It’s been a minute since we’ve visited the Unforgotten; a chance remark by a reader / friend about Sue Perkins from GBBO being friends with Nicola Walker made me realise just how long it’s been! I’m so suggestible it’s almost ridiculous. Thanks for the wake-up JS, rolling Unforgotten S1:E4 after the break!

Side note: I LOVE the theme song, it’s poignant and beautiful and has fun parts that go up and down; I sing along each time. For your listening pleasure:

Sunny’s having problems with his teenaged daughters again, not with Ayesha this time, but with Jemma, who’s been snapchatting pictures of her bottom. Again. IamsogladIhaveboyssometimes IamsogladIhaveboyssometimes. Cassie cheers Sunny up, his daughter probably wasn’t even sending it to a boy from her class, just some old guy posing as him. Sunny and I fail to see how that helps him feel better

Interview time with Sir Phillip aka Frankie C! The former business magnate (okay still a big wheel, but not for long, socially) sells it with a glare, let’s see what they brought him in on!

Now. For the record, I don’t think he did our Jimmy, I just think it’s remarkable that he wasn’t found out before now, seeing as her was USING HIS REAL NAME all the way through.

We’ll have to wait to find out, though, we’re at Chez Slater with Eric calm, Claire with a blackened eye and Les on the phone. “C’mon” chides Eric, “tuck in, Mother.” She doesn’t feel safe, she wants to go and that’s it, Eric loses it, throwing his plate against the cabinet and angrily motoring off in his chair. Les confirms with Claire: she really did slip and fall, didn’t she? Of course and Les, SHE REALLY IS NOT SAFE THERE. Get her OOT

Sir Phillip goes immediately on the offensive with the police; Thomas Pinion is a lifelong alcoholic who lies for money. There were a number of deposits over a number of time; will those same cash transactions appear in Sir Phillip’s pettycash? He makes an unwise move then, trading on his reputation and status: yes he associated with some unsavory types long ago, but look at him now! How could he be the type of person alleged by Pinion and be in the position he is now? Cassie shoots back “well a lot of people might say it was an essential qualification.” Hahahahaha. He laughs too, “people make mistakes. That doesn’t make me a murderer” *look down, then back up to sell it on ‘murderer’* Cassie makes a note, but the basic problem with his protestations is as above: detectives don’t usually care too much about reputation or status: they’re into “facts.”

Father Bob is sitting in church revisiting his sins

Ray and Lizzie are at practice, but none of the kids feel like kicking a ball around right now, thanks to what Curtis told them about “that b*tch.” Ray makes straight for him, nobody will be talking about  Lizzie like that on his team. At least Ray and Lizzie are talking again.

Father Bob is home early and ready to spill to Grace, she better sit down. She doesn’t want to sit down, what’s going on?? Oh but Grace remembers Joanna, who wasn’t the least a woman, but rather a girl and she remembers a girl she met almost 40 years ago?????? They were only married a year before, and that’s when the trouble comes, typically, isn’t it? The first year of marriage being the hardest, followed by every year after? And also when babies start coming, or not coming, depending.

We leave them for a minute to go back to the squad house; Willets has been investigating Eric Slater’s past. He was arrested after a fight in 1973, but there are conflicting reports, one tagging it as a fight, one as an assault. The victim Paul West has died since, but maybe the copper from back then? Or Paul’s sister?

Jake’s not doing very well tracking down people who stayed at the hostel back then, too many generic names. Cassie asks Sunny to put Jimmy’s picture into the paper to help, has Murray found JoJo? Nope.

Father Bob’s phone records have checked out, but Cassie’s on to the good pastor and asks Willets to get the records from the nearby payphone because apparently they still have and use payphones.

Sean Rawlins has noticed something off about Jimmy’s bones; there’s a perfect hole through his “scafoid” (I dunno?). He’s seen that before, in gangland punishment, a nail hammered through the hand (oh, it’s in the hand!).

Sir Phillip’s laying everything out for his son Josh; it seems Gordon Fenwick called the other day looking for money from Sir Phillip, just like Pinion. Oh and NOW Sir Phillip wants to use Josh’s “Turkish friends” for help, you know, the “Turkish friends” Sir Phillip wouldn’t deign to address directly previously! Well. He doesn’t intend to address them directly now, either, and when Josh questions if he REALLY wants to make that move: Sir Phillip has no choice. Gordon Fenwick will have him put away for a murder he had “NOTHING to do with” *coughing fit*.

Willets is at Father Bob’s payphone, calling it in while Claire sits nearby and stares at the ocean.

