As the episode begins, we see news reports about the poisonings. Then, we jump to March 9, 2018 which is five days after the first poisonings. Tracy (Anne-Marie Duff) listens to the news before dropping her son Toby (Judah Cousin) off at school an hour early. Sarah Bailey (Annabel Scholey) stares at her husband Nick (Rafe Spall) through a glass window. Sarah walks in the room and Nick begins jerking around. A nurse enters the room and puts Nick’s mask back on him before Sarah tells Dr. James Haslam (Duncan Pow) that her husband is getting worse. The doctor tells her that they’re thinking about putting Nick in an induced coma. After that, investigators look through the victim’s house and collect evidence.

Tracy speaks with Tim Atkins (Jonathan Slinger) about the test results and he confirms that they’ve had 15 hits so far. He shows her a map of the spots where Novichok has been discovered. They discuss the situation and try to figure out how widespread it is. Jayne McNaughten (Faye McKeever) arrives and complains to Tracy. Jayne doesn’t believe Tracy understands what they’re going through. She tells her to move her kids on the street and then she might. Nick Bailey believes his kids are coming toward him but Sarah is sitting next to him. Tracy joins Dave Minty (Darren Boyd) and Paul Mills (Nigel Lindsay) as they watch the video of Nick looking through Skripals’ house. Dave says they should watch it backwards because they might see something they didn’t the other way.

They watch as Nick walks through the house and touches various objects. After that, Ross Cassidy (Mark Addy) returns home to his wife Mo (Clare Burt). Journalists harass him as he makes his way inside. Then, he gets calls asking if he wants to make money from his story and he says no. He sits down with Lata (Amber Aga) to discuss his relationship with Sergei. Ross says he doesn’t understand why they never gave Sergei a new name. He goes on to say that Sergei traveled for weeks at a time and nobody knew where he was going. Paul Mills and the others attend another group meeting. Tracy tells everyone that they believe they have found a source deposit on the Skripals’ front door handle. They believe this might be where it all started so the door is being removed for testing at Porton Down.

They suspect that the Skripals got the poison on their skin and that is how they got sick. They all touched the front door and it took a little while for their bodies to absorb the poison. The door is removed immediately. Nick wakes up again and asks Sarah if he hurt someone. She asks again and he says he didn’t hurt anyone. Nick freaks out and says it is his fault. The doctors enter the room moments later and help while one doctor tells Sarah that paranoia is a side effect of the toxin. Meanwhile, Tracy is introduced to Hannah Mitchell (Kimberley Nixon) who is advising those in Whitehall on the public health front. Hannah asks Tracy about her wish to close Bourne Hill Police Station. Tracy believes Nick had the poison on him and took it back to the police station so it needs to be closed.

Hannah doesn’t agree because Nick removed the glove at the scene. Sarah gets a call from DC Rogers learning that they’re going to go public with Nick’s name. Then, Ross learns that they’ve obtained a requisition order for his vehicle and he likely won’t get his vehicle back. Charlie Rowley (Johnny Harris) and Dawn Sturgess (MyAnna Buring) listen to the news about the case. Charlie tells her that he was offered his own flat in Amesbury and he invites her to join him. He warns her that social can’t find out and it’ll give Gracie a chance to visit. Tracy and Hannah run into each other at the police station. Tracy tells Hannah that it is a mistake not to shut down the police station but Hannah doesn’t want to scare the public unnecessarily.

Ted (William Houston) checks on his wife when she returns home. Tracy doesn’t stay home long. Ted tries to convince her to stay but she leaves almost immediately. After that, Sarah returns home and her daughters want to know the truth about their father. She tells them about the poison but doesn’t know if he is going to be okay. Dave checks on Tracy in her office and tells her that they’ve found it everywhere in Bourne Hill. Tracy was right and they’re going to close it down. Tracy goes upstairs so she can speak with Mills. Tracy believes they’re going to replace her but Paul tells her otherwise. Hannah has been recalled to London.

