As the fifth episode of Payback begins, Aaron Morris (Jack Greenlees) asks Lexie Noble (Morven Christie) who she is talking to and whether she has a phone. Aaron frantically searches Lexie and her stuff to see if she has a phone. Lexie claims she was talking to herself because she was freaking out. Aaron warns her not to talk to anyone unless he says so. DI Jean Royce (Andi Osho) complains about DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell) working with Lexie while she was investigating her. Adam says the arrangement was agreed to by DCI Scanlan, but they ended it once they learned about Noble’s record. Jean questions whether he asked her to withhold information about Cal Morris. DC Jibran Khan (Prasanna Puwanarajah) interrupts to tell Adam that he just heard Aaron catch Lexie talking on the microphone.

DCI Adam Guthrie tells DI Jean Royce that they won’t do anything to compromise Lexie’s safety. Lexie is taken to meet Adomas who learns that her husband set up a company account with a Latvian bank. Adomas says the account held with them functions as a main company account. As for the Latvian account, it is funneled into the other one. They can access it if Lexie can answer the security questions. Once she answers the questions, Adomas says the balance of the account was a little over 27.5 million sterling in January of this year. Since then, there have been multiple large withdrawals. As a result, the balance now stands at around 10,000. Adomas says her husband made the withdrawals. A series of banker’s drafts were issued and made payable to the same Swiss holding company which is a very well-known institution.

They own some of the most important auction houses in Europe. Outside, Aaron calls Cal Morris (Peter Mullan) to tell him what Adomas said. Cal tells Aaron to take Lexie straight to the airport. Aaron tells Lexie before flagging down a taxi. Adam Guthrie and the others keep track of Lexie’s whereabouts. Jibran Khan reminds him that the kids and nanny have been missing for 42 hours. DCI Guthrie asks for someone to follow Lexie home as soon as she lands and bring her in when it is safe. He asks for eyes on the house so they’ll know when the kids come back. Aaron tells Lexie they’ll get his car before agreeing the kids are already at home. Jibran soon learns that Aaron is taking her somewhere besides home though.

DCI Guthrie worries that they’ll lose them because they have to keep a long distance away from Aaron’s vehicle. Aaron takes Lexie to a farm that was purchased two years ago by the Morris Constance Group. Cal and Malky (Steven Mackintosh) confront Lexie inside the home. Cal believes Jared would’ve bought something for Lexie with the money he stole, but Lexie argues he left her with nothing. Cal says the man nearby brought a nail gun that he is going to use on her face. Lexie is pressured into telling Cal that there was another woman who was spotted on CCTV. Aaron admits she could be telling the truth. Cal tells him to shut up before asking why Lexie wouldn’t tell him this before. She claims she was ashamed. Lexie thinks she looks like an idiot because he was going to leave with her.

She pleads with Aaron to help her. Jibran tells Guthrie that he has to send in a team, but Guthrie worries that could get Lexie and her kids killed. Malky tells Cal that their source has confirmed the CCTV footage and the tickets. Cal can’t believe they just now learned about this. Malky says whatever Jared bought will be part of his estate. It’ll go to his next of kin so Lexie is their quickest way in. Cal asks Lexie what she’d do to track what Jared bought. She says she would call the auction houses and tell them she is Jared’s wife. When Lexie asks about her kids, Cal says they’re watching TV and eating pizza. Seconds later, Guthrie learns that Aaron and Lexie are heading back to Edinburgh. He also gets a call confirming the kids and nanny have returned unharmed.

At home, Lexie is relieved to see her kids. Doris Szabo (Eileen Duffy) tells Lexie about the men who came to the house pretending to be police. When the police arrive, Lexie asks Doris if she called them. Doris claims this was Jared’s client. Lexie instructs her to lock the door and stay with the kids. Lexie is taken to the police station where she is questioned by Guthrie and Jean Royce. Guthrie says as soon as they got her message they alerted the Lithuanian authorities. Jean wants to know about her involvement with Cal Morris and his possible connection to Jared’s death. Lexie asks if they have something new. Jean says they have one of the boys in custody and they’re still looking for the others. They still believe they were paid by a third party that is likely involved in organized crime.

Lexie explains that Cal just turned up after Jared was killed. She goes on to tell them that there was a problem with a company he incorporated and you can’t tell Cal Morris no. Guthrie wants to talk about CVB Investments which was used to purchase the Isle of Eris. He asks if that was Lexie’s idea. Lexier admits it was but insists she had to do something to protect her children. If Lexie can be useful to them, they’ll put immunity back on the table. Lexie argues immunity is no use to her if she is dead. At home, Lexie tells Doris she made a deal with the police to help them get Cal. In exchange, they will protect all of them. Doris freaks out because she doesn’t want to be a part of it. Doris agrees to give her one week.

