As the third episode of Guilt’s second season begins, an older gentleman sits down at the pub with an older woman. He apologizes for the man in her life who won’t say sorry, but she says that doesn’t help. The man introduces himself as Albert. The woman says it is always the same this time of the year as the memories come back and weak men get weaker. He offers to buy her another drink since it is going to be Christmas in just 10 minutes, but she doesn’t want a drink and would prefer revenge. She suggests that could start with a drink but not here. Then, we see Max McCall (Mark Bonnar) in bed with Erin (Sara Vickers) and both of them are turned away from the other. Jackie (Sandy McDade) waits outside the home while Teddy (Greg McHugh) wakes up at home. Max gets up and sits down with Erin. After Max says that wasn’t part of the plan, Erin says it was booze, loneliness, and she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Instead, she wants to talk about the land. Max agrees it is different for Roy, so he explains he is trying to build his legacy. Erin wants to know more about Max’s plan. Max goes to Roy’s workplace and gets a private meeting. He tells Roy Lynch (Stuart Bowman) he couldn’t understand his motivation for going clean, but he can now. Max tells him Phoenix is impressive although he isn’t sure why Roy didn’t tell him about it. He argues it is too clean and precise so there is no imagination. He says he can see when they’re trying to muddy the waters and warns the council might do the same. Max doesn’t think he can be Phoenix since they can’t give him the protection he needs. Max says the job with Kenny (Emun Elliott) cannot be him, so he wants a job at Phoenix. He promises to keep Roy invisible.

Roy doesn’t give him a straight answer, but it sounds like a no. Next, Erin visits her mother, Maggie (Phyllis Logan), and tells her she saw Roy leaving the facility. Then, she reveals she is leaving Edinburgh in hopes of finding another life. Her mother reveals she owns the land with Roy and their daughter could find a new life down there. They thought the land would bring the family back together. She insists Roy didn’t have a choice because he wanted to give them a good life and took the only road he could. She has been able to forgive Roy even when sitting in that thing so her daughter can too. Erin demands to have her own lawyer so she can be positive it is something to be proud of. Her mother says they have to be discreet because there are many people who don’t want Roy to have this.

She agrees and tells Erin she is only asking her to trust her and not Roy. Kenny tells Yvonne (Rochelle Neil) he could attempt to cook dinner if she can handle Pilton. She says it’ll depend on work. Roy gets a call from his wife who tells him about Erin wanting her own lawyer. She says they need someone who looks clean and like an outsider but is neither. Roy mentions his recent visit from Max McCall. She is worried because Max got out awful early so Roy assures her that he has been checking on that. She says they’ll have to call in the insurance if they get Max involved. At work, Stevie (Henry Pettigrew) asks Yvonne what she knows about the undercover agent Jackie Thompson. Yvonne says she doesn’t know much about her so Stevie excitedly breaks the news that he is working with her.

He explains he needs to pull a file without a record of doing so and he wants her to help. She asks for the name. Next, she goes to Jackie and tells her that the file belonged to Max McCall. Jackie says there will be a file about ongoing cooperation from Max so she should take that out and give everything else to Stevie. Yvonne says she knows someone who works at the live address Jackie is using on Leith Walk and it happens to be Kenny. When Jackie says that could be a useful relationship, Yvonne agrees. Jackie tells her not to worry about it because she is only interested in Kenny’s partner Max. Jackie is worried that Kenny knows she is doing this and could be exposed, but Yvonne says Stevie is digging his grave and she wants to help. She admits she’d use Kenny if she had to. Jackie says Stevie is working for Roy, Max used to, but they don’t know about Kenny.

Once Yvonne says she wants to help bring down Roy and get Stevie along the way, Jackie instructs her to work Kenny. At the office, Kenny tells Max about the casino on Rose Street where he used to go for a late-night drink. Kenny went there, checked the security footage, and found video of Adrian and Joe there. He also found a picture of the bag there. Kenny wants to tell him what he thinks happened, but Max doesn’t want to pursue it. He explains that Teddy is a dangerous individual who frightened him in prison and sent several of his friends to the hospital. He insists it is best to say they found nothing. A man enters and asks if they do divorces before Stevie calls Roy to tell him that Max is clean. The man explains he got a vasectomy, his wife got pregnant, and she blamed zinc in the water.

