As this episode of The Tourist begins, Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee) tells Connor it is cloudy out. He doesn’t think they should be there so they turn and get out of the progression. Once they go inside, Aisling asks Frank what he is doing there since he’d be alive if it wasn’t for him. She says it was Frank’s filth that he stuck in his arm. Frank says he was a good boy before leaving. He steps outside and gets a call confirming Briain has been killed. Helen (Danielle Macdonald) calls Detective Slater (Conor MacNeill) to tell him what she just saw. She is sure he is dead because she is standing over him. Slater thinks she should leave the scene because it could be dangerous.

Slater tells his doll named Mary he is going to have to leave. On his way out, he says good morning to Deirdre who says there is a stink coming from his home. She tells him it is okay to ask for help. Elliot (Jamie Dornan) tries to get a signal on his phone. Donal (Diarmaid Murtagh) says he is going to drive himself back so Orla and Fergal can look for Elliot. Donal wants Elliot killed even though that wasn’t the deal with Frank. He leaves on a boat as the others go after Elliot. Frank goes to the scene to see Briain’s body. He tells Liam this means the peacetime is over. Helen goes into a pub to get alcohol. She sits down and tries to call Elliot who still can’t get a signal on his phone. Elliot has to hide when Orla (Nessa Matthews) and Fergal (Mark McKenna) get too close.

He hangs over the ledge to avoid being caught while Fergal goes on and on about a dream he had. When they finally leave, Elliot climbs back to the surface. Then, he finally gets in touch with Helen to say he is on an island off Ireland. He has to say it multiple times to ensure she understands. The call ends abruptly. Elliot finds a house and breaks in through the window. Orla drives by but doesn’t notice Elliot. He looks around and finds a skeleton before having to hide from Fergal. When Fergal walks by, Elliot attacks him. Fergal tries to fight back, but he doesn’t stand a chance. Elliot puts a gun in his mouth and asks how to get off the island. Orla radios Fergal to see if he saw anything. Elliot makes him respond and pretend nothing is wrong.

Fergal tries to escape but ends up falling and hurting his leg. He offers to show Elliot how to get off the island if Elliot helps him. He can take Elliot to a rowboat. Elliot shuts the door with the intention of leaving him until Fergal says he is afraid to die. Ethan Krum (Greg Larsen) records himself on the airplane. He grabs onto Lena Pascal (Victoria Haralabidou) when the plane experiences turbulence. Lena agrees to talk to him since it may calm him down. Ethan begins telling her about Helen. Slater makes it to the bar where he learns that Elliot called Helen. Helen tells him about following Niamh. When they go back to the scene, the body is already gone. Frank comes outside and speaks to them. Helen notices a mop nearby so she accuses Frank of destroying the crime scene.

While Slater looks around, Frank asks Helen if she is a well-meaning busybody. When she says she isn’t scared of him, Franks argues she doesn’t know who she is talking to. Slater returns and leaves with Helen. Meanwhile, Elliot keeps an eye on Fergal who tries to take his gun. Fergal tells him that his family has used the property as a smuggling spot forever. About 60 years ago, there was a big shootout when the Cassidy family came for them. When it was over, Frank’s uncle wanted the bodies to rest where they lay. Fergal has to tell Elliot that he a Cassidy. Slater asks Helen why Elliot doesn’t go by Cassidy. Helen knows Frank owns Kilgal Whiskey. When Niamh saw the photo of the bottle from the scene, she turned white.

Helen asks why he is so scared of Frank. Slater questions whether she has heard of the Hatfields and McCoys. He explains that’s pretty much how the Cassidys and the McDonnells are. Slater admits Niamh Cassidy runs it, but he promises he is not on the take. He says any investigation opened concerning those families is shut down very quickly. Helen is warned these families do not mess around. Fergal tells Elliot he is supposed to be helping them get to something. He stops talking. Elliot wants to know what he has done to make him the enemy. He asks if he even has family there. Fergal says she is going to find them. Elliot splints his leg so they can leave. Slater admits he isn’t going to Niamh’s house even though Helen believes she can help.

