As the second episode of Temple’s second season begins, Beth Milton (Catherine McCormack) asks Daniel (Mark Strong) about the rental agreement, and he claims they made a mistake. Beth doesn’t believe him and wants to know the truth while Daniel just wants to have a nice breakfast with Eve (Lily Newmark). Eve tells her father to stop because this isn’t a celebration. She asks if they’re going to continue lying to her about what happened. When Eve gets upset and leaves the room, Beth follows her and breakfast is effectively canceled. Daniel receives a text from Suzana (Anamaria Marinca) pushing him to get the 50,000 he promised. Next, he meets with a shrink hoping she’ll give Ed the okay for him to return to work, but she admits he may need up to 10 sessions first.

He insists he loves his job before trying to explain that his wife didn’t actually die. He receives a call from Gubby (Rhys Ifans) and has to cut the session short. DI Kam Skinner (Mandeep Dhillon) visits DI Rob Moloney (Ryan McKen) who has been demoted and tries to convince him to find a way to return to his post. She tells him about Jamie Harris (Tobi King Bakare) having an illegal surgery and suggests it might be a lead to follow. Daniel goes into the bunker where he receives a surprise from Lee Simmons (Daniel Mays) who says he is being followed. Lee grabs a handgun as they prepare to confront the intruder. Soon, Eve finds herself at gunpoint and Daniel finds himself having to explain everything to his daughter. Rob visits Jamie in hopes of finding out more about the illegal surgery. Jamie does his best to keep quiet about Lee and Daniel’s operation, but he lets it slip that they were “down there”.

Daniel explains to Eve that he has been treating people down in the bunker. Eve immediately realizes her father kept her mother down there and she refuses to believe her father’s lies. She wonders what is wrong with her father for lying during the memorial service. Eve knew Daniel was lying, but she had no idea it could be this big. He promises he was only trying to protect her although she describes it as grotesque. Daniel says he was trying to save her life before showing Eve where Beth was kept. Then, Eve learns that Beth knows nothing about being down there because Daniel didn’t want it to be scary for her when she woke up. He lies again when he says nobody else knows. Anna Willems (Carice van Houten) receives a visit from Beth who believes she has cured her own terminal illness. When Anna asks how she did it, Beth claims it was X-331 all along. Beth suggests they can begin working together again.

Rob goes to the Temple tube station and asks to look at the CCTV footage while claiming they’re looking for a few persistent fare dodgers. They find CCTV footage of Jamie leaving with a woman. Rob gets a better picture of the woman before being told he’ll need a court warrant if he wants an address. Meanwhile, Daniel tells Lee about their latest job. Lee is worried that he won’t be able to leave the bunker, so Daniel comforts him and says he’ll be there with him. Lee would like to go together but they can’t since Daniel has to get his daughter out of there first. Eve asks if the tunnels run through the whole of central London and learns that they do. Anna calls Daniel to tell him about Beth’s visit and the fact that she is going to get recognition for her treatment. Daniel quickly promises to tell her before ending the call. Rob follows Anna while Daniel tries to get Eve out of the tunnels. Eve goes to Ash Falomo to show her pictures of the bunker because she thinks they can use it as a base for a major direct action.

An anxious Lee meets with Daniel for the job. Once Lee stops chanting in his head to calm his anxiety, Daniel explains they’re going to perform a routine valve replacement operation. Tommy (Michael Akinsulire) picks up Dr. Sutton-Greville and his assistant seconds later. He takes their cellphones and makes them wear blindfolds before driving them to the site of the operation. Rob sits at the bar and listens as Anna talks to her mother on the phone. When she asks for another drink, he offers to get it for her. Daniel and Lee enter a guarded building with an operating room set up inside. They also find cameras so they’re going to be monitored every second.

