As the third episode of Temple’s second season begins, Daniel Milton (Mark Strong) comes down the stairs and approaches Suzana (Anamaria Marinca) who is sleeping nearby. He grabs the pillow and strangles her with it until she stops moving. Seconds later, Daniel wakes up on the couch realizing it was all a nightmare. After the intro, Beth Milton (Catherine McCormack) checks the mail before asking Daniel whether he remortgaged their house. He can’t answer her question because he gets a call from Gubby (Rhys Ifans) who wants to meet at 120 Chamberlain Road in Belgravia. Despite saying he can’t just drop everything, Daniel tells Beth he has to go to work and prepares to leave. Before he can go, Lee Simmons (Daniel Mays) arrives at the door and pretends to be the building.

They make up a story about Daniel wanting to knock through a wall to build a roof terrace for his wife, but Beth only wants him to get rid of Lee. When Beth steps away, Lee tells Daniel it is weird seeing her do stuff like a normal person although Daniel reminds him that she is a normal person. Then, they discuss Suzana and what to do with her. Daniel reassures him that they’re not going to kill her though. They step outside to check Lee’s diary and Beth watches them drive away moments later. DI Rob Moloney (Ryan McKen) tries to follow them, but his vehicle is blocked in by two others. He gets a call from his boss reminding him he needs to be at work, so he pretends his boiler blew up and he’ll be there in an hour.

Next, Daniel and Lee prepare to meet with Gubby. Lee asks if Daniel wants him to come with him, but Daniel turns down the offer this time. Before Daniel goes, he gets a call from Anna Willems (Carice van Houten) asking him to meet her later. Once Daniel approaches Gubby, he isn’t forthcoming with information and won’t say whether the client is okay. He reminds Daniel that they’re going to be following different rules once they step inside the embassy. Rob makes it to work and finds a bunch of paperwork for him to file. Lee goes back into the bunker. He is surprised to find Eve (Lily Newmark) waiting for him there. Eve explains she is there to see Lee while Daniel watches a documentary about a polar bear falling through thin ice. The polar bear slips closer to death as Gubby and Daniel are told to come with the man.

They’re taken to a room where three men lay down a white tarp. Tommy (Michael Akinsulire) arrives and they learn he has an old injury that needs to be taken care of. He explains he has a bullet lodged between his lower-right ribs and he won’t be using an anesthetic. Although Daniel is hesitant to help, Tommy says he has a strong pain threshold. When Daniel explains his case to Gubby, he is told fear is the enemy of growth. Eve talks to Lee about his job and the amazing things he is doing down there. They also discuss Eve’s environmental activism, so she invites Lee to come join them, but he isn’t sure about that. She explains she is going to speak to Jeremy (Steffan Rhodri) in hopes of getting Lee’s old job, and she thought he could help her get it. She believes she can protect Lee and the others once she gets the job.

Beth rushes to the hospital in hopes of finding her husband. Daniel begins the operation as Tommy screams in agony. Beth visits Ed (Will Keen) to ask about her husband only to find out that he has been suspended. As Daniel continues working on Tommy, he faints. Gubby agrees to hold the utensils to help. As Gubby is left holding the utensils, Daniel tells him he’ll let him bleed out unless he sends him the money he promised. Daniel doesn’t continue until Gubby transfers the 50,000 pounds to his account. Then, Daniel removes the bullet only to find that the bullet wasn’t the problem after all. Daniel tells Gubby they’ll take a biopsy because Tommy’s liver is messed up, but Gubby refuses and tells him to close up the wound. Since Beth can’t get in touch with Daniel, she decides to track her daughter’s phone. Eve sits with Jeremy and uses the information Lee gave her to impress him.

Once the interview ends, she goes to Ash Falomo to tell her she got the job and will be starting immediately. When Ash asks what they’re going to do, Eve says they’re going to shut the tube down. Beth runs into her daughter and Ash who steps away. She tells her daughter about Daniel being suspended and the fact she can’t believe a word he says anymore. She goes on to say she keeps seeing things about waking up somewhere besides the apartment. She thinks it was somewhere dark and underground. Eve asks if she can show her something. Daniel tells Gubby he should’ve told Tommy about his liver, but Gubby suggests otherwise. Daniel suspects they won’t be meeting again. However, Gubby says otherwise because Daniel impressed him by being willing to let Tommy bleed out to get what he wanted.

Once Gubby is gone, Daniel goes back inside and tells one of the men to give a note to Tommy and tell him to see a specialist about his liver. DI Kam Skinner (Mandeep Dhillon) visits Rob and learns what he has been working on. He says he met Jamie and he led him to Anna who liked him. He tells her about Anna’s friend Daniel and his wife Beth who is dead but isn’t. He contemplates taking this upstairs although Kam believes they should keep it in the family. Daniel makes it to Anna with the big bag of cash for Suzana. Anna explains she’d like to start working on the Lancaster treatments again. Since she can’t use Beth, she has found a new Beth and she is on her way. He is surprised to learn that Lee has agreed to give her permission to use the bunker. Eve takes Beth into the bunker and shows her around.

Rebecca (Emily Bevan) meets with Daniel and Anna although she doesn’t believe their original story. Daniel tells Anna it is okay and she should tell the truth. He explains Anna was diagnosed with Lancaster’s eight months ago and kept it a secret while she worked on a cure at Faxhall. She collapsed and it was no longer a secret. Anna says she is testing weekly and there have been no symptoms. She asks them about their clinic. As they head back into the bunker, they discuss whether Rebecca is going to cooperate with them or not. They’re surprised when they run into Eve and Beth. Eve asks what Anna is doing there since her father pretended that he told her everything. Anna insists she knew nothing about the kidney while Eve presses her father for answers.

Beth makes everyone leave except for Daniel so she can tell him that their marriage is done. She admits she remembers being there and wonders whether he stole the other people’s organs too. She says she doesn’t want their lives back and their relationship is over. Although Daniel isn’t sure about that, Beth says it was over a long time before she collapsed. Nothing Daniel says will change her mind. On her way out, Beth runs into Lee and says nothing. Then, Daniel and Lee decide to visit Suzana. They can’t get in because Suzana won’t buzz them in. Instead, they sneak in when a woman takes her dog for a walk. They look through the window and see Suzana on the ground. With Lee’s help, Daniel breaks the window with a brick. Once inside, they check on Suzana who is already gone. Daniel is distraught and deletes himself from her contracts.

Someone arrives and tries to get in so they grab the bag and run out the back. Max (Julian Kostov) sees them run from the apartment complex and screams at them as they get away.

 

Temple Review

The third episode of Temple’s second season was likely the best so far because Daniel tried to play both sides. While he attempted to show Gubby that he didn’t care about Tommy’s life, he proved otherwise by telling him about his liver. Nevertheless, it worked and he got the money he needed to pay Suzana and keep her quiet.

Suzana was likely dead by the time they got there though so Daniel and Lee have a big bag of cash and one less or one bigger problem to worry about. Beth is quickly learning about Daniel’s lies and it is destroying the world he perfectly crafted for himself. The episode was exhilarating in the beginning with Tommy’s operation and the polar bear documentary. It scores an 8 out of 10. Recaps of Temple can be found on Reel Mockery here.