As this episode of Granite Harbour begins, Grantley (Patrick Robinson) cooks breakfast for Davis Lindo (Romario Simpson) as a peace offering. He tells his son he only wants the best for him. Davis has to run when he learns there’s been a breakthrough in the case. Davis and Lara Bartlett (Hannah Donaldson) meet with a man who has the missing lifeboat but it’s empty. The man explains that they sometimes put stowaways on lifeboats to prevent ships from being impounded. Lara finds proof that the lifeboat came from the Stolthet. Jay Mallick (Bhav Joshi) and Simone Montrose (Michelle Jeram) speak to Nazir about possible ketamine shipments. The man with Nazir (Sani Mamood) says the ketamine weights haven’t been off since he worked there.

At the station, Davis and Lara tell Cora MacMillan (Dawn Steele) about school children finding the lifeboat. Lara reveals the lifeboat had clothing fibers wrapped in the handles. Davis thinks they should treat the case as murder until they know what happened to Hassan, but Cora argues they don’t have any evidence. Cora goes on to say Mariam lied about who she is and they don’t even know if Hassan exists. She tells Lara about Davis sneaking on the boat. Lara says the clothing fibers suggest Hassan was real. Davis argues they have a duty to find out what happened. Cora eventually agrees to let them bring in the captain while she sees what she can do about impounding the Stolthet for a search. Berg and Emil don’t think Elsa (Melina Akerman Kvie) should’ve called him.

Duncan McFadden (Sam Garioch) arrives and asks who wants to start. They tell him about the stowaway. They doubt the stowaway survived, but they don’t know who told the police. Elsa questions whether Captain Nielson (Soren Malling) went to the police since he was a mess. Axel Berg (Christopher Rygh) admits Nielson told him the man wasn’t alone. Nielson found a woman but he let her go. When Nielson is interviewed, he denies there were any stowaways on his ship. He claims he doesn’t know what happened to the missing lifeboat. Lara mentions a time when he declared a stowaway. Davis tells him that they have a witness who was also a stowaway on his ship. He asks if Nielson couldn’t bring himself to put a pregnant woman overboard as well.

Jay tells Cora about the procedures the NRPS uses, including weight checks and code-locked containers. Simone says there have been no reports of any ketamine discrepancies at all. Jay, Simone, and Cora discuss their next move. They decide to dig into the McFadden business. Lora and Davis visit Katie Forsyth (Kate Bracken) and Mariam (Afsaneh Dehrouyeh). Mariam doesn’t want to believe Hassan is dead although she thought he was murdered on the ship. When she is shown a picture of Nielson, Mariam claims not to recognize him. Cora calls them to ask them to come to the harbor. Lara complains that she is doing everything she can to reach DI, but Davis is trying to stop her. Davis denies that and says he was only trying to find a lead. He eventually apologizes. The harbor master complains about being delayed for a search.

Later, Davis tells Cora they found the hiding place Mariam described. SOCOs are searching for evidence. There was a strong smell of bleach so they don’t they’ll find anything. Davis reveals the ship was carrying a container with a bucket load of ketamine. Jay points out that no ketamine was missing at the NRPS. They discuss whether the ketamine may have been tampered with on the ship. Cora asks Monty and Mallick to look into the export side of things in Norway. Lara and Davis are asked to bring the captain back in. Grace McFadden (Lesley Hart) and Mike confront Pierce (Macleod Stephen) who is tied to a chair. Grace wants to know who supplies him with the CK. He says he gets it from them. Lara and Davis go looking for Nielson and hear water running inside his room. When they bust inside, they find Nielson dead in his bathroom.

