As this episode begins, we see the explosion and injured people inside the building. The bomber, Sam (Andrew Rothney), watches a new report about the latest bombing. It says police are still trying to identify the man who ran from the bar shortly before the blast. Pressure is mounting on police to solve the case. Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) tells the others that this isn’t the type of bomb you have to run away from since it was likely detonated with a phone. DCI Neil McKinven (Michael Nardone) realizes the bomber could’ve walked out of the bar calmly. Sarah shows them the phone casing with wires soldered to it. They believe the device used the same methodology as the church hall bomb, but it was bigger and packed with shrapnel that would pierce and tear skin.

They’re getting bolder and nastier. Neil says the bomber has reverted back to what they know while elevating it. Sarah can tell them how the bomb was made, but she cannot speculate as to why. Janine Muir (Andrea Hart) approaches Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence) to tell her that many people didn’t come in because of the bomb although the Dean has. Kathy shows her the facial reconstruction and a picture of Euan McMillan (Mark Lomond). Although he went to school there, Janine can’t really remember him. The police found his ID near the loch and contacted his parents. Since they didn’t want the parents to see the remains, they confirmed the identity using DNA from Euan’s toothbrush.

Euan lied to his family by saying he arranged with the university to take a year out of his studies when he had actually dropped out. His parents believed he was camping off-grid in Spain, but he was less than two hours from home. Based on the way Euan died, Kathy believes he was a deeply unhappy boy. Neil tells Sarah the CCTV near the entrance was destroyed and the guests there were hurt the worst. He confesses they’re desperate for any evidence that physically identifies the bomber. Once they’re alone, their conversation turns personal. When DS Safi Khurana (Rohit Kumar) comes out of the bathroom, Neil leaves with him. Kathy apologizes to Dean Jean Bruzzi (Badria Timimi) who says she was warned about academics because they’re resistant to change and don’t like being managed.

Kathy doesn’t like being micro-managed or hearing something she didn’t agree to do being announced in public. Jean insists she had to throw the donors a bone. Kathy explains there isn’t as much work in the field as people seem to think. She says the undergraduate course they run right now is designed to teach real science to a high standard so the graduates are qualified to go into all kinds of science. That is students first and quality over quantity. Although she isn’t resistant to change, Kathy is resistant to things she doesn’t think will work. Jean wonders if there is intellectual snobbery going on since she is resistant to her ideas.

While Jean doesn’t know about academics, she knows people and how to run a business. She doesn’t want them to fall out because Kathy is such an asset. She begins asking about Euan and learns Kathy was involved in recovering his body. Kathy doesn’t want to discuss casework with her even though Jean is the Dean of the School of Science. She refuses to help before reminding Jean that Euan withdrew and dropped out. When Jean questions whether she is a team player, Kathy says it depends on the team. Next, Safi tells Neil that two of the witnesses in the hospital are ready to talk. They don’t have an order number for the delivery riders yet. Kathy interrupts to see how Neil is holding up. He says he wishes they were further ahead than they are before rushing off.

Back inside, Kathy tells Sarah that Jean wanted to find out whether Euan committed suicide, but she wouldn’t tell him. Sarah asks if she did that because it would be unethical or because she doesn’t like her. Kathy says she’d killed herself if she had to like everyone. Kathy doesn’t trust her and suspects her of something although she doesn’t know what yet. When Kathy says she is faking something, Sarah instructs her not to demonize Jean. Kathy reveals she is going to have a beer with Euan’s Advisor of Studies tonight because she has questions.

Sarah recommends talking to the president of the students’ union first and Polly who knows everything. She can gather as many stories as possible before cross triangulating everything. Kathy suggests Sarah is a political strategist disguised as a schoolgirl, but Sarah says she tries to understand the politics between people. When Kathy mentions Neil losing weight, Sarah says he is under pressure because nobody thinks they’re capable. Janine interrupts to tell Kathy that Erika is looking for her. She agrees with Kathy that Sarah isn’t as innocent as she looks. As Kathy checks on Erika (Krysten Peck), she is told she won’t be able to finish the report this week because she has to prepare the demonstrations for six classes and write up the total body scores for this week’s data.

