As the second episode of The Responder begins, Phil O’Rourke (Dave Hart) pulls over a vehicle and allows Rachel Hargreaves (Adelayo Adedayo) to handle it. Phil waits in the car watching funny videos on his phone until he hears Rachel screaming. They both end up getting attacked when Phil rushes in to help. Meanwhile, Chris Carson (Martin Freeman) gets a phone call from Carl Sweeney (Ian Hart) who is in his house. Kate (MyAnna Buring) has been sharing a drink with him without knowing what is going on. The move enrages Chris as the dispatcher asks for assistance on Charlton Street. Carl warns Chris that he can enter his house and turn his life to crap. Chris threatens to kill him, but Carl isn’t worried since he has the upper hand right now. He begins listing all the things he could do to Chris, including ruining his bird and planting gear in his house.

He even threatens to beat the heck out of his little girl. Chris insists he put Casey (Emily Fairn) on the train only to learn she was sitting on Gary the Pimp’s couch at nine this morning trying to sell Carl’s gear. Carl can’t believe he fell for Casey’s lies and warns him he won’t be going anywhere until Casey is found. The call ends abruptly by the time Kate returns. Chris arrives at the scene and quickly takes care of the suspect who was busy beating Rachel and Phil. Once he finds out that Rachel sprayed the gas, he instructs her to spray at the perp and not Phil next time. He orders Rachel to cuff the suspect although she is a bit slow getting up. Phil believes he has broken his nose and Chris confirms it. Chris calls it in over the radio to stop any additional backup and refuses an ambulance. When he tries to leave, Rachel insists they’ll need a statement from him, but Chris won’t cooperate while calling that nonsense.

They argue about his use of force briefly before Chris gets in his car and calls Tilly (Romi Hyland-Rylands) who believes Carl is outside with mom. Tilly explains what they’re doing. Outside, Kate tells Carl she is really worried about Chris and Carl is the only friend he has left. She believes Carl should try talking to him about his feelings. However, Carl says he doesn’t talk about his feelings unless it is about footy. Kate describes him as a good friend before Carl says whatever and drives away. Tilly asks if he is okay because he sounds sad. He denies it. He tells her he can’t come home since he must find someone who needs his help. They arrange to have breakfast together in the morning. Tilly promises to be a good girl so her dad doesn’t have to be sad although he says she is perfect. Chris talks to his therapist about his abusive father. Although she knows he isn’t his father, Chris knows he is in there. She knows he loves his family and couldn’t hurt them. Chris responds by saying there are different kinds of hurt. Rachel cries while checking the injury on her arm.

She tries to pull herself together by telling herself she is alright. Chris goes searching for Casey before getting a call saying Sergeant Bernie Wilson (Dominic Carter) wants him to call the custody suite to talk to him. Meanwhile, Marco (Josh Finan) goes to the store where he asks Omar (Tahir Shah) if he wants to buy some cheese. Another man gets upset and grabs the block of cheese. He throws it into the road. Marco tries to retrieve it but nearly gets hit by one car before another car runovers the cheese. Marco leaves and returns to a flat where Casey is laying on the couch. A visible intoxicated Casey admits she let herself in before asking for money, but Marco doesn’t have any. While Casey mumbles on the couch, Marco texts Carl to see if he is still looking for her. Carl offers a fat grand if Marco can help find her. Marco responds by texting “In me ken, lad get on it”. He thinks about it briefly before hitting the send button. Two men get in a van and agree it won’t take long to deal with this.

Chris learns from Sergeant Wilson that he is going to have to work with Rachel tonight since Phil has gone home. Wilson believes it’ll do him some good because he works alone too much. As Chris walks away, he begins panicking while calling Carl to say he can’t find Casey. Carl confirms it is okay since they’ve got her. Chris insists she isn’t a bad kid so he should be careful with her. Carl tells him to worry about himself, take his tablets, and sort himself out. When the call ends, Chris immediately calls Marco urging him to call him because it is urgent. He heads outside where Rachel begins stuffing stuff in the back seat. He instructs her to put it all in the trunk because he doesn’t want to wait for her to move it when struggling with a suspect and trying to put them in the back.

During therapy, Chris tells the doctor he can’t show them the stuff in his head because he loves them too much. Chris has to help Rachel shut the trunk because she is so short. Once they get into the squad car, she thanks him for the fight. He asks her not to thank him or gas him. Chris argues you sometimes have to do things that aren’t in the book in this job. As they leave, Raymond Mullen (Warren Brown) walks into the police station where he meets with Bernie. When Bernie asks if he has someone inside, Ray says he doesn’t mess with that anymore. They hear an inmate banging on the door as Bernie insists you don’t hear them after six hours. Ray asks if it is the man Chris Carson brought in earlier, but Bernie says no. Ray asks about Chris just leaving and who he is working with. He learns Rachel is going to be with Carson for the rest of the week. Ray is asked if he is trying to do this again since he got Chris busted from detective inspector to constable and ruined his life.