Sunny’s interviewing Eric about the fight, that’s a little odd, he must be thinking? Les is there as well as his dad explains that the fight was just about football. Eric writes it off to the “impetuosity of youth” but I’d say it has a hell of a lot more to do with his violent temper. I see you Eric, your accountant self clad in a teal argyle sweater vest, sitting in a wheelchair and looking all harmless. I.see.you. I think Les is starting to as well.

Woot, Jake’s got a call back from the newspaper appeal about Jimmy, Alan Mackay (Struan Rodger) or Mackie remembers not just Jimmy but Vincent Eskine and Beth as well. Jake would like to see you right now!!

Grace has told her daughters about Father Bob, one thinks it’s worse that it was so long ago, one thinks that makes it better. Grace is wondering if he strayed more than once? Angry daughter is worried, due to the age gap and the position of authority her dad was in.

Jake and Mackie are walk/talking in the park, Erskine didn’t get to stay very often on account of getting into so many fights but he did remember Erskine being around once specifically, making plans to rob Jimmy. Mackie was good friends with Jimmy and would have warned him, had someone not come by just then with his BEST friend: drugs, so he doesn’t know if that ever happened. Beth was somewhere in the background.

Bella Cross is at work when she gets an email from Gordon Fenwick out of the blue, titled “Your Old Man” and inside is two pictures of a young Sir Phillip just having driven a nail through someone’s wrist. Now. I hate to be pedantic, but I thought Sir Phillip’s specialty was bolt cutters, unless the cutters are to get rid of the head of the nail so the arm can be pulled off? Need a minute. Are we really supposed to believe the head of a mob boss is conducting a campaign to discredit a former employee from long ago? Wouldn’t Sir Phillip have MUCH more on Fenwick?

Ray and Lizzie are looking at the newspaper; he’s reminiscing about starting up the football club, which they did right after their son Michael died. He thinks that was her way of making some sense out of what happened to Michael and she cuts him off: if he thinks she murdered Jimmy, just say so. How would he know? He doesn’t know what she was capable of back then. Ooooh

Cassie’s keeping in touch with Maureen, that’s nice. Willets interrupts excitedly: she found JoJo! It’s Joanna Bridges (Caroline O’Neill – I know her from Cuffs!) and Father Bob DID ring her from the payphone (we totally knew that).

JoJo looks sad and drawn, AAGHGAHSGHADVGHDVSGSHAHAGS Father Bob was lying like an underaged rug, JoJo was 15!!!!!! when he was having sex with her! It’s not a RELATIONSHIP if one of you can drink and the other can’t legally drive, ROBERT. Oh that’s so gross. You don’t grow OUT of attraction to extremely young people, it’s not a phase, it’s a predilection. Disclaimer: not any kind of an expert, just grossed the hell out. AND he kept in touch with her for years after.

She wants to know why they’re asking about something so long ago anyway; how could it matter? Besides the ICK factor, they tell her they’re investigating whether Jimmy got into an altercation about the dual dating. She scoffs.

Mackie was a great information source; as Jake fills Cassie and Sunny in we get a broader picture yet. It seems Jimmy didn’t borrow the money from the Fenwicks to buy that Spyder, but rather to pay for an abortion for Jojo. Oh man.

Bella’s gone to the family home to explain the email she just got, she’s additionally worried because there is now evidence that she viewed a crime scene and didn’t do anything about it (sure, Bella, it’s all about YOU) which I also wondered about, but not to worry, Sir Phillip will just pay Fenwick off. Again. Josh is shocked, but I’m only shocked that we’re still supposed to believe that this mob boss is blackmailing his one time, short time henchman with a fondness for hardware. I’m impressed with stonecold Shirley, she doesn’t blink a eye at any of it. Knock at the door; it’s the police.

Cassie is ecstatic to arrive home to find her son Adam (Jassa Ahluwalia) there talking to Martin, she loves SO HAPPY!! It’s “completely gorgeous to see you. Tell me you’re staying for months.” I hope I get to hug my kiddos like that one day.

Sunny is there to press about the nailhole in Jimmy’s hand and you can almost feel what Sir Phillip is feeling: the rope getting tighter around his neck.

Adam’s telling his mum’s stories and she just loves him being there. Keep talking, keep telling her stuff. He has a friend who needs an boatload of dental work after a poorly received joke about his girlfriend’s arse and Adam thinks he should go to India, much cheaper.

Tangent! I had a friend who went to Mexico to get dental work done to save money and ever since has been paying thousands of dollars 4 times a year for a massive cocktail of antibiotics to combat the fact that his face wants to kill him. I thought he was 20 years older than he was and we all thought he had cancer, given how ghostly he would look after each treatment, but no, it was a rogue infection. I know many people who have had medical care abroad, I’m just saying: it’s not always a bargain. You have to do your homework.