Charlie, Dawn, and her daughter check out their new apartment. Sarah gets her daughters to look at pictures of their father so they’ll be ready for it. They head into the hospital and learn that they’ll have to wait in the family room. Tracy speaks with people from the housing development and Jayne. They complain about the stuff on the door and what it could’ve done to their children. Tracy tells them that they’ll have to keep working there for months but that they’re starting to work things out. She explains she is going to set up a WhatsApp group so they can contact her. Sarah tries to get answers but the nurses won’t tell her anything. She calls her father and tells him she thinks something is really wrong. Toby goes home and tries to get inside but nobody is home to let him in.

Tracy speaks with Alistair (Andrew Brooke) about the situation and other things. He says they have to do something to fight back and reassure people. Tracy receives a call from her son and he is very upset. She realizes that she messed up. Dawn speaks with Claire and tells her she wants to make amends with her and their father but she admits she hasn’t stopped drinking. She gives her a painting she thinks their dad might like and Claire says he’ll love it. Janet and DS Izzy Rawlings speak with Sarah because they’ve been assigned as family liaison officers. Tracy returns home and gives Toby his key. He tells her not to follow him. She does and tries to smooth things over with him before receiving a call about work. She answers and speaks with Dave who wants her to return to Gold Command. Nick tries to speak with a man in a protective suit so he can find out what is going on.

The doctor tells him that they’re concerned he might be spreading nerve agent so they have to wear protective gear. He learns that the poison has been found in the police station and that they’re going to search his house. Sarah learns that they’re going to have to move from their house and she says they need to get their cat Pippin. They try to stop her but she isn’t going to let that happen. She rushes in to see her husband but he pleads with her to stay back. She doesn’t and is happy to see that he is okay. Claire takes the painting to her father. He tells his wife that he can’t take it anymore and doesn’t want to do it again. Sarah goes home and gets the family’s cat. Tracy prepares for another public gathering while Ross speaks with the detectives again.

Ross reminds Lata that he and his wife have done nothing wrong. Mo says that they were just people to them and not spies or secret agents. She says they want to see them just once. The public ridicules Tracy and the others. Someone asks if the city is safe. After that, she learns that a swan had been acting strangely near the Maltings so they rush over immediately. Charlie and Dawn go out that night and take decorations from the dumpsters. Tracy and Dave try to track down the swan. She notices a stream nearby and believes the water might be infected too. She gets a call from Dave asking her to come to the river. Ross and his wife are allowed to see Julia but not Sergei because he isn’t well enough. They speak with her while Sarah checks on Nick. We see that Nick is getting better. Nick confirms he knows why he is there.

Then, Tracy learns about bumblefoot and that the swans are fine. She still wants to get the water dredged but Dave doesn’t believe that is necessary and that they need to draw a line. Tracy returns to her office and Tim tells her that he got the results from the Bailey house. It was found in almost every room in the house. Nevertheless, the wife and children have never been infected. Tim believes it is a miracle. Nick is allowed to leave the hospital and return to his children. Later that night, Tracy listens to the news about the Russian ambassador shaking hands with the departing officials’ spouses and children as they boarded to leave. Tracy attends another meeting and says they’ll keep an eye on people who were exposed to the toxin while Charlie digs through the garbage bins once again.

Tracy isn’t sure they’ll ever find out exactly what happened here. Charlie finds an object in the trash that grabs his attention. He takes it with him before Tracy returns home and goes to sleep next to her husband. Charlie walks through the street that night as the episode ends.

 

The Salisbury Poisonings Review

The Salisbury Poisonings is a bit slow but interesting. Most of the characters are relatable to some degree so that helps. I don’t recall hearing about this that much but I don’t watch a lot of news either so I am eager to see how things are going to play out. The acting is pretty good. I can’t complain about that. The episode was fairly decent but a bit long-winded. I am interested in seeing who is going to take the blame for all of this. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of The Salisbury Poisonings can be found on Reel Mockery.