Ray says he was corrupt although Bernie takes up for Chris and stops answering any more questions. Marco gets the message from Chris as Casey tells him the cheese has gravel in it. He lies by saying it was his mother calling. Marco claims they just need to wait because someone is bringing the money. After a knock at the door, Marco lets Carl’s two men come inside. Around this time, Chris learns Rachel is texting her boyfriend who is worried about her. Chris doesn’t like that so Rachel asks if his wife worries, but he doesn’t answer. We see Rachel’s text messages as she pleads with her boyfriend to text her back while saying he doesn’t talk to her at home or on the phone. When they hear a radio call about a welfare check, Rachel believes they should take it. Chris recklessly swings the squad car around and heads to the scene while confirming it on the radio. Casey is driven to a secluded spot and questioned about the drugs while she sits in the back of a van.

Again, she claims someone robbed her and stole the drugs. She tries to make a run for it, but the man catches up with her quickly. Marco sits in the van with the other man while Casey is beaten. Meanwhile, Chris and Rachel arrive at the scene where Davey (David Bradley) is standing in front of a large fire. Rachel carries a fire extinguisher. Davey complains that Stevo Marsh (Sonny Walker) burnt his bed. He goes on to say they pick on old Davey because there is no one here to fight them. Ray continues following Chris while telling his partner that Chris should’ve been sacked. Now, he is with a new partner like nothing ever happened. Ray’s partner isn’t sure that is his problem though. Davey offers Rachel a snack which she promptly turns down before he begins singing. When Chris sends Rachel to the car to get the statement book, he asks Davey whether he has seen Casey in the past few days. Chris questions whether Casey gave him a bag to hide before she is in trouble and they can help her.

Davey wants him to scratch his back first. Chris asks about Stevo. Chris walks back to the vehicle before telling Rachel to forget the statement and just get in. As they drive away, Ray’s partner admits he doesn’t know why he hates Chris so much. He has had enough so he asks Ray to drop him off at his car. Chris tells Rachel to turn her body cam off as they approach a group of kids sitting on the ground. He takes what they’re smoking and puts it in the bottle they’re drinking from. Chris asks Stevo why he set fire to Davey’s bed. Rachel watches as Chris steps on Stevo’s leg and continues asking him about burning the bed. The kids begin making fun of Rachel until Chris grabs Stevo. He asks why he’ll harass Davey but not him.

Chris warns Stevo that he’ll kill him if he touches Davey again. He repeats the threat to Stevo’s friends and makes them say yes sir. Chris keeps yelling at them as they walk away while Rachel asks what that was. Then, Chris returns to Davey to find out what he knows about Casey and the drugs. Soon, Chris begins to suspect that Davey didn’t know anything although Davey claims he never said he knew anything. Davey questions whether Chris would’ve helped him otherwise. Chris says he would’ve. When that conversation ends, Rachel begins asking questions about Casey. Meanwhile, the men try to get Casey to tell them what she knows instead of making it harder on herself. Once she gets a drink, she claims it is with Smiggy (Keith Carter). Chris calls Marco again to see what he can find out, but Marco still won’t answer his phone. Rachel comes out of the store with an apple drink instead of orange like Chris wanted. She is worried about what she should write in her notebook about Stevo and the boys so Chris tells her to put nothing.

She isn’t sure what she would’ve done but insists what Chris did was too heavy. She argues they could’ve been arrested. Chris dismisses that idea since they would’ve received a fine that they would’ve never paid. Plus, he believes they’d leave the courtroom and immediately go kick the crap out of Davey. She is worried about losing her job, but Chris insists she won’t. Then, they agree to respond to a call about someone carrying a sword. As they rush to the scene, Chris tells Rachel to watch him and he’ll watch her. Meanwhile, Marco is told to get out of the van. He asks for his money although it doesn’t look like he is going to get it. When the van leaves, Marco is left alone cursing to himself. Chris reaches the location and confirms it over the radio. Although he is told to stay put until the others arrive, he gets out. He asks Rachel if she is coming. She contemplates her choices quickly before getting out. Chris pulls his baton while Rachel asks if she should go around the back.

