As this episode of Traces begins, Father Nkusi (Patrice Naiambana) talks to a small group about a state of grace and what that means for each of them. Azra McKinven (Laila Rouass) joins the Chief Constable (Gordon Kennedy) on the stage to accept an award for her work in intelligence analysis. Thanks to digital profiling, she managed to connect nine people to armed robbery in the area. Nkusi says people try hard to get a sensation of rightness by doing and saying the right things. Professor Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) is the next to receive an award. The Constable tells the audience that Gordon collaborated with them on a research project into street drugs. Someone enters the room to join Father Nkusi and his people. Gordon’s work also helped shut down a drug factory in Dundee and stop the supply of lethal drugs.

Before Sarah leaves the stage, she gives credit to her team and Emma Hedges (Molly Windsor). Father Nkusi suggests grace is out there somewhere and you just have to open yourself up to it. Out of nowhere, there is an explosion. After the intro, Emma approaches DCI Neil McKinven (Michael Nardone) to see if he knows where Sarah went, but he doesn’t. He asks her how she is feeling about the trial. She admits it won’t feel real until it starts, but she wants to get him locked up and get it over with. He recommends talking to Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence) because she can help prepare her to testify in court. Sarah and Kathy join them moments later as Neil asks Sarah how she has been. Azra walks over and talks to them. Sarah and Azra congratulate one another and discuss how Azra used telephony data to profile the criminals.

When Azra and Neil leave, Azra tells him that Sarah fancies him although he doesn’t want to believe. Neil argues she is just a shy woman, but Azra accuses him of being blind. She believes Sarah knows a good thing when she sees it. Neil gets a phone call from his boss who tells him about an explosion in Newport. Since they’ve ruled out gas, they suspect it might be a bomb. The boss wants Neil to be his deputy. Daniel MacAfee (Martin Compston) checks on Emma and learns she got mentioned when she arrives home. Once Aileen (Stella Gonet) joins them, Emma tells them about DCI McKinven’s wife and other things before she realizes something is going on. Daniel reveals Wednesday is the confirmed date of the trial.

Aileen is not being called as a witness although she isn’t sure why. Emma rushes to the bathroom. Aileen tells Daniel this is good because it’ll get them back into the real world and out of cuckoo land. Later, Emma tells Daniel he could come with her to get training from Torrance, but he isn’t worried about being in court. They agree they’re in this together before Emma reveals her period is late. It doesn’t freak either of them out. The next day, Emma goes to the scene of the bombing as she suspects the bomb was deflagrating instead of detonating. She tells Sarah this is because it looks like it was a wave of energy that pushed up and out. At the office, Kathy is told what student communities are saying about her on Facebook. They talk about SIFA and the fact that it is a successful department.

Kathy defends herself by saying she might drop the ball if she has to go to a crime scene, but she always picks it up when she returns. Students like coming to SIFA because she and Sarah do case studies. The Dean (Badria Timimi) encourages her to put the students first and make whatever adjustments are needed to do that. Kathy also learns that the Animal Welfare Society is worried about the treatment of the pigs and the students are worried. Kathy suggests she and Erika (Krysten Peck) could do a presentation to dispel any myths of what they’re doing. They agree to have a follow-up chat in a few weeks to see how Kathy is doing. Emma sends Daniel one last text before getting suited up to check the scene of the bombing.

When they find one of the dead bodies, Emma admits she thought he’d be more damaged. Sarah says the pressure wave from the blast would disrupt internal organs and kill you. Father Nkusi asks DCI McKinven who entered the building before the explosion. Neil explains that the name’s man was Joe Tinto. They track down and talk to Ruth Tinto (Pamela Byrne) who says he wanted to go to the talk but had lost track of time while fixing his bike. She encourages him to go even though he hadn’t showered. Father Nkusi is told that the bomb was already in the room and not on Joe. He believes someone targeted him because they think black priests should stay in black countries.

He set up the East African Catholic Brotherhood and is campaigning for the relaxation of celibacy for priests. When asked if he has received any threatening messages, he says there is a lot of hate in the world. Meanwhile, Emma helps mark out items of interest and find the epicenter of the explosion. Neil’s partner, DS Safi Khurana (Rohit Kumar), can’t see someone planning out a bombing because you hate someone for something they did. He understands doing it with a gun while raging though. Sarah finds copper piping before learning that Nkusi thinks it is personal and some type of hate crime. If she was one of the people who wanted to kill Nkusi, she would’ve made a device to target him specifically so she doesn’t agree with Nkusi’s theory.

A pipe bomb typically tries to harm as many people as possible and it may contain shrapnel to hit more people. She hasn’t seen anything like that here yet making it an odd situation. Back at the office, Kathy complains to Janine Muir (Andrea Hart) about putting beetroot in the cake. Janine says the acceptance of donated cakes has to be unconditional. Then, they begin talking about the awards ceremony and Neil’s wife being a hottie. Kathy makes sure she has a gap in her schedule for Emma. Then, Janine tells her that people on Twitter think it was a racist attack. Kathy suggests social media is just a people whipping things up and going unchecked. Daniel meets with Joseph Mann (John Mackay) who confirms his dad will be in court throughout.

