As the second episode of Reunion begins, Daniel Brennan (Matthew Gurney) sits down with Michael (George Boden) and David (Alim Jadavji) with the Offender Management Team. They talk about prison. Daniel is asked about working and earning privileges or money. He hasn’t been doing that. Daniel says he can’t read the paperwork so he doesn’t know how long he has left. David and Michael ask about school. Daniel says he wasn’t there long enough and got kicked out. He explains that school felt like prison. They help Daniel read his papers and letters. Daniel learns that his wife has passed away. A flashback shows a fire at the school. In the present, Daniel wakes up in the tent and frightens Carly Brennan (Lara Peake). After the intro, Carly asks Daniel if he had a nightmare. He claims he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Carly complains that he’s shutting her out. Daniel just says he slept fine.
She asks where they’re going now. Daniel reveals they’re going to Hawthorne Park and they’re having a school reunion. He admits he doesn’t want to go but he has to. Anna Shenford (Olive Gray) listens to the message from Stephen Renworth (Eddie Marsan). Joe Summers (Joe Sims) sits nearby. Anna admits it was submitted anonymously. Joe asks if she’s started on Brennan’s recall. Anna says she made a mistake although Joe thinks Daniel killed someone. Anna will keep calling him. If she doesn’t hear back, she’ll put him on the list for recall. Elsewhere, Stephen tells Christine Mokhtar (Anne-Marie Duff) that only Daniel knows what happened between him and her husband, Ray (Ace Mahbaz). Christine wants to get to Daniel to see if he’ll talk to her. She mentions the probation officer who might be able to set up a meeting. When Miri Mokhtar (Rose Ayling-Ellis) comes in, Stephen and Christine explain that Stephen is trying to help them find Daniel and get some answers. Stephen gives Miri his phone number. He wants her to call in case she hears anything about Daniel or his whereabouts.
Miri is told to make sure she’s ready for the reunion. Christine still wants to try the probation officer. Daniel gets a new phone only to find out he’s lost his old photos and text messages. In a flashback, Daniel learns that his wife has passed away. He gets upset and flips the table before being ambushed by guards. Daniel is taken back to his cell. Later, David and Michael tell Daniel they’ve added 42 days to his sentence. Daniel says he wants to register for English lessons. He begins working on his English. Daniel finds an article about Hawthorne Park holding its first annual reunion. Carly asks Daniel who he is looking for at the reunion. She asks him about Ray and whether he was a dickhead. Daniel says no. She doesn’t understand why they’d go to a reunion full of people who hate him. Christine and Stephen meet Anna who asks how she can help. Christine wants to meet Daniel to talk. Anna says she’ll see what she can do. She asks what she wants to talk to Daniel about.
Christine insists her husband was a good person. She talks about all the things Ray did for members of the deaf community. Christine believes he was helping Brennan, but he ended up dead this time. She wants to know what changed and why Daniel would do something like that. Joe interrupts to say they can’t force Daniel to meet her. Anna says they can put in a request and see what happened. Joe says he wouldn’t get his hopes up. Anna promises to call and tell her what Daniel says. When they’re alone, Joe tells Anna she can’t go around telling people what they want to hear. In the car, Daniel receives a text from Anna who wants to meet now. Daniel tells Carly not to reply. Carly says he’ll go back to prison if he doesn’t reply. Daniel promises he’ll reply. Christine returns home to get Miri so they can go to the reunion together. Christine says she and Stephen have been together for three months. Miri asks why she couldn’t tell her. Christine wanted to wait until she was sure.
Miri admits she still doesn’t know what to say during her speech. She says he’s become bigger ever since he left. She never knew the amazing side of her dad. Miri is worried about saying the wrong thing without him. They continue talking about Ray. Christine says he was normal and he had his own weird stuff going on. She believes Ray would’ve wanted her to move on and try to be happy with someone else. Daniel asks Carly about the music she’s listening to. He says he can feel anything with a lot of bass. Something happens to the car. Carly urges Daniel to pull over because it’s going to explode. When they stop, Carly decides to try something. Miri tells Christine about seeing Carly. She admits she can’t stop thinking about her and what it must’ve been like for her. Miri says they all have their share of pain. Christine offers to let Miri stay home if she doesn’t want to go to the reunion. Miri says no. She wants to go and give her speech. Carly manages to get the car started.
They make it to the reunion. Daniel thanks Carly for helping him with the car. He asks her to stay put while he goes inside. He gets the gun from the trunk and loads it. Daniel hides the gun in his jacket. He gives Carly a note and says she’ll get good money for the car. Daniel tells her to go without him. He says he’ll text her after. Carly drives away while Daniel approaches the building. A flashback shows a young Daniel likely starting the fire.