Dermot (Michael Smiley) introduces himself and gives them advice for dealing with the client. When they meet the patient, Lee calls himself Glover Brown the assistant. The patient is ready to begin so Dermot shows Daniel where to scrub up. Rob talks to Anna about her bad day but she calls it awful. He calls himself Neil and says he is a taxi driver. She calls herself Yvette and alludes to the fact that she works in medicine. Anna says doctors can be shat heads and they broke up because he was working all the time. When she goes to the bathroom, Rob looks through her phone and finds Daniel’s name in her contacts. The text confirms Daniel is a surgeon. Meanwhile, Lee asks what is up with Dermot and claims he seems drunk. Then, he realizes that something is going on with Daniel who seems worried. Daniel steps outside to get some air and they notice dead fish in the water. He wonders what that is about since it was a dead bird yesterday.

When the operation begins, Daniel’s hand shakes and he struggles to make the first incision. He admits he doesn’t know what is happening, but he is forced to let Lee do it for him. Daniel thanks him and the operation continues. Once it has finished, Tommy begins experiencing pain in his stomach, but he won’t tell Lee what is going on. Lee recommends going to a doctor although Tommy says he doesn’t like doctors because they scare him. He offers to let Daniel look at him but soon learns that they’re not going to be paid. As they leave, Lee tells him the importance of getting the money before the surgery, but it is too late for that. They discuss Suzana and Lee refers to her as an unhinged blackmailer. Suzana visits Beth. At first, she pretends she has the wrong house, but she eventually asks for Daniel Milton. They go inside and begin discussing Daniel who Suzana says is her doctor. Beth reveals herself as Daniel’s wife.

When Beth says she should try to reach Daniel at the hospital, Suzana admits Daniel didn’t treat her at the hospital. Lee talks to Daniel about what it would take to become a surgeon and a surgeon’s assistant. He is now under the impression that anyone with a steady hand can do it. They approach Gubby and his son (Roman Strong) to ask why they weren’t paid. Daniel argues the only problem is the fact that they didn’t give him the money. Gubby mentions the fact that his assistant, who isn’t a qualified surgeon, had to take over. Lee says it is bollocks. When Gubby grabs the knife, his son stops him from doing anything silly. Daniel says the client was happy, but Gubby doesn’t change his mind. He says his son would like to eat now and the meeting is over. As they leave, Beth asks Suzana whether she has her kidney inside her, but Suzana doesn’t have the answer.

Suzana says she didn’t know anything about the kidney. Beth tries to pay her by giving away her ring. Suzana stops her and tells her about her arrangement with Daniel and the 50,000 pounds. When Beth asks where the operation took place, Suzana says she doesn’t know although she believes it was underground. Lee and Daniel realize Dermot was spying on them. Lee complains that they’re screwed and Daniel agrees, but Lee doesn’t like hearing that. Daniel doesn’t understand that and admits he is tired of being the one who has to come up with plans to get them out of their messes. He says he didn’t shoot anyone before quickly apologizing. Daniel says he doesn’t know where to go from here so Lee encourages him to go home since that is what he saved Beth for. Daniel returns home and finds out that his wife and daughter want to order takeout.

They say nothing about the recent revelations and Daniel stays quiet as well. Eve invites Beth into the living room to watch television together before food. When they’re alone, Eve tells her dad that he is going to have to tell her at some point. He insists he will. Rob goes to the address he got for the woman in the CCTV footage.

 

Temple Review

Many aspects of Temple’s story are simply unrealistic, but the show is still a good guilty pleasure thanks to the interesting character relationships and dark humor. The episodes are easily digestible without any complexities or too much being juggled at once. The driving factor is likely the push and tug relationship between Daniel Milton and Lee Simmons. It helps that Mark Strong and Daniel Mays are great for their respective roles.

The second season has upped the insanity with the humorous addition of Gubby and his son. The relationship has been fun so far and we’ve only seen the two for a few minutes. I’d like to see the story move along a bit more in each episode, but Temple remains watchable even in its second season. At the very least, it is refreshing to watch a simple comedy/drama that doesn’t take itself too seriously yet doesn’t bend reality absurdly either.

The second episode of season two deserves a 7 out of 10. All recaps of Temple will be available on Reel Mockery here.