Bloodlands episode 2 review

Spoilers for Bloodlands episode 2 below. Still catching up? Read Steve’s review of episode 1 here.

Well, then. On the off-chance that you hadn’t realised that BBC One’s latest Sunday night crime thriller was being brought to us from the stable of Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio, they go and end part two like that…

In case you’re yet to catch up with Bloodlands episode 2, we’ll spare you the specifics of its stunning reveal at the end. Trust us, you’d have to own pretty expensive binoculars to see this one coming. For those of you that have seen it, you’ll know exactly what we’re referring to.

Now, of course, we’re only halfway through the series at this point, so there’s a very good chance that the rather large reveal turns out to be some sort of enormous red herring. After all, it seems likely that a twisting and turning crime drama like Bloodlands might well be planning yet more twists and turns to come…

So it’s perfectly possible that things may not quite be as they seem. For that to be true, we’d need to be given a darn good reason why an otherwise reasonable and respectable senior police detective like Jimmy Nesbitt’s DCI Tom Brannick would have behaved the way he did with a seemingly innocent old man like Adam Cory (Ian McElhinney). Speaking to Brannick’s number two Niamh here, old colleague Justin ‘Dinger’ Bell – the always excellent character actor Michael Smiley (Free Fire, Kill List, The Lobster) – describes Brannick as ‘the great enigma’. But even Dinger wouldn’t imagine the Great Enigma to be quite as enigmatic as this.

Before that jaw-dropping final minute we discovered the identities of the three corpses found on the eerie little island of Strangford Lough, and found out more about the Pat Keenan kidnapping and how it may not have been connected to the wider Goliath case after all – it may all have been a ruse orchestrated by someone to get the Goliath case re-examined. Plus there’s collusion between Brannick’s boss DCS Twomey and an IRA widow and a murdered priest’s doctor daughter (Lisa Dwan) growing close to Brannick. Not to mention a car chase, shootouts, a(nother) kidnapping, some rugby and even a couple of rather grotesque owl pendants. It’s all go.

Bloodlands isn’t just entertaining, it’s also informative. We learned all about the ‘ICLVR’, the real-life mouthful formally known as ‘the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains’, informally known as ‘Time Team’, ‘the Time Bandits’ and ‘the History Boys’. They won the jurisdiction battle for the skeletons that seems to be pushing Brannick and his team away from the investigation, much to the boss’s ire.

Viewers were also given a quick lesson in spycraft during the Troubles. Brannick’s wife Emma was, we find out, ‘a spook’. She worked for 14 Intelligence Company, aka ‘the Special Reconnaissance Unit’, a real secret unit that was linked with British Army and Loyalist-backed killings of IRA members.

All in all this was a lively hour of television, albeit one with slight pacing issues. Some scenes were non-stop, packed with action and vital plot information, and over in seconds. Others were long, languid and seemingly got us no closer to any useful information. Which, to be fair, is probably quite similar to how police investigations actually play out.

We’ll have to wait a week to discover if the Goliath-sized twist at the end was all it seemed… We’re guessing it’s not. We’re also guessing Emma Brannick is still alive and has some rather serious explaining to do.

Bloodlands episode 3 review

Spoilers for Bloodlands episode 3 below. Still catching up? Read Steve’s review of episode 2 here.

After a solid – if generally unspectacular – opening episode, Chris Brandon’s Northern Irish crime thriller Bloodlands exploded into life at the end of part two as DCI Tom Brannick brutally gunned down an innocent man. James Nesbitt’s itchy trigger finger seemingly indicating that it may actually be him, the main character – and lead police officer on the case – who is the mysterious serial kidnapper/killer Goliath.

It may seem a little early for big twists like the one we were served up last Sunday, but given that this Jed Mercurio-produced series is only four hours long, it was actually pretty well timed. Trouble is, with the big showy reveal at the halfway point, where do you go from there…?

Bloodlands episode 3 features frowning. A lot of frowning. Seemingly now simultaneously both the good and bad guy, Brannick is a complicated fella. To communicate that, Nesbitt does a lot of brow furrowing here. In fact, if the former Cold Feet actor were to furrow his brow any further, he’d be liable to trip over it.

To be fair to our star here, it’s not an easy job. He’s playing a no-nonsense copper dad and grieving husband who may (or may not) be the killer in his own investigation. This is fairly nuanced stuff to be portraying. After all, when a character is keeping a secret, they can’t generally talk about it. So frowning suddenly becomes a method of communicating to the audience. It requires a level of subtlety that Nesbitt – as lovable and charismatic as he is – doesn’t really have in spades.