Jibran has been listening to their conversation. In the morning, Connie Morris (Julie Graham) tells Cal she wants to talk to him about living on the island. Connie hopes he was joking because she is perfectly happy where she is. When Lexie meets Aaron, she hears him complaining about his container on the phone. She thanks him for speaking up for her yesterday. Malky and Cal keep an eye on Lexie as she works. Lexie says she has been comparing the amounts on the banker’s drafts with the items sold at auction. She found an auction in Edinburgh, but they aren’t willing to speak to her. She thought they might talk to her in person though. Aaron is tasked to go with her. Malky tells Cal they just had a tip-off before mentioning the name Michael Moray who stabbed Jared.

Billy heard he might be hiding in a house in Bingham. After exiting the auction house, Lexie tells Aaron she got a list of all the dealers that have made proxy bids. Aaron asks if she can help him sort out the shipping container. She calls to see what she can do. Jibran tells Guthrie he heard something on the Noble wire he wants to query. He doesn’t like that Lexie thinks she has to cooperate to get witness protection. Guthrie doesn’t want to tell her otherwise because Lexie is a valuable source of intel right now. Tab Moray is found stabbed to death. Davidson tells Billy he hasn’t seen him before. Later, Lexie gets an email telling her to get written guarantees from Guthrie because he can’t be trusted. She questions who it is, but Jibran doesn’t respond to her email.

Lexie contacts Marie to say she has possible shipping info. Cal and Malky talk about Moray’s death. Cal told them to call it in as an anonymous tip. He wants to know what forensics comes up with. Malky says Conor Ridley has been released on bail pending his hearing. He has disappeared. Cal says they need to find him. DC Alice Hardy (Grace Chilton) tells Jibran that Lexie visits the bank to access a corporate account and not to close it. The account is in the name of Previte Holdings which is a shell company registered in Latvia. Jean learns about Tab Morley’s death. Forensics won’t officially confirm it is the same weapon used to kill Jared Noble. Aaron asks Lexie to keep chasing that shipping guy. He gives her the invoice in case he asks for it. Once Lexie is alone, she contemplates giving the shipping information to Marie.

She changes one of the numbers before agreeing to meet. Once she meets Guthrie, she tells him that she wants a guarantee in writing for herself and her kids first. He reminds her that this is still contingent on her cooperation. He tells her to send him the shipping container number and delete it. Lexie won’t give him anything else until she gets the guarantee. Jibran receives the banker drafts. The withdrawals from Previte Holdings were made payable to the same auction house. The guy was likely using a dealer to hide his identity. The name in Edinburgh is Gregor Beaumont. Jibran thanks Penny before she leaves. Doris checks on Lexie when she returns home. Lexie says she is trying to contact the people Jared worked with, but no one will call her back. Lexie tells her to just keep doing what she is doing.

Guthrie works on getting the shipping container. He tells Jibran that the reliable source wants a written guarantee. Later, Jibran sends Lexie an email with Gregor Beaumont’s name. Lexie confronts Gregor the following day. She already knows it was him so she needs to know what Jared bought. Gregor refuses to help. Later, Lexie gets a call from Keith Davies with Venwell Shipping. He tells her that the entire tracking system crashed last month. It is showing containers being discharged before they were even loaded. He suspects the container is likely still sitting there. Lexie looks at pictures of the docks before going there later that night. The security guard lets her go inside. She opens the container and finds boxes with coats used to conceal money.

Lexie returns home and hears a man playing with her kids. She is surprised to find out that it is Cal.

 

Payback Review

The fifth episode of Payback was okay although the series probably has one or two unnecessary episodes. Things are starting to come together and get more interesting, but we could’ve already reached this point a few episodes ago. In particular, this episode was good because of the relationship between Lexie and Aaron who is tasked with keeping an eye on her.

The performances are good with Morven Christie leading the way. Peter Mullan, Steven Mackintosh, Derek Riddell, and the others are good as well. Some aspects of the police side of the story probably would’ve been better cut from the series because they add so little and only bloat the cast and story. Nevertheless, it is looking like Aaron might’ve stolen the money which was hidden in the shipping container.

Cal doesn’t seem to realize that and continues putting pressure on Lexie to find out what Jared did with the money. The fifth episode didn’t do a lot to let us know what to expect from the finale so anything is possible at this point. At the very least, I am eager to see what Lexie does and whether anyone is brought to justice in the end.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Payback are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here. See what others are saying about Payback at the Reel Mockery Forum.