The episode opens with Frank Kinsella (Aidan Gillen) and Dan Murphy (Donncha Tynan) picking up a hidden drug stash concealed in a garage located in the middle of a busy scrap yard. The drugs are elaborately concealed in pipes but it doesn’t take long to get them out and loaded into a non-descript white van.

Amanda Kinsella (Clare Dunne) finishes dressing for a meeting and says goodbye to Jimmy Kinsella (Emmett J. Scanlan), who chides her about running off so early. She tells him that he is more than welcome to join them and will wait for him to get dressed. He claims he’s got a full schedule himself. Outside, she joins Michael Kinsella (Charlie Cox), who instead of greeting her asks about Rory Hayes (Cathal Pendred ). She says that she didn’t think he would be needed.

On his way to meet Eric “Viking” Kinsella (Sam Keeley), Bren Kinsella (Francis Magee) makes Bridget “Birdy” Goggins (Maria Doyle Kennedy) uncomfortable by demanding she smell his cologne.  Jimmy joins Anthony Kinsella (Mark McKenna Jr.) just as he is finishing his breakfast. Jimmy doesn’t appear to be upset when he learns that Viking and Bren have been teaching him to shoot but warns him not to mention it to Amanda.

En route to a meet, Michael and Amanda discuss their new prospective buyer, Wayne Madigan (Jack Meade). According to Frank, he’s practically unheard of because he’s been lying low while building his business. Both are completely shocked when their directions lead them to a “Little Sprouts” preschool. Inside, they are led to an empty classroom and ordered to wait.

At the Furry Bog, it becomes clear that Jimmy has a problem with Isaac “Kem” Kemela (Ryan Lincoln) as he refuses to return his greeting. Once he joins Viking and Bren in the office, he immediately voices his concern with Kem’s continued employment. Viking says Kem is solid and jokingly accuses Jimmy of being a racist. Bren and Viking both express excitement when Jimmy confirms that Frank has picked up the stash.

Amanda is in the middle of admiring the children on the playground when Wayne arrives. Michael doesn’t bother with an introduction and immediately chides him for being 20 minutes late. Amanda mentions his interest in a purchase and names the price at $40,000 per Kilo of “H.” He immediately counters them at $25,000 and claims that everyone knows about their debt to the Batuks. Wayne also mentions their involvement in Ged Delaney’s (Baz Black) murder before sending them away empty-handed.

During a shopping trip, Birdy offers Nikita “Nikki Murphy (Yasmin Seky) advice on how to better communicate with Viking when she learns their relationship has been rocky since his release. With Jimmy at the wheel, Bren and Viking track down Anthony at school to supposedly hire him for a job. While there, Bren meets Anna Areoye (Hannah Adeogun) and tries to make up for lost time by giving her a wad of cash. She reluctantly takes it. At the car park offices, Frank has already been updated on the failure of the meeting with Wayne. Although it’s not revealed, it appears they already have a backup plan, but don’t think Bren will be happy about it.

Anthony is dropped off at the mouth of a long driveway and ordered to alert Jimmy by phone at the first sign of trouble. Bren and the others follow the long driveway to where they find Lee Reid (Matt Lenehan) standing outside next to the white van from the opening scene. Bren orders Lee to take Viking inside and show him around while he speaks with Jimmy alone. Bren wants to know why Jimmy doesn’t like Kem. Jimmy simply says it’s because he’s not family. Joining the others inside, Bren takes several bricks and orders Lee to stash them in the back office of the Furry Bog pub. The meeting is over nearly as soon as it starts when Amanda phones Jimmy to request an urgent sit-down.

During Ged’s funeral, Kevin Delaney (Kenneth Hudson) and Eddie Lucas (Aaron Katambay) conspire to strike back at the Kinsellas. Although Eddie already has a capable man lined up for the job, Kevin wants to do it personally. Against Eddie’s advice, he orders him to put a spotter in the Furry Bog. Maisie Delaney (Fionnuala Murphy) takes note of their planning but doesn’t get involved.

The Kinsella’s family meeting starts badly right from the very beginning with arguments over whether Anthony should be involved or not. Although Jimmy doesn’t initially dispute his attendance, he ultimately agrees with Amanda to not have him involved. It only goes downhill from there when Amanda lays out the plan to sell enough of the drugs at a lower rate just to cover the Batuk payment. She claims they can recoup their losses with what’s left over. Bren immediately opposes, claiming that it makes the family look weak. Amanda agrees to make sure he gets full payment for his share. Although Birdy is present, she remains silent as Bren voluntarily adds her vote to his side of the argument. Amanda makes the same assumption with Jimmy, which causes future problems although Jimmy holds his tongue at the time.

