As this episode of Unforgotten begins, DC Fran Lingley (Carolina Main) tells DCI Jess James (Sinead Keenan) that the name attached to the bank card is Maggie Bowden. The bank confirmed that Maggie (Laura Pitt-Pulford) is still alive and reported the card stolen on the 4th of June 2016. The dress was bought in early June. There is a good chance that the thief stole the card and used it close to where she stole it. Jess wants to speak to Bowden. Jess also wants to know if there was any permitted access to the property between the vendor’s death and the developer’s purchase in 2019.

She recommends Karen speak to neighbors. DS Murray Boulting (Jordan Long) is tasked with seeing if there was any police activity at the house in the last few years. Before the meeting ends, Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) questions why the victim was put in the chimney flue. It is believed she died in the house and putting her in the flue was easier than taking her out of the house. Once Sunny heads back to his desk, he calls the lab to see if they can test more plasterboard as soon as possible. Lord Tony Hume (Ian McElhinney) drinks with Medhi Hussein (Abhin Galeya) as they talk about politics. He asks Medhi to have a look at the funding application for the youth center.

As Tony leaves, he gets a call from Rashid Ghulam (Nabil Elouahabi) asking him to come in because some test results are back. Later that night, Jess talks to her son Eliot (River Archer) about her fight with Steve. She insists everything is fine. Jess sends a text to Steve complaining that he hasn’t called her or his children. In the morning, Sunny gets a call from Dr. Leanne Balcombe (Georgia Mackenzie) who has been working on the body. Karol Wojski (Max Rinehart) tells some kids that it was once illegal to use swear words. He tells Elise that he wants to talk to her alone. Serge tells Elise that he and his lawyer have changed their position.

He surprises her by saying he wants shared custody now. Serge says it isn’t right that Karol gets to see his girls more than he does. Leanne tells Sunny that the entrance and exit wounds were obscured by damage to the corpse. The bullet passed through the left lung and into the right ventricle. She shows Sunny where it exited through the back. Sunny suspects there will be blood and a bullet in the house unless the killer removed it. He goes on to say they’ll be able to trace the bullet. Jess is surprised to see Steve (Andrew Lancel) outside. When they go inside, Steve reminds her that he often saw her mom more often than her.

He knew that was the deal when they got married, but it isn’t enough. He doesn’t want to be married to someone who feels more like a flatmate. Steve claims difficult decisions like this are always something for her to win. She’ll always win because she is smarter than him. Steve insists it didn’t mean anything and the affair is already over. He thinks they need some time apart so they can find out how to move forward. Steve reveals his brother has offered his spare room. When Murray searches the property in their database, he is told he’ll need an access code. Karen begins speaking to neighbors of the property. Jay Royce (Rhys Yates) agrees to get Cheryl (Hebe Beardsall) more drugs, but he says something has to change.

Flick (Lisa Faulkner) tells Karen she doesn’t think anyone would’ve noticed the girls if they’d been smarter and kept their heads down. There were four or five. She told them they shouldn’t be in there. Flick claims they were sweet and said they’d be moving on in a couple of days anyway. That was around the early summer of 2016 right after they had moved in. She reveals that the problem was eventually resolved when a locksmith made the property secure. Elise tells Karol that they’ll have to fight Serge tooth and claw. They discuss the cost of a lawyer and having a baby before Elise leaves. Sunny tells Jess they should start in the sitting room.

He reveals that Leanne managed to rehydrate a patch of skin and found what appeared to be track marks. Sunny wonders if the victim was a drug user. Jess asks if it could’ve been a drug deal gone wrong. Sunny mentions that finding the bullet could help them find out who did it. Jay steals a woman’s purse from a café. Jess contemplates speaking to Detective Superintendent Clive Andrews but doesn’t. Jay uses a bike to snatch a woman’s phone. Karol comes out of the temple while police begin searching the property. Jay exchanges the stolen phone and cards for cash. Karen speaks to John Caxton (Simon Bubb) about the house, when it was sold, and the squatters.

John admits he only inherited the case, but he thinks she might find something about the squatters in the files. Karen asks for copies of everything. Maggie tells Fran that she reported the incident although no one ever got back to her. The manager downloaded the CCTV for her and you could see the thief’s face clearly. It was a small, young woman. Fran questions whether she still has the footage. She tells Sunny that Maggie will try to find the email with the footage link later. Sunny asks her to keep everything going through him for now. Tony experiences pain as soon as he arrives home. Emma (Hayley Mills) and the others have thrown him a surprise birthday party.

