My wife and I are working our way steadily through all the previous series of this excellent ITV police procedural drama.
Like the previous two runs, this six-parter was gripping and entertaining in equal measure, featuring a particularly chilling and nasty protagonist who turns out in fact to be a serial-killer (and rapist) of young girls.
However, what I did notice this time around was the reliance on the programmes's pre-established formulae from before. So, naturally it starts with the discovery of a dead body interred several years before. It turns out be that of a young teenage girl who had gone missing on New Year's Eve almost twenty years before, leaving behind her devastated twin sister and mother who have clearly never gotten over her loss.
Sure enough the case is allocated to Cassie, Sunny and their team where their investigations lead to the usual band of four interconnected suspects, a TV host, a doctor, a struggling financial services dalesanan and an artist with mental health issues, all one-time best friends whose marital relationships all coincidentally broke down the year following the girl's disappearance, although none were connected to her at the time. Cue the now familiar distorted flashback memories of the crime, deep dives into the lives and loves of the suspects and just for good measure the private affairs of Cassie and Sunny themselves, she, worried about her father's mental health and also hesitating over entering into a new relationship with a handsome detective from the original investigation and Sunny torn between his prodigal wife who now wants him back after previously leaving him with their two teenage children and the new love he's found in her stead.
Even more than this are the clear signs that Cassie's mental health is coming under severe strain especially as she seeks to get inside the mind of the evil killer in her midst. There are no doubt some out there in this day and age who might question why the one to edge towards a breakdown should be the woman and not the man, especially as she has always shown herself capable of keeping all the plates spinning in her private and personal lives, but I thought it fair enough to demonstrate the unimaginable stress and strain on the team leader of trying to solve such abhorrent crimes as this.
There was a fine performance here by Alex Jennings as the murderer and again the action and intrigue was expertly spread out over the six episodes with red herrings and potential suspects a-plenty.
As we move onto Series 4, I don't doubt the excellent quality of the show will continue but
I would also just like to see a little less reliance on the familiar tropes and practices used in the three preceding series.