Episode 2 seemingly begins at a therapy session shortly after Detective Grace Narayan (Anjli Mohindra) witnessed Matt Benfield’s (Connor Calland) suicide on her last day. Much to Grace’s surprise, Joanne (Patricia Jones) points out that Grace would have never even run into Matt had she not been hiding in shame from Detectives Frederick and Cooper(Harry Hepple). Joanne ends their session by further claiming that Frederick and Cooper were merely trying to do their jobs.

When Grace welcomes Ann Fletcher (Jill Halfpenny) and her team to the island, they immediately butt heads. Ann not only mindlessly snubs Grace’s information about the Cai Prideaux’s (Charlie Thould) case, but she comments on her disheveled appearance and tasks her with securing her accommodations.

When they do visit the crime scene, it doesn’t take Ann long to assume that the victim stumbled into the area, got locked in, and died of hypothermia. Much to Grace’s surprise, Owen Parry (James Bamford) takes the blame for not searching the area when Cai originally disappeared. He also admits that it was at least 5 or 6 days before they even began the search because of the Widow’s Whale.

When the team returns to the station, the tension between Grace and Ann on worsens. Although it takes some bickering and complaining, Grace convinces Ann to assign her a more meaningful role in the task force. At about the time Grace begins sharing her ‘True Way’ theory with Ann, Ian Prideaux (Marc Warren) barges into the station, demanding to know what’s going on. Grace is further stunned by the open door/tell-all approach Ann takes with him. Grace ends up being ordered to return to the pub and get some sleep.

Grace does return to the pub but decides to retrace the route the Liberation Parade took the day Cai went missing. This turns out to be a good idea when she discovers Mihangel Pugh (Oliver Ryan) acting shady in the nearby woods. A short chase ensues but she manages to catch him and asks why he took off running. He blames it on his boss being a man of little patience. Nothing more is learned from this conversation.

Later that day, their entire island gathers for what appears to be some sort of ceremonial sendoff of the corpse. When this breaks up, Ann makes it a point to introduce herself to Griffith/Gruffudd Prosser (Mark Lewis Jones). He invites her back to his home where she meets his Vietnamese wife Minh Prosser (Tuyen Do), whom he appears all too proud of. It doesn’t take long for Ann to realize what a vain man Griffith is and cleverly uses his distaste for Grace to get on his good side.

Grace becomes more stressed and underutilized when she approaches Rob (Daniel Adeosun), with the request to do a satellite search around the area where Cai’s body was found on the night he went missing. Although he agrees to the search, he says that he’ll need Ann’s confirmation, which is what sets Grace off. Seconds later, when Grace questions Owen about Cai’s behavior around town, she learns about one particular incident where Lucy Popkin (Lauren Morais) called the police on him for messing about in her garden. This is all Owen can provide, being that it was Griffith who handled the call. During their conversation, Grace realizes how sleep-deprived she is and returns to the pub on her own cognition.

Griffith immediately makes her regret her decision when he teases her about helping a rapist walk free. Their back-and-forth dispute eventually reveals why Grace was dismissed from her big city detective posting. Much to Griffith’s surprise, she claims she wouldn’t change a thing. Grace also realizes that it was Ann who shared the news with him. On her way to her room, Grace has another strange encounter with Winter Bain (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) who calls her into the bathroom while she soaks in the tub. Grace appears uncomfortable and unwilling to make eye contact but uses the opportunity to ask about the True Way and the Liberation Parade. According to Winter, the Parade ends in a huge orgy.

When Grace does return to her room, she has a slaughtered chicken waiting in her bed. Although she opts to take advantage of the station’s empty cell to catch up on her sleep, she has a strange dream about Matt Benfield (Connor Calland). Lowri Bain (Lu Corfield) is waiting at the station with an apology breakfast when Grace wakes. She leaves after promising to scrub the room clean from top to bottom, but Grace doesn’t express much of an interest in returning. Grace then learns from Rob that the satellite photos were a bust because of the Widow’s Whale. He also uses the opportunity to ask if that was the first time she had a cock in her bed. She ignores it and tells him to check further with the Coast Guard for satellite images.