After last week’s shock ending, we had to get back on track here in this third and penultimate part. Brannick had some serious covering up to do: bodies to dispose of, guns to hide, notepads with his DNA on to worry about…

His efforts were in vain, however. Soon, his colleagues had worked it all out. Goliath had to be a police officer, otherwise how would he know that Adam Corry planned Pat Keenan’s elaborate kidnapping? It soon became clear that only three officers currently serving worked on the old Goliath case: Brannick, Michael Smiley’s forensics man ‘Dinger’ Bell and the boss, Jackie Twomey. Redacted files, a revelation about his IRA informant and a PO box key soon put Twomey in the frame.

For all Brannicks’s frowning, shouting and shooting, it’s Lorcan Cranitch’s Jackie Twomey that really intrigues here. The Cracker and Ballykissangel man shines here as the grumpy Detective Chief Superintendent, a man who could either be as corrupt as they come, or the man to help unravel what’s gone on. Equally he could be the weak ‘politician’ policeman his underlings assume he is as he wriggles away like a coward. He’s an interesting character.

If what we were served up here is to be believed – and it so often isn’t with these things – next Sunday night’s big finale will be all about whether or not Brannick can fully frame his old pal and boss or if Twomey can see what’s going on for himself.

In truth, Bloodlands isn’t the most original crime drama you’ll ever see. It has its moments. There are well-drawn characters, flashes of humour in the script and a few genuine moments of excitement and adrenaline. It’s doubtful that it’ll go down as a classic, mind. With its corrupt police plotline, it’ll likely be remembered as ‘that Northern Irish Line of Duty type thing with Jimmy Nesbitt in.’

It might not be on many TV fans’ shows of the year list come December, but we’ll be tuning in for its conclusion next week, eager to see how it resolves itself. We’re expecting another big twist and (possibly) the return of Brannick’s ‘dead’ wife, so there could be fireworks. At the very least we want to see whether Jimmy Nesbitt finally trips over his own eyebrows.

Bloodlands episode 4 review

Spoilers for Bloodlands episode 4 below. Still catching up? Read Steve’s review of episode 3 here.

It’s safe to say that the British television-watching public has missed Line of Duty. The high-octane corrupt copper drama is pure watercooler TV – at least it was when its fifth series aired back in March 2019, a lifetime ago. When its latest run airs very soon, fans might not be able to gather together in the corner of the office to discuss the latest AC-12 developments over a flimsy plastic cup of brain-freezingly cold water, but you can bet that social media will be absolutely buzzing.

Seemingly to get us all revved up for the return of Line of Duty, BBC One served us up a four course taster menu over the past month. Bloodlands may come from a different writer’s keyboard, but it has Line of Duty head honcho Jed Mercurio’s DNA all over it. Produced by Mercurio, this Northern Irish thriller has filled a scheduling gap and intrigued its audience these past few weeks, while never truly hitting the heights of its imposing cousin.

We left proceedings last week with the rather dodgy DCI Tom Brannick (James Nesbitt) working with uneasy ally Tori Matthews (Lisa Dwan) in a bid to frame his boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Jackie Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch). The crime(s)? A series of slayings in the late 90s known as the Goliath Murders, which Brannick himself was responsible for.

The first half of this fourth and final episode in the series saw police chief Twomey wriggling around uneasily in an ill-fitting tracksuit, humiliated and defensive. You can see why the unavoidable Line of Duty comparisons are made – mostly, rather unashamedly, by us…

This last episode was at its strongest in these interrogation scenes. Cranitch, guarded and shifty, his interviewer pressing and testing. For anyone also watching the latest series of Unforgotten at the moment, it was kind of disconcerting to see Susan Lynch from it grilling DCS Twomey in what was a powerful cameo.

A fortnight ago, part 2 revealed the true identity of Goliath. Last week’s slice of the pie built on that idea, but going into the finale there was still an outside chance of a final twist… Could Tom be covering up for someone? Might he turn out not to be the bad guy? As the minutes passed here, that possibility ebbed away.

Nesbitt’s character looked to be getting away with it all but for the keen intuition of his DS, Niamh McGovern (Charlene McKenna). Between her and Tori, Brannick was in for a rough ride as it all came to a close.

Things weren’t exactly turned on their head in the conclusion, but we were at least treated to some motivation for Brannick’s actions. Perhaps, we’re made to ponder, it’s possible to be the bad guy while not being truly bad. Life’s a complicated thing, let’s not forget.

While twists and turns can be thrilling, they can also be a little gimmicky, so it’s sometimes pleasing to see a drama play out in a way that suits the story instead of feel like one long build-up to a tablecloth-pulling trick. That’s mostly how we feel about the conclusion of Bloodlands – yet we couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed by how the final scenes played out.

We learned after the credits rolled that there’s to be a second series of the Northern Irish Noir. With the way things ended, there’s plenty of scope for a follow-up. While it seems unlikely that this police thriller will ever reach the giddy heights of Line of Duty, another four episodes will certainly be a welcome addition to the schedules.

We’re guessing we’ll likely see the return of DCI Brannick in spring 2023. What the world will look like when Bloodlands is back is anyone’s guess.