Shetland Series 8 Episode 6 Recap

As the finale of Shetland begins, Ellen Quinn (Maisie Norma Seaton) is shown walking down a dark road. Azir Sadat (Bamshad Abedi-Amin) pulls up and asks her to get in. Ellen says she needs that money. Azir admits they don’t have it because they’ve given everything to Heather. Ellen says he either helps her or she is going to tell the police everything. Azir thinks he might be able to get her something tomorrow morning. He offers to take her somewhere safe for the night. Azir drops her off at home. After the intro, Kieran Quinn (Barry O’Connor) watches squad cars pull up. Stella Quinn (Dawn Steele) is given a warrant so they can search the farm and the vehicles.

DS Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell) says they have reason to believe Ellen was there on the night of her death. Once Kieran comes over, Stella tells him that Ellen came home. DI Ruth Calder (Ashley Jensen) approaches Bobby Bain (Russ Bain) to tell him about the warrant. Tosh reveals they’re arresting him in connection to the murder of Ellen Quinn. Grace Bain (Phyllis Logan) doesn’t care about the warrant. She tells Stella she wants them off the property anyway. Bobby tells her he is fine before he is placed in a police car. He is taken to the station where a mouth stab is collected. During an interview, Bobby insists he didn’t see Stella on the night of her death. He claims he went back home and slept in the workshop.

He is asked about the money Neil said he had. Tosh begins asking him about his trip to London and the debit card payments between the 16^th and 18^th. Bobby explains he was in London to conduct meetings with loan companies. He admits to checking in with Ellen while he was there. Bobby didn’t tell Stella and Kieran that he was going to check on their daughter because it was a spur of the moment thing. He confesses he visited Ellen to try to persuade her to come home. He didn’t tell them because he wasn’t sure Ellen would agree and she didn’t. Tosh shows him a photo taken by the neighbor and asks about the fight that led to a police visit. She admits they believe Ellen left Shetland because of him.

Bobby gets upset so they give him a chance to calm down. Meanwhile, DC Sandy Wilson (Steven Robertson) and others continue searching the Bain property. Inside, Grace complains and blames Ruth. Sandy gets a call before telling them he is on his way. Ruth Calder, Tosh, and Harry Lamont (Tibu Fortes) talk about Bobby’s statements. Calder suggests an abusive uncle would be a good reason for Ellen to run away to London. Harry agrees to let them hold Bobby for a couple of hours. Tosh says they should keep him until they finish searching the farm. Sgt. Billy McCabe (Lewis Howden) is asked to go through Ellen’s phone again and look for communications between her and Bobby.

Tosh tells Calder she is waiting for the crash investigation before asking Bobby about Cal. After a call from Sandy, Calder and Tosh learn that they’ve found a red coat that likely belonged to Ellen. They try to get information from Rory who admits to seeing Ellen recently. She knocks on his window in a flashback and asks him to meet her at the lamb pen. He tells her that the police are looking for her and some men were there today. One of them had a gun. Rory notices that she has blood on her leg. Ellen makes him promise he won’t tell anyone she is there. Then, she asks him to go into the house and get the box with the bandages. Once he comes back outside, he finds Ellen’s coat on the ground but she is missing.

In the present, Rory says he didn’t see her after that. When he went back to the barn, he noticed that the light was on. Calder and Tosh confront Grace since Rory said her light was on. Grace claims he got it wrong. She reminds Calder that she watched her growing up before saying she was a vandal. Grace mentions that her father jumped into bed with Jean Ferguson when her mother was in the hospital. Eventually, she gets upset and admits to seeing her. Grace says she came and left, but she doesn’t know where she went. Grace says she was there too long. Tosh and Calder want to know why. Grace doesn’t want to tell them what happened. Stella learns that they’re taking Grace to the station. At the station, Calder tells Tosh that Grace will take it to her grave.

Grace would do anything to stop something like this from coming out. Calder doesn’t think Grace killed Ellen on her own. Tosh reminds her that they don’t have proof. Calder leaves so she can speak to Allan. Billy gives Tosh the calls and texts between Bobby and Ellen in the last year. There is something she should see. Calder visits Alan Calder (Steven Miller) who is with Jean Ferguson (Jennifer Black). Calder wants to speak to Alan in private. Billy tells Tosh there wasn’t any communication between Ellen and Bobby. The last communication was on the 17^th of September of last year. All it said was “I’ll see you later”. Tosh says that was around the time Akmal Sadat died but before Ellen got the tattoo.

Tosh checks a calendar and asks Billy to take Bobby to an interview room. Calder tells Alan what they’ve learned. He can’t believe the abuse was possible though. Their dad cut them off around the time he got close to Stella and when Stella and Kieran got married. Tosh tells Bobby what they know about Ellen’s visit. Bobby can’t think of a reason why Ellen and Grace would’ve argued. Tosh shows Ellen’s calendar with the 17^th of September marked. Bobby says that’s the day his dad died. She likely marked it because they have a family event on that day. Tosh says Ellen put a block on his calls that night. They also know Bobby tried to contact her in the weeks after. Bobby begins sobbing and asking her to stop. Alan checks the records and finds that Stella and Kieran were married on January 10, 1999.