Seconds later, Grace is called into Ann’s impromptu office where she learns that the body has been confirmed as Cai. It takes some convincing but Grace talks her into letting her make the notification. Ann doesn’t appear at all interested in Grace’s chicken incident or her theories about the True Way. After notifying Ian, Grace’s visit with Lucy Popkin turns out to be incredibly revealing. Grace not only learns that Cai was Lucy’s first babysitting gig, but she’s now practically the go-to sitter for the island’s residents. It turns out that the garden incident happened the day before Cai disappeared. Lucy also claims the incident was tied to Cai’s crush on her but she never reported it because she didn’t want to tarnish his reputation. Much to Grace’s surprise, Lucy claims to have seen someone else in her garden a month or so ago but opted to not report the incident. Grace meets Lucy’s boyfriend, Silas Bennion (Ale dap Seffan), from afar when Lucy shows her the garden. Grace also learns that Silas is in the process of building a bomb shelter in the backyard.

Grace appears to be returning to the pub or station when she is sparked by some revolution. This sends her racing to her old room in the pub where she urgently searches for something island’s map. Much later that evening, she visits what appears to be a town council meeting at the local parish. Father Douglas Carrisford (Sam Swainsbury) spends a few minutes issuing warnings about the Widow’s Whale before turning the stage over to Grace. She basically confirms the news of Cai’s death and asks for anyone with information to come forward. The meeting ends right after Dylan Onion (Wayne Cater) expresses his displeasure with Lady Heather Nancarrow (Adjoa Andoh) limiting the tourist season to 5 months. Dylan claims the locals should be able to financially benefit from the tourists all year round.

After the meeting, Grace goes in search of Griffith and finds Rob instead who tells her that the Coast Guard lead was a bust. She then orders him to check with the Met. When she does find Griffith in the bathroom, her revelation with the island’s map is revealed. It turns out that Owen took the blame earlier for not searching the area where Cai’s body was discovered. She asks him if he is just lazy or incompetent. He responds by teasing her, claiming that she is trying to walk in a man’s world.

Ann learns later that day at the station that the pathologist is ruling Cai’s death as accidental. Right before this is discovered, Grace also learns that Rob was able to retrieve satellite photos of the area where Cai’s body was discovered from the Met. Ann and her team are all too happy to be leaving and add a sense of urgency to their departure when they learn that the Widow’s Whale is set to arrive that afternoon. Despite Ann’s urgency to get off the island, she does allow Grace a quick look at the pathologist’s report which reveals a strange berry found in Cai’s blood. Ann isn’t at all interested in hearing it. Much to Grace’s surprise, Ann leaves her contact information with Grace.

Minutes after Owen and Grace watch Ann and her team leave the island, Winter comes rushing into the station with Alun (Dylan Jones) and Eric Crowther (Lloyd Meredith) in tow. She not so subtly forces them to own up to putting the chicken in Grace’s bed. Much to their surprise, she lets them off with a week of cleaning the pub.

Winter stays behind when Owen is ordered to escort the Crowther twins to the pub. After a quick word about Cai’s accidental death ruling, Grace tells Winter the entire story of how she ended up on the island, including Matt’s suicide. Grace suddenly becomes speechless as she averts her attention to the satellite images Rob sent her. There is not only a massive True Way symbol but there is also a vehicle parked next to the shelter on the night of Cai’s death. Grace attempts to reach Ann with news of her discovery. Ann pretends not to hear her and throws her phone overboard.

 

The Red King Review

I felt that episode 2 was even better than the first. However, this could just be my opinion because I’ve always enjoyed the psychological thrill of the ‘stranded theory.’ Whether it is trapped on a deserted island with a killer, on a plane, on a boat, or at a camp, I’ve always found the theory fascinating. The series might be a bit slow for some people’s taste and I even find it so at times, but the constant suspense and budding side stories are enough to keep things fresh. For instance, Silas’s bomb shelter. Probably completely meaningless but intriguing, nonetheless.

If it weren’t for the constant reminders that women are just as capable as men and some of the horrible performances, the show would be nearly perfect. I feel Grace actually does a decent job as the leading lady, but Heather Nancarrow is absolutely dreadful. For some strange reason, her face is always cringed up like she just ate or smelled something remarkably horrible. Despite all that, I’d give the episode an easy 6 out of 10.

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