As the 2nd episode begins, Mark Cobden (Sean Bean) has a nightmare of the accident that landed him behind bars. We hear the victim’s wife belittle Mark before we join Eric McNally (Stephen Graham) in the workshop. Eric leaves the inmates and visits Mark to find out why he isn’t working. Mark explains he is feeling a bit rough and has been thinking about writing a letter to the wife of the man he killed. He confesses there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t think about the man. He thinks it might help the woman to know that. Eric questions if he would ask for forgiveness but Mark says he can’t forgive himself. Eric tells him that they’ll have to write to her and get permission for Mark to send her a letter. He is worried it’ll bring things back up for her but Mark doesn’t think any of it ever went away. Then, he worries that it’ll contain self-pity and that could infuriate her.

Mark says it won’t contain any self-pity so Eric tells him to write it and they’ll read it and see if she wants to read it. Eric asks if Mark is being bullied and says there is no shame in telling on them but Mark denies it. With that, Eric decides to escort Mark to work. As soon as Mark arrives at work, Johnno (James Nelson-Joyce) picks on him and pokes fun at his relationship with McNally. Mark is warned against squealing on him. When Mark returns to his cell, he finds out that he has a new cellmate. Daniel Smithson (Jack McMullen) introduces himself and reminds Mark that he taught him when he was younger. They joke about Mark’s performance as a teacher. Mark claims he was better but got ground down after a while. Meanwhile, Eric is approached by an inmate who has received a color drawing from his daughter and complains he was given a black and white photocopy of it.

Eric explains it is policy because the original might be soaked in spice but the inmate, Paul, says he robbed a betting shop and never used drugs. Paul (Kevin Harvey) wants the original but Eric believes it would’ve been destroyed when the photocopy was taken. Another inmate interrupts and that leads to a fight between him and Paul. Eric quickly calls for help but manages to get things under control on his own. Paul is taken back to his cell before Governor Cameron (Franc Ashman) approaches Eric and tells him that his son has been attacked in Chapel Grove. He is shocked to learn his son is now in critical condition. Eric is given permission to leave so he takes off immediately. Eric and Sonia (Hannah Walters) go to the prison to see David (Paddy Rowan). They find their son in a pitiful state and sit with him. David acknowledges them. When they leave later that night, Sonia admits she always hated Eric’s job.

She wonders where David can go next since Chapel Grove is no longer safe. She recommends Eric quit his job since that might convince them to leave David alone. Eric warns her that they would kill him anyway. When they go inside, Sonia suggests getting David moved to Eric’s nick so they could keep an eye on him but Eric doesn’t think that would work. He says it only takes a second and they could get him in the yard, shower, or anywhere. Later that night, Eric tells Sonia he is going to do what they want him to do if the inmates approach him again. Mark gets food from the cafeteria. As he returns to his cell, Johnno spits on the food on his tray and Mark does nothing. Later, Mark attends a group meeting session and listens to Paul talk about his crime. Marie-Louise (Siobhan Finneran) thanks Paul for sharing his story before Mark returns to his cell. Mark spots Eric and gives him the letter he wrote to his victim’s wife.

Eric believes it is suitable and says they’ll have to contact her to see if she wants the letter. Then, another inmate asks Eric about his son getting out of the hospital. Eric admits he was expecting this conversation but he didn’t think it would be with Flanagan (Shaun Mason). Once Flanagan knows Eric is serious, he tells him that it is Jackson Jones (Brian McCardie). Eric confronts Jones and asks what he wants him to do. When Eric leaves the prison, he is confronted by a woman who knows he was Bernard’s personal officer. He tells Margaret Hughes (Maxine Evans) that putting Bernard in segregation was a last resort. He tells her that Bernard was harming himself so they put him in segregation. He says there wasn’t anywhere else for him. He knows Bernard should’ve been in the hospital but half of the inmates should be. He says they do the best they can for them and Bernard was a good lad who shouldn’t have been in there.

