As the second episode begins, Max (Jason Hughes) tells Anna (Laura Fraser) that she is going to be late before offering her a ride. He jokes about running away from Tamsin (Gabrielle Creevy) and going somewhere hot. Once they arrive at work, Max tells Anna they’re interviewing everyone to find out what they can about Jack (Aneurin Barnard). During a break, Anna, Nancy (Julie Hesmondhalgh), Cat (Heledd Gwynn), and the others discuss the blackmail attempt. Anna wants everyone to tell Max what happened but Nancy reminds her it was manslaughter and they’ll be held responsible. Cat doesn’t want to go to jail for Jack. Anna is worried she won’t be able to hide it from Max. Louie (Eiry Thomas) wonders whether Mandy sent the messages and says she’ll check the staff list to see if she can match the numbers.

Tish (Abbie Hern) interrupts the conversation and reminds them that police will be interviewing everyone. As they go inside to get caffeine, they discuss whether it could be Tish but Anna doesn’t think she would do that. Cat offers to talk to her but the others don’t think that is a good idea. Then, Louie learns that the police want to talk to her. Tish joins them and Gareth (Richard Elis) tells her she is going to be interviewed now too. Louie tries to talk to Tish but they’re quickly separated. She sits down with Max and DS Holland (Rakie Ayola). Louie confirms that Jack was her nephew before saying she arrived at the party around 7:30 PM. Nancy is questioned about speaking to Jack Evans during the party. Anna is asked the same. She says it was small talk and Jack was drunk but not falling down drunk at the time.

Nancy tells them that she doesn’t think because her father was an alcoholic. She isn’t sure if Jack had done drugs, but Cat says he did some coke and maybe some other stuff. She says she knows the signs. Then, Louie admits that Jack had a history of recreational drug use. Anna is asked when she left the party and where Jack was at around that time. Nancy says Anna, Louie, and Cat got into the vehicle with her and she drove them home. Louie is asked about the last time she saw her nephew. She has a flashback of Jack that night and freezes before saying he was standing at the bar. Anna asks what they believe happened but they won’t give her any answers. When Anna is allowed to leave, she looks at her hands and we see that she has driven her nails into the palm of her hands.

Mandy (Sophie Melville) approaches her in the bathroom and says it wasn’t her in the woods. She claims someone stole her purse and the police should be looking for that person. Anna says okay before Mandy admits she has never known someone who has died before and she can’t wrap her head around it. Anna tries to leave but Mandy stops her and asks why people don’t like her. Anna admits she is judgmental, hostile, and likes to pick fights. Anna gives her advice before leaving and joining the others. She learns from the others that Mandy went home with Martin from packing. Anna asks if anyone has spoken to Tish but she went home after the interview. They’re worried that Tish might be avoiding them and Anna says she might’ve sent the text messages.

Louie says the phone didn’t match any of the numbers on the staff list so Cat believes they’re using a burner. Anna decides to text the number back to give them time. Anna sends the message before joining Max outside in the vehicle. They talk about DS Holland and Max says he wouldn’t want to be on her bad side. Anna asks about Tish going home because the girls are worried about her. He admits she wasn’t helpful because she said she was too drunk to remember much. Anna asks if anyone saw Jack leave but Max says he can’t talk about it. Then, Max says he has a briefing and won’t be home for a few hours. Louie picks up some items at a convenience store and steals some items too. Meanwhile, the detectives try to find out who was in the woods with Jack.

Holland tells Max that his wife is a valuable conduit to the brewery so he should use her. When Max gets home, he tries to get information from Anna. She admits he was wasted and everyone thinks it was an overdose or bad gear. Max says Jack was in the woods with someone and it was likely the person who stole Mandy’s purse. Anna isn’t sure who that could be and says they barely saw Jack because he kept to himself. Ryan (Aled ap Steffan) tells Max that he received a card earlier today. Anna soon learns it is her birthday present before Arwel (Eddie Marsan) interrupts. He admits he didn’t know where else to go and that they won’t tell him anything. Arwel wants to understand what happened to his son.

Anna listens carefully as Max says they’re trying to find out why Jack was in the woods and where his phone is. Arwel says he is staying alone before apologizing for barging in. Max believes the lab results will be back in a few days and will tell them what happened. Meanwhile, Nancy watches the news with Richard (Adrian Edmondson). They argue about watching the news about Jack. Later that night, Anna says she can’t imagine what it would be like to lose a son. Max doesn’t think he felt anything because he was so far out of it. He says nobody should die like that and they’ll find out what happened. Then, Anna gets a text message asking for 5,000 pounds or they’ll go to the police. She claims it was just a junk message before the phone rings and she says it is Louie. Cat calls too since they all got the same reply.

They contemplate what to do. Anna doesn’t think it is a good idea to give them money since they’ll want more. Nancy says they should sleep on it. Then, Anna warns them that Jack’s phone is missing but Nancy says it isn’t in the car. Max walks down just as Anna saying this is getting out of control. When the call ends, Anna claims Louie isn’t coping well before everyone goes to bed. At work the next day, the women believe they should pay although some of them don’t have any money. Anna says they have four or four and a half grand that they were going to use for a holiday. Louie agrees to max out her credit card to cover the rest. Nancy and Cat agree to find a way to pay Anna back. Max looks through the evidence photos before Holland tells him that the postmortem results won’t be back until tomorrow.

