As the first episode of Temple’s second series begins, Daniel Milton (Mark Strong) is transported to a farm. Daniel is taken inside, placed in a chair, and his mask is removed. He is shocked to find himself staring down a horse. Gubby (Rhys Ifans) enters and tells Daniel he is glad he could make it. He wants Daniel’s help as a friend, but Daniel complains he said he was professional and this is not professional. Daniel is told where to get scrubbed up before Paul (Sam Weston) is wheeled in on a gurney. Dermot (Michael Smiley) joins them and immediately tells Daniel that Paul has been having severe chest pains. Daniel learns Paul has been shot and Dermot has likely been drinking despite the fact he is going to assist him with the surgery. Daniel removes Paul’s shirt and finds at least four bullet holes. He complains that Dermot hasn’t tried to stop the bleeding.

Daniel quickly scrubs his hands while Paul reveals he doesn’t want to die. Dermot offers Paul a drink from his flask although Daniel says he needs morphine. After the intro, Eve (Lily Newmark), Ash (Ruhtxjiaih Bellenea), and Lee (Daniel Mays) show up wearing gas masks and talk to Greg (John Cummins) about their rats. Eve says they’ve been sent by CTIP to get rid of the rats. Since Jeremy (Steffan Rhodri) wants Eve to meet him in 15 minutes, Ash and Lee have to go ahead without her. Lee puts on his glasses and prepares to go while Daniel desperately works to save Paul. Despite Daniel’s attempts to save him, Paul passes away. Gubby says it was a valiant effort, but it looks like Paul’s time was up. Then, he tells Daniel to go ahead and take Paul’s kidneys and liver. Daniel wonders whether Gubby was just going to strip Paul for parts although Gubby denies it and says he would’ve been happy if Paul survived.

He tells Daniel they have another patient waiting for a liver transplant. As Tommy (Michael Akinsulire) is wheeled in, he calls Daniel his personal physician. Gubby reminds Daniel that he left Tommy the note as Dermot heads to the bathroom. Daniel speaks to Gubby in private about the complexity of the transplant. However, Gubby insists the liver is a complete match for Tommy and all the relevant tests were performed after Paul was shot multiple times. While Daniel doesn’t want to be a part of this, Gubby tells him he’ll carry out the surgery because he doesn’t want another body on his conscience. Since Dermot is going to assist Daniel, they have to go find him. He has been drinking in the stable so they wake him up. Seconds later, Daniel and Ash approach the security guard in hopes of convincing him to leave for a bit. They tell Martin (Tom Moutchi) that they’re exterminators and there to kill the rats behind the cupboard.

They warn him that the chemicals will cause impotency and other issues to make him leave. Meanwhile, Daniel extracts the liver from Paul while Tommy arrives and demands to have the gas mask. Dermot isn’t sure what type of gas they have so Daniel agrees to source it from somewhere. Daniel puts the liver away. Next, Eve sits down with Jeremy who explains they’ve received an inquiry from the police. He has arranged for Eve to show them around the tunnels. Eve is told to meet DI Rob Moloney (Ryan McKen) at the Kingsway entrance to show him the tunnels under Temple station. Lee and Ash look at the keys and try to figure out which key they’re looking for. Tommy tells Daniel he isn’t afraid of pain although he doesn’t like needles. Since they’re in a horse hospital, Daniel gives him a horse mask so he can administer the gas.

As Tommy puts on the mask, Daniel injects him from behind. He tells Tommy to begin counting backward from 100 and he soon goes to sleep. Down in the bunker, Anna Willems (Carice van Houten) checks on her patients. Since they can’t figure out which keys to take, Ash recommends taking all of them. Lee suggests otherwise since they’d just change all the locks. He isn’t sure he can figure it out until the control panel’s red light comes on. He realizes that the TL stands for transit layer as Ash encourages him to push the red button. Lee pushes the button and it stops the alarm. He says it is a map reference for transit layer T9. He believes it is related to where the electrical transmission units are located.

However, he isn’t sure whether it would be key 2, 3, or 4. Daniel takes everything valuable from Paul before Dermot says they need to get rid of the rest of him. Although Daniel says he isn’t a janitor, Dermot tells him he is harvesting body parts in a horse hospital and should get over himself. They haul the body outside to the incinerator. Martin returns as Ash and Lee try to figure out which keys to take. Since Martin doesn’t want to leave, Lee sets off some of his smoke bomb, and that gives him a few more minutes. Dermot tells Daniel they’re responsible for making sure the patient receives treatment as dignified as any human being might expect. Daniel agrees to say a few words to show his respect, but he wants Dermot to deal with the incineration. Once Daniel finishes the speech, Dermot says they’ll have to stick him in arse first.