She breaks his rear light when he tries to drive away. Moments later, Kavanagh (Terence Maynard) pulls Mark aside and asks him about being a teacher. Kav shuts the door and explains it is his 20th wedding anniversary next week and he created a card for his wife, but he wants Mark to write something in it for her. When Mark learns he can’t read or write, he agrees to help teach him and says this can be his first lesson. They sit down and work together to write the letter to Jane. Once they’ve finished, Kav tells Mark he owes him one. Later that night, Eric gets a call and receives instructions for picking up a package in the morning. He gets up early and Sonia watches as he heads toward the old bridge to pick it up. A young man meets him and gives him a bag. He recognizes Eric and says he was on his wing. Eric doesn’t remember him until he introduces himself as the king of the cleaners Kenny Meadows (Michael Socha).

Kenny never thought it would be Eric but he says it is a long story. Eric is told the item is a vest with pockets containing pick and mix and that he should wear it today. Eric returns home and puts on the vest while talking to Sonia about the drugs. She is worried they can see it under his shirt but Eric thinks he’ll be okay when he puts his jumper on. Eric goes to the prison and gets inside without raising suspicion. He immediately goes to Jones’s cell and gives him the drugs. He asks if they could keep them off of the wing but Jones says no. Jones says that is all for now before Eric leaves. Jones tells the other inmate to get the drugs out of his cell. The inmates begin using the drugs and Eric has to deal with it. He finds Sarfraz high. He gets his cap back before the alarm sounds. Eric gets Paul to put Sarfraz in his cell in the recovery position and calls for assistance.

An inmate is taken to the hospital before we jump forward to day 63. Mark gets a visit from his wife Alicia (Nadine Marshall) and John and hears Daniel complaining about getting more time. Alicia says she has something to tell him while John (David Calder) goes for chocolate. He tells Alicia about someone stealing his food so she tells him to stop them. She says she wanted to tell him to his face that she wants a divorce. He soon learns that she has found someone and he wants her to move in with him. He gets on with Tom too. Alicia admits she is going to move in with him before asking how long the drinking has been going on but Mark says it never stopped. When John joins them, Alicia tells Mark she’ll post him some papers and will not visit him again. Jackson Jones approaches Daniel and asks him about the year he got added to his sentence. Daniel is sentenced to 21 years now. Jones believes he can make that 21 years as sweet as possible with tea, coffee, sweets, and other things but Daniel would have to mind stuff for him.

Daniel says he’ll need to ask Mark because they share a cell and both will get blamed if something is found. Jackson tells him to forget it before leaving. Later, Marie approaches Daniel and asks if he wants to talk about losing his appeal. She says they were waiting for it to be over before Gerard Wilson’s parents asked him if he’ll talk to them. They want to know why Daniel did it, but he doesn’t want to talk to them. When Marie leaves, Mark encourages Daniel to see them since it is the least he could do and he’d give his right arm to be able to do it. Daniel asks Mark if he’ll go with him and Mark agrees to do so. Next, we jump forward to day 88 and Mark goes with Daniel as he prepared to meet Gerard’s parents. They join Frank and Helen Wilson. Eric starts the conversation but suggests Marie should mediate the conversation.

Everyone begins by introducing themselves. Frank says he’d like to get an understanding of what happened and Helen follows up by saying why. Daniel apologizes before admitting he didn’t want to meet initially because he was ashamed. He also says he didn’t want to see the pain they are in. Then, Daniel tells them how he accidentally took a drink of Gerard’s alcohol and was caught. He knew he should’ve bought him another but didn’t have enough money. Gerard offered to take him outside and deal with it so Daniel considered his options. Although they were of equal size, Gerard was a boxer and started battering Daniel. To defend himself, Daniel pulled a knife but he didn’t intend to use it. He claims it was only intended to stop the punches from coming and it worked.

