As the third episode of Vigil begins, Jade’s body is found and bagged. DSU Colin Robertson (Gary Lewis) approaches DS Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) and gives her a cup of coffee. It is believed that Jade was drowned by someone. Kirsten tells them that Jade was supposed to be meeting someone but they’re not sure. Kirsten believes Jade had her phone on her and searching for it would be worth a try. She tells Robertson that this was a coordinated attack so they should investigate it as one case. Robertson agrees before he is shown a picture of the car that picked up Jade yesterday. Kirsten explains the owner is Mark Hill and he works for Patrick Cruden. As Jade’s body is carried to the ambulance, Robertson tells Kirsten that none of this was her fault. Meanwhile, Shaw (Stephen Dillane) learns about the diving group finding the Mhairi Finnea’s hull this morning.

It is revealed that they found anechoic tiles that were ripped from the submarine’s skin during the impact. Shaw says he’d like to see the Russians talk their way out of this one. Meanwhile, Tiffany (Anjli Mohindra), Elliot Glover (Shaun Evans), and DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) take another look at Craig Burke’s body. Amy swabs the inside of his lips and uses a flashlight to show he had a white powder there. She explains there is discoloration because a substance is dissolving the dye. It is the same as the one they found on Burke’s fleece, so he likely ingested some type of toxin. Amy is confident the toxin killed him. Since Adam gave him mouth to mouth, he is unwell now too. DCI Silva tells them it was a premeditated murder. As they leave, Amy asks Tiffany to narrow down the substance based on the symptoms. Tiffany agrees to help but she doesn’t give her any promises.

Meanwhile, Kirsten gives a briefing about Craig and Burke. She tells everyone about Jade’s suspicions that the navy was involved in Burke’s death and the MI5 infiltrated the peace camp. Although there is no evidence of that, Jade was working with Burke to obtain information on vigil. DS Porter (Reuben Joseph) stands up and begins talking about the USB drive. He explains it contained a file about a drug test on a hair sample. Burke paid for the test at a private lab, and it tested positive for LSD. They can’t be positive who the hair belonged to, but 15 crew members were arrested by local cops for being drunk and disorderly around that time. The navy tested the entire crew, and nobody had LSD in their system. They wonder if Burke’s test contradicted the navy’s drug tests. The USB drive also contains provocative photos of Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty.

In the background, they can see a man with a dragon tattoo, but they can’t tell if the man is Burke. Robertson wants Tiffany vetted and to find out what happened in Florida. Kirsten asks about the guy who replaced Burke. Porter identifies the man as CPO John Deerbourne (Bhav Joshi). He would’ve been with the crew in Florida, so Kirsten wants to talk to him. Robertson wants to go to Cruden’s office to see what the advisor has to say. Seconds later, Erin Branning (Lolita Chakrabarti) calls Kirsten and tells her to turn on the news. They watch a news report about Burke’s death before Kirsten denies it was leaked from their end. Branning confirms they’ve had questions about the dead activist too. Kirsten repeatedly says the leaks aren’t coming from the police, but Branning isn’t willing to believe it. Amy tells Captain Neil Newsome (Paterson Joseph) that Prentice (Adam James) didn’t kill Burke, but he is still guilty of assault and obstruction of justice.

She warns him they’ve still got a very dangerous person on board with them before encouraging him to help her and not hinder her. Hadlow (Connor Swindells) enters and says the diagnostics found nothing wrong with the reactor, so Newsome tells him to run them again. Once he leaves, Silva wonders who could’ve handled the highly toxic material. Glover admits it could be anyone since everyone on the ship is skilled. Silva soon learns she is going to be on Vigil for three weeks since her stay has been extended. She doesn’t want to stay and complains she isn’t prepared for that. She rushes out, freaks out, and nearly has a panic attack. She scrambles to take her medication before remembering her time with the young girl.