Daniel claims he isn’t worried about his father or seeing his father because he has had months to stew on it. He has built a wall and put everything he feels behind it. They’re not sure whether Phil (Vincent Regan) will be called as a witness although Joseph admits he wouldn’t call him. The murder trial will come first. Joseph agrees it is going to get very personal because Daniel’s dad killed Emma’s mom. Sarah tells Emma that a pipe bomb like this would have caps on both ends. She looks through the debris in hopes of finding both caps. She finds one of them seconds later. Daniel drives past a Perth and Kinross sign. When Emma finishes and removes her protective suit, she remembers her childhood and her mother. Daniel arrives outside Perth Prison.

He gets Emma’s message and calls her to leave a message before a prison guard confronts him. He reminds Daniel that he can’t be here if he isn’t going to visit someone. Emma sits down with Kathy who tells her how the case is going to go. She knows the defense will go after her methodology and science before they come after her personally. She takes off her shoes because it grounds her. Then, she focuses on the jury and not the accused. Since Emma hates Phil so much, she is worried she is going to lose credibility when he begins yelling and screaming at him. Kathy instructs her to tell herself she won’t lose it and instead focus on the facts. Daniel seems to be panicking at home though. Neil thanks Sarah for covering today before she asks him to make sure the body is scanned for embedded fragments.

Sarah has a question mark about the timer since it might’ve gone off later than initially planned. When he asks why she thinks that, she offers to ring him later. Neil admits he doesn’t want her ringing him when he is at home because he is trying to improve his work-life balance. She offers to email her notes to him, but he’d rather him them now. They’re interrupted by a man who tells Neil that the National Crime Agency folk told him Sarah would be handling the case. She offers to show him the high-security laboratory if he has clearance. He does since he is the Procurator Fiscal.

That night, Neil and Azra discuss the bombing and whether a political group could come forward to claim credit for it. Azra jokes about Neil and Sarah as Neil admits they’ll be working together for a few days or so. Daniel tries to calm himself by listening to relaxing audio. Emma interrupts to ask what he has been doing today. She shows him the pregnancy test that she took and explains it is faint since it is early, but it is still positive. Emma says it is what they’ve always talked about although it is a heck of a lot sooner. As for Daniel, he is delighted. He says they should find a place to live and have a baby. The next day, Sarah and Emma prepare to get to work at the SIFA laboratory while Neil tells his partners what Sarah was saying about the timer.

The class before bible study is Pilates and the teacher is making a list of people who attended. She always takes the class from the raised end of the hall. Anyone looking in through the window would know where to plant a bomb. Security is limited and there is no CCTV. Superintendent Gavin Blair (Peter Forbes) tells them that the anti-terrorism department is looking at it and waiting to see if the case will be theirs. Sarah and Emma begin sifting through the evidence and looking for potential DNA. Kathy tells Erika about the pig problem so she offers to make a fun presentation about it. Then, she asks Erika about some of the first years who are dissatisfied with her. Erika admits she hears that sometimes although students drive her crazy because they never read the atlas when she does a demonstration.

She goes on to say they should be glad to have her before offering to tell her who it is. Sarah and Emma lay out the timer, initiator, detonator, and main charge. Sarah tells John, Neil, and Safi that the chemical residue from inside the pipe is being analyzed so they’ll know what the explosive material was tomorrow. Emma has made a replicate so they can see what she is talking about. She tells them how the timer sends an electrical shock to the battery that eventually sets off the bomb. The hands of the timer were blown off so they’re not sure whether it was five to six or 25 minutes past 12. Emma explains that the evidence shows the timer was set for five to six even though it went off at five to seven. The clocks went forward, but the bomber didn’t change the time.

As a result, the target was likely attending the Pilates class. Emma tells them that the bomb was in a box inside a sports bag stored in one of the cubby holes. Whoever put the bomb there had a six-hour window to work with. John is impressed with her work. Later that night, Emma tells Daniel how everyone thought the bombing was about the priest from Rwanda when it was really about something else. Daniel believes this type of thing happens all the time because the experts thought they knew and didn’t look at anything else. Although Emma believes Prof Gordon looked at everything, Daniel suggests miscarriages of justice happen all the time. She fires back by saying men kill women and get away with it all the time.

Daniel says it was 19 years ago and none of them were there. Ultimately, that is why they’re having a trial. Emma questions why he needs to keep defending Phil. Daniel says it is because she wants him to be a murderer and he doesn’t. Emma insists she doesn’t want him to be one, but she thinks he is one. Aileen interrupts to say they need to be kind because tomorrow is a big day. Emma tells them what DCI McKinven said about not sleeping the night before. It came from a good place since people are trying to prepare them although Aileen doesn’t think you can prepare for something like this. Instead, she argues the lawyers are the ones who need to prepare. Emma excuses herself to call Julie as she promised. While they’re alone, Daniel asks his mother if she remembers taking the caravan to Skye.

