As this episode of Traces begins, Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) waits for her daughter, Kitty, outside her workplace. They walk away together moments later as her daughter tells her about the bomb threat at school. DCI Neil McKinven (Michael Nardone) and DS Safi Khurana (Rohit Kumar) arrest Anthony and Valerie Gemmell. Then, an unexploded bomb is found outside of the Power It Out boxing gym. When Sarah tries to drive away, she finds out that the barrier is stuck. She looks over and sees the heavy police presence near the possible bomb. She backs up and calls Neil to tell him she is on campus looking for a way to get out. Neil tells her about the unexploded bomb.

He hasn’t seen the bomb, but witnesses say it is producing a whitish-gray smoke and a strong bleach odor. Sarah argues it could be hydrogen peroxide and smoke might mean it has failed. Neil says they just picked up the two letter writers in Tayport so they wouldn’t have time to plant the bomb. Sarah asks whether they have phones on them because it is too risky. Although Safi has Anthony’s, Valerie still has her phone. They stop the police cars to give Neil time to grab Valerie’s phone. He calls Sarah to tell her they got the phone before learning Sarah got out of the campus too. After the intro, the letter writers reach the police station as Neil tells Safi SO-15 are on board now.

They agree to get coffee since it is going to be a long night. Later that night, Sarah watches a news report about the arrests and unexploded bomb. Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence) watches the report alone. Kitty tries to convince Sarah to skip work tomorrow and stay with her and her dad. Kathy calls and hears Sarah fighting with her daughter about the phone. The call ends abruptly after they agree to talk tomorrow. Neil tells Superintendent Gavin Blair (Peter Forbes) that white ethnocide is clear as day on the first blank page. It was found in the Gemmell’s flat although they haven’t found any obvious bomb-making materials. Neil found it interesting that there wasn’t broadband or a computer at their flat.

Azra says there is no email address buried in the dark web either. They’re completely analog. Neil wonders how they are controlling an accomplice if they are. Once Neil says there were no family photographs, Blair tells him not to waste too much time on the letters. When Safi tries to interview Valerie, she turns her seat around and begins ignoring him. Gavin’s boss shows up as they begin watching Valerie’s interview together. Neil tells Anthon that the interview is being observed by Gavin Blair and Detective Chief Superintendent Tom McBride of SO-15. Anthony repeats SO-15 before learning it is the counter terrorism team.

Neil asks Anthony where there are any more bombs out there. He also asks who helped make the bombs and how he knew how to make them, but Anthony refuses to speak. Neil tells him about the letters and the DNA on the letter that led to his address. Anthony is asked to write down a passage from the letter starting with “this is a manifesto of race”. Valerie is instructed to do the same while being interviewed in the other room. In the morning, Sarah tells her daughter she has got her thinking. She asks whether Mia and Lily are going in today. Kitty says she’ll probably be fine, but that isn’t enough for Sarah who tells her to stay home today. Azra (Laila Rouass) tells Neil he looks terrible. He knows because he only got three hours of sleep if you can call it that.

He calls them vile racists who can suck all air from a room. When Sarah and Kathy arrive at work, they see someone carrying the unexploded bomb in front of them. Kathy learns Dean Jean (Badria Timimi) is looking for her too. Inside, Janine Muir (Andrea Hart) and Erika (Krysten Peck) talk about Kathy. Erika suggests she isn’t here yet because she needed her sleep after Pia canceled her trip. They need to be very careful with her today and Erika even brought chocolates. Moments later, the Dean tells Kathy she has a question as scanning over the time allocation survey. It is about the Forensic Science Symposium. Jean wants to know who paid for her to be squirreled away in a white, clifftop hotel for four days.

Kathy explains it was money earned through casework and it was a budget that SIFA can draw from. Kathy says it didn’t come from her pot. Jean admits she is getting to understand what she does and how she does it. As she walks away, she promises to see her at the fundraiser. Professor Finn McGuinness from the Forensic Explosives Laboratory arrives at SIFA to see Sarah. He gets his card from Janine before joining Sarah to see the bomb. Anthony is questioned about the bomb that exploded at the church hall. He claims his wife did it. Valerie specifics that she did it with help. She says their soldiers are everywhere and they’ll sing their song to the masses who will listen. During a break, Tom asks about IT only to learn there is no IT for these two.

