Land Of Password, Wink And Nod – The episode opens with Dolours Price (Lola Petticrew) and Marian Price (Hazel Doupe) walking to Allied Irish Bank in nun habits. Upon arrival, they are directed to a trainee, Ginny (Maria Lard). Dolours hands her a bank slip with a written message that reads, “We’re IRA. This is a robbery. Keep Smiling.” After reading the note, the bank manager (Demelza O’Sullivan) contradicts Dolours, saying the IRA is an all-male organization. Dolours draws her pistol, demands she fills the bag, and announces they are liberating money for the IRA. Marian removes a gun from her habit and orders everyone on the ground. An old Catholic woman (Nicola Sloane) refuses to obey. Marian pleads with her to get on the ground but she doesn’t budge. Dolours says make an example of her. Marian says the woman is Catholic. A random woman on the floor claims to be Catholic as well. Dolours orders Marian to shoot the old woman in the foot. A man argues why the old woman is permitted to stand. Marian fires a round into the ceiling. Dolours assures Ginny that it is for her and her family when she spots a drawer full of cash. Ginny warns her that it is marked. An elated Marian and Dolours flee on foot.

At Palace Barracks, Brigadier Frank Kitson (Rory Kinnear) urges Penelope Kitson (Audrey Kattan) to keep her chin up. A Lieutenant (Henry Garrett) tells her that Kitson will help them win the war. She politely argues that it is an insurgency which doesn’t give the terrorists legitimacy. Looking at a map, a Lieutenant (Sam Alexander) explains how the Protestants are in friendly territory to the east while the Catholics are in the “wild west.” IRA insurgents have already killed 40 military officials and an undisclosed number of civilians. IRA insurgents cover the investigation. The British military confiscated Gerry Adams’ (Josh Finan) dog, Shane. In the present, older Dolours Price (Maxine Peake) tells Mackers (Seamus O’Hara) of the Belfast Project that it really did happen. Older Brendan “Dark” Hughes (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) and Dolours describe British intelligence during the insurgency “sh**e.” In a flashback, younger Gerry and Dark are hiding while the British Army searches a house. A soldier pushes a cloth down for Shane to sniff. A soldier catches them trying to flee. Dark fires several shots in his direction and soon after gives the gun to Geraldine. Back in the present, older Dark boasts of how they controlled the West Belfast residents.

At Palace Barracks, a lieutenant tells Kitson that they have not been able to identify Gerry. Shane happily greets a soldier when he enters the room. Kitson sarcastically congratulates them. Younger Dark’s partner, Jimmy Dooley (Ryan McParland) has been detained by the British Army. He is beaten but refuses to talk. IRA insurgents never talked. After placing a Royal Free Hospital volunteer name tag in her bag, Marian reminds Dolours that Dark never authorized the bank robbery. Dolours says he should be glad they did it. Francis (Art Parkinson) knocks on the door and tells them to go to the mortuary. Upon arrival, they find Gerry and Dark waiting. Dolours places 38 quid from the bank robbery on a table. Gerry approves of the nun scheme but not Dark. She offers to help Jimmy escape. Dark warns that they would be killed. Marian says Jimmy suffered a ruptured appendix during the beating. Marian tells them that Marian is a hospital volunteer. Later Royal Free Hospital, a masked Dark bursts into Jimmy’s room and orders the security guard (Jim Conway) to give him the keys. When the guard denies having them, Dark pistol whips him. Wearing a disguise, Dolours checks the guard’s pockets but doesn’t find the keys. A nurse (Roisin Browne) gives him the keys. Dolours apologizes to the guard. As they push the gurney toward the exit, Jimmy asks if they could have waited until after the surgery. Seeing two police officers (Callum Ca, they bring the gurney to a halt in the hallway. Dolours draws her gun. The officers draw their guns and order her to put the gun down. Marian fires several rounds in their direction. They race to the van and shove Jimmy on the gurney into the back. The officers shoot at the van as it speeds away.