The girl tells Amy she wants to stay with her, but Amy admits it isn’t her decision. Amy says she is going to stay with her grandparents, so they’ll still see each other. The girl complains that Amy doesn’t love her anymore, but Amy denies it and promises to be with her for the rest of her life. Tara (Lois Chimimba) approaches Amy and says Walsh’s career is over now. She tells Amy about Walsh being abused as a child and his father putting cigarettes out on his arms. Amy insists it isn’t personal and Walsh is being punished for bringing drugs on the ship to frame someone. Lois reveals Burke was hiding stuff too. That catches Amy’s attention, and she quickly tries to find out what Lois is talking about. Amy is willing to tell the judge that Gary Walsh (Daniel Portman) cooperated and that could help him. Lois explains Burke had a list and files on all the people he didn’t like.

When asked what she did about it, Lois explains she did what she was supposed to do and took it straight to the commanding officer. The conversation ends when Silva gets another message from Kirsten and learns about the murder of Burke’s girlfriend. Patrick Cruden (Stephen McCole) talks to the press and refuses to say much about the passing of the man on Vigil. Kirsten arrives and Mark Hill (Oliver Lansley) approaches. He is asked about Jade getting into his vehicle at the police station yesterday and he says it was a favor. He says he barely knew her, but they have other friends at the peace camp, and he did it for them. She wonders how he knew she was dead. Again, he reminds her they have friends at the peace camp. When asked where he was around 9 o’clock last night, he claims he was at his girlfriend’s 30th. He insists he got home around 3 AM, but Kirsten says she’ll need to check that.

He agrees to come to the station later while Kirsten gets a message on her phone about Deerbourne. Lois asks Walsh if he is going to Burke’s memorial, but he isn’t sure he is wanted there. Before she goes, she tells him she is there for him. The memorial begins while Prentice shaves and Walsh drinks alone. Silva attends the memorial before the singing stops and Glover talks about Craig Burke. He says they’ve come together to give a valued crew member the send-off he deserves. Then, Newsome begins talking and confirms two of the crew members were detained for serious breaches. He wants to make it clear that those arrests were not linked to Craig Burke’s death. He goes on to say they’re dedicated to the mission of keeping Britain safe. Hadlow begins reading from the Bible while Silva struggles with her flashbacks.

At the funeral, she has to let her daughter go. Back in the present, Glover checks on her. She notices that their cook seems more upset than the others. He says her son has been in a bad place lately. Then, Silva asks about Tiffany’s relationship with Burke. He encourages her to stop for five seconds for the service. Next, Kirsten meets with John Deerbourne who admits he is getting bored and might take up knitting. He claims he wasn’t there during the party because he went to Tampa to see his sister. Burke was off his face and smashing up his cabin while claiming someone spiked his drink. He claims anyone could’ve spiked him, but everyone took drug tests, and they were cleared. The navy didn’t believe him and he was kicked off the boat for causing so much damage. He was only allowed back because John was injured.

When asked what he thinks happened at Port Havers, he says all the urine tests came back negative. She pushes and he says he wasn’t there when it happened. She tells him about Jade and that convinces him to say something, but only if she promises this can never come back to him. John tells her to look at David because there was a problem with him. When she leaves, she calls Porter to asks if Davis is on the crew list. Since he isn’t on the list, Porter is tasked with checking the past records as well. She believes the drug test was Burke’s since he was trying to prove he had been spiked. Porter confirms Jade’s bank account and phone records have arrived. She was getting paid a grand a month by a limited company called Ansell Holdings.

The sole director of the company is Mark Hill. Over the last year, Jade has been making late-night calls to one phone number and that number belongs to Mark’s boss Patrick Cruden. Back on the ship, Amy decides to ask Prentice a few more questions. Prentice insists letting his crew down is the worse thing about the situation for him. He believes Vigil needs him because he is strong, and discipline has slipped under Newsome. They begin talking about the incident at Port Havers. Prentice blames Burke for creating a problem there for the navy because his claims didn’t match the official test results. Prentice alludes to the idea that the original samples would’ve been tampered with. When asked, he thinks Tiffany would’ve overseen the drug tests, but he isn’t sure why the navy didn’t take Burke’s claims more seriously. He isn’t sure if anything else happened to Vigil around that time since the commander didn’t share anything with him.