They finish with Paul’s body and head back inside. Eve meets with Rob and they soon head into the tunnels. Before doing so, Rob checks her badge and finds it odd that her last name is Milton. As they walk through the tunnels, Rob confirms he is investigating a crime. He stops and asks to look behind one of the doors. Before Daniel begins the surgery, Dermot says he wants to run back to the bathroom. Daniel refuses to let him go and wants to get the surgery over with as quickly as possible. Gubby tells Daniel he should be worried about his family with Eve dropping out of university and Beth dying. Anna checks the results of the blood tests as Rebecca (Emily Bevan) enters and joins her. Although Rebecca is mad that Anna drugged her, she is happy to learn that the tests came back clean. The alarm goes off as Dennis and Robert experience complications.

Daniel begins the tricky part of the operation while Anna runs back to Dennis (John Mackay) and Robert (Jay Simpson). Rebecca interrupts her as Anna desperately tries to find out what to do. She collapses to the ground so Anna calls Lee for assistance. Ash and Lee escape without getting into trouble. The celebrations end when he gets a call from Lee confirming something is wrong. Rob talks to Eve about being local before she asks him about the graffiti on the ceiling. Rob believes he has seen everything he needs to see as Daniel finishes the transplant. He tells them he is going to leave the post-operative care in their hands because he is going home. Gubby tells him he’ll see him again, but Daniel says he won’t see him later since they’re done here. Once Daniel leaves, Gubby turns around and smirks at Dermot knowing Daniel will likely be back.

Daniel is transported away from the hospital before the mask is removed. He returns home for a drink before Beth (Catherine McCormack) approaches him to say the treatment doesn’t work. She wants the research he and Anna has. Daniel says it isn’t about the research although Beth refuses to let someone take her life’s work away from her. Daniel asks her if she has an atom of gratitude because he dismantled his life to save hers. She accuses him of doing it to service his ego as Lee shows up. Lee apologizes for bothering him at home before confirming it is about Anna. He tries to drive Daniel to the bunker, but traffic work delays their arrival. Since Lee can’t do anything to get them there any faster, he encourages Daniel to get out and walk. They argue a bit more before Daniel gets out and walks to the bunker. Jamie Harris (Tobi King Bakare) calls Lee to tell him he messed up by telling the detectives Daniel was a surgeon.

Lee isn’t worried about it because he doesn’t think anyone will find the bunker. Rob calls Kam and asks her to check to see if Daniel’s daughter is named Eve because he thinks he is going to get his badge back. Daniel makes it to the bunker and finds out what is going on. He learns about the sedative and the symptoms before arguing that they’re all in anaphylactic shock. While they rush to save them, Rob breaks into the bunker. The patients are given injections to save their lives as Rob approaches Daniel and Anna. Rob apologizes for this and says he really enjoyed the date with Anna. Rob admits they only went on one date, but Daniel insists he doesn’t care. Daniel tries to get Rob to let her go although he is going to handcuff them together. As they sit on the ground, Anna grabs a pair of scissors and sticks them up to Rob’s throat. She tells him about the cure for Lancaster’s she found before Rob is locked in one of the rooms alone. He tries to break out but can’t. He also can’t get a signal on his phone. Daniel and Anna try to figure out what to do with Rob.

Rob searches the room and finds Lee’s helmet and a gun. Daniel tells Anna they should sedate Rob and drive him out to the countryside before returning and cleaning everything from the bunker. They’ll burn what they cannot take. Rob tries to use the gun to break free of the room, but it doesn’t work. Daniel approaches and tells him it is bombproof so he won’t be able to escape. Rob shoots the door again. Blood begins leaking out from under the door. Daniel opens the door and finds that Rob shot himself.

 

Temple Review

The 5th episode was definitely the best episode of Temple’s second season. It had a lot of twists and turns as Daniel tried to save Paul’s life. When that didn’t happen, he used Paul’s liver to help Tommy. Although he believes his business with Gubby is over, that likely isn’t the case because Gubby isn’t going to let Daniel get away from him that easily.

The best aspect of season two has been the dynamic, push-and-tug relationship between Daniel and Gubby. Temple isn’t the most realistic show, but it has enough intrigue and twists to keep the series interesting from start to finish. It is a good guilty pleasure to enjoy when nothing else is on. The 5th episode was eventful, funny, and did well pushing the story forward so it scores a 7.5 out of 10.

All Temple recaps can be found on Reel Mockery here.