The van comes to a halt outside the Divis multi-story building. Dark delivers a bag filled with guns to a woman. Back in the present, Mackers asks older Dark if he knows anything about Jean McConville’s (Judith Roddy) abduction. In a flashback, Jean and Helen McConville (Emily Healy) are going into their flat when a woman approaches and asks her to hide Dark’s bag. Jean refuses. Helen says they are already involved. Back in the present, Mackers asks why Jean was abducted. Older Dark says it has to do with loyalty. Marty (Frank Laverty) is an NRA spy working inside Palace Barracks. He warns Dark and Gerry that Kitson has interrogators asking around about the D Company. Dark assures him that none of his men are an informant. Gerry says if the IRA can have spies, Kitson can have spies as well. Marty tells them that Kitson worked the Kenyan revolution in the 50s. Gerry says there is no evidence of what happened in Kenya because all the records were destroyed. He voices concern about their resources being minimal compared to Kitson’s. At Palace Barracks, an electrician (Colin Connor) is working on a light in Kitson’s office when Private Sarah Jane (Amy Molloy) drops Jimmy’s interrogation transcripts. She insists there is no chance of getting entail out of Jimmy. Kitson asks her opinion of the matter. Seeing the electrician has a missing finger, she suggests he could be a bomb maker for the IRA. She says electrical work is the only decent job Catholics can get, and they reward their employers by joining the insurgency. Kitson orders the electrician taken to B Ward. The electrician calls her a foul name under his breath. Kitson invites Sarah Jane to join his mission to take down the D Company.

Older Dolours Price (Maxine Peake) claims to have stopped sleeping after the hospital incident. She says her next decision was the best she had ever made. She claims the IRA insurgents were never seen together in public unless there was a funeral. Back in the past, Sarah Jane and two Lieutenants stake out a wake. They discuss a facial composite of Dolours. One of the lieutenants finds her pretty. Francis watches Dolours from across the room. In the restroom, Sarah Jane compliments Dolours’ hairstyle. Dolours asks what her connection to Aoife is. Sarah Jane claims to have attended the last march with her cousin, Siobhan. Marian and Dolours did not see Siobhan at the march. Back in the present, older Dolours recalls Seamus Wright (Frank Blake), Dark, and Intelligence Officer Joe Lynskey (Adam Best) attending the wake. In the past, Dolours asks Dark if he realizes she hesitated to shoot the cops at the hospital. He recalls being unable to shoot a soldier because he resembled his brother. In the present, Dark tells Mackers that Dolours could have been anything she wanted. He says she was a flirt. When Mackers confronts Dolours about Dark’s claim, she denies it. Back at the wake, Sarah Jane overhears Seamus telling Collette Adams (Megan Cusack) that he needs to drive Dark somewhere. Outside, a Lieutenant approaches Seamus from behind and drapes a sack over his head. Collette yells out for him but he is gone.

Chrissie Price (Kerry Quinn) stares at a facial composite of Dolours from the newspaper. At Palace Barracks, Kitson watches the lieutenants interrogating Seamus who refuses to talk. A Lieutenant says Seamus and his wife have a child. Kitson removes his lapel pins before entering the room where Seamus is being held. Taking a seat beside him on the floor, he asks about Dark. Jimmy and Dark are sitting outside when an ice cream van passes. Dark tells a young boy to bring him a gun. Several men emerge from the van and start shooting. Jimmy and Dark take off running. Dark jumps through a closed window into a man’s flat, retrieves a gun, and flees for safety behind a vehicle. A man yells out his name. An injured Dark open fires on the officers before they flee in a van. He notifies Gerry of the ambush. Later, Gerry and Doctor Jack (Graeme Coughlan) arrive to find Dark still alive and suffering from a severed radial artery. Dark says the assailants were Protestants with the British Army and they knew his name. He insists someone talked. Gerry muffles Dark’s screams as Doctor Jack stops the bleeding. The episode ends.

 

Say Nothing Review

The story progresses rather quickly, leaving much of what happened to the viewer’s imagination. Most viewers can resonate with the characters’ struggles and losses. The movie captures the intensity and drama of the Irish War of Independence.

The director did a terrific job making Maxine Peake and Lola Petticrew look like Dolours Price. Both actresses are excellent in their roles. It is becoming rarer to see character portrayals even close to being as accurate.

The bloated cast makes it nearly impossible to keep up with all the characters. The cinematography and lighting are amateurish at best. The episode deserves a 6.2 out of 10.

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