At the start of the episode, Cassie (Nicola Walker) finds that the stove has been left on. She blames her father Martin (Peter Egan). Martin’s remarks catch Cassie off guard. James Hollis (Kevin McNally) pays another visit to Steven Dale (John Scougall). He is unable to locate Eliot. A ruling is made in Finch’s case. Alison (Gabrielle Glaister) has an outburst as Finch (Alex Jennings) is let off. At work, Cassie begins researching the signs of dementia. Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) interrupts. Pete Carr (Neil Morrissey) gets a call asking about the Salthouse check. Jessica (Bronagh Waugh) returns to her mother. Suzanne (Brid Brennan) tells her to check the memorial page. She finds out that the parents are being blamed. Jessica changes the settings so only her friends will be able to comment.

She claims that the trolls are simply speaking about themselves. James is interviewed at the station. He tells them about the house. He gives them the names of Tim Finch, Chris Lowe (James Fleet), and Pete Carr. He goes on to tell them who his friends were there with. He explains that he was there with his friend wife and his son. James is shown a picture of Hayley. In a flashback, we see someone with bloody hands. James recognizes Hayley. He doesn’t recall Hayley cleaning the house. He explains that he probably saw her on television. James tries to give them details of the day of Hayley’s disappearance. The interview ends seconds later. Outside, Cassie asks James about the school he and his buddies went to.

He is allowed to leave after that. Cassie and Sunny agree to investigate the four guys a little more. After all, they grew up pretty close to the grave site. A man snaps pictures of James as he leaves the station. Chris and Jamila (Sasha Behar) check out rental property together. She wants to know who Chris is. Sandra Rayworth (Tori Allen-Martin) checks her blog and discovers that many people agree with her. John Bentley (Alastair Mackenzie) tells the detectives about the previous investigation. They thought Hayley might have ran into a burglar suspect. There was also a black car driving erratically in the area at the time. Cassie wants DNA swabs taken from any potential suspects. She gives out assignments to the team members. Jake (Lewis Reeves) is told to speak with Adrian Mullery (Gerald Kyd) again.

John and Cassie speak about their family. Sunny invites him out for a drink. He tells Cassie that she is welcome after John leaves. James Hollis calls Tim. James tells Tim about the house they rented and Hayley Reid. James tells him that he told the police they remained in the house that night and ate with their families. He calls Pete next. They work together to get their story straight. Pete asks James for a favor. Chris tells Jamila about his previous wife and his daughter. He lost her and also ran up some debts. He tells her how he went homeless. He admits he had friends who would’ve helped. However, he didn’t want it and thought he didn’t deserve it. He tells her about his bipolar disorder. He describes how he lost his job. He reveals that his daughter died from breast cancer and he wasn’t allowed to attend the funeral.

Pete returns home. He is shocked to see Mark Harper (Finlay Robertson) with Maria (Indra Ove). Pete returns the three grand and makes an excuse for the check. Mark makes it clear that he doesn’t true Pete. After Mark leaves, Maria tells Pete that their relationship isn’t working. He promises that it is going to get better. He has some really good business coming up. Tim watches as Cassie and Sunny arrive outside. We see that Adrian is working at a girl’s school. Tim has a flashback when he sees Hayley’s picture too. He admits recognizing her, but doesn’t remember seeing her at the house. Cassie asks him about New Years. Sunny asks him about his car at the time. Tim tells them that he had a silver vehicle. Pete lived in Hong Kong around that time. He is asked about him and his wife separating. He is also questioned about his friends getting divorced and when that happened.

Tim agrees to give a DNA swab. Sunny and Cassie seem convinced that the four men can be ruled out. James tries to get in touch with Eliot. James wonders if he ruined his child’s life. Eliot (Tom Rhys Harries) listens to the voicemail and ignores it. Sunny is surprised to see his ex at home. She leaves in a hurry. Cassie meets her dad’s girlfriend. She explains that she likes her career too much. Fran (Carolina Main) speaks with the bartender. She did not see Hayley leave. The manager would have. She saw her just after 11. Fran asks about the manager. Chris works on his painting. Cassie arrives to speak with him. Pete takes his dog for a walk. Sunny tracks him down for a conversation. Chris has a flashback when he sees the picture. He knows who she is, but he never saw her at the house.

He seems nervous and admits he doesn’t cope with stress very well. He tells Cassie about their vehicle at the time. Pete has a flashback too. He claims that he might have seen Hayley at the house one time. He tries to remember when he saw her. Pete doesn’t remember telling the others about it. He acts like he doesn’t even remember the story of Hayley’s disappearance. Cassie tries to box in Chris. He wants someone with him. He doesn’t believe the separations had anything to do with that party. She asks him for a DNA swab and Sunny does the same with Pete. Pete agrees to give one. Jake tries to speak with Adrian. Adrian goes off on Jake and refuses to speak with the detectives. He goes on a rant about the police being corrupt and such. Sunny and Cassie compare notes.

Cassie tells Sunny about Chris’s history. He was once very wealthy. Mel calls Cassie. They meet with Me (Sara Stewart) a short time later. She admits that the evening was a train wreck. She explains that Chris went completely nuts out of the blue. They were relieved when Chris suddenly left the house. Mel confirms that they had all been drinking a little and they might have done some coke. She says that James was the one using coke. She doesn’t know when Chris left. James and Tim eventually went after Chris. She explains that Pete had been out at the pub for a long time. Mel doesn’t believe anyone went out after Pete returned. Outside, Cassie is mad that the last sighting of Hayley was after everyone had returned to the house. They wonder if Mel was lying or mistaken. They both agree that the men have lied to them.

They agree to go for a drink. Rayworth learns about Hollis being interviewed by police. She begins writing another story. Fran speaks with a guy. He explains that Hayley went to the party as Madonna. Fran checks Hayley’s diary and finds out that she hated the 80s. She wonders if someone else went to the party as Madonna. Fran calls Cassie and tells her about the other employee with the same body type and build as Hayley. She went to the party and left around 10 past 12. The last confirmed sighting of Hayley was much earlier.

 

Unforgotten Review

Unforgotten never disappoints. This episode was fantastic. After James was interviewed, he worked quickly to contact the other guys and get them on the same track. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work. Pete let it slip that he saw Hayley in the house. Chris was himself and Cassie quickly realized that he was hiding something. Mel didn’t hold back. She told the truth and that confirmed that the four men had been lying all along. Finally, Fran’s work concluded that Hayley wasn’t at the party as Madonna. At this point, the show is pinpointing the murder on one of the four men.

It might not be any of them. Either way, watching it all unravel has been great so far. The episode scores an 8 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Unforgotten now!