Dennis Grimshaw (James Quinn) says all the work he has done makes him proud to call him a friend. Tony thanks Emma for surprising him before William (Archie Rowell) wishes him a happy birthday. Tony thinks they need to have a chat. Sal (Michelle Bonnard) tells Sunny that she is pregnant and it is very early. She thinks it happened when she had that bug and threw up. Sal is surprised that she isn’t thinking she should have a termination. Sunil laughs while admitting that slightly terrifies him. He explains that he needs to digest it. Jess talks to Kate (Kate Robbins) about Steve and her relationship. Tony tells Will he knows what it is like to be 16.

He says taking advantage of a woman’s inability to say no because she is so drunk is not funny. Tony is still a powerful man. He will speak to the headmaster and make sure his suspension is revoked. Tony warns him of what will happen if Will does it again. Jess calls Debbie and leaves her a message. Then, she overhears Fran calling Sunny gov and saying she found the link. Sunny says they think they’ve identified the thief.  Ebele Falade (Martina Laird) meets with Dave Adams (Mark Frost) who has a black eye. Fran shows them the video of Maggie and her boyfriend. The thief is sitting nearby. Sunny suggests searching for thefts in the area to see if they can find out who the thief is.

Jess tells Sunny that new information should come to her first. Sunny says he’ll make sure that happens when she is actually in the office. Later, he tells everyone that  the thief was arrested and charged when trying to steal another purse. She gave the Hammersmith house as her address. The thief is identified as Precious Falade. She would’ve been 34 at the time of the coffee shop theft. Sunny mentions that she has a long history of offenses, including sex and drug offenses. A DNA sample is on file and will be checked against the corpse. Kaz reveals there were squatters in the house in May or June of 2016. Murray is waiting for information about other police activity at the house.

They agree it is too early to try to theorize about motives so they should focus on finding the next of kin. Dave tells Ebele that the restaurant is the only thing stopping him from packing a bag. She apologizes. Dave reminds her that she always apologizes and nothing changes. She denies drinking and says she is trying. Dave agrees to give her one last chance, but he wants their life to be theirs. They express their love for one another. Sunny, Karen, and Murray try to find people who know Precious. They speak to Eddie who says she was referred by social services and he looked after her. He has an address for her mother. Police storm Jay’s flat and arrest him on suspicion of robbery.

After a phone call, Ebele tells Dave that they still want to invest. She promises that she’ll change before noticing Sunny and Jess walking toward the restaurant. Jess receives a message from Steve who asks her to call him. They go inside and confront Ebele Falade to speak to her about her daughter Precious. Once Jess tells her about Precious, Ebele breaks down and slams her head against the wall. Rashid tells Tony that they might have a year in the best case. In the worst case, they might have three months. Tony wants him to research every new possible therapy regardless of the cost. Karen finds three handwritten notes about the squatter issue.

She tries to find out who LA is supposed to represent. Kaz asks about looking through their phone records. Jess calls Steve and complains when he doesn’t answer. Sunny tells her they should go back and they should’ve never left because it is a murder investigation. Once they go inside, Ebele agrees to answer a few questions. She questions whether it was an overdose. Jess tells her about Precious’s murder. Ebele has seen her two or three times in the last 15 years. The last time was either 2014 or 2015. Ebele says her daughter fell out with her because she stole from her and abused her. She had a son named Joseph who would be 24 or 25.

Ebele has no contact with him. When she is shown the photo of the house, she claims not to recognize it. Ebele asks if she can see her daughter. Jess says yes although she went undiscovered for several years. Outside, Jess tells Sunny to give her a heads-up if he is going to pull stuff like the photo. Sunny claims it was instinctive. He says it told them what they needed which is that Ebele was lying. He thought her initial reaction was off as well, but Jess doesn’t agree.

 

Unforgotten Review

This episode of Unforgotten pushed the story forward by identifying the victim and confirming that her mother is Ebele Falade. When Sunny and Jess told Ebele, her reaction seemed a bit too over-the-top for Sunny who didn’t buy it. He also doesn’t believe she doesn’t know anything about the house in question. Jess continues arguing with her husband who may be willing to work it out with her.

It is difficult to be impressed with Jess’s storyline because infidelity has been tackled in so many instances. Once that is resolved, the character may become more likable though. Still, it does feel like that side of the story is taking up a lot of time that could be dedicated to the investigation so I hope it gets resolved quickly.

The development has been slow so it’ll take more patience to really get to know the characters, especially Karol and Elise. Everything will likely come together as it usually does, but it is hard to know what happened at this point. While I am not immediately engrossed, it might be a little unfair to judge the series until we’ve finished the finale.

That’s really how Unforgotten is since it takes time for the story to come together. The investigators will need to find out more about the squatters and determine whether Jay Royce is somehow connected to the murder of Precious. There is also a link to Tony Hume because he wouldn’t be featured so prominent otherwise. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10.

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