The episode opens by revealing that Jimmy Kinsella’s (Emmett J. Scanlan) frustration with Amanda has led to him spending more time away from home. Not only that, but he’s also sleeping around with (Ciara Bailey). He boasts about it later with the taxi driver (Owen Mulhall) who takes him to Michael Kinsella’s (Charlie Cox) house. Once there, he continues to brag about his conquests while chiding Michael about his affair with Amanda Kinsella (Clare Dunne). Michael eventually encourages him to leave.

Rory Hayes (Cathal Pendred) makes a delivery while Amanda learns of Kevin Delaney’s (Kenneth Hudson) “self-inflicted” death at the pub. When he calls in to report that all went well, she asks who was at the farmhouse who saw him pick up the shipment and what he knows about Kevin’s death. Lee Reid (Matt Lenehan) is the answer to her first question, but all he knows about the shooting is that Kevin was trying to settle the score with Eric “Viking” (Sam Keeley) and Bren Kinsella (Francis Magee).

Amanda later meets Rory outside the bodega she’s been using to transfer money to the Batuks. Rory introduces her to his cousin’s young son Shane, who confirms that he knows what is expected of him. With that business out of the way, she takes the payment from the earlier shipment and proceeds with the process of converting the cash. As the teller (Sinan Sicimoglu) goes through the typical process, Zehab Can (George Georgiou) pulls Amanda to the side to tell her about a new “invincibility” amphetamine developed specifically for Syrian war efforts (fenethylline). He gives her a sampler and a bottom-dollar price with the promise that he can get as much as she would ever want.

At a meeting with Bridget “Birdy” Goggins (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Bren makes Frank Kinsella (Aidan Gillen) share the news of Isaac “Kem” Kemela (Ryan Lincoln) being a rat. She doesn’t believe it until she learns the news came from Jimmy. Bren proceeds to take over the discussion by revealing that Amanda and Michael knew about it for months. He uses the information to force Frank to swear allegiance to him and Birdy.

Elsewhere, Nikita “Nikki” Murphy’s (Yasmin Seky) pleading for Kem’s life leads to an argument with Viking. He says he already feels bad enough about having his hand forced by Bren and threatens to not share information with her anymore if she won’t leave it alone. She mentions having someone else do the job or talking Kem into leaving town. A call soon interrupts the discussion and whatever the news is, it appears to be urgent as Viking races out the door.

Amanda personally delivers the money transfer information to Nuray Batuk (Oyku Karayel), who gives the information to Hazim Aktas (Haydar Koyel) to confirm. Amanda cleverly uncovers that Nuray plans to return home as soon as possible by offering to recommend a top-notch Dublin restaurant for dinner. Just like that, the meeting is over and Nuray promises to see her next month for the other payment. Hazim immediately voices his displeasure with the way Nuray is handling the Kinsellas. He attempts to further insult her by saying her father and brother, Cenk Batuk (Bamshad Abedi-Amin) never had a problem making the hard decisions. She calmly reminds him that it was her father who appointed her head of operations.

Before Amanda gets outside, she receives a text from Lauren Bridges (Sallay Garnett) that leads to a subsequent meeting where she becomes slightly hostile upon learning that the courts intend to delay her trial.

Viking and Bren are equally upset when they discover the missing stash at the farmhouse. Lee immediately tells them about Rory picking up the shipment under Amanda’s orders. He doesn’t know where Rory lives, but claims to have a mate that can provide the information.

Michael visits the now-sober Jimmy at home to give him a piece of his mind about his behavior last night. This leads to an argument that reveals Michael is still having panic attacks. The panic attack reaches a dangerous level when he’s also accosted on his way home by Winnie Areoeye (Jennifer Ogedegbe). She blames him for the money roll she found amongst Anna Areoeye’s (Hannah Adeogun) belongings. When he makes it home, he collapses on the floor.

Bren and Viking’s visit to Rory leads to a huge physical altercation. Katlyn Hayes (Eva-Jane Gaffney) tries to help her husband, but Rory is beaten to a pulp and threatened against future involvement with Amanda.