They admit they’ve been thinking about times when they were a happy family. Aileen has been thinking about his birth, how he came on quick, and how Phil was fantastic. She isn’t sure how they got here. While she knew Phil was a philanderer, she didn’t know he was capable of murder. Daniel confesses he doesn’t want to be the guy who gets his father put away. Aileen instructs him to go into the courtroom and give his piece of the puzzle because that is all he has. The judge and jury will be responsible for putting him away. When Aileen learns about Emma being pregnant, she hopes to God she isn’t. She argues that he can’t have a baby with her and shouldn’t even be with that girl because no good can come of it.

The next day, Daniel and Emma head to the courthouse together. Kathy tells Sarah that they want her in court around lunch. They hope Emma will be okay before Kathy complains about the Dean sneaking around on Facebook. Sarah believes they just need to give Jean Bruzzi time to settle in. Kathy confirms her PhD Erika told her who the students were that don’t like her. Sarah reminds her it is her relationship with her first-year students so she needs to be in charge of it. She asks Kathy if she can ask her about something weird.  She begins telling Kathy about her relationship with Neil and how they developed a crush on each other before she learned about his beautiful wife. Sarah worries his wife thinks she is infatuated with him or something although she claims she isn’t. She wonders if she should come clean, but Kathy says there is nothing to come clean about.

Kathy believes Neil’s work-life balance excuse for asking her not to call at night and doesn’t think she should do anything. Next, Sarah meets with Superintendent Blair and others to tell them the substance found in the pipe war gunpowder. She speculates that they removed the gunpowder from fireworks and anyone could’ve done it. Neil says the guy didn’t even have the skill to set the time right, but Blair questions whether it is a guy. They begin talking about the tools needed to make a bomb like that. The ends of the wires have clear plier marks and a piece of the wire is embedded in the victim. They need to be looking for that specific tool. Sarah shows them a picture of a piece of wood with #1 on it. Blair worries this could be the bomber telling them this is a campaign and the first bombing.

Once they leave, Neil tells Sarah about a woman from the Pilates class who just got out of a relationship with a physically abuse guy. They’re going to talk to him since he threatened to kill her if she left him. They hope it is a one-off although Sarah doesn’t seem positive about that. She promises to have her finished report to him sometime next week. Neil admits he is worried he hurt her feelings since their conversation turned a bit awkward, but she says they can handle awkward. They agree they’re good and would hate for them not to be good. Before Daniel enters the courtroom, he tells Emma he loves her and she says the same. He is told the witness box is on the left-hand side. As he enters the courtroom, he sees Phil who is staring right at him. He begins panicking as he swears to tell the truth.

Then, he is asked about discovering that his father had done some digging work two days after the Tall Ships Festival. Daniel admits he told McKinven because he thought it might have something to do with Marie Monroe’s murder. He believed it was possible that his father killed her. When asked about the night of September 20, he explains he came home from work and saw Emma hanging from the balcony which is three floors up. His dad was on the balcony while the guy below his flat helped Emma climb down to safety. When it was over, Emma reported his dad to the police for threatening her to the point that she climbed over the balcony even though his dad said it was a misunderstanding. He believed his father because he trusted him and loved him at the time.

The defense solicitor objects when Daniel is asked whether his father was ever threatening to him. A man in the audience takes notes of everything happening as the judge agrees to hear the testimony. Daniel admits his father was threatening to him after the balcony incident when he asked some questions he didn’t like. He asked Phil about cheating a client. Daniel knew he did and could prove it. He also questioned him about being unfaithful to his mother when she had cancer. When asked how he was threatened, we see a flashback of Phil ridiculing him. Daniel tells the court that he assassinated his character and said he’d win if he took him on. Phil had never verbally attacked him or showed that side of himself ever before.

The event made Daniel reconsider Emma’s account of the balcony incident. Daniel felt like it was someone who would do whatever they must to get what they want or out of whatever they don’t want. He has never seen that in his dad before because he never stood up to him and thought he was perfect. Despite getting emotional, Daniel doesn’t want to take a break. The defense solicitor asks Daniel whether he is making this up and feeling remorse, but he denies both. He is told about the events that caused him to revise his opinion of his father. It is alleged that Daniel’s relationship with Emma Hedges changed his opinion and turned his world upside-down. Meanwhile, Sarah has to slam on her brakes when a biker unexpectedly pulls in front of her. Then, she hears an explosion around the corner. As she gets closer, it looks like a nail salon has been blown up.

 

Traces Review

The second season of Traces has started off on a good note with a few genuinely engrossing storylines. First, Sarah and Emma are investigating a bombing at a Pilates class and another at a nail salon. Phil is going on trial so Emma and Daniel are being forced to testify. There also seems to be some room for conflict in their relationship because of Phil’s trial.

I think the relationships could really shine here especially with Daniel and Emma as they have to deal with the trial and its possible outcome. One particular character gets on my nerves, but I am not sure if this is intentional. Regardless, this was a decent start for the opening episode of Traces’ second season. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Traces can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support Reel Mockery by following this link.