down or it’ll mess her up. The McAllister family receives pizza that they didn’t order.

Cathy tells Sally that she ordered Michael a pizza after she left yesterday. Once Cathy is alone, she remembers a car explosion. A man from a funeral home arrives at Michael’s house and says he’s sorry for his loss. Michael tells them someone is messing with them. Cathy is sitting in a vehicle outside. Raymie teaches students and complains about them having phones in class. Andrew McAllister just happens to be in his class. Cathy goes to Michael’s workplace to find out which route he’s driving. She learns he’s not a driver and instead works inside. After the meeting, Jack Sullivan (Owen Roe) tells Michael that it went well. Jack thinks Michael should go into politics. Michaels claims he’s okay for the brothers meeting tonight. Jack tells him to think of it like God’s homework.

Cathy tells Dr. Kennedy (Joanne Crawford) that Michael is the fat controller. She admits it makes her furious because it feels like Michael has gotten away with it. Cathy was 15 when her brother died. Kennedy asks what she’d say if she bumped into him again. Cathy doesn’t intend to bump into him again although she can’t stop thinking about him. At home, she throws away her pills and tells Raymie that she stubbed her toe. She uses the Molly profile to ask Michael how he sleeps at night. He responds by saying, “Ovaltine”. He asks what her secret is. Raymie wakes up. Cathy dreams of smothering Michael at the supermarket. Then, she dreams she’s sleeping next to him. She goes to school and teaches. Michael messages her to stay she hasn’t posted any photos of herself.

They casually message back and forth. Later, Raymie tells Cathy she’s glued to her phone. She says she’s going to bed. Michael attends the brothers meeting with Jack and others. Michael joins Lena and tells her he doesn’t know why they keep going. She reminds him that the Brothers of Caleb have been very good to him. Michael isn’t sure they should be taking their boy so often. He argues you get sucked into things at that age and don’t always get to see the wider picture. In the morning, Molly messages Michael asking if he’s calling her a good distraction. He says maybe. Cathy is busy on her phone when Sally scares her. Sally tells her she seems distracted. Cathy invites her out for coffee later. When they go for coffee, Lena serves them. Cathy tries to get information about the business from her.

Lena says her husband is the brains. Once she leaves, Cathy tells Sally she is Michael’s wife. Sally believes she’s stepping over the line with this. Cathy takes a picture of her in the café. When Lena returns, Cathy spills her coffee on purpose. Sally realizes she did it intentionally. She pleads with Cathy to stop. Sally decides to leave. Before she goes, she tells Cathy to sort this out. Cathy talks to Lena about her necklace and husband. At home, Cathy thinks about her brother. She watches a video of them together. Then, she checks the picture of Sally and notices a poster in the background. She puts on a disguise and snaps a picture for Michael. Raymie enters and asks what she’s playing at. He reminds her that she didn’t pick up her son from the nursery.

Michael gets the picture of Cathy. He tells her she is a great distraction. Lena hides the key in the flower pot before leaving home. Cathy finds the key and uses it to go inside Michael’s house. She takes out the batteries in the remote control and keeps them. Michael makes it to the office where he pours a drink of alcohol. Cathy tells Dr. Kennedy she just wanted to see how Michael lives. Cathy looks through Michael’s house and sniffs his clothes. Andrew returns home. Cathy takes off her underwear and puts them in Michael’s jacket. When Archie the cat enters, Cathy worries she’s been caught. She hears Andrew calling the cat’s name. Cathy hides when Andrew enters. She manages to escape but drops something on the way out. Cathy tells Kennedy that she didn’t actually enter the house.

 

Dead And Buried Review

The opening episode of Dead and Buried sets up a fairly interesting story that may get grittier and deadlier as it progresses. However, there is a sense of familiarity here since this is a lot like many Channel 5 dramas. The series is well-acted thanks to Annabel Scholey, Colin Morgan, and Niamh Walsh.

In a way, Cathy’s home life is pretty dull because it’s so typical for modern television. Cathy’s family will ultimately get in the way of her revenge at some point. Modern television writers should find some originality and stop making everything about married couples and using the same casting choices.

A single Cathy would be far more interesting, especially if she hadn’t seemingly gotten over her brother’s death before seeing Michael. A tormented, Cathy who is still on the edge would’ve made things much more exciting. It’s a bit too early to say anything else about the quality of the story, but it is enthralling enough at this stage.

At the very least, the episode was strong enough to warrant watching another. It scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Dead and Buried can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.