Now, she says she wants a divorce, and he is going to give her one. Max agrees to draw up the papers in a few days before the man leaves. Yvonne calls Max and agrees to get dinner with him later tonight. Once the call ends, Kenny tells Max about their relationship. Max warns him that what they do has to be kept between them. He gets a call from Roy who is interested in using his services after all. While Max is away, Yvonne looks at his file and Teddy visits Kenny. He tells Kenny about Papillon and his difficulty on a raft. He spent half the night thinking about the wind turning and what it did to him. He says it must’ve seemed like betrayal before he finds the photograph of Joe, Adrian, and the bag. Kenny says they’re still working on that. Teddy wants to know more about the casino. Kenny tells him without hesitation. Teddy says he isn’t sure what is inside of him is going to stop this time. Teddy finds the dealer and stalks him. Roy meets Sandy (Ian Pirie) who asks if the plan was to get him drunk.

Yvonne goes to Kenny’s for dinner and tells him she grew up in a worse place than this. They talk about Max and whether Kenny trusts him. Kenny admits he does although he cuts a few corners here and there. Once they sit down for dinner, Kenny finds out his dinner is ruined and immediately curses. Meanwhile, Max tells Erin congratulations because the land is all hers tomorrow. She admits she is glad that Max is going to get a cut. Then, she begins telling him about her mother letting her have a drink on Christmas even when she saw 16. It didn’t agree with her. When she went downstairs, she found her mother washing blood from her dad’s hands at the sink. Although they said it was an accident, Erin could tell otherwise because of the expression on her dad’s face. Later, their car was forced off the road, her mother was driving, and she hasn’t walked well since.

She threatened to go to the police, but they convinced her not to because Roy was going to leave. She also says a policewoman was after her dad already. As a result, she didn’t call the police. It was her and her mother until this and that is why she wants to take her father’s legacy from him. When Erin goes for more drinks, Max finds a picture of Adrian with Erin. Roy tells Sandy he paid a price, but Sandy doesn’t believe it since he got what he wanted. Sandy says he didn’t have the guts to do it himself, but Roy says he cleaned up and he is cleaning up again. Roy says this place will become a park because it doesn’t require digging into the soil and the secrets. It’ll become a safe place for children so they can dance on his bones. He wants Sandy to tell them that the godless people of Leith no longer require his services, but Sandy says he needs to tell his family. They’re innocent and spent 20 years wondering where he went.

Roy suggests otherwise since they would reopen a case that could send both to prison. He also says he and Maggie are going to take one of the flats over the park so he can know where he is. He wants to know they put him there too. Then, he says Sandy was out of this when all the bad things happened. Sandy says telling Albert’s family would be his redemption. Roy warns him that he cannot protect him. Yvonne wonders if what they have is in the genes. Kenny tells her about the time when he was supposed to get a Scalextric for his birthday, but his dad wasted the money drinking and gave him his dressing gown. He thinks it is in their genes and Yvonne says it is odd doing this without drinking.

She says it is scary and other things will be without alcohol too. Kenny suggests it might be better before they kiss. Max leaves Erin who asks him to say because the house is getting lonelier. Kenny and Yvonne have sex. As Max walks home, he is kidnapped, and Teddy goes to Erin’s place. Jackie tells Max that she’ll find him if he doesn’t check in with her. He says he was busy, and she realizes that since he was with the daughter. Jackie tells him she looks pretty in red, but he isn’t going anywhere. Max says he is close although she has been close for a long time. He tells her about Roy killing someone roughly 20 years ago around Christmas. When she says he’ll need a confession or body, he says he’ll get both. She gives him two weeks before recommending he stop whatever he is hiding from her. He tells her about the seagulls he listened to all morning and how they made him wonder whether she is hiding something as well.

He wonders if her boss knows him about or her and Roy. He believes she is worried they’ll find out and that is why he is only getting two weeks. He doesn’t know what her motive is, but he doesn’t think it is normal. She gives him two weeks to get a confession or a body. Next, we see that Teddy is hiding in Erin’s house. The would-be divorcee goes to Kenny to get the paperwork, but Kenny can’t find them. When Max enters, the man is escorted out and Kenny tells him he has been trying to get in touch. Kenny tells him about Teddy finding the photo from the casino. Yvonne tells Jackie that Kenny’s business is clean, and he isn’t involved in whatever Max is involved in. Jackie asks her to look into a disappearance from Christmas 98 of a man who was last seen drinking alone at the pub in Cowgate. He retired from the social services at the council a week before his disappearance. He taught at a children’s home before that. Roy meets with Erin and tells her he might be able to deliver an end that satisfies her.