In a flashback, young Brennan (Nate Holdsworth) appears to be pulling a petrol can up a hill. He later watches a fire grow inside a Hawthorne Park School classroom with a group photo of students. In the present, Brennan enters the Hawthorne Park Hotel. In sign language, a hotel receptionist (Lucy Blott) welcomes and directs him to the memorial service on the upper floor. He looks at a memorial table for Ray. He has a flashback of sitting around a campfire with young Ray Mokhtar (Oliver Miller). The scene switches to another flashback of Brennan angrily slapping the table. Ray stares at him. In the present, Brennan scans a brochure and watches Gardener (Julian Peedle-Calloo) giving a speech in sign language. He is unaware of the teen server (Alex Fairweather) behind him. Sean (Stephen Collins) turns and looks at him. Speeding down the road, Carly sees a family photo on the sun visor and pulls off the road. She removes the photo and looks at it. At the memorial service, Sean asks Brennan if he is aware that the memorial service is for Ray. Brennan nods. Sean warns that they will be angry to see him there. Brennan promises to leave after he speaks with Jim Monroe. Sean demands to know why. Brennan refuses to answer. Sean storms away.
At the police station, Stephen recognizes Summers, who previously resigned from the force. He insists that Brennan be returned to prison before he snaps. Summers asks how he is connected to Brennan. Stephen claims to care about Christine and if she or anyone else is hurt, it will be on him. At the memorial service, Brennan approaches a man when Carly arrives and grabs his shoulder. He asks why she is there. She admits to worrying he will do something stupid. He escorts her to a more private area and demands that she leave. She asks why he is acting weird. He assures her that it has nothing to do with her. He criticizes her for being in debt and homeless. She blames him, gives up, and leaves. Gardener accuses him of trying to ruin the memorial. Brennan compares him to Ray who everyone liked, not him. Gardener asks if that is why he murdered Ray and urges him to leave. Carly orders a beer. The server gives her a bottle. She grabs it, pops off the top, and takes a long swig before scooping up an armful of beer. Christine urges Miri to ignore the guests and professes to love her.
Brennan finds Carly drinking the beer. She tries to walk away but he stops her and urges her to calm down. She accuses him of abandoning her again and admits to missing her mum. He claims to miss her daily and tries to embrace her. She pushes him away, throws his keys at him, criticizes his car, and storms away. Inside, Miri takes the podium. Christine gives her two thumbs up. Miri thanks everyone for coming. Brennan watches via a window from a nearby room. He has a flashback of Ray saying he is done. Angry, Brennan places a knife in a sheath on the table. They continue to argue until Ray grabs the sheath and Brennan grabs the knife. In the present, Gardener informs Brennan of Monroe’s canceled speech because he is sick. He rejoins the service. Brennan asks Sean where Monroe is. He denies knowing. They get into a physical altercation. Seeing them, Christine walks out during Miri’s speech and asks Brennan if he is following them. He claims to be there for someone else and races toward the exit. Miri approaches. Christine apologizes and tells her that she needs to speak with Brennan. Miri tries to stop her but she insists.
Christine mentions all the letters she wrote and all the times she asked Daniel to meet her. She wants to know why he killed her husband. In a flashback, Ray asks Daniel if he understands why they have to keep this between themselves. In the present, Daniel tells Christine it’s too late. Daniel says they all know he’s finished. He walks away. In a flashback, Ray has been stabbed. He collapses. Daniel promises not to tell anyone. In the present, Christine gets into the car with Daniel and asks more questions. Daniel says he promised Ray. As he drives away, he nearly hits Miri. Joe speaks to Anna who admits he was right about everything. Anna says Daniel isn’t replying to her messages. She’ll start the recall paperwork today. As her senior manager, Joe asks Anna to share her caseload with him. He offers to take some of her high-risk ones. While she’s away, Joe takes Daniel’s folder. Miri confronts Carly who tries to get a taxi. Carly doesn’t know where her dad went. Miri checks on her to see if she’s okay.
Miri offers her a life. Carly asks where she was when she needed her and her mom was dying. Miri admits her mom told her not to. There wasn’t a day Miri didn’t think about texting her. It all came back when she saw her last night. Carly tells Miri to stop it. She says they’re not young girls anymore. Stephen interrupts to ask where Christine is. Miri tells her that Daniel took her somewhere. Stephen asks about Christine’s car. He says he’ll call the police. Stephen offers Carly a lift and asks if she can help with Daniel. He tries to convince her to come with him. Carly gets into the car with him. They drive away. Daniel tells Christine that she got into his car. She’s not going anywhere until he tells her everything. Daniel says he has to find him.
Reunion Review
The second episode of Reunion was fairly decent as the tension picked up a bit. The performances here are good for the most part. Matthew Gurney and the rest of the cast have done well with their respective roles. The series also does a good job of being moody so it’s easy to feel for the characters.
Ultimately, the show may depend on whether people are willing to read subtitles. Unfortunately, many are not and they may miss out on a good series in the end. There’s also a risk that it’ll get too unbelievably wacky in the end although that hasn’t happened yet. The story is full of mysteries just waiting to be revealed at some point.
Those revelations will also set the stage for the overall success of the show. Rose Alying-Ellis was also decent in Code of Silence which really lost its way toward the end. We can only hope that doesn’t happen here. Regardless, the first two episodes have been compelling and just strong enough to see it through to the end.
The second episode scores a 6.25 out of 10. Recaps of Reunion can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion and see what others are saying about Reunion at the forum.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.