He knows Amy is trying to protect the crew and he thinks that matters the most. When Amy leaves, Glover asks her if she had permission to be in there since Prentice is about to be court-martialed. Amy wants to know if Glover has been telling the truth, but he claims Newsome would’ve told Burke to stop gossiping. He doubts Burke did it and suggests he was only trying to get a rise out of Tara Kierly. Glover didn’t think the drug tests were relevant and remains adamant that he went above and beyond to help her. He agrees to answer anything and immediately confirms Tiffany was involved in the drug tests. She asks if there is anything else she should know about Tiffany. Amy tells him about the murder of Burke’s girlfriend and Burke having the photos of Tiffany. She knows Tiffany gave Burke paracetamol. Amy says she has means, motive, and the opportunity to kill Burke.

She tells Glover she needs to speak to her now. Branning goes to Shaw to tell him the tiles did not belong to the Russians. Newsome learns from Tara and Matthew Doward (Lorne MacFadyen) that they haven’t received any communications. Walsh pulls Newsome aside to ask him if he is still facing discharge. Walsh mentions what happened at Port Havers, so Newsome asks if he is threatening him. He warns Walsh to keep his mouth shut or discharge will be the least of his worries. Jay Kohli with MI5 and Laura Michaels visit Shaw and confirm they’re not at war with the United States. Shaw wants to know why a Los Angeles class submarine brought down a fishing trawler while covertly tracking HMS Vigil. He wants to know why they had to send down divers to get this information. Laura believes it had something to do with the incident at Port Havers. They want to discuss Craig Burke and Jade.

Newsome gets a top secret note about the United States submarine. Walsh continues drinking and becomes more belligerent. He grabs a set of keys before unlocking a door. Next, Kirsten tracks down Mark Hill and asks about his boss. She sits down with Cruden and asks about the shell company and why he was using it to pay Jade. She accuses of them paying Jade for trident information and leaking it to the press, but they deny it. Cruden agrees to talk about it so Mark steps outside. Cruden says it wasn’t an affair and instead Jade was his daughter. He says they were trying to work things out, and he asked Mark to set up the payments to Jade. His wife didn’t and still doesn’t know about it. He breaks down when he learns more about Jade’s death. Jade had her laptop stolen and she thought MI5 was following her because of Craig Burke.

Craig thought he was a whistleblower and there was a coverup. He was conflicted because he had something to show the boats were fit for purpose and the evidence could’ve been the end of it. Burke wouldn’t talk to Cruden so everything went through Jade. When she leaves, she learns there is more information about Davis. Porter says Ross Harmison was on Vigil’s crew list but disappeared from it a few weeks later. He was transferred to the Middle East so it sounds a bit like the story Cruden was telling. She wants to talk to Robertson but can’t because he is meeting with MI5. When the call ends, she notices someone following her, so she approaches and the car speeds away. When she makes it back, Robertson promises he told MI5 as little as possible. Glover and Amy approach Tiffany to ask about the drug tests. She accuses Tiffany of being involved.

Tiffany admits to switching some of the samples for clean urine. She denies that someone pressured her into doing it and claims she was only trying to help her friends. She doesn’t think they should’ve lost their careers over it, but Amy believes someone told her to do it. Tiffany is asked if she was pressured into poisoning Craig Burke before being questioned about the photo. She insists she was never blackmailed by Burke. Kirsten returns to the cat and works on the computer to find information about the Port Havers incident. She eventually finds something about a few deaths at Port Havers. She joins Robertson and they meet with Shaw and Branning to ask about the drug tests and the picture of Tiffany. Shaw says they’ve never seen it before. Then, they’re asked about Ross Harmison.