He introduces her to her new lawyer, Max, seconds later. Max tries to explain everything, but Roy takes the paperwork to his lawyers so they can check them. Erin asks if it is going to be a problem, but he says no. Later, Roy calls Maggie to tell her she signed it. However, he is worried there is something going on with Erin and Max. He doesn’t understand why Erin stood up when she saw Max walking down the corridor. The insurance arrives today, and the Messiah wants redemption. Maggie offers to go. Max tells Erin he is going to sell the land on her behalf in the next few days because getting it done sooner decreases the likelihood they’re going to get caught. He asks her about her ex who he says looks like a fanny. She claims she doesn’t know where he is since he is a drug addict. As for Max, he admits it was hard to get served divorce papers in prison.

Max wonders why she got back in touch with her parents and whether she found herself in a situation only her father could help her get out of. He asks if she wants to tell him about that. She says she has been thinking about him too. She questions whether he has been working with someone else. She says they can talk about that or move forward together and stop looking at each other’s scars. When Max returns home, he finds Teddy in his flat. They talk about him being free and happy when he was released from jail, but Papillon wanted revenge. Teddy says he needs it the same way Max does. Both are working on it, and Teddy admits it was in her house. Max warns him that she is Roy’s daughter. Teddy threatens him that he can still hurt him, so Max agrees to find out what happened to his brother. Max tells him he didn’t forget what he did for him. Teddy agrees Max didn’t belong in there, but he isn’t sure if he belongs out here either.

Max is shaken by the time Teddy leaves. Yvonne calls Jackie to tell her about the original witness statement in which the barman said the victim left with Roy’s wife. He identified Maggie Lynch but decided to change his statement the next day. Jackie wants her to pull back from Kenny so Max will have plenty of room to give them Roy. When Yvonne says it won’t be easy, she is told to do it or get kicked off the investigation unless Kenny is worth more than Stevie. Maggie meets Sandy at the church to tell him he deserves redemption. Yvonne calls Kenny and says what happened can’t happen again, but the meetings are okay. She begins crying while confessing she doesn’t want to but has to. Maggie tells Sandy she watched Roy fight it for 30 years, but the nightmares and fear of the dark would always return. When the man retired and got his photo in the paper, it brought back Roy’s memories and made him worse.

Both thought they were going to confront Arthur, talk to him, and get closure by obtaining a confession. She knew that wouldn’t end it. She alludes to the fact that she killed Arthur before Sandy got there. She goes on to say what Sandy did was mercy as was Sandy driving her off the road. She knew the policewoman would see through Roy and come after her, but Sandy gave her an escape. Sandy is told he gave them a story to tell before she stands up and surprises him. She says she remembers the man he was, and she remembers the woman she was. She believes they’re still the same now. She plays with him while revealing he didn’t kill or cripple anyone and the betrayal can stay with him. Maggie says that is his redemption so he should sell them the church. Erin goes to Roy’s place and finds out that her mother isn’t coming. Back at the office, Kenny decides to break into Max’s drawer and finds a bottle of wine and several USB drives. During this time, Max hangs out at the flat and listens to records.

He is surprised when someone knocks on the door but doesn’t answer it. Soon, the door is kicked in. Kenny listens to the recordings Max has made. He hears Max trying to get a job with Phoenix and telling Roy not to worry about his partner. He calls Yvonne to ask why she wondered if he could trust Max, but the call ends without an answer. He looks at the bottle of wine. Erin learns why Roy likes the western movies so much. Roy says he’d understand if Max convinced her he was going to be the man to bring him down and that she should help. He insists Max isn’t as good as he thinks, and he isn’t as bad as she thinks. He offers to help her and Max. She asks where Maggie is several times. We see she is confronting Max. She explains they have insurance against Max. We hear someone enter the room before Max looks over and sees his brother Jake (Jamie Sives) sitting next to him.

 

Guilt Review

Guilt’s complex story may prove to be frustrating and incomprehensive for many viewers, but it is equally satisfying. As viewers watch Max’s desperate, relentless attempt to get revenge, they’ll experience an array of emotions. The most notable are sadness and desideratum. At this point, I need Max to get revenge as much as he wants it.

Since he’ll go back to prison if he fails, revenge is no longer optional. It is a must for Max’s sanity, safety, and freedom. Guilt is a slow burn that will likely pay off in the long run and shouldn’t be judged by each installment. Still, the episode was one of the best this season as Max faces new threats and moves closer to closing the cell door on Roy Lynch.

The second season of Guilt likely won’t satisfy everyone, but it will please those willing to stick with it and carefully decipher its complex story. The episode scores an 8 out of 10. All recaps of Guilt can be found on Reel Mockery here.