Father Bob is realising just how much is affected by his “old news”; he’s packing but his oldest daughter doesn’t want him to perform her marriage ceremony any more, either. She doesn’t trust him when he says he didn’t kill Jimmy, basically, she thinks she doesn’t know him and never did. And she wasn’t even the angry one earlier!

Beth is brought in for her police interview in the back of a police car; which the neighbourhood thugs are quick to note, and now she remembers everything. She remembers robbing Jimmy with Vinnie, she left with the 50 pounds and Jimmy was still alive. That’s all she remembers, she went outside to wait for Vinnie, who wasn’t far behind her. Vincent came down laughing, calling Jimmy a “feisty little bastard” but she doesn’t remember any of the other details.

Sunny asks a question we were all wondering: how did Jimmy have Beth’s number in his book if she had the kind of relationship with him where she’d help her boyfriend rob him in his bed? Beth had broken up with Vincent earlier, though, got clean and sober; she and Jimmy hung out. He was teaching her to read and write and for whatever reason, that made me cry. What a life Elizabeth Wilton must have had as well.

Oh well now, Willets has more information about our Eric; the fight he had was outside a gay bar. I had thought something was up in the beginning, wondering if he had an affection for Jimmy, I am wondering really hard now.

Josh and Bella are discussing their dad’s prospects; minimum is about 15 years for “managed murder.” That does sound tidy, but not very likely.

Curtis has seen the papers now too, guess who he thinks is involved? Ray stops him; where is he going? Home, he’s not having anything more to to with the Wiltons, fanks.

Lizzie is formally charged with the robbery of Jimmy Sullivan; do you think that will end her and Ray’s football club?

Sunny and Cassie are in to see the sister of Paul West, Eric’s victim from the gay bar. It was a gay bashing, not a domestic violence case? Paul didn’t show up at the trial because he was in the closet and ALSO because he thinks Eric would have beaten him to death if a police officer hadn’t stopped the fight.

In the car, Cassie and Sunny discuss, confused, nothing they’ve heard about Jimmy indicated he was gay, but I’ll tell you: fear of being caught being gay while Eric was that deep in the closet combined with a violent temper? Makes complete sense to me. Think of the end of American Beauty.

Curtis is smoking up with the thug; he’s doesn’t react well to being called a coconut and then he throws away all his school books at the thug’s urging. Good job! Throw your promising life away! THAT’LL SHOW HER!!

Feelings are hard.

Lizzie’s making a cuppa when a brick smashes through her window, she goes outside to find “RACIST SCUM” sprayed on her garage with paint.

Oh-er, Cassie and Sunny have shown up on the day of the anniversary party for Eric and Claire; wheee. They brace him, hard, Paul’s sister said Eric was waiting for Paul outside and Eric swears he didn’t even know it was a gay pub. And it was all very long ago. They ask if Eric ever saw anything about Jimmy being gay? Well, no, Jimmy had a girlfriend, right? But Cassie and Sunny never mentioned that Jimmy and JoJo were boyfriend / girlfriend and that’s a pretty important piece of information to leave out. Almost as though Eric were steering them deliberately at Father Bob?

Cassie’s getting frustrated; they’re up against people’s bad memories and biases and lack of evidence and it’s exhausting her.

Father Bob will be staying in church-worker Sheila’s spare room; and good news! They’ve got CCTV footage of whomever broke into the community centre, I gather from his face that it was him. How deep is he in?

The grim anniversary party is rolling on, I hate how terrified Claire looks. Eric is working the room like a champ, but Claire wants to know why they’re celebrating? She knows it’s her 45th wedding anniversary, but really, why are they celebrating?

Curtis comes downstairs after he comes down, retrieving his school work in the rain. Ah Curtis.

Time for Eric’s speech at the party, he says marriage is like a house, it needs maintenance! More allusions re: plumbing, etc, but the foundations must be rock solid. Claire looks terrified and runs off into the rain. Her son Matt follows and she explains: she thought she’d already put so much in, she didn’t want to give it all up. He’d had his accident and he wouldn’t have been able to hurt anyone else again anyway. Whut, says Matt? All of her memories are being dredged up by the police asking questions, she can’t tell what’s real or not?

Ray gets home to see the graffiti, rushing in her finds no Lizzie, just a note saying “Sorry.”

Sir Phillip overhears his wife on the phone, she’s not as stonecold as she appeared earlier, she’s worried about what she’ll have to say to the police.

Father Bob comes into the room where Sheila is serving tea; he looks very grave and all of a sudden I see him as dangerous.

Sunny tells Cassie; there’s been a call in to the CID office: there’s another victim. And we’re out.

**pics borrowed from Tumblr as noted, except for the paper throwing one, THAT GIF WAS MINE!!! I MADE IT!!!, thank you!