As this episode begins, Di Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) calls Sal to leave a message saying he’ll be back tonight. While Jess tries to pull it together, Dave Adams (Mark Frost) speaks to someone on the phone to say Ebele is sick and they can try rescheduling for early next week. Tony Hume (Ian McElhinney) complains to Rashid (Nabil Elouahabi) who says he can’t do anything for him. Jess (Sinead Keenan) learns that the gun Ebele had was an air pistol she had borrowed from a flatmate. DC Karen Willetts (Pippa Nixon) explains that Ebele had been drinking with friends and it was a prank. It was a spur of the moment dare to hold up a bank.

Ebele got a 12-month bender. The doorman she threatened named Christopher Blackwood backed up her version of events and said Ebele admitted it was a dare after a few minutes of waving the gun around. He called the police before she revealed it was a prank. Jess doesn’t buy that so she’d like to speak to the doorman. She confirms forensics found what might be their bullet. Ds Murray Boulting (Jordan Long) says they found a bank account for a woman with the same name and DOB. Her last transaction was a debit card payment to an off-license on June 26 at 17:43. Fran (Carolina Main) confirms that was the same day the social worker visited Precious. Her bank account usage was very regular since she used the card most days.

Murray says she survived mostly on benefits, but she also deposited some cash payments about half a dozen times a year starting in 2010. Those payments stopped after the 26th. The standing order was only set up seven months before Precious died for 200 pounds to be paid on the 1st of each month. It only says “DSH” on the statements. Murray couldn’t find any phone contracts so Precious must’ve had a pay-as-you-go phone if she had one. Fran put a flag on PNC for Joseph Bell who was arrested in Essex yesterday for ABH and other things. She is told to find out where he is and see if they can speak to him. Karol (Max Rinehart) speaks to someone on the phone who helped him get a work permit years ago.

He has some goods he thought the person might be interested in. Karol agrees to meet him later tonight. Sunny arrives and begins questioning Karol about Precious. Dave finds Ebele and tells her that a Lawyer in London called for her. He wonders what it is about and how they can even afford a London lawyer. Ebele walks away without answering his question. Karol didn’t know about Precious dealing or having issues with her dealers. She had been staying in temporary hostels that she kept getting thrown out of because she had problems with her universal credit not being paid. She wasn’t working in the sex trade, but her son wanted her to get back into it. Karol saw him a couple of times.

Their relationship was troubled and her son often stole from her because of his own habit. Precious also said he was violent towards her. Her relationship with her mother was similar. Karol was focused on getting her stable accommodation and helping with her addiction problem. He didn’t achieve either because people like Precious often sabotage their own help. Karol claims they failed because of money. When Serge (Louis Bernard) arrives, he learns about the cops and picks up his kids. He tells Karol he is done before leaving with the kids. Karol is asked about visiting Precious at the house in Hammersmith. She mentioned it was a squat and never said anything about Tony Hume. He can’t think of anything that would help with Precious’s death.

Karol claims there is no connection between that visit and his resignation from that job. He says he quit because they were all exhausted and demoralized. After he says nothing happened in the house, Sunny thanks him for his time. Keith learns that he has likely been replaced by Jay (Rhys Yates). His new attorney tries to get him released by offering a surety of 10,000 pounds. Sunny calls Jess to say he’d like to find out more about Karol’s departure from West London Social Services. He says he’d like to find time to sit down together before receiving a text from Sal who says she lost the baby and doesn’t want to speak right now. Karen begins researching Tony.

Tony speaks to Medhi Hussein (Abhin Galeya) who refuses to accept his grant application. He says it felt a little peremptory for a 100k grant. Tony reminds him that he got him into the DOT and helped when his son needed an introduction to Warburgs. Tony tells him that they call him “Medhi-ocrity” behind his back. Medhi tells him that no one calls him anything because no one cares. Jess and Sunny go to the jail to speak to Jay. He says he hasn’t seen her in years so he doesn’t care. He thinks it has been ten years since he got away from her as soon as he could. Jay is asked about being around as Karol said. He denies everything and says Karol must’ve mistaken him for someone else. As for the violence, his mom must’ve been talking crap.

He claims his mom would’ve said anything if she thought it would’ve gotten her something. He assumed she had gone to Wales. Jay recommends speaking to David Bell if they’re looking for someone who used to hurt her. He was mentally, physically, and sexually abusive since he treated her like a dog. Jay was there on and off from when he was about seven to 15. When asked whether David was ever violent towards him, Jay says he did everything to him. It wasn’t easy to report anything because they were so far from the nearest town. He recommends speaking to him if they’re looking for a killer. Elise (Claire Ganaye) calls Karol to ask what went on with Serge. He insists it is fine before abruptly hanging up. Karen learns more about Tony’s politics and his relationship with Medhi.

As they leave, Jess tells Sunny that Jay’s family lies very well. She wants to learn more about him. The attorney arrives to get Jay released on bail. Fran learns about Karol’s mental health issues. He experienced two assaults. One happened in 2015 and the other in 2016. They were racially motivated assaults because he was Jewish. There was a rumor that Karol left because of some inappropriate photos he took of a colleague on a stairwell. He allegedly upskirted the woman. Jess arranges to meet Jay’s probation office. Murray gets the results for the C&C trawl on 64 Waterman Road. There was one incident in their timeframe on June 14. The call came from the resident of 23 Waterman about a violent row outside 64 between two women.