They contemplate whether it could be hypothermia but Holland doesn’t think so. Then, Holland orders another officer to search the Evans’ house for the cellphone. Max tells her about a pub along the road closest to the woods. He believes Jack might’ve driven on the road and someone at the pub might’ve seen him. Anna gets the money and runs into a man on the street causing her to drop it. She quickly grabs it and puts it in her jacket pocket. She contemplates calling Max before spotting Tasmin with a boy in the distance. She approaches her daughter and reminds her she is supposed to be at home. The boy identifies himself as Harri from school. Her daughter gets upset and embarrassed. Max visits the pub and talks to its owner.

He learns that the pub has a camera before Holland calls and says it is kicking off at Evans’ Tower. She wants him to calm things down. Max asks for the hard drives. The pub owner knows Arwel and says he always acted like the bee’s knees but he caught him crying in the bathroom once. He was sobbing because he didn’t want to go home. They go for the hard drives. Anna drops her daughter off at home and tells her she doesn’t have time for this. She orders her to stay inside until she gets home. Tasmin calls her a loser and leaves before Anna gets another message. Anna goes to work and hides the money in her locker. Gareth reminds her that she should’ve been back already. She joins the others and they explain that the blackmailer wants them to drop the money off at Maddox Street Bridge tonight.

Max arrives at Arwel’s place and learns he doesn’t want the cops searching his place. Max tells the other officers to give him five minutes. Arwel doesn’t want them to ransacking Jack’s room like something from Jurassic Park and he complains that they won’t let him bury his son. Max offers to supervisor the search but Arwel says his room is the only thing he has left of Jack. They talk about the death of Jack’s mother before Arwel says they had a rule not to let outsiders in. Max tries to find out why Arwel ran off to France but he says he wants to be left alone. He reminds Arwel that he needs to search the wood and threatens to get a warrant.

Arwel tells him not to get the warrant and again tells him he wants him gone. The cops leave and Arwel spends the night alone. He leaves in a vehicle moments later. Meanwhile, Anna and the others prepare to drop off the money. Nancy takes the money to the drop point and puts it in the correct bin. Anna and Louie discuss Jack and how they’re no better than he was. Anna admits she is worried that Tasmin might turn out like he did. When asked if she ever wanted kids, Louie says she’d never bring children into her family. Max calls Anna and asks what she is doing near Maddox Street. She claims she just needed air before being told Ryan is looking for her. When Nancy returns, they contemplate waiting to see who gets the money. They decide to leave. Max asks DC Griffiths (Ben McGregor) to deal with the hard drives.

Cat calls the women and complains that they didn’t stay. When the call ends, Cat notices Tish and decides to follow her. Tish catches her and asks what she is doing. Cat asks where she has been. Tish gets a call so Cat quickly realizes that she is having problems with her boyfriend. They get a bit flirty before going for a drink together. Tish asks Cat how she ended up in prison so she says she got involved with the wrong people. She claims she has turned things around and Arwel gave her a chance. Cat tells Tish how her mother dropped her off at child services when she was young and doesn’t hear from her now. Tish says she didn’t tell the police about being at the car park. She shows Cat a bite mark on her neck and admits it would’ve been worse if they hadn’t shown up.

Tish leaves a bit later. Max returns home later that night and apologizes for being so late. Next, Anna’s family gives her birthday presents. The kids give her a voucher for the new spa place and Max gives her an infinity necklace. Max has to leave when he gets a call from the station. Richard finds out that Nancy has purchased an expensive record for Anna before he is invited to lunch. He has no interest in going through. Louie makes a cake. Then, Tish shows up at Cat’s place with a cupcake for each missed birthday. She also agrees to let Cat walk her home next time. Nancy says goodbye to Richard before leaving. Everyone meets at Anna’s place and she begins opening gifts. During the pasty, Max pulls her aside and invites her upstairs for five minutes.

Then, he says he’ll be on vacation next year. Max gets a call and learns that there has been a development. Max tells everyone he has to go. Anna admits she thinks things have gone too far now. Tasmin sits with her mother and gives her an apology letter for the school and Stacey. They join Nancy and play VR games before the party ends. Before the women go, Anna tells the women she has their back but says she has had too much wine. Louie decides to check on Arwel. Anna checks on Nancy who says her relationship is fine. Cat enjoys one of the cupcakes and Tish looks at the wound on her shoulder. Meanwhile, Arwel begins burning some items. Anna spends the night alone thinking about her situation.

Max arrives home and Anna tells him she wants to dance. As they dance, he tells her that Jack’s postmortem has been returned and Jack was asphyxiated. Anna freaks out before Max admits things are going to get crazy now and he might not be around much. He knows it is a big opportunity for him and he wants to catch whoever did it.

 

The Pact Review

Although The Pact has an interesting premise, it isn’t totally unique. I mean we’ve seen something like this several times before and I don’t think it has been as good as Guilt. I’ll also say that the episode lost my interest at times. Ultimately, it isn’t terrible by any means but it isn’t as good as it could be either. I think it might’ve been better if the show was only three or four episodes.

Six episodes are too many since it gives the show enough time to drone on and focus on irrelevant stories. If it had been fewer episodes, we could’ve stayed on topic. The episode didn’t have enough intense or creepy moments to keep me entertained or interested. On the plus side, the cast has been pretty good. I always enjoy getting to see Laura Fraser and Eddie Marsan go to work. I’ll likely stick with it but wish it would pick up from here on out.

The episode wasn’t as good as it could’ve been so I’ll give it a 7 out of 10. Previous and future recaps of The Pact can be found on Reel Mockery here.