They also find a note and Mariam’s ultrasound picture. Duncan talks to Else and Berg about the captain’s death. Emil and the others worry about the girl being an eyewitness. Duncan thinks they should track her down. He thinks they can find her even if the police already have her. Simone tells Jay the Stolthet is the only boat bringing ketamine into Scotland legally. She believes Galloway was laundering the CK cash through Grace’s properties. An audit from last year threw up some unexpected rapid payments on Newton Village in Dyce and Ashton Grange. Jay speaks to a representative with the pharmaceutical company. Lara and Davis speak to Cora about Nielson. They’re still convinced this is linked to the Galloway case. Cora says they need to find evidence that links Captain Nielson to Galloway. She tells Davis to spend some time with his dad.

Lara has an idea to help with that. Jay looks for the lease at his mom’s house. His mom believes something is going on. When he finds it, he notices that the McFadden Family Group is involved. Duncan surprises Nazir by hiding in his vehicle. He wants Nazir to use his brother to find out where the stowaway is being held. Lara tells Grantley and Davis she has three tickets to the hottest hooley in town. They’re not too thrilled with her idea. Jay confronts Nazir about being involved with the McFadden Family Group. He accuses him of doctoring purchase orders through the NRPS. Nazir says he met Duncan at hospitality for a home game. Duncan told him he wanted to get into the pharma trade. He told Nazir it was consultancy work. Nazir claims he did it to help their mother.

Now, Duncan has threatened Nazir, his mom, and the kids. Nazir admits to giving Duncan the code to the container so they could steal the drugs from the boat. Nazir claims to know nothing about Galloway. Jay says the weights don’t match and Nazir’s name is on the purchase orders. Someone else could find out. Nazir asks Jay to help him cover it up. Davis isn’t happy with Lara and suggests she’s just trying to fuss into his business. Grantley seems to be enjoying himself though. When they’re alone, Grantley tells Lara that things changed for Davis after his mother died. Grantley says this place will never be home for Davis because it’s not Jamaica. He claims Davis is coming back with him after he graduates. Jay contemplates calling Cora but is interrupted by a call from his brother.

Grantley speaks to Davis in the morning about returning home. He asks if Davis can see himself in Aberdeen for the rest of his life. Grace invites Duncan and Ruth to dinner on Sunday. She explains she promised his dad she’d keep him on the straight and narrow. Duncan’s dad wanted something better for him. Duncan wants to go all in. Grace believes she’s doing him a favor keeping him away from it. When Duncan leaves, Grace calls someone to ask them to get eyes on him. At the station, Lara tells Davis that Nielson’s flat is owned by Middlegrove Homes which is a subsidiary company of the McFadden Family Group. The note matched Nielson’s handwriting so he likely committed suicide. Cora is told the captain was living at the flat rent free.

Lara says they think Hassan interrupted the drug theft on the boat. They put him overboard, but Nielson couldn’t do that to Mariam. Jay doesn’t say anything about his brother and what he knows. Lara goes through all the ways Galloway is connected to the boat and Nielson. Cora wants to speak to the crew. Berg is questioned first. He says they have to contact the port authority if they need a code. Elsa claims she’s never noticed anything odd with the pharmaceutical company’s documents. Emil doesn’t know why the captain would kill himself. He doesn’t know what the captain was talking about when he wrote that something serious happened onboard. Elsa explains how the bill of lading works. Emil says he noticed that one lifeboat was missing just as they were coming into Aberdeen. The captain allegedly told him to mind his business.

Berg denies being involved in any drug operation. Elsa insists they didn’t have any stowaway. She asks for a lawyer. Davis tells Cora about Axel giving Nielson a lift to his flat at Harbour Point. He allegedly went back to his hotel after dropping him off. CCTV footage shows Axel holding a hold all when they enter the building together. Number 9A is never rented out. That could be where they cut the CK. Lara wonders how they’re covering their tracks with the ketamine theft. Mallick gets up getting upset and hits the table because he claims Simone is checking his work. When he leaves, Cora blames his mom’s illness for putting him under stress. Cora wants a warrant for Galloway’s unleased flat.