Elliot helps Fergal walk. They have to stop for a minute. Fergal eventually tells Elliot that Frank is the reason they’re taking him. He doesn’t know why because no one really tells him anything important. Fergal says the feud stuff bores him. Frank goes to the museum where Asim is tending to Donal’s face. Frank tells him about Briain who was killed by Niamh Cassidy. He says she wrote the word “Cogadh” on the wall before saying it means war. Frank asks what he expected when he took her son. He knows there was something between them before Elliot skipped town and Donal wouldn’t let it lie. Donal insists he did it for Frank for his birthday. He thought they could use Elliot to squeeze Mama Cassidy. Donal says he didn’t know it’d start another war. Frank squeezes his shoulder.

He knows Donal laughs at him for building the museum. Frank says people seem to forget that history has a habit of repeating itself. Helen tells Slater she can’t sit around a motel room doing nothing. She questions why she had to suggest coming there. Slater says everything happens for a reason. She wonders how he is going to move forward if he doesn’t know where he is coming from. Slater tells her she is a sweet-hearted beautiful woman. Helen asks if he is hitting on her, but Slater quickly says no. While going through Elliot’s things, they find an engagement ring. She rushes out. Ethan continues speaking to Lena. She tells Ethan that there is a man in Ireland she intends to surprise. She goes on to say she is going to make him pay for everything he’s done.

Fergal and Elliot continue walking to the boat. Fergal yells at him not to drink the water because the plant nearby drops its leaves in it and it’ll poison him. Elliot admits he has done some terrible things and he isn’t sure he can live with some of them. He tried to end it all once, but his girlfriend pulled him out of it. Fergal mentions Elliot’s mom and says she lives in a village called Clogal. Helen visits Niamh to talk to her about killing Briain. Helen says they just want Elliot back. Niamh argues she already has it in hand. She tells Helen she doesn’t know Elliot or even his real name. Niamh says a war has just started. Fergal and Elliot make it to a bench by the water. Elliot leaves the radio on the bench while checking on his phone. Fergal manages to contact Orla to let her know he is being held captive.

Elliot finds out that he told her where they are. He leaves Fergal and flees. Helen goes to the station where she asks Sgt O’Brien to see every file they have on the incident at Sclata Café, on Frank, and Niamh. Orla puts Fergal on a boat while Helen goes through the files. Frank calls Monsieur Tiote (Reginal Kudiwu) to tell him that Niamh’s boy is back. Frank asks if he can help. Tiote says they’ll help. Helen finds something interesting. Fergal and Orla talk about Frank. Orla wants him to get off the boat so she can go back for Elliot. When she is away, Fergal opens the compartment and allows Elliot to escape. Fergal reminds him to tell no one because they’ll both be dead otherwise. Elliot asks him about the distillery where Frank is. Helen goes to Slater’s home to look for him.

Since the door is open, she goes inside and looks around. Elliot looks around the museum. Helen goes into the basement where the doll is sitting. Slater gets upset when he sees her downstairs before she finds a corpse nearby. He wishes she hadn’t seen that. Elliot finds a sculpture of himself. Nearby, it has a button that he pushes to receive information about the disappearance of Elliot Stanley. It just says he went missing a long time ago.

 

The Tourist Review

The second series of The Tourist continues to spiral into one absurdity after another. While some of the performances remain strong and certain relationships are dynamic, the show’s juvenile side has really hurt any impact the story might’ve had. The story, the dialogue, and the character’s actions are just too asinine to be believed. It would possibly be easy to overlook one or two minor things here and there, but the series is overloaded with eye-rolling moments.

Today, most shows tend to have dumb cops, but Detective Slater takes that to a whole new level. And, his incompetence is combined with him hanging onto his wife’s corpse. The dialogue often rambles about nonsense just so the series can reach the six-episode count. It was excruciating when Elliot kept saying island over and over and Fergal babbled about his dream nonsense.

These scenes are best skipped because they add nothing to the series except frustration. And of course, the characters are doing the dumbest things. Elliot remained in the boat with Fergal for a long time instead of running away. I guess he briefly forgot that Orla is trying to kill him and she’s only a stone’s throw away. Then, he walked into the distillery instead of trying to get away from the people who want to kill him.

On the other hand, some of the interactions between Elliot and Fergal were actually interesting. They were the highlight of an otherwise dull, frustrating episode that scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Tourist can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this series and more at the Reel Mockery Forum.