After the meeting, Amanda finds Jimmy in the basement with a drink and his snakes but doesn’t attempt to apologize. Instead, she immediately tells him that she doesn’t want Anthony spending any more time with Bren or Viking. Once he tells her that she doesn’t make all the decisions, she says she has been making them their entire relationship and the only thing that has changed is Bren. The argument only gets more heated as they continue to go back and forth and ends with him trying to throw the affair with Michael in her face. Much to his surprise, she brags about it.

After receiving a text from Anna about meeting Bren, Michael races over to Birdy’s to have it out with Bren. Michael not only threatens him to stay away from Anna, but he puts an unloaded pistol to Bren’s head and pulls the trigger. He assures him that it won’t be empty the next time. Tensions continue to rise later that evening at dinner when Amanda tries to get Anthony to talk about the time he’s been spending with Viking and Bren. He mockingly throws the question back in her face by claiming Granddad took him to the beach and bought him an ice cream while they made sandcastles.

A suspicious female posted outside the Furry Bog appears to be overly interested in Bren and Viking’s arrival. At Ged’s wake, Maisie continues to suspect Kevin’s odd behavior and ends up barging in on him changing into street clothes. She tells him that Ged wouldn’t want him to get locked up on his behalf. He simply tells her that he has to do what he is about to do and walks out to join Eddie in the waiting vehicle. Jimmy is now being buzzed in at the Furry Bog and doesn’t waste any time sharing shots with Viking. Lee soon interrupts with a request from Bren to speak with Jimmy. In the office, Bren and Jimmy do bumps of coke while Jimmy shares the news of Kem being a rat.

Nuray Batuk (Oyku Karayel) phones Amanda to let her know that she is personally coming to Dublin to collect the payment. Amanda tries to assure her that’s not needed, but she says she’s coming anyway. When the call ends, it’s revealed that Nuray’s father’s father is on a breathing tube and being cared for by a nurse.

Unaware of the security protocols at the Furry Bog, Kevin finds himself trapped at the entrance. The balaclava only makes him look more suspicious and it isn’t long before he draws Nikki’s attention. Although she points him out, she tries to talk Viking out of intervening. Even with Kevin’s pistol in clear view, Viking walks over to the entrance and taunts him. Kevin ends up killing himself with a ricocheted bullet when he tries to shoot Viking through the bulletproof glass.

Dan shows up at Frank’s house to inform him about the shooting and encourages him to make an appearance at the pub. Frank jokes about it being too bad that Bren didn’t get shot before throwing up. When asked, he claims he has an ulcer. Dan chides him about the way he’s been living and encourages him to get it checked out because he had a cousin who claimed he had an ulcer but it turned out to be cancer.

Anthony is smoking on the balcony when he sees Amanda meet Michael in the driveway to tell him about Nuray Batuk’s plan to come to town. He appears to suspect something is off and spends several minutes watching them from the shadows.

Nikki expresses her displeasure over Viking’s careless behavior as the authorities process the crime scene at the pub. The argument doesn’t get far as Jimmy shows up to tell Viking that Bren wants to see him. In the office, Viking is made aware that Ken is a rat. He has a hard time believing it, but an even harder time with Bren’s order for him to deal with it since he brought him into the family. Bren eventually gives him the ultimatum to deal with Kem or lose his place in the family.

While working late, Paddy Hughes (Shane G. Casey) receives a surprise visit from Detective Paul Breslin (David Herlihy), who says he’s working the Beady Donovan (Ger Carey) and Jason Mahon shooting out past the airport. While working the case, he claims they found a piece of paper in Donovan’s jacket containing Amanda Kinsella’s fingerprints. Paddy thanks him and attaches it to an evidence board containing surveillance shots of the Kinsellas.

 

KIN Review

I sure didn’t see that coming but it adds a whole new level of suspense to the series. Although the series seems incredibly slow at times, I appreciate the way it builds suspense and continues to hold my attention. Season 2 is shaping up to be explosive with threats coming at Kinsellas from every angle. That along with the solid performances, and KIN could possibly end up being one of the best series of the past decade. It’s certainly one of the best I’ve seen come out of Ireland.

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