Shaw claims they’re allowed to apply for transfers and pretends there was nothing to it. Kirsten asks about the two David Marine contractors who drowned in the harbor. The incident happened the day after Vigil’s crew for wasted. Kirsten alludes to the idea that the two incidents are linked. She wants to know if the navy was concerned that Burke would tell Jade what he knew. Robertson follows up by asking if the navy saw Burke as a security risk. Shaw suggests otherwise since they allowed Craig to come back on the ship. Kirsten insists she was followed earlier, but Branning denies it. Robertson believes that is enough, so he ends the interview and makes Kirsten come with him. When Amy leaves, she tells Glover she thinks Tiffany is telling the truth. She wants to know more about the person in the photo with Tiffany.

As they continue, they see Walsh in the distance and he points a gun at them. Walsh says he has nothing left and he isn’t responsible for Burke’s death. He complains about Ross killing someone and getting a transfer. He doesn’t think it is fair. Walsh puts the gun to his head, so Amy quickly tries to talk him out of doing something insane. She insists she has been there too since she watched her boyfriend die. His mom won’t let her see the girl they raised together and that broke her. Amy insists there are still pieces of light, and someone will come along to make it worth it. She successfully convinces him to drop the weapon. In a flashback, we see Amy getting medical advice from a doctor. She complains about not having the right to see Poppy before admitting she misses them. She agrees to try the recommended medication. After that, she sits with Walsh and asks him about Harmison. He tells her how they went for a drink and the duty watch had the reactor on cool-down for maintenance.

Harmison got back early to relieve them but he was still messed up so he went for a kip. He didn’t realize the cold water was failing and that caused the reactor temperature to skyrocket. Two contractors in the turbine room got killed when one of the pipes likely cracked under the pressure. They had been cooked alive by the time Walsh got to them. If they had been a few moments later, they would’ve been dealing with another Fukushima. He admits everyone was ordered to keep their mouths shut and the two men allegedly drowned. Burke knew but Walsh isn’t sure how that happened. He says Harmison messed up, but the boats are on their last legs anyway. Nobody wants to talk about it and Burke was right about that. Burke is sent back to his room and Amy promises to get him the help he needs. Amy reads the note from Kirsten and looks at a family picture of Glover while remembering the past.

She wakes up with Kirsten next to her reading. Amy looks at the picture closely and notices the tattoo on the man’s arm. It is Elliot and he appears to have the same tattoo as the name in the picture with Tiffany. Shaw calls someone and says there is a situation that needs to be contained. Meanwhile, Kirsten calls the office to get a license plate number run for her. She calls in the number of the car tailing her, but it doesn’t seem to be in the system. A car can’t get to her quickly since it has been a busy night. She tries to go to a safe location. Glover goes to Tiffany and says Burke stole the photo from his phone. She promises not to say anything. He kisses her, but she is cold toward him. Kirsten turns on her lights and floors it. The car chases after her. She makes it to the car park with backup four minutes out. She continues fleeing from the other vehicle while waiting for backup to arrive.

She stops and approaches the people behind her. She finds out they’re MI5 and they want her to come with them. Glover returns to Amy who says she didn’t get anything else from Walsh. She says she needs to get some sleep and Newsome can wait. Glover moves and lets her go before the episode ends.

 

Vigil Review

Despite having everything it needs to be fantastic, Vigil is a sinking ship that will likely never recover from its many missteps. With its massive budget and a great cast, the show has to be one of the biggest disappointing flops for the BBC in recent years. The writing and story are the biggest problems right now. They cannot match the show’s quality of acting or the gorgeous scenes.

Vigil has enough cliches to overload any ship and it has become too predictable in recent episodes. The show has been let down by bad writers who decided to throw everything at the wall in hopes of finding something that would stick. So far, nothing has and it is quickly running out of time to solve the puzzle and make this thing work.

As someone who recaps Vigil and focuses on all the minute details, it is excruciating. These are my opinions based on the painstaking way I watch Vigil. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. All recaps of Vigil will be available on Reel Mockery here.