Unforgotten episode two recap – revelations, intrigue and flashbacks

Gangsters, racists and murky flashbacks – our suspects claim not to remember the past, but the past remembers them

It was good to see the majority of you on board with the first episode, even though it was heavy on setup, light on payoff. The tempo picks up nicely in this episode, with plenty of revelations, intrigue and potential motive to bury a young man under a building.

The investigation

“Let’s start making connections,” Sunny tells the troops as the excavation of the Jimmy Sullivan case begins in earnest. Cassie travels up to Liverpool to visit Jimmy’s Irish mother, Maureen Sullivan. A grisly, abusive marriage to Jimmy’s father ensured a miserable upbringing for the boy, and his departure to London was to escape his father’s fists as well as to earn enough cash to secure Maureen’s exit. The moment the letters home from Jimmy stopped she knew something wasn’t right. There’s excellent, quietly powerful work from Frances Tomelty in these scenes – solid weight behind Cassie’s belief that as long as there’s someone around affected by it, murder stays murder.

Sir Philip Cross

Sir Philip doesn’t suffer fools, or indeed anyone, gladly – even if they happen to be his son. He refuses Josh permission to put his name on his letterheads as he regards his new associates as no better than criminals.

He should know. When DCI Kendall visits local face Brian Kendrick, he remembers the “cocky little runt” Frankie C quite well. In addition to his fabled market stall days, he was a driver for East End villains the Fenwicks. It’s enough to bring Cassie and Sunny round to interrupt his morning swim, something he’s not too crazy about. Jimmy’s photo sparks an immediate flashback to greeting him in a pub, though he tells the police he has no clue who he is. The moment the Fenwicks are mentioned, the temperature immediately plummets – the no-comment face comes on, they are ushered out and Sir Philip starts lawyering up. Not sure exactly what this looks like, but it’s not innocence.

Liam Gough certainly isn’t giving him a pass. The Whitehall kingmaker makes it clear Sir Philip had no right keeping his connection to the Fenwicks from him. With Sir Philip already announced as entrepreneurship czar, the government can’t unring that particular bell, and won’t take kindly to being made a laughing stock.

“It’s not up to you to decide what is or isn’t fucking important,” Gough chides him.

But when Gough tries to put him in his place Sir Philip cuts up a little rough. It may be a while since he’s been called it but Frankie C is always there, bubbling just under the surface for anyone taking liberties, real or imagined.

Lizzie Wilton

More shocking is the revelation that the likable, friendly Lizzie Wilton was once violent, racist Beth Laws. The faded SKINS tattoo on her hand bears witness to her unlikely past, as does her old landlady Mrs Leeming. She remembers Beth and her bovver-boy lover, Vincent Erskine, quite well. In her time as the better half of the skinhead Bonnie and Clyde, Beth racked up eight convictions including a racially motivated ABH on a Caribbean man, committed with Erskine.

All this takes the cops back to White City to visit Liz at the football club. Once again, the photo produces a quick flashback and an even quicker denial. That’s Jimmy – the boy no one can forget, and whom no one wants to remember. Lizzie’s memory seems a bit dicey all round, but the ever-efficient Cassie is on hand to help. She tells her Mrs Leeming’s recollections of the Skinhead Couple From Hell and reminds her of her criminal record.

“How could I be a racist?” asks Lizzie. “You’ve seen my husband.”

Now’s probably not a good time to start pitching for the ethnic minority vote, Lizzie.

Robert Grieves

The great Saint Gildas community hall heist of 2015 may not be Brink’s-Mat, but it is likely to cause a few waves here. It doesn’t take a genius to smell there’s something off about it, particularly when Robert appears to hock his wife’s ring without her knowledge. Whatever went on, he is able to phone Geoff to tell him that the missing £2,000 has been transferred back to the diocesean accounts. It was a simple accounting error by the wife, he assures him. It’s a weight off Geoff’s mind – and ours.

No such luck for Robert, whose anxiety levels shoot through the roof when Geoff mentions the police are seeking him in connection with a historical crime. And just like the others, he remembers Jimmy, too. After that, he visits a payphone and leaves a voicemail message for a woman called Jojo.

“I need to talk to you as soon as possible.”

Let’s assume it’s the Jojo from Jimmy’s diary and wonder once again: what did Robert do?

Eric Slater

“You evil fucking beast! I know what you are. I know what you did!”

It’s not Poirot but it’s a compelling j’accuse thrown at her husband by Claire. Of course it’s the dementia talking, but it feels that there is more than a grain of truth in her rantings.

When Eric reads about the discovery of Jimmy’s remains, he flashes back to a torrid sexual encounter between – who? It’s too fleeting to make out. With the cops discovering Eric’s past as a bookkeeper at Arlingham House, there’s more to be uncovered soon.

Notes & queries

Here’s a weird one. Cassie’s father dumps a load of her mother’s old letters on her before disappearing out for the evening. It looks like she will be joining the rest in uncovering some uncomfortable truths about her past.

“What, is she your bitch now?” The peer pressure that Curtis is already experiencing because of his relationship with Lizzie will only intensify if the skinhead years become public knowledge. Expect to hear more on this.

Is Robert’s money manoeuvring related to Arlingham House, or is it there just to illustrate a pattern of of reckless behaviour?

I think we’re going to get some more revealing outbursts from Claire but will anyone be listening?

Sir Philip is easily the meanest of the four. Robert, Lizzie and Eric seem fundamentally decent sorts, probably guilty of cowardice, keeping quiet or some other sins of omission. Only Sir Philip has the cold, fishlike eyes of a killer.

So what’s the betting on who the killer is and why? Let us know below the line.

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