Chris says only if she wants to die. They step inside and use flashlights to look around. Soon, the man with the sword charges toward them as Chris screams for Rachel to move. Chris asks Kevin (Michael Starke) what the heck he is doing. He complains he broke his knee. Kevin admits he thought they were the dang kids who smashed his door. Marco texts Casey several times to see if she is okay, but he doesn’t receive a response. As Chris and Rachel sit down with Kevin, they hear a radio call about one of Smiggy’s parties. Kevin explains he is sick of all this crap. Rachel warns him he could’ve been shot. Kevin doesn’t think he has any other choice since nobody is helping him. Chris sympathizes with him although he insists he can’t go around with a sword. He encourages Kevin to keep it inside and not let them see how much life is getting to him. Otherwise, they’ll use it against him. Marco sends a text message saying he screwed up and Casey is in trouble at “party boys gaff”. He begins crying.

When Chris gets the message, he interrupts the conversation with Kevin. He says they need to go. Rachel argues that Kevin doesn’t have any food. Chris tells her to look at the size of him. Rachel is adamant that they need to help him. Chris tells her to pick her battles because Kevin has a house and they have to worry about someone who is in proper trouble. She is forced to agree that Kevin isn’t in immediate danger before Chris whisks her away. It looks like Chris gives him money though. Once in the car, Chris calls and confirms they’ll deal with the party. The two men lead Casey inside as she claims she hid the drugs upstairs the other day. Chris tells Rachel to stay with the car because otherwise it’ll be gone when they come back. Chris goes in alone. Carl arrives outside and blocks the road. Rachel tells him he can’t do that. Carl begins asking who she is with while claiming he is a dope dealer. She asks him to move back so Carl asks what she is going to do.

 

He grabs her from the front and back while asking whether she thinks Chris is going to come help her. He eventually lets go and leaves Rachel distraught. Her mood changes as she walks into the party. Chris walks into the room with Smiggy while Rachel tries to get them to lower the music. Chris asks about Casey, but Smiggy says she has never been here. Rachel gets into a scuffle with two people downstairs when they refuse to move away from the table with drugs on it. Casey hits one of the men with a piece of wood with a nail sticking out of it before running. Chris looks up and sees Casey climbing down from the building. Carl finds out what has happened, removes the nail, and tells the other guy to come with him. Chris learns about Rachel going inside so he goes looking for her. He goes in while Carl and his guys go out. Chris interrogates Smiggy before pulling Rachel out of the building as she screams she wants her prisoners.

Rachel insists she is going back for her prisoners. She reminds Chris he isn’t an inspector anymore and hopes for Casey’s sake that he doesn’t find her. As he walks away, she yells that he is a car crash and not the knight in shining armor he believes he is. She screams for him to screw off because he is only an arsehole with a chip on his shoulder. He drives off leaving her at the party. Then, Chris tries to find Casey. He searches a building and finds a big bag full of cocaine. Casey catches up with him and pleads with him, but he reminds her he told her to get out of Liverpool. Chris says he tried to help her, but she caused Carl to enter his house with his wife and daughter. She warns him that he’ll be as dead as she is if he turns it in. Rachel calls Steve and asks him to come get her, but he says he is playing Xbox. Steve (Phil Barantini) keeps playing without offering to help. Chris sits in his car as his wife and daughter exit his house.

He apologizes to them for missing breakfast. Once they drive away, Chris walks back to the car to grab the bag full of drugs. Kate takes Tilly to school before getting a message from Ray asking her to try again. Jodie (Faye McKeever) sits down with Ray to ask about his night which he says wasn’t bad. He isn’t sure whether he’ll be back out tonight. Jodie believes they should tell him these things because it is hard to plan their lives together like that. Ray knows it is a pain and he might have to go again in a couple of hours. Rachel finally makes it home. She receives a message from someone she doesn’t know who wants to talk about a work-related issue. While Steve keeps playing Xbox, Rachel calls and talks to Ray who says he is part of a team investigating Carson. At home, Chris wonders what he should do with the drugs. The therapist helps him meditate and calm himself. She asks if he is there, but he says no.

 

The Responder Review

The Responder’s main storylines are starting to come together so we can see where things are heading. Marco turned on Casey by telling Carl where she was. As a result, she was captured and attacked. Chris caught up with her later and managed to find Carl’s cocaine. When Phil was attacked on the job, Rachel was moved to Chris’s side. Rachel was more tolerable during this episode although she may become a thorn in Chris Carson’s side.

Although not everything is realistic, The Responder is executed well enough to give the impression that it is authentic anyway. It is interesting to see the stark difference between the veteran in Carson and newcomer Rachel. The 2nd episode was a step up from the first so I hope this maintains or elevates its quality throughout the next few episodes. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of The Responder will be available on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by clicking on this link.