Kathy asks when she can get it done. Erika says Monday or possibly Tuesday. Erika gets angry at Kathy’s attitude when she leaves. Sarah shows Finn the parcel tape found on the device. It is a nightmare to handle so she wonders if you could roll a section of it with gloves on. She wonders if there is a fingerprint there somewhere. Jean visits Erika to ask where Torrance is, but she isn’t around. She suspects Erika is angry about something. Erika insists she is just tired. Jean asks whether the study is also her PhD. Erika tells her it is studying decomposition in water while the whole study is comparing decomposition on land and in water in Scotland. It will be co-authored by Professor Torrance and Erika. Jean was interested in seeing the talk Torrance gave in Santorini and encourages Erika to see it too.

She promises to send her a link. Meanwhile, Neil and Safi talk to Superintendent Gavin Blair (Peter Forbes) about the black pill. He shows them a video of the running man with a black pill over his head. They meet with SO-15 so Neil can tell them about black pill and the incel group. It is an online community that is mostly American. Azra (Laila Rouass) listens as Neil says black pill is shorthand for the state of hopelessness of being a man who is denied sex because of the way he looks. Azra says you can’t get metadata from the GIF, but they’re going to request the IP addresses of people who visited the website where it was posted. Neil suggests the bomber might be using this to taunt them.

There was no black pill or hashtag on the bomb, but Sarah did find a fingerprint that is being fast tracked at the lab. When Sarah arrives, she is told she won’t be needed anymore because all productions and evidence will be returned to Porton Down. Once she leaves, Neil says that was a terrible way to do that. Fiscal John (Jack Tarlton) explains that the decision was made by the Lord Advocate because things have escalated. He wants the bomb work out of a university lab and into a government lab. He reminds them that all of them are subject to the directions of the Lord Advocate. Then, Neil tries to tell them about the link between the bombs. He thinks the first bomb was aimed at women during the Pilates class.

As for bomb number two, it targeted a nail bar that was also for women. Bomb three was placed at a gym to attack guys who get the women. Finally, the fourth bomb was placed at a Mezcal bar for women and guys getting it on. Neil says INCELs are not classified as terrorist threats. They say no although people are killed in incel-related attacks in the United States. They usually don’t use bombs. Neil suggests there are about 10,000 in the UK and thousands more worldwide. Although it is mostly guys blowing off steam, some are extremists. Since the bomber would hate sexually active men and women, they’d have to protect most of the population. Most people are saying it could be me next and it could be.

Meanwhile, Sam goes shopping for a suit. A female shop assistant (Alyth Ross) asks if he is shopping for a special occasion. He says yes. Neil and Safi go to the hospital to talk to one of the victims named Jack (Sean Connor). He was with a girl named Gina although he doesn’t know her last name. He was with a girl called Suzy before that, but that was a disaster. They got tired of each other after 20 minutes so he used the dating app to find Gina. He remembers a guy running past them like a bat out of hell. When he is shown a picture of the running man, he confirms that was the guy. When Sam leaves the store, the girl chases him down to say he left his bag. She says it is good it was her because her manager would’ve called the bomb squad.

Sarah returns to the office as Finn claims they called him after she left. He insists that is the first he heard of it. Another bombing victim identifies the running man as Ian Duffy. The victim asks whether Duffy made it to Reykjavik. Erika watches Kathy’s presentation and gets mad when she says it is her study. Neil meets with the others to tell them that Ian ran out of the bar to catch a flight to Reykjavik for a stag do. Ian says he has steeped himself in vodka ever since. Azra writes him a note asking whether he is avoiding her. They want to interview him to see if he can be linked to incel or black pill. As for the IP address that visited the site when the GIF was posted, it was in New York City.