Mariam calls Lindo to say her asylum claim has been deemed inadmissible. Lindo tells Cora who tells him to leave it with her. She’ll tell immigration she needs to stay put because she’s important to their investigation. Simone approaches Jay who apologizes for snapping at her. Davis and Lara meet Mariam who learns the Home Office can’t do anything until their case is closed. That night, Mariam only saw the man who told her to be quiet. Lara gets a call confirming the warrant is through for the flat. When they check the flat, they find that it’s been cleaned out. Duncan thanks Nazir for the tip. Nazir admits it came from Jay who wanted to help. Duncan wants a location for the girl as soon as possible. It appears someone is watching them. Lara searches for traces of drugs in the flat. Jay confronts Duncan to tell him that Nazir is out.

Duncan isn’t worried about going down without bringing Nazir down with him. Lindo spends time with Mariam who learns he wanted to find his own way in the world. Their fathers are very domineering. Lindo admits he isn’t sure Aberdeen is his place. In the morning, Lindo tells Lara why he visited Mariam. She warns him he could jeopardize the entire case. Grantley overhears them arguing. Lindo accuses her of only caring about the promotion. Lara believes he’s going back to Jamaica. She leaves. Lindo argues with his father about telling her lies. He alleges his father blamed him for his mom’s death. Grantley wants him to come back so they can make things right between them. At the station, it’s confirmed that traces of ketamine were found in the air vent. The carpet samples were a match for those found in Galloway’s hair.

Galloway was likely killed in the flat and moved to the car. Axel has disappeared. Cora suggests Grace could be involved. She believes it’s time to put the squeeze on Grace. Grantley arrives at the station to speak to Davis. He speaks to Cora in the lobby. Monty tells Davis she might’ve found something. Davis ran the unidentified prints through the system again and there’s a match. Nazir calls Jay to say he needs to tell them where the girl is because they’re going to petrol bomb their mom’s house. Jay blurts out Mariam’s name and where she’s at. Naz asks if he’s out now. Davis and Monty learn that they were Mariam’s fingerprints. They suspect she ran into Galloway’s vehicle at the harbor. Monty thinks they should get Mariam into protective custody.

Monty calls Jay to say the price per kilo of the ketamine charged by the pharma company doesn’t match how much the NRPS is paying for it. Once Davis arrives, Katie says Mariam has gone with immigration. Davis suspects the worst. He runs outside just in time to see a car fleeing with Mariam. Axel and Emil try to get away with Mariam. Monty tells Jay she’s waiting to find out whose signature is on the purchase orders. Seconds later, she finds out it is his brother who is NRPS’s Head of Operations. Axel, Jay, and Lindo get into a crash.

 

Granite Harbour Review

This episode of Granite Harbour had some strong points although it feels a bit longwinded at times. The episodes probably don’t need to be this long since they drag, but the series is short to even things out. The relationship between Davis and Lara is easily the highlight as both are interested in different things. The chase scene was done well although it’ll be very unrealistic if all three were involved in the same crash.

Some of the performances aren’t strong enough, but that’s usually the minor roles. I still think it’d be better if Davis Lindo was allowed to be a little looser and more charismatic. The series is trying to be so serious and it leaves little room for humor or anything uplifting. At the very least, this episode had a few humorous scenes like the night out with Grantley and Davis.

In this episode, DI Jay Mallick learned about his brother being wrapped up in the ketamine shipping operation. With threats from Duncan, Jay had no choice but to disclose Mariam’s identity and location. As a result, she was kidnapped by Axel and Emil. Simone Montrose has found evidence that Jay’s brother, Nazir, is involved so there’s no hiding it now.

Lara and the team found out where Galloway was killed and it’s the same flat where the drugs were likely cut. Grace McFadden doesn’t seem to know that Duncan is heavily involved in the drug operation despite trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. The lifeboat Hassan was in was found, but Hassan hasn’t been recovered just yet. There is a possibility that he’s still alive.

The case is complex enough to maintain interest, but it leans a bit too much into that. Again, this is restricting the characters and preventing them from being as charismatic as they could be. It’s also pretty much just like every other European crime drama with a Jamaican detective being the only real difference. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Granite Harbour can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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