It is believed one of the women called the other one “mum”. Jess suspects Ebele lied to them about not seeing Precious since her birthday on January 15. By the time a car arrived, it had settled down so no further action was taken. Jess wonders how Precious got in and out of the house since it was secured by Tony by that time. Sunny takes flowers to Sal (Michelle Bonnard). She admits she isn’t ticked off with him because he has always been completely honest about kids. Sal explains it is hard to feel so secluded. It is hard to feel jealous of a dead woman, but she admits she does. It is nine months on and there has been no hint of a wedding in sight. She has been hoping he’d jump in and say they should set a date but he hasn’t. She is afraid she knows why.

Sal urges him to take the phone call since it keeps ringing. Jess meets Debbie while Sunny takes the call. Jay learns that he won’t be going back to his girlfriend yet. Debbie tells Jess that it was only once and she knows nothing will ever allow Jess to forgive her for that. Debbie admits she was lonely and he said he was too. He also said they were finished. It happened three months ago when Jess was on a course. Debbie babysat the kids so it happened in their house. Jess says she wouldn’t have told her if she wasn’t such a weak person. Szymon calls Karol to tell him they have a problem because a wholesaler got a crate with a broken seal. Eight watches are missing. He asks Karol to come in to help him locate them or the paperwork.

That would mean Essie wouldn’t have to call the police. Karol says he appreciates the heads up and will speak to him soon. He calls back and says he’ll come sort it out. Jay is taken to Tony Hume who introduces himself. Karol sees the police when he gets back to work. Tony wants to know what Joseph meant. Jay suspects a don like him must be used to controlling things. As for Jay, he has had almost no control or power. He has been forced to adapt. Jay admits he has been scared of him since that random night. He was scared of what Tony could do to him if he knew what he knew. Now that he is in the room with him, he sees that it is Tony whose scared. Tony asks who he is and what he wants. Jay says he wants this before punching him.

When Jess makes it home, Kate asks if he forgot she was going out tonight. Jess asks if Debbie has told her yet before she begins crying. Her mom agrees to stay around for the night instead. Jay returns to his flat and tells Jordan he is okay now that he is back for a bit. Jordan gets out of bed with Cheryl (Hebe Beardsall). She tells Jay that she missed him and just needed someone to look after her. Jess tells her mom that she can’t forgive Debbie, but her mom reminds her that her sister isn’t well. Jess isn’t sure she’ll ever want to speak to her again. She doesn’t think her mother should either. In the morning, Sunny speaks to people who know James without Jess since she isn’t there. He was in front of the TV most of the time and made up excuses about injuries.

One man says he stayed with them for nine months. When they applied for adoption, his mother blocked it. She got him back in the end. He suspects it was mainly for the child benefit. It was one of the saddest days of his life. Another man has no doubt that Jay could kill. Later, Sunny runs into Jess and asks where she was. She apologizes and agrees to speak to him in private. In Snowdonia, Wales, Murray drives to meet with someone. Sunny tells Jess that he can’t work like this. He thinks they need to be in the room together and they need to talk to come up with a thousand stupid theories. Jess reminds him that he can’t be her, but he isn’t asking her to be. Sunny would just like to get rid of the barrier between them even if it is just for this case.

He apologizes if it is his fault since he has been dealing with personal issues. She asks about his issues so he tells her about Sal’s miscarriage of a baby he really didn’t want. Jess tells him about her husband having an affair with her sister. They apologize to each other before Karen barges in with the results for the bullet. It matches a bullet that was fired in a 2015 robbery in Lisson Grove in which Elton Paul King was arrested. King was a known associate of Joseph Bell. King was in Winterstoke at the time of Precious’s murder. Jess wants another interview with Jay although she thinks he is still in jail. She also wants to speak to King who was released on parole last year.

When Karen leaves, Jess insists this isn’t who she is or how she works. She apologizes and admits they need to talk. Tony talks to a firm about bringing his death forward.

 

Unforgotten Review

The fourth episode of Unforgotten this season was a vast improvement over the third largely due to Jess and Sunny attempting to work through their problems. The episode did a decent job of pushing the story forward as well since they managed to interview Jay or Joseph. One possible issue viewers may have with the show is the lack of relatable characters since most of the suspects are very unlikeable.

The episode made up for it somewhat by focusing on the dramas of the investigators and their tumultuous relationship. It was slightly odd that the investigators were so open to the idea that the incident with the air pistol was only a prank gone wrong and didn’t question it more. With Tony planning his suicide, the ending might be a little predictable and it seems like the show has been leading up to this.

I won’t get into predictions because I want to avoid potential spoilers, but I hope this isn’t the route they take. The way the season has gone and its politics and budget-cut heavy dialogue point in that direction. Overall, this was a better episode but it’d be nice if there were some sympathetic characters outside the police station.

The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Unforgotten can be found on Reel Mockery here. Want to support our independent website? Find out how to do so at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.