It was a VPN company so anyone could be hiding behind the IP. Neil writes a note back to Azra saying no. Neil confirms they got the order numbers and all three companies delivered to the Mezcal club. Azra says they can trace them back to the rider’s phones. She writes another note saying they need to talk. Food order 2442 was the last one in before the bomb went off. Azra and Neil agree to talk at home later as they learn Sarah found a great fingerprint. Regardless, no candidates were found in the database. Kathy tells Sarah she talked to the student union president who said the physics department has a tough culture. It doesn’t work for everyone and sensitive students tend to struggle. Polly knew Euan who she described as sensitive.

Sarah tells her about SO-15 pulling the bomb work back to Porton. Kathy insists it isn’t personal since it happens regularly. At home, Neil tells Azra that he is in love with Sarah, but she already knew that. He apologizes before saying he doesn’t know what to do. Azra tells him to pack a bag and grow a pair of balls. She asks whether he shagged her, but Neil admits he hasn’t. She calls him a loser. Sarah gets a call from her husband who is going to be coming home tomorrow. Once Neil packs his bags, Azra asks if he ever forgave her. He admits he tried. She says he should’ve had the guts to leave her back then. Although he doesn’t agree it was over a long time ago, they never got back to where they were.

She doesn’t think he can judge her now since he knows what it is like to fall in love with someone and cause pain. She doesn’t think that made her a bad person. Neil says what got him was the fact that she hid it from him for so long. He also mentions the way he found out about it. Azra suggests they’ll both be happier. Sarah gets a text from Kitty asking if she can stay at her friend’s house. She agrees to let her. Then, she gets a call from Neil who wants to go for a drink together. She turns him down and invites him over to her place instead. When he arrives outside, a little boy tries to scare him with firecrackers. Neil scolds the boy. He goes inside and gives Sarah flowers for being treated so badly today.

Neil reveals the Fiscal said it was political to send everything back to Porton Down. It had no reflection on Sarah’s work at all because they’re panicking about it. He admits he is panicking too. Sarah doesn’t like having to stand down because there is nothing she can do to stop it now. She complains about Finn lying to her about not knowing earlier. Neil begins touching her before they begin making out. Once she confirms her family is away, they continue. Kathy meets with Euan’s Advisor of Studies who shows her a video of Euan singing with his friends during a camping trip.

By the end of Euan’s first year, his grades were slipping. By the second year, he was failing. Euan stopped coming in and seemed despondent when he encountered him. The Advisor flagged it to the Vice Dean of Teaching and Learning. He put his concerns in three emails but received nothing. When he finally escalated things, it was already too late. Once he wanted to drop out, there was nothing he could do. Then, he read about Euan in the paper this week. He escalated things by writing to the Deans. Sarah tells Neil she should feel bad although she doesn’t. Instead, she feels clear and wonderful. He feels wonderful as well. They agree to get something to eat.

Neil admits Azra knows he is in love with Sarah because he told her the truth. She already knew. Neil wants to be with Sarah. He wants to spend his life with her, but Sarah tells him to slow down since he is scaring her. Sarah wishes he’d told her this before they had sex because she doesn’t intend to leave Campbell. Neil asks whether this was an experiment and complains that she invited him to an empty house. Sarah says this was under false pretenses because she thought it was just two people having some joy for once. She argues that he ruined it by taking over. At the office the next day, Sarah begins regretting everything. Gavin tells the others that Ian Duffy is coming back from Reykjavik.

Neil and Safi agree to be there to interview him in an hour. Gavin gets off the elevator as Azra joins them. She begins telling them about order 2442. They got in touch with the guy with the login details and learned that he sold his account for 200 quid online. They don’t know who bought it yet though. Neil tells her he is staying at his sister’s place now. Then, Holly (Julie Cullen) tells them she was waiting for a guy named Elliot. She was near the door so she’d know when he came in. She was starting to get mad since she didn’t think he was coming but decided to give him five more minutes. She was fine texting the guy. He kept pushing her to meet him though.

They made a date until he pushed them to meet sooner. He selected the Mezcal. They see a picture of Elliot before Neil asks if she can show them who she rejected. Kathy tells Sarah what the Advisor said about sending the information to the Dean. Kathy says the vice dean got it and ignored it so he sent it to the old dean. It happened not long after the old dean left and the new one started. Sarah believes that is hearsay and could damage reputations. Kathy isn’t going to stop it if a student ended up dead because the school failed him. Sarah recommends finding out where people’s loyalties lie before she goes around asking questions.