Amanda and Jimmy have their first encounter since their original argument. The encounter is cordial enough and even leads to him consoling her when she reveals the potential trial delay. He assures her that she’ll come out on top.

Kem has managed to track Nellie Wright (Deirdre Molloy) to a grocery store where she shops for food and alcohol. He soon learns that Glen Wright (Ben Carolan) is with her as well when he gets out to help her load the groceries. Kem follows them as they load up and pull out. Amanda receives a frantic phone call from Katlyn, apparently about Bren and Viking’s attack. Although she and Jimmy are back on speaking terms, she turns down his offers to accompany her.

Michael sparks up a conversation with the pharmacist, Molly (Danielle Galligan) while refilling his medication. When he mentions that his symptoms haven’t fully gone away, she gives him a flyer for yoga/meditation to help with stress. Before he leaves, she reminds him that the doctor can always increase his dosage but that also increases the odds of side effects.

Viking and Bren return to the Furry Bog where they learn that Kem has located Glen, although he’s living at a highly secure compound with his mother. Kem says the only chance to get him would be when he’s out running errands. Brend ignores the recommendation and orders Kem to stay by the phone so Viking can pick him up later in the evening to stake out the compound. Once alone, Bren also orders Viking to take Anthony Kinsella (Mark McKenna Jr.) along.

Nikki hasn’t given up on saving Kem either but turning to Frank only leads to a dispute. She tries to goad him into intervening by reminding him of the power he once held as head of the family. He offers no solace and says the best they can do for Viking is to make sure he plans the hit carefully enough to not get pinched. After leaving, Frank harshly dismisses Dan Murphy (Donncha Tynan) and breaks into the nearby church.

While Amanda learns that Rory is stepping away from his duties, Hazim extends a business proposal to Wayne Madigan (Jack Meade) that seems too good to be true. When asked, Hazim says his family aspires to take over the Irish market and doesn’t suspect that the Kinsellas will be around much longer. After careful consideration, Wayne takes his offer. Elsewhere and although he’s comatose, Nuray informs her father that her return trip will be delayed. She assures him everything is alright and promises to apply everything he taught her.

Michael visits Anna to demand she stay away from Bren. She doesn’t try to deny the money and even mentions how nice Bren seems. When Michael says he’s not, she reminds him that people have given her the same warnings about him.

Father Deegan (Aidan O’Hare) discovers the broken glass and Frank sitting in the pews. When asked about the glass, Frank offers to cover the expenses while also mentioning that God’s house should be open to everyone. Frank denies Deegan’s offer at confession and claims he’s only at the church because it provides a sense of peace.

Jimmy expresses displeasure with Bren for the first time when he learns that he’s got Anthony involved in the Kem job. Jimmy nearly becomes frantic when he learns that he won’t be able to intervene because neither of them has their phones with them.

Michael visits Birdy to discuss his frustration with Bren. Instead, she wants to talk about why he didn’t tell her about Kem being a rat. He says he and Amanda were afraid that Frank and Viking would have had him killed. She says that’s exactly what he’s going to do now that he knows and Kem deserves it. The conversation ends with her telling him that it was the wrong move because it gives Bren everything he needs to go after Amanda.

To add to Viking’s frustration, Kem tries to bring Chloe along with them to stake out the compound. Kem claims that the baby would help add to their cover, but Viking makes him leave her with a neighbor (Audrey Carolan). Michael visits Amanda with his concerns that Bren will soon move against her. She claims he already has by scaring Rory into retirement. Learning about Bren’s discovery of Kem only heightens her worries and that’s where the episode ends.

 

KIN Review

A lot of people may disagree, but I feel as if this was the first time an episode ended on a big cliffhanger. That said, I don’t feel as if there could have been a better way to do it. It’s honestly impressive to consider the ways the Kem situation could affect the characters and plot.

Kem has somewhat established himself as a mainstay character and his loss could be detrimental. Will Frank finally stand up for himself, will Anthony pull the trigger, and what’s Viking’s play? The only things I am not really enjoying about this series thus far are Nuray Batuk and the long-winded feel of every episode. All I can say is that poor Nuray is dreadful but essential. For those reasons, I would give the episode a 6 out of 10.

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