As this episode of Traces begins, DCI Neil McKinven (Michael Nardone) holds a press conference to tell the media about the explosion at the nail bar in which two people have died. He cannot say whether the bombing is connected to the previous one. Daniel MacAfee (Martin Compston) watches from the audience as Emma Hedges (Molly Windsor) enters the courtroom to give her testimony. She takes the stand, removes her shoes, and looks at Phil (Vincent Regan) who stares back at her. After the intro, Neil talks to Prof Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) about the scene inside the nail bar. She asks what the witnesses said. She learns that they said pink flash, purple flash, or purple flame.

Sarah admits that is helpful because only potassium burns with an allylic flame. Emma is asked about Daniel introducing her to his father and seeing Phil again when he came to Daniel’s flat. She claims she isn’t sure when she saw him again after that although Keith Farr QC (Douglas Rankine) knows she confronted him at a coffee house on Parker Street. She claims she didn’t arrange to meet in there and just happened to see Phil through the window. As Keith asks questions, Emma denies following Phil and knowing it was the café he regularly goes to. Keith tries to discredit the claim that she just spotted him through the window.

He suspects she is lying so the jury shouldn’t believe her about anything, but she denies lying. Keith questions whether she heard about the café from Daniel who would’ve known his father’s favorite. He asks if Daniel was in on it, but she says no. Emma admits she asked Phil whether he had killed her mother. She wanted to see his reaction because she thought he had done it. Phil told her she wasn’t well and tried to make her look unreliable in front of the other people there. She accuses Keith of trying to do the same thing. When she explained to Daniel what had happened, he was surprised although Emma thinks he understood it. Daniel looks disgusted when Keith claims she was very persuasive to him. Then, Keith asks about her decision to return to Dundee.

Although she says she came for a really good job, Keith alleges she came to find the identity of her mother’s murderer. Emma admits she wanted to find out who killed her mother because anyone in her position would’ve. Meanwhile, Sarah explains an explosion is a chemical reaction producing a rapid expansion of gas. When it is unconfined, the expanding gas can push out in all directions. If it is confined, the explosion will become detonating meaning it’ll have a much greater effect on the surroundings. According to the debris, she suspects the epicenter was on the side of the window. She may be able to find what exploded unless the whole device was consumed in the explosion. Neil confesses everyone is on his back wanting to know if this is the same bomber.

Sarah can’t help since this device has nothing in common with the previous one. Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence) gives testimony with her shoes off. Joseph Mann (John Mackay) asks whether you can tell if a bone has been broken pre or postmortem. She says yes and Marie’s break was consistent with that of a living person. When Keith takes over, he gets her to say the bone is the same before death and for a short time after death. Kathy argues that the hyoid bone couldn’t have been broken during a fall. She refutes other claims and says it could’ve possibly have been done with a rope. Kathy explains the hyoid bone looks fragile, but it is durable considering it can only be broken using firm, inward squeezing pressure. It is consistent with hands or a similar object squeezing the neck.

DS Safi Khurana (Rohit Kumar) gets a call from Neil who says the male victim was Tuan Van Khan while the female victim’s name was Chung T. Kim. The Vietnamese victims were both in their 20s. After the call, Sarah finds a piece of glass. She tells Neil you can take a jar and fill it with a mixture of petrol and acid. Then, you take a condom filled with sugar and chlorine and screw it to the bottom of the lid so it just hangs over the liquid. When the jar is left on its side, the acid breaks down the condom until it eventually leads to an allylic flame because the chemicals mix.

The piece of glass she has is curved meaning it might’ve come from a jar. She suspects it’d take a few minutes for the acid to break down the condom, but she’d have to do a mock-up to be positive. They speculate the suspect might’ve been setting up the bomb not far from here. Kathy approaches Emma outside to tell her about the shop being blown up. They talk about their testimonies as Kathy insists she is happy if she can get the science across. When a taxi arrives, Daniel leaves with Emma. Ryan Fairlie is brought down to the station for an interview after Gaynor Rogers told them he used to drop her off for Pilates class at the church hall. He is asked about threatening Miss Rogers and saying he’d killed her if she left him. He insists they’re just words and he never meant it.

He reminds Safi that Miss Rogers is still alive even though she left him. Safi asks Ryan where he was on last Sunday. After the interview, Safi calls Neil to tell him that Ryan was at his house until 11. Then, he went to see his mother. Although Safi saw his ticket, Neil thinks it could be fake. He wants him to check CCTV footage from the train and shops to confirm his story. Safi reminds him that Ryan was sitting in reception for the nail bar bomb so it couldn’t have been him. Kathy gives the students their essays now that she has gotten around to grading them. She tells them they’ll be under scrutiny if they want to work in the forensic industry and their social media accounts will be scanned by lawyers. She encourages them to begin conducting themselves professionally online starting now.