Neil doesn’t know how they were instructing their accomplice, but they believe they’re lying about Valerie planting the bomb. Safi thought someone was planting it for them too until they got an ANPR on their vehicle near the church hall. However, it is an hour and 45 minutes after the bomb exploded. He wonders what they were doing there after the explosion. In the interview room, Anthony confirms his army will continue with their work while they’re away. He won’t say whether there are more bombs planted now. Neil shows him a picture of the partly detonated bucket device while asking who helped him make it. Kathy learns the DNA samples went to the lab and the CT scans are ready. The male, young adult head they found in the loch does not have any sign of trauma.

As for the second head they found, it is male and has major trauma with two possible impacts. There are blunt force blows to the front and back of the head. Meanwhile, Finn tells Sarah the third bomb was meant to cause a lot of damage. Louise (Anna Leong Brophy) is asked to get the phone component off to the lab and ask Neil to come here. Once Sarah finds a piece of tape, she asks Louise about the gaffer tape found near the first bomb. Meanwhile, Kathy and the others begin looking at the wrapped head first. She says two injuries sites are confirmed and decapitation has occurred. The cuts on the bones are consistent with a cutting tool. The other head has no cutting marks so Kathy believes natural disarticulation has occurred.

The head was found near the body. Although it was a male too, the victim was younger. There is fusion on the femur meaning he was still growing. He was likely between 16 and 22. Kathy argues that the PMI of the head and body would be five to 12 months. She finds a snake tattoo on the wrapped head. Finn asks Sarah if she fancies taking his place on the SO-15 and FEL advisory meet this year. Once Sarah laughs and says he’ll never live that down, Finn says his hands were so sweaty he couldn’t press the power point clicker. Neil joins them seconds later. Sarah tells him it was a bucket bomb and similar to the one used in the failed Parsons Green attack. She describes the bomb’s components and says it could be called up from a standard phone.

The attacker would’ve been able to detonate the bomb from afar. Since it is an unstable chemical, the detonator burnt instead of exploding. Finn says TATP has been used a lot recently including by Islamic extremists although Neil insists it has nothing to do with Islam. Sarah reveals they can provide a tentative identification of peroxide brands. Sales of hydrogen peroxide can trigger red flags so vendors have to report odd purchasing patterns. Sarah isn’t a phone expert, but she suspects the phone is a Nokia because it would be cheap, easily available, and anonymous. They might be able to get a serial number off the phone and ID it. Neil says Azra can help with that.

Kathy and Erika find that the victim had rocks in both pockets. Then, they learn there is a match on the DNA database for the wrapped head. A decapitated body with a snake tattoo was found 11 months ago on a beach near a lighthouse in Cornwall. It is likely well preserved, but there is nothing about the other remains. Meanwhile, Sarah walks with Neil who begins learning more about Finn. Sarah insists Finn being here allows her to stay on the case before Neil says he is glad she is safe. Neil takes her between the bike lockers for a kiss. They promise they’re not playing games with one another. Neil gets a call from Azra who reveals she has something on Dundeats riders.

Azra wants him back there because there is something he is going to love. Once he gets back, Azra says there are three delivery companies operating in Dundee and 450 delivery drivers. She has names and usernames for all delivery drivers and pictures of the drivers they did not interview. Riders with a green dot work for all three companies while blue dots work for two companies. Finally, the red dots only work for one company Dundeats. Azra wonders why they picked to only work for Dundeats while Neil recognizes some of them. 17 of these riders are marked with an L meaning they were logged in on the night of the bombing. Azra says these companies are working to improve their security to eliminate subbing or letting the riders loan their log-in details.

Safi interrupts to say he just got back from the school where Valerie used to teach. Surprisingly, she is known as Mrs. Callanach there because she kept her ex-husband’s name. Neil uses the system to look at the profile belonging to Rory Callanach and wonders whether he might be Valerie’s son. He suspects Valerie denied having a kid because she was protecting her son. They agree to bring him in. Seconds later, Valerie is questioned about Rory, but she just keeps saying no comment to each question. As for Rory, he claims his parents don’t have the balls to do this although Neil believes he is just trying to protect them. He wouldn’t protect his father because he is a racist. Rory is adamant he isn’t.

Anthony would love to say it was his idea since he considers himself an old-school fascist. His mother has taken his poison for unknown reasons. Neil tells him they’re searching his flat and acquiring his laptops and hard drives. Again, Rory professes his innocence and says he was just doing his job at Dundeats when he was logged in on all three nights. He works for a living and that is it. Rory goes on to say it is harsh because there is no care or loyalty. It is lonely considering he does not have any real connection with anyone. Once the interview ends, Neil confirms that his alibi checks out. Sarah says the bomb was more sophisticated, but it had some parts that didn’t work. There was some lack of knowledge by the bomb maker.

