Following the climatic death of Ciaran Hinds, Michael Maguire, at the end of Episode 2, and following a two-week absence due to the BBC’s FA Cup coverage, Shetland returned to these shores with more intrigue and drama.
In this week’s episode, Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) and Tosh goes to Glasgow to investigate why Michael Maguire’s witness protection identity was kept from him and his team on the island.
Back on the island, Sandy goes door to door looking for answers to the identity of who helped the shooter getaway after driving to Maguire’s location. This leads to Sandy attempting to confront his partner’s cousin, Craig, who we know was on the ferry the night Robbie Monroe disappeared.
The trip to Glasgow allows Archie Punjabi as Asha Israni to speak at last as Maguire’s handler, and her deliberate motion of avoiding questions in the interview with Perez leads to a rendez-vous in his hotel and eventual romatic clinch which will know doubt lead to something he regrets.
The connection between Robbie and Michael is further established when not only do they have matching tattoos, they are father and son which leads us to further understand that Michael did not kill his son on the ferry.
Perez was shown to have a vengeful streak also when he encounters the person Maguire was going to inform on, O’Malley played chillingly. O’Malley promises “he can get inside your life, get inside your head” during a confrontation in a dive bar. This prompts Perez to beat up one of O’Malley’s heavies in the car park. This leads to the romantic clinch with Asha.
The episode ends with an onimous looking figure burning some evidence in a field, we only see his shadow, is it Craig doing more work to cover up his mistakes or doing what he is told?
The injection of the father-son bond between Maguire and Robbie means there is more than meets the eye, and whilst the clinch between Perez and Asha was a bit telegraphed you get the sense it was building up to something greater.
Aired at 9pm on Friday 29 January 2016 on BBC One.
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