As the 5th episode gets underway, Nick (Ryan Kennedy) and Denise (Sarah Podemski) respond to the truck robbery. They search the scene, before Whitey (Oliver Coopersmith) fires and hits Denise. It appears that Denise is hit in the shoulder. In the morning, Jim (Tim Roth) ignores his radio and stares at his home. He drives away. Moments later, Angela (Genevieve O’Reilly) practices her shooting. Anna (Abigail Lawrie) joins her. Whitey argues with Frank (Ian Puleston-Davies), because Frank stopped Whitey from killing the cop. Godswill (Tobi Bamtefa) intervenes. Louis Gagnon (Christopher Heyerdahl) arrives at the scene and gets into a brief argument with Nick).

Jim drives around in circles, before hitting the pub. Eventually, Nick arrives and tries to talk some sense into him. He fails. Frank helps Randy (Lynda Boyd). He becomes flirtatious and once thing leads to another. Eventually, he licks her armpits and pounds her. Elizabeth (Christina Hendricks) visits Angela at home. Elizabeth tries to strike a peace deal with Angela. She tells Angela how to protect Jim’s pension and healthcare benefits. Angela is handed a contract for Jim to sign. Anna rips it up and insists her father will not sign it. Jim gets confronted by some bikers. He pulls out his gun and points it at the man’s nuts. Moments later, everything returns to normal.

Angela teaches Anna how to shoot. Later, Louis visits Frank. He makes it clear that North Stream tracks all of their employees. Whitey comes up with another plan. Before it is put into action, he and Godswill chat about their relationship. They agree that they’re like brothers. Godswill ends up at the pub. He tells Jim that he is an interventionist. Godswill takes him for a ride moments later. Whitey follows. Jim attacks Godswill and speeds the car down the road. Whitey loses them. Jim slams the car into a power pole and sends Godswill through the windshield. He checks out his ID and gets out. He tries to talk Godswill into telling him who killed his son. Whitey searches for the couple during this time.

Eventually, Whitey spots them. He watches from a distance as Godswill takes the blame for the murder. Jim kills the man and burns his body in the vehicle. Whitey becomes distraught. Frank speaks with his new friend about his relationship with Whitey. He also learns that the bar is out of money. That night, Jim speaks with Anna on the phone. Then, Angela shoots and kills a snake. Jim rushes in. Angela notices the blood on him and washes it off with an insufficient amount of water. Then, they make love. Frank returns home and finds Whitey torn up. Frank comforts him. In the morning, Whitey approaches Jim’s house. The episode ends.

 

Tin Star Review

The recap above is short and sweet, because nothing happened this episode. Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any dumber, they did. The character development in Tin Star is horrendous. One minute, Jim is a terrible drunk loser. The next, he is a brilliant bad arse. The Whitey character flips and flops as well. Is he a psychotic mastermind or a pathetic idiot? In this episode, he fell into the latter category.

He had plenty of time to stroll through the woods and kill Jim. Unfortunately, he didn’t and this horrific show continues onward. The armpit licking was idiotic as well. The series is hoping the last minute or two will be able to keep viewers locked in. Don’t bother. At this point, Tin Star has very few redeemable features. It isn’t worth your time or energy.

This episode scores a low 4 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Tin Star now, if you’re a glutton for punishment.