She says Janine is her secret weapon. Kathy tells Sarah about being tough on Erika for gossiping to Janine. They discuss them taking the bomb work from Sarah to Porton before Kathy says she is going to talk to Janine. Sarah stops her to say she made the biggest mistake of her life with Neil. Safi asks Holly to slow down when he sees Sam’s picture on her phone. Safi tells her they’re looking at food delivery riders. Holly remembers one coming into the store and he winked at her. She can’t remember whether it was Sam though. Sarah has always been good. She wondered what it’d be like not to be good and she found out it is appalling.

Kathy insists she didn’t kill anyone. She asks whether it was fun before it went bad and whether Neil thinks she is happy at home. Sarah claims she is happy at home. Neil tells Safi he is glad he spotted Sam because he would’ve missed him and Sam only delivers for Dundeats. He believes the man’s name is Sam Kilty. At the station, Neil says the phone he gave them is dead and he doesn’t live at the address provided. As for Elliot, he is actually a model. One company has exclusive use of the photo for promotional material.

It is a group of plastic surgery clinics called Leda Aesthetics with one being in Dundee. Neil tells him to submit a data protection form now. Erika approaches Sarah to tell her she submitted a complaint about Professor Torrance via email. When Sarah talks her into her office, Erika says Kathy presented her work without due acknowledgment. Erika is very unhappy about it so she sent it to Sarah and the Dean. Later, Sarah shows the video to Kathy as she takes credit for everything. Kathy insists she would never do that even though she did. Sarah wonders what happened to make Erika go nuclear. She also admits she has done something like that before and it happens when you’re in a room of peers.

Sarah says she needs to apologize about it, but she’d expect Erika to talk to her instead of emailing the Dean. Kathy tells her what happened during their field trip. She confesses she had a panic attack, but never said anything because she is a private person. Kathy deals with it by taking a pill and sometimes one and a half pills. She was out cold so Erika got the concierge. They came in and demanded to know how many pills she had taken while she was in her shirt and underwear. Once the concierge left, Erika stayed and Kathy doesn’t remember what happened after that. She only remembers that she was disinhibited at the time. Kathy hates the fact that she was there although Sarah says that wasn’t her fault.

Sarah insists they have to talk because it is only going to get worse if they don’t. Kathy not dealing with it has made it worse and caused Erika to get the Dean involved. Sarah goes on to say she doesn’t talk when she should and shoots her mouth off when she shouldn’t. She calls her a useless communicator. Kathy tells her not to talk to her like someone who doesn’t make mistakes. Safi and Neil exit Leda Aesthetics after confirming Sam Kilty has been there because he is on the books. The foreign address they got is Sam’s old place in Trottick from a year ago. The address they got from the clinic is in Muirhead from a year ago. They agree to try both addresses. When Gavin calls, Neil tells Safi to ignore it since he wants them to talk to Ian which is a stupid idea.

They agree at the address and question to guys about Sam. They believe he lives here. They’re told he lives upstairs although he is out right now. Neil busts through the door before they find newspaper clippings about the bombings on the wall. On the desk, there is a note saying day number five of the reckoning. Neil calls Sarah to say he needs her.

 

Traces Review

The episode didn’t do much in terms of investigating or bombing and instead focused on the relationships of the main characters. Unfortunately, this was likely the weakest episode yet and shows the series is quickly running out of steam. The squabble between Kathy and Erika was reminiscent of a high school mean girls showdown. It is somewhat funny that Kathy can’t figure out why Erika has started hating her considering she has been mean to her forever.

The Sam character and his ideologies could be interesting, but they haven’t been covered much yet. I also question whether Neil would just bust down the door and enter the property without a warranty. Regardless, the episode was just longwinded and a bit boring. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Traces can be found on Reel Mockery here. Support Reel Mockery or contact us by following this link.