Daniel says that should’ve been the end of it and Gerard should’ve called him a name and went back into the bar. Gerard didn’t go away and Daniel didn’t want to look like a mug by putting the knife away. Gerard knew it but decided to be fearless and neither of them can go back. Daniel decided to use the knife. He says once he pulled out the knife the hardest thing to do was to not use it. He admits he killed Gerard just to save face but Frank thought it was anger and Helen thought it was jealousy. Helen tells him it is unforgivable. When they finish, Mark returns to his cell but Daniel goes to Jones and says he’ll mind stuff for a bit of brown. Once Daniel agrees to the terms, he is told someone will bring it to him. Eric receives word and tells Mark that she doesn’t want to read it. Eric tells him he has read loads of letters like that but Mark’s was really good.

Eric gives Mark the letter and leaves. Then, Johnno and his boys enter and attack Mark. Johnno threatens to make sure he never walks again before pouring turps all over his feet. Johnno says he is going to set his feet on fire while calling him the screw’s bum boy. Daniel walks in on them and asks what is going on. He threatens to press the panic button before Johnno and Mark agree that they were just messing about. When they leave, Mark admits he has to do something before asking Daniel if he knows anyone. Daniel says he does and Mark meets with Jones a few moments later. Jones knows about his problem with Johnno and warns that they’ll be others and it’ll be bad if he lets them walk all over him. When asked, Mark says he can’t fight really. Jones offers to help but Mark will owe him one. They step into Jones’s cell and he tells Mark he’ll need to hurt Johnno once and he’ll stop.

He agrees to make sure none of Johnno’s pals jump in. Jackson asks Mark to punch his hand but he isn’t impressed with his power. He says he isn’t a Goliath but he would hurt Johnno because he is willing to do things that others won’t. Mark hits his hands again and Jones believes that should do it. Mark goes on with his normal routine until Johnno spits on his food once again. This time, he puts the tray down and goes back for Johnno. Mark gets hit a few times before he bites Johnno’s ear and the guards break it up. Next, Eric tells Mark he has a visit but Mark doesn’t want them to see him like that. Mark asks Eric to tell them that he got missed off of the list. Eric goes to Mark’s parents and tells them he isn’t on the list and he can’t do anything about it. Mark talks to his mother on the phone and she tries to figure out why he didn’t want to see them.

He continues lying to her before the call ends and we see Johnno standing behind him. Johnno waits patiently until he gets to use the phone and says nothing as Mark walks by. Next, they’re taken in front of the Governor and both claim they were sparring and it just got out of hand. Eric says he has reason to believe Milner has been bullying Cobden, but Mark denies it. Johnno is given 7 days CC and Mark receives a caution. When Mark returns to his cell, he finds Daniel using drugs. Mark doesn’t want any and Daniel admits he never touched the stuff until he came to prison. Mark has the same nightmare and can’t stop hearing his victim’s wife. Eric meets with Kenny again. Kenny tells him to bring the vest next time and it surprises Eric that they’ll be a next time. Eric receives the package before being handed 300 quid. Eric doesn’t want it and Kenny knew it would say that but he can’t let him leave without taking it.

Kenny wonders why he is actually doing this so Eric tells him about David. On the way home, Eric is pulled over by a cop because his rear light is smashed. The officer says it is okay as long as he gets it sorted out in the morning and leaves.

 

Time Recap

This episode of Time was equally good, if not better, than the opener. I can’t wait to see how things are going to go down during the finale. I can’t imagine it is going to be good for any of the main characters at this point. Daniel and Mark are indebted to Jackson Jones so I wonder what they’re going to have to do to repay their debts.

As for Eric, he has found himself between a rock and a hard spot and he too is indebted to Jackson Jones. Eric would obviously do anything to protect his son but it might cost him his freedom. Although Mark has finally stopped Johnno, he likely has a bigger problem to deal with. I wish I could watch the finale immediately but I have a lot of other things to do.

I loved the authenticity of this episode and how we were able to follow the prisoner and prison guard on equally dangerous paths. The episode was great so I’d give it an 8.5 out of 10. More recaps of Time can be found on Reel Mockery here.