The second episode begins on the morning that Aine Casey (Elva Trill) received the phone call at the salon from Pauline (Susan Lynch) about Sean’s (Jay Duffy) disappearance. Despite Pauline’s immediate concern for Sean’s recent strange behavior, Aine doesn’t allude to being too alarmed. It’s possible that she was putting on because, after her shift, she recruits her Paul (Don Wycherley) to visit his local haunts. A brief visit with Gavin (Patrick Martins) confirms Sean’s recent strange behavior. Right before it becomes a question of when to call in the cops, Aine receives a from Sean’s number.

Although Lloyd (Stephen Jones) and Aine have now officially spent the night together, things are no less awkward. He does later convince her to have breakfast at Brendan’s (Jimmy Smallhorn). Before this, Lloyd unsuccessfully texts Denise (Jennifer Heylen) while Aine showers. There is also an extremely brief scene that confirms it was Sean who had called Aine after being missing for nearly a day. Although she arrives at Pauline’s incredibly heated, she doesn’t appear to have the heart to push things further at the moment after seeing his condition. Things are certainly now less awkward when Brendan mistakes Aien for Denise.

Lloyd’s explanation about Denise’s absence causes him to remember the day he told her mother, Julia (Lucretia Van Der Vloot), about Denise’s plans to walk across Spain. As Julia expresses her outrage for Lloyd not stopping Denise, there is a brief scene where Denise and Karen (Joanne King) stop to buy a beaded bracelet from one of the local Spanish Girls (Jolie De Jaegar).

It doesn’t take Lloyd long to pick up on Aine’s zoning out during their breakfast. She apologizes and attempts to describe Sean’s behavior to him. According to her, she had known Sean since he was little and he was always happy until one day he wasn’t. His disappearance was evidentially brought on by panic attacks. Not just the attacks, but how she might view him differently because of them. By the time Aine’s memories reveal that Sean was becoming more and more easily agitated before his death, she and Lloyd finish breakfast. There is a brief debate about who will pay the tab, but a call soon turns Aine’s attention elsewhere.

Her extremely brief conversation with Erica (Caitriona Ennis) suggests that Aine was supposed to be at work at noon but forgot. This turns out to not be a problem because Tina (Sorcha Fahy) has apparently already agreed to cover her shift. By the time Lloyd clears the bill and joins her outside, it becomes a matter of how they are going to spend the day.

Aine and Lloyd compare their careers against the paths they would have much rather taken. Despite his love for karaoke and singing, she is surprised to learn that he never wanted to pursue music. Given Aine’s flaming red hot hair, he isn’t surprised to learn that she is a hairdresser. He is, however, surprised to learn that she really wants to become a children’s writer. She even shares some of her ideas which ends up embarrassing her, although he tells her assures her they are good.

At the same time, Bill (Roger Evans) opens up to Denis about the loss of his wife, Monica. Although it is not clearly explained, it is suggested that Denise has also suffered a recent loss. When Karen catches up to them and begins tossing around poetic death philosophies, Denise goes off on her, claiming that the loss of a grandparent is nothing like the losses she and Bill have suffered.

Aine becomes cold and detached when she and Lloyd make their way to the bridge where Sean jumped. It takes Lloyd several minutes but he eventually picks up on this and assures her that she probably did everything she could to help Sean. This only further agitates her and ultimately reveals that she feels like Sean’s suicide was selfish. Lloyd’s claim that Sean probably felt alone is too much for her to bear and sends her storming off in the opposite direction.

This causes Lloyd to remember an evening when Denise skipped out on a date with him to visit Sean. He only found out about it because he happened to spot them at the bridge from the flat while he was making dinner. Even worse, she blatantly lies to him over the phone. During their ensuing argument, she claims to have just met Sean and was drawn to him by something sad in him. Her perfunctory claim that she still loves him doesn’t help matters. The next scene shows that Sean also lied to Aine about that evening. He claimed he was out walking and listening to music when his phone died.

As Lloyd and Aine continue to bond, they both have separate memories from the day Sean died. As it turns out, Lloyd tried to speak with just several seconds before he leaped to his death. Aine’s memories only show her depressed before and during the days following Sean’s death. This is practically how to episode ends.

 

Northern Lights Review

This wasn’t an awful episode and I enjoyed Llyod and Aine’s brief stint at the diner. I also thought it was incredibly intriguing how Sean was weaved into Lloyd and Denise’s life. I am also interested to learn who it was close to Denise that she lost. I am almost betting it was her father. This could be a decent series if it would cut down on all the flashbacks. I was glad to see that this episode was much shorter and hope they only get shorter. I’d give it a 5.3 out of 10.

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