As the episode begins, DS Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie) gets dressed up. She leaves the house after saying goodbye to the family. Then, she joins the girls outside. Fishermen go to work down at the pier. Dylan Meredith tries to speak with his sister Holly. She rushes away from him. Lisa hangs out with friends and sings karaoke. Sean Meredith (Jonas Armstrong) watches them from a distance. Sean enjoys their performance. Then, he speaks with Lisa afterwards. They end up having sex together in the alleyway. The following day, Lisa wakes up late. She rushes to work. When she finally makes it, she learns that Holly and Dylan have gone missing.

Lisa is told to take Med with her. Her boss wants her to show Med the ropes. She isn’t happy about it. Lisa tells her new partner to keep the chats to a minimum. Then, she tells him that they’re the link between the family and the investigation. They prepare to meet with the family of Dylan and Holly. After being ridiculed by her mother, they sit down with Jess (Chanel Cresswell). Lisa introduces herself and Kharim (Taheen Modak). Lisa explains they’re going to be the family liaison officers. They speak with Jess in private. Jess doesn’t want their support. She just wants them to find the kids. Med is asked to make them a cup of tea. Jess is fine with that. Jess receives Lisa’s card. She is told to call her for pretty much anything.

Lisa wants to know more about the missing kids. Lisa is surprised to see that Sean is Jess’s husband. Med finishes drinks while Lisa gets pictures of the kids. Sean and Jess do not believe the kids would run away. Sean explains that they’re happy and want for nothing. Jess tries to learn more about their boyfriends or girlfriends. Then, they decide to check their rooms. Lisa learns that the twins have always been very close. Dylan left his phone. Holly isn’t answered hers. Sean isn’t happy. He wants investigators out there looking for the kids. Med calls for Lisa. He has found a towel or sheet with blood on it. Kelly says the blood is her. The grandmother doesn’t believe it is necessary. Lisa does. The rest of the property is searched as well.

Outside, Lisa tells Med it is always like that. Lisa and Med report back to their boss. He promises to get the word out about the kids as soon as possible. Lisa doesn’t want to work with Med. She tells her boss, but he isn’t willing to relent. She tries to convince Med to stay behind and write a report. She leaves without him. In the car, she thinks about her sexual encounter with Sean. A teacher at Morecambe speaks about Dylan and Holly. They didn’t go to the school, but were still a part of the community. Some of the kids knew them. They’re encouraged to help Inspector Manning. Tony Manning (Daniel Ryan) speaks to the students. He tells them about the last sighting.

Meanwhile, a girl, Abbie (Imogen King), texts Sam about it. Sam (Louis Greatorex) receives the message. Nick and Sean’s other coworkers try to help. Nick (Matthew McNulty) is told to go with Ryan and Krzysztof (Jordan Mifsud). Lisa watches them. She speaks with Sean alone and asks him why he lied to her. Sean admits he made a mistake. It isn’t who he is. Sean admits he and Jess have had trouble because of money and the kids. It has been getting worse lately with a new kid on the way. She wonders if Holly and Dylan did pick up on that. He says he wants to get them back. He says he loved them as if they were his own flesh and blood. Jess was with someone else before she got with him.

Lisa goes to Jess and tells her she has to be honest. Jess tells her that his name is Lee Ward (Ciaran Griffiths). Jess doesn’t know where Lee is. She says they lost touch years ago. Lisa speaks with the grandmother outside. She admits she wouldn’t blame them if they did run away. She refuses to say anything else. Abbie runs down Sam. He tells her to just leave him alone. Med tells Lisa he is there to learn from her. He isn’t there to make tea and do reports. Lisa tells him they need to learn more about the victims. She tells him about the real dad, Lee Ward. Manning joins them. He tells them that they were at the youth club between 8 and 10:30. He learns about Lee Ward.

Neighbors have confirmed that they heard arguments between Sean and Dylan. Med and Lisa question Jess and Sean about those fights. Sean says there weren’t any fights. Jess defends him. Jess becomes upset when Jess wants to speak with Sean in private. Sean says he was in tough around 10:30. He tells them what pubs he went to. Jess believes that they might be suspects. She isn’t happy about it. Sean says he was out with mates and got home around midnight. The conversation ends. Jess tells him she hopes he is telling the truth. Lisa prepares Jess to make a public statement. Hesketh joins them. He gives his support to Sean and Jess. Lisa tells Manning about the arguments and the pubs. The public statement begins.

Lisa goes to the pub and asks to see the CCTV footage. She sees herself speaking with Sean. Meanwhile, others speak about Abbie being desperate for throwing herself at Sam. Abbie attacks her classmate. The fight is broken up a short time later. Lisa gets a call. She leaves Med behind again. Lisa tries to talk Bernie out of suspending Abbie. It doesn’t happen. Abbie doesn’t want to talk about it on the way home. Manning calls and overhears their argument. Manning tells Lisa that Lee Ward has decided to come forward. He tells them that everything was fine with Jess and the twins. That changed when she met Sean. Lee claims that Sean is bad news. Lee says he has a whole new life now. He isn’t sure what type of picture Jess tried to paint of him.

Lee explains he lost everything during the divorce and that includes the kids. Lisa seems to believe him. Then, she goes back to the security footage. She watches herself with Sean. Later, she tells Manning that there was no sign of Sean at the youth club. On the other footage, there is over an hour they cannot account for. They do not know where Sean went during that period of time. When he leaves, Lisa deletes the footage of herself and Sean together. Meanwhile, one of Sam’s schoolmate, Rob, plays on his computer. His mother stops him and tells him to come downstairs. Rob gets back on the computer and tells his friend he is ready when they are. He is told to prove it.

Abbie speaks with a worker. She says her dad used to bring her there. He agrees to let her look through the place. Vincent introduces himself. Abbie does the same. Lisa learns that Abbie is gone. Tom leaves. Abbie isn’t answering her phone. Abbie enters before Tom can leave. Lisa is forced to leave. Dylan’s body is found washed up on shore. Med and Lisa are forced to tell the family. Jess breaks down. Sean makes a run for it. Sean tries to enter the crime scene. He is stopped. Manning tells Lisa that he is a suspect. Lisa says she will talk to him. She asks him why he lied about his whereabouts. When Sean doesn’t answer, Lisa arrests him on suspicion of murder. He is led away by police.

 

The Bay

On the surface, The Bay has everything it needs to be spectacular. The scenery is gorgeous and the cast is excellent. It is tough to complain about these things. Sadly, the show did a poor job of holding my attention. The story just didn’t do it for me. In fact, I was turned off right from the get-go. As soon as Sean and Lisa had sexy outside, I started losing interest.

If things pick up and don’t remain cliché, I might be able to enjoy The Bay. Until then, the series is just mediocre. Hopefully it’ll get better with time. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10.