Then, Kathy tells them about the study she is doing with Erika (Krysten Peck) with dead pigs and the presentation they’re doing tomorrow. Once that ends, Kathy talks to Janine Muir (Andrea Hart) about the bombs and Phil who is being represented by Keith Farr. Erika interrupts to tell Kathy she handled that well and the face was perfect. As Daniel enters the room, Emma is busy reading nasty social media comments about them. Daniel encourages her not to look and to eat since she is pregnant. He complains that she lied in court while he sat there and said things he didn’t want to say but had to because they were true. Emma claims it was just a dirty game. If she had admitted to following him, she would’ve looked like a madwoman.

Daniel claims she is totally in the wrong for lying in court. Although Emma stands by what she did, Daniel insists nobody believed her anyway and she made them both look like liars. He feels let down by her even though he did his best for her today. When she says she only cares about getting justice for her mother, Daniel argues that is what is wrong. Getting justice isn’t putting his dad away if he didn’t do it. He admits he smiled at his dad when he walked into court although he didn’t even realize he was doing it. He cried so the defense made him look like a spineless shite who was manipulated by Emma Hedges. She came in being as hard as nails and proved them right. Daniel thinks they both looked terrible, but he didn’t lie. Emma suggests it is good they were discredited since Daniel wants his dad to get off anyway.

She reminds him that he looked at the evidence before and had the opinion that his father could’ve been involved. He even took that information to the police. Emma believes he started losing his nerve as soon as Phil was charged though. Daniel says she refuses to see the terrible thing that is happening to him now because she is obsessed with getting what she wants. He doesn’t want to be here and doesn’t want any of this to be happening, but he blames himself for going to the funeral and starting up with her again. Daniel believes they could’ve come into this clean. It is ridiculous they’re stuck at his mom’s house and pregnant. In the morning while getting dressed, Emma finds blood down below and suspects it could be a miscarriage. Aileen (Stella Gonet) finds Daniel in the kitchen washing Emma’s clothes.

She asks him about breaking down on the stand since she read about it on Twitter. She also knows they’re saying Emma accosted Phil, but Daniel stops her because he doesn’t want to hear about it. As Daniel sits down with Emma, she says it wasn’t anyone’s fault. She tells him they’re not stuck together in a ridiculous situation anymore. Daniel just wants to focus on getting through tomorrow. The next day, Sarah tells Emma at work that the condom was stuck between the metal and glass so it is perfectly preserved. She goes on to say that each brand uses a different lubricant meaning they can use that to narrow down the brand. Emma uses a solvent to extract some of the lubricant before running the sample through the FTIR.

Then, the data can be compared to the condom lubricant database. Before long, Emma learns that the condom belongs to the CLAN product line. Neil tells Azra (Laila Rouass) they still don’t know who the first bomb was meant for or whether it is connected to the second bomb. She jokes about his relationship with the professor again before quickly apologizing. Emma tells Sarah that they found a black pill among the debris. She can’t stop thinking about the black pill from The Matrix. When Louise (Anna Leong Brophy) enters, Emma is told she should hurry and go. She tries to explain the black pill to Sarah before rushing out of the door. Once she is gone, Sarah tells Louise that the pill didn’t start out totally black since it has pale marks on it. Safi tells Neil to say there is nothing so far on the CCTV from O’Connor Street.

Ryan’s mother says he was with her although there is still nothing from the CCTV on the train. Neil asks whether you could do the rat run on a bike. Emma is harassed by media members as she walks toward the courtroom. Sarah uses what looks like UV light to find a symbol on the pill and asks Louise to see if she can find it in the database. In the courtroom, Keith questions Neil about getting Marie’s case. Once Neil admits this is the only cold case he has worked on, Keith finishes questioning him and sits down. Louise finds out that the pill is an antidepressant called Prazodone or Serapaxin. Sarah wants to see if the pill’s contents match. Phil takes the stand before he is quickly sworn in. Joseph asks him about a fishing trip he took with his brother on Sunday, August 12, 2001. He explains he had to think about who he was spending time with back then.

Alec gave him support when his wife was ill and he wasn’t in a good way. Joseph questions whether he was spending a lot of time with Izzy Alessi, Drew Cubbin, and Marie Monroe, but he denies that. He says he knew Izzy casually. Drew and Marie were part of their scene. He barely knew them at all though. Joseph mentions Izzy’s dying testimony that says he had her trapped in an abusive relationship that she was too terrified to end. Phil admits he is in a difficult situation here because she doesn’t want to speak ill of the dead. He claims Izzy was desperate because heroin makes you desperate and makes you lie. When asked why he was hanging out with someone like that, he says he didn’t have the responsibility to deal with the business and Daniel alone so he went looking for the opposite.