Anthony and Valerie are charged. At the pub, Neil suggests they dropped the ball focusing on those too, but Safi believes they had to see it through. Safi says he looks at his baby and feels a quiet dread because he wonders what kind of hate is going to come her way. As they step outside, they see a delivery driver on a bike as Neil admits he never noticed them before. He says it is some kind of a life with no care or loyalty. We see a guy on a bike before Kathy learns the Cornish police will be coming to get the head with the tattoo. There was no ID flagged on the DNA database on the other parts. Nobody missed the guy since he has never been reported missing. Kathy wants to send the head off for a facial reconstruction.

She believes someone has to know the guy though. Sarah and Louise learn that the pieces of tape match. Regardless, it is more of the same because the lab hasn’t found any DNA or fingerprints. Whoever made the bomb was as clean as a whistle. Kathy removes the rope so it can be sent off to the lab for testing. She believes they can tell a lot about him by analyzing his toenails. They also find a small surgical scar on his left foot that they can compare to medical records. Kathy has to go hang out with the suits.

Before she goes, she learns they found a rucksack near the loch with a few personal effects. At the venue, Sarah asks the others where Kathy is. She finds her hanging out in the bathroom and asks her what she is wearing. Kathy admits she is cross because Pia isn’t coming over. Sarah heard she needed from TLC after Janine picked up something from Erika. Kathy doesn’t like hearing Erika shared her personal information, but Sarah doesn’t know why she shared it with Erika in the first place. Then, Dean Jean begins speaking and thanks their generous sponsors. They’re only 17,000 pounds away from commencing work on their School of Science library.

Jean also announces her vision for a new undergraduate course in forensic science under the stewardship of Professor Kathy Torrance and Director of SIFA Sarah Gordon. Jean forces Sarah to get up and speak although it wasn’t planned. Sarah praises her as a person who can set her own strategy and understand they’re not easy as academics. Neil makes it home and finds Azra in the bath. She tries to get him to sit and talk, but he says he is alright. Azra questions whether he looked at her and said he is married to her after what she did today. He did and he thinks the Supers are in love with her too. Sarah introduces Kathy who says the thunderbolts don’t come often and they instead focus on chemical and biological analysis.

She makes it clear there is no pixie dust although Jean doesn’t seem thrilled with that statement. The bomber listens to a news report asking whether he has been driven underground due to the unexploded bomb. The next day, Kathy brings Sarah a coffee and argues Jean misrepresented what they do. She just couldn’t let it go and doesn’t like the fact that the Dean of the School of Science knows nothing about science. Sarah believes she doesn’t like Jean and undermined her in front of the sponsors in a move she calls unprofessional. When Kathy apologizes, Sarah says she’ll believe her once she apologizes to Jean too. She has already tried, but Jean is off sick. The bomber texts Holly to see if she wants to get together for a cocktail.

Kathy takes Erika a pincer used to remove tissue without disturbing the pigs. Erika tells her she loved her speech. Kathy argues she is in no position to discuss anything she heard when they were away. She warns her not to do it again. The bomber picks up the Dundeats box and tells Holly he is coming for her. He rides away on his bike. Kathy looks at the student library card belonging to Euan Macmillan. When Sarah enters the room, she learns he was one of the bodies and went to their school. Charlie said Euan told his mom he was heading off grid for a few months. He did that sometimes because he liked to take a break from the noise. Kathy understands why his mom didn’t report him missing, but not the university.

The bomber, Sam (Andrew Rothney), stands around and judges the men and women around him. He goes to the pub and sees Holly sitting alone. Sam sends her a message before taking the package inside and tells the clerk he is there for an order. He is told to move the package so he moves it nearby before heading back outside. He says they have about two minutes left of being pretty as he walks away from the restaurant. He gets rid of the phone and explodes the bomb. He says woah before the episode ends.

 

Traces Review

With the departure of Emma and Daniel, Traces is going through a major restructuring. The show was built around Emma and Daniel meaning their departures were a big blow. I just don’t have the same level of enthusiasm for the other storylines or characters for that matter. I also wonder whether the series is trying to tackle too much at once since there are so many things going on.

We have the two bodies, the bomber, and a handful of personal issues at SIFA. There is always a chance that the bodies are linked to the bomber, but there have been no connections yet. The last five minutes of the episode with the bomber were exciting while the remaining episode was so-so. I am still interested in finding out how they handle the missing two main characters. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Traces can be found on Reel Mockery here. Support Reel Mockery by following this link.