As the episode starts, Daniel (Martin Compston) makes it back to his apartment building in time to see Emma (Molly Windsor) hanging from the ledge. A neighbor notices Emma hanging there so he tries to help. The neighbor saves Emma as Daniel and Philip (Vincent Regan) make it to his door. The neighbor asks Emma if she feels safe with these two men and she says no. Daniel and Vincent leave together while Daniel asks his father what happened. After that, Emma, Daniel, and Philip are interviewed by police. Emma says she felt threatened by Philip but Daniel doesn’t believe that.

Once the interviews stop, Emma finds out that Philip has been charged with breaching the peace. She didn’t want him charged but it is too late now. Daniel meets with her outside and gives her his coat. He seems upset and confused by Emma’s actions. She admits it had something to do with Philip mentioning her mother’s death. Kathy (Jennifer Spence) speaks with Neil (Michael Nardone) about the work done on Marie’s case. She says it was pretty shoddy so they’re interested in doing it again. Back at home, Emma tells Daniel she feels stupid about her behavior.

Daniel gets a call from his father who tells him they do not expect a prosecution. They believe that it’ll all come to nothing. Emma and Daniel sleep together that night. Emma has a nightmare about meeting Philip for the first time. The following day, Kathy and Neil go to the location where Marie’s body was discovered. They agree to test the soil so they can find the exact spot before Kathy calls Pia and asks her to return. Before Emma leaves, she puts a thank you note under the neighbor’s door. Then, he heads to work and speakers with Janine Muir (Andrea Hart). Emma wants to talk to Neil but she lost her phone and can’t get in touch with him.

They chat a bit before Neil arrives and takes Emma to a private room. She tells him that Philip recognized her mother from her face. She suspects Philip knows something about her mother’s death but Neil is a bit apprehensive. Emma is asked if she would leave Dundee for a while but she isn’t going to do that. When Neil leaves, he meets with Sarah (Laura Fraser) to tell her about Emma’s relationship with Daniel. They’re worried that it might jeopardize the Secrets case. Sarah goes to Emma and asks her about it. Emma tells her she didn’t know about Daniel having anything to do with the fire until later. Sarah seems to believe Daniel is using their relationship to protect himself.

Emma loses her temper and Sarah puts her in her place. Then, she whines about Sarah not caring how she feels. Emma’s partner enters but leaves a short time later. Trina (Morayo Akande) tells Neil they can get the DNA because it is custody DNA. Louise (Anna Leong Brophy) asks Emma why Sarah is mad at her while Sarah tells Kathy about the conversation. Neil and Trina go over the evidence in Marie’s case. They speak about Jimmy mentioning Marie dancing on cruise ships. This convinced them that Jimmy was jealous. Neil wonders if Daniel and Philip are playing Emma. The following day, Neil speaks with Daniel about the Emma and Philip problem. Neil vapes and spots Philip as he returns to the construction company.

Then, they chat about Daniel being unable to give investigators the paperwork for the Secrets job. Philip says they do not want them poking about in the paperwork. Neil and Trina find out that Philip’s DNA is on the headboard. They go to Izzy (Laurie Brett) to ask her about Philip. She says she had a thing with Philip but it is history now. She says Philip might’ve crossed Marie at times. Izzy does know Vincent and she doesn’t like him. She says he is an evil drug dealer. Meanwhile, Emma apologizes to Sarah and admits she knows why she was angry with her. Emma is told she’ll be gone if she slips up like that again. Then, Sarah lets Louise know that the police are going to be dropping off a pack of important drugs.

Emma immediately suspects they’re the drugs that have been killing people. Neil visits Philip’s ex-wife who admits Phil liked to have rough sex and she should have left him earlier. She checks her book and finds out when Phil visited her. She agrees to let Neil hang onto her book. Emma returns to Daniel’s house and makes up with him. Neil tells Sarah that something is not right with Emma and her new friends. He feels that Daniel and Emma legitimately like one another. Meanwhile, Emma tells Daniel she thinks it is strange that he changed his mind about doing the right thing and she blames Philip. They spar back and forth before Daniel tells her to shut up.

Emma leaves and goes to her father’s house because she wants to get stoned. Drew (John Gordon Sinclair) lets her in and they get stoned together. Drew encourages her not to buy anything from the dark web before saying Marie liked to smoke and snort. Eventually, Drew says he has something he needs to tell her. He says he is going to have a baby and Emma finds that funny. Neil tries to find Phil Macafee in the computer system but can’t find anything. He can’t find anything for the last name Macafee either and that is a bit unbelievable. In the morning, it appears that Emma almost late for work again. She teams up with Louise to test the deadly drugs.

Later, Pia joins Kathy and Neil. They discuss their decision to investigate Philip and search the discovery site once again. Emma tells Sarah about the findings from the drug testing. Then, Emma finds out that they’re going to officially reopen the Marie case. To do that, Emma will have to step away from SIFA until it concludes. Julie meets up with her outside and finds out that she no longer has a job. Julie tries to take her home but Emma isn’t ready to go yet. Julie admits she should’ve given Emma more room. Julie intends to return home that night. They speak about the last name Hedges. Philip visits Izzy in the hospital and she seems frightened to see him.

He mentions Skye and Emma. Philip shuts the curtain and tells Izzy how painful it can be to bring up the past.

 

Traces Review

By this point, everyone knows how I feel about Traces. So, I only have a few things to point out about this episode. First, I have to mention the Pia character. That character was an insignificant waste of time until this episode. Why did they decide to make her a part of the dig with Kathy? It is tough to believe she was a forensic anthropologist or whatever all along. Sometimes, it feels like the writers threw things together at the last second.

I also thought it was unbelievable that Neil was unable to find anything about any Macafee in the police computer system. Those systems are massive and Macafee isn’t a unique name. There would be tons of people with that last name and many of them would be in the system. I’ll say that Emma and Marie do not look much alike. So, I am not sure how Philip would see Marie in Emma. Finally, very little has happened. I am surprised the next episode is the finale.

The Secrets nightclub case was barely mentioned this episode. I suspect they’re going to leave us on a cliffhanger with hopes of securing another season. I hope that doesn’t happen. Please wrap it up and move on. The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Traces are available on Reel Mockery right now!