He confesses he is guilty of being a selfish pig 19 years ago, but this has nothing to do with him. Once he denies having anything to Marie’s death again, he is asked about the boots that had her blood and his DNA on them. Phil claims a builder would have countless pairs of boots. They get stinky quickly and go into the bin. Joseph asks if he saying someone took them out of the trash and wore them when they killed Marie. Phil claims he doesn’t know because this doesn’t have anything to do with him. Sarah performs an experiment on the CLAN condoms to see how long the condom would take to degrade. Neil tells Superintendent Blair (Peter Forbes) whoever planted the bomb at the nail bar had less than seven minutes to get clear before it exploded.

Safi interrupts to say Ryan was on the trains like he said he was. He couldn’t have bombed the church hall. Blair encourages him to keep digging and found out why. When Safi leaves, Neil theorizes that the Priest was the target after all and the bomber knew about the clocks going forward. The intended victims would’ve been an African Catholic priest and two Vietnamese Buddhists. That would’ve involved faith, race, and outsiders. Meanwhile, Keith and Joseph are shown giving their closing statements to the jury. Joseph relies on the forensics evidence while Keith claims Emma distorted everything to suit her overwhelming desire to solve the mystery of her mother’s murder.

Keith encourages the jury to give Phil the benefit of their doubt. There are two verdicts of acquittal including not guilty and note proven. Kathy talks to Sarah and Janine about a new undergraduate course the dean wants her to teach. She told the dean she didn’t want to run a course because they already have one and there is enough demand. Sarah asks her about the black pill and incels. Kathy knows about incels who she describes as loser boys who hate women. She says it is an American thing and means involuntary celibate. Sarah explains it is the first thing that comes up when you search for black pill. Daniel and Emma learn that the jury is back with a verdict. Safi finds CCTV footage of someone doing something suspicious about four minutes from the nail bar.

They agree it is a delivery person on a bicycle so they want to find out who it could be. Since they see a Dundee’s logo, they agree to see what they have to say since it should all be on GPS. Back in the courtroom, the jury declares that the state did not prove its case. As a result, Phil is acquitted as not proven and released. When Neil finds out, she complains to Safi. Kathy learns and argues people are stupid and would prefer to go with feelings instead of facts. Erika asks if she wants a hug, but Kathy forcibly says no. Daniel finds Emma hiding in the bathroom and comforts her. Emma interrupts Sarah so she can talk to her in private. She complains that it is all messed up and it makes her want to give up.

Sarah says it shouldn’t. Instead, it should make her even more determined to get it understood because that is their work. Phil shows up at Daniel’s place looking for Emma saying he wants to talk to her. Daniel tells him nobody wants to talk to him before shutting the door in his face. Phil suggests he drank the Kool-Aid and should get the liar out of his life because she is a cancer. He goes on to say everyone hates them, but they love him. Phil insists he’ll find her. Daniel goes upstairs and begins packing their belongings. Sarah tells Emma that a not proven verdict will ruin your reputation since it’ll hang over you. They conduct an experiment with the black ink. Later that night, Sarah calls Neil and asks him to get to a computer.

Daniel is there to pick up Emma when she leaves work. Sarah tells Neil it is a yellow pill that has been colored black. It was found near the epicenter of the nail bar bomb. It was the same type of ink used to write #1 on the box containing the church hall bomb. They’re analyzing the contents of the fluid overnight. Neil researches the black pill and finds something about the state of despair. Then, he learns about the incel thing from Sarah. Neil says the hashtag is an American thing too. Sarah finds that black pill is an area three miles south of the city center too. They suspect they wanted the bill to be understood and interpreted as black. After a call from his boss, Neil tells Safi they need to go to the offices of the Dundee Times because somebody sent them an anonymous letter claiming responsibility for the bombs.

They printed it and put it on their website even though they told them not to. Neil says it is handwritten and very far-right. While Emma isn’t afraid of Phil, Daniel still believes they should go somewhere. Daniel isn’t sure they’ll make it as a couple unless they get away from everything because nobody wants them to be together. He says he loves her and wants to be with her, but Emma says forget it since it isn’t going to happen. Emma explains she loves him, but she thinks he might hate him too. She hates his father and what happened today.

Daniel says he knows before sitting down nearby. He admits he thinks his dad did it because he never held a bible or a fishing rod. While Emma lied for her mother, Phil lied to save his skin. Emma admits she wants to be with him. It’d be easy otherwise. Then, she says they should go.

 

Traces Review

While it might not be groundbreaking, Traces is very watchable. The relationship between Daniel and Emma seems to be the primary driver of the story since I care about that more than anything else. I can’t say I was surprised when Phil was acquitted, but I was surprised it happened so early into the season. At least one of the characters is oddly annoying to the point that I nearly cringe every time they’re shown on the screen.

The storyline is interesting even though it is starting to sound like something conceived by members of several 4chan sections. Time will tell whether the season is good, great, or something else. The second episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Traces are available on Reel Mockery here. You can find out how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.