Stella was four months pregnant. When Calder asks Jean if her dad had an affair with Stella, Jean says she is as sure as she can be. Jean confronted them and he said he was consoling her. Tosh calls to tell Calder that whatever happened took place on September 17. Calder says she is coming. At the station, Tosh and the others discuss the 17^th and whatever happened on that date. Calder reminds them it is still just conjecture. They question Grace about the 17^th of September. Grace says Ellen was always upset and she always wanted the spotlight. She suspects every family has someone who causes trouble. Grace says her husband died in 1998. Stella and Kieran got married a few months later. They try to get Grace to say why she turned Ellen away that night.

Grace denies throwing her out. Ellen left although Grace doesn’t know where she went. She goes on to say Bobby couldn’t harm Ellen. Calder asks to speak to Tosh in private. In the hallway, they talk about what could’ve made Ellen run to London if it wasn’t abuse. They remember that Bobby said, “That girl was my family.” Calder says they need to call Cora. Tosh tells Stella that their pathologist performed a DNA comparison this afternoon. They know Kieran isn’t Ellen’s dad. Calder asks Bobby how this happened.

Stella claims Grace was locked in her room while she was left to arrange their father’s funeral. She says Bobby took control when he got home. Bobby tells Calder that he and Stella got drunk on their father’s malt. Stella explains how their father’s death impacted Bobby. He demands it documented that it was not Stella’s fault. She denies being a victim. Bobby wants Calder to say he forced himself on Stella. Denying it was planned, Stella claims it was just once. She says there was always a possibility that Kieran was the father. Bobby questions why he told Ellen who was all he had. Stella is relieved that Ellen never found out. Tosh says Ellen heard it from Bobby.

Grace demands the police keep Bobby and Stella confidential. Calder assures her that it would not be possible. As Calder is leaving, an irate Grace calls her a “bloody vandal”. During a phone call, Calder tells Tosh that she does not believe Bobby would harm Ellen. Tosh questions who killed Ellen.

Rory Quinn (Jakub Bednarczyk) blames himself for Grace being in jail. Kieran assures him that he is not at fault. Rory claims Kieran’s vehicle was not in the yard on the night Ellen was killed.

Stella denies Kieran knew Bobby was Ellen’s father. Tosh asks if Kieran was home on the night Ellen was killed. Stella says he was there when she and Bobby returned. Tosh reminds her of Kieran sleeping in Ellen’s room. Stella assures her that she would have known if he left. Tosh says Rory slipped out without her being aware of it.

Tosh is waiting when Kieran and Rory return home. Kieran warns Rory that something bad is going to happen before apologizing to him. Tosh urges Rory to get out of the vehicle. Kieran confesses to loving Rory before pushing him out of the vehicle. He races down the driveway, nearly colliding with Calder. A pursuit ensues and ends in Eela where Ellen’s body was found. In a flashback, Kieran is on his way home when he spots Ellen in the middle of the road. She tries to walk away but he catches up with her. He urges her to come home but she refuses. Back to the present, Kieran explains how he worked with Ellen to improve her handwriting. He blamed his dyslexia until they realized Ellen had dysgraphia. Calder asks what happened after she told him about the men. In a flashback, Ellen refuses to go to the police station. He tells him that he is not her father. Back to the present, Calder assures Kieran that Ellen was his daughter. He says blood is everything to the Bain family.

In a flashback, Ellen says Stella played him for an idiot and the entire Bain family laughed at him. She reminds him of how Bobby bossed him around. Demanding he look at her, she refers to herself as “pure Bain”. He grabs her by the neck. Back to the present, Kieran claims to have tried to help Ellen. He breaks down sobbing. Handcuffed, Kieran is placed into the police cruiser.

The Dowry – Tosh tells Calder that Stella moved to the mainland with Rory. She says the Crash Investigation report reveals Cal was driving under the influence of drugs when he crashed. Calder is going to stay in Shetland for a while.

Tom Knox arrives home to find a bag of cash. Bobby watches from a short distance away.

Calder apologizes to Alan for not being there for him. Alan informs her of his decision to let Amma move back in. Later, she tells James that Cal may have been at the Bain farm that night because of her. Handing her a tape, he says Cal would have wanted her to have it. At the beach, she runs into the water fully dressed as the episode ends.

 

Shetland Review

A very weak and dull finale. Kieran’s account of what led up to him strangling Ellen to death is far from revolutionary. The constant back and forth between Bobby and Stella’s police interrogation is ridiculous. What Stella and Bobby had to say could have easily been summed up in one scene.

The Bain farm is on the verge of foreclosure but Bobby gives Tom the money that Ellen stole from Philip Remis. Tracing the stolen money back to its London roots may have revealed a story much bigger than that of the Bain family.

It’s questionable why it was necessary to arrest Grace. What kind of charges could the police bring against Grace and Bobby? I can’t recall them committing any crimes. The police knew nothing about Cal and Neil’s drug operation. Bobby proposed a drug deal to Cal but he turned it down. As far as I can tell, Grace and Bobby weren’t corrupt.

The details of the symbol spray-painted on Agnes’ sheep and Ellen’s tattoo were vague at best. While it seems Peter was responsible, viewers are still left wondering why.

Early in the season, Farida reveals she is terrified of Heather. She tried to convince Azir to leave Shetland to escape Heather’s wrath. No mention of it in the finale.

Red herring after herring equals a nothing-burger.

The episode deserves a 4.5. Get more Shetland recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our onsite advertising builds brand awareness, click here to reach our customer staff. Join our newly established forum to discuss the newest movie and TV show releases.