I know I’m jumping around a bit, but who doesn’t like a bit of variety in their viewing? WHO? Let’s find out what happened with Toke in Ordinary Lies S2:E03!

We open in the warehouse with manager Billy “Toke” Tokington (the adorable Joel Fry, currently starring in Requiem!) smiling at everyone but Wendy (Rebekah Staton), who’s late.

He gets a dinner invite for that night and meets Sal (Adelle Leonce) who thinks they should move in together. He’s somewhat less than enthused, he doesn’t feel they are spiritually aligned. And what if she doesn’t like the Cohabitating Toke?

Football time; Toke’s gotta roll!

They’re the Raintown Superheros and they’d like the couple of tattooed dealers to move along, fanks. Whether or not they have superpowers (er), they can make a citizen’s arrest, so the young men leave, albeit grudgingly.

The team breaks up soon after, it’s quiet on the streets on a Thursday. Toke grabs some takeaway and heads home when screaming draws his attention. He’s stupid enough to get in the middle of a three-way girlfight and gets an elbow to the face for his trouble.

Ah shite, one of the girls gets stabbed and has to go to the hospital. Chrissy (Ella Peel) is quite young and doesn’t want to talk about it, fanks!

At work the next day, Ash (Luke Bailey) struggles through a chill explanation of his scary inject-y type drug use for not-girlfriend Ally (Jennifer Nicholas), who would understand pills or powder, but. She’s young, out of a bad marriage, pretty: she just needs some uncomplicated fun. Ash is whatever the opposite is of ALL of that.

Joe (Con O’Neill) stops by Toke’s office: time for a pint? Nah, he’s got to go stalk Chrissy and make sure she’s okay. He doesn’t see her, so he goes home for a quick shag with Sal, then he’s got to go again. He says it’s for a work do (that he won’t invite her to) but I think he’ll be off looking for Chrissy again.

I’m sincerely starting to doubt that relationships ever EVER work out, nobody can ever seem to be faithful, women OR men. It’s all boredom and lack of trust and secrets and not taking responsibility and I think I’ll go have a soda with Kate in the pub in Line of Duty.

Toke indeed looks for Chrissy instead of spending the night with his serious girlfriend and finds her, taking her for a meal. They chitchat a bit, he offers her a place to stay in until she gets on her feet and we’re all a bit confused.

She’s a bit young and too old to have sleepovers, Toke. Are you moving in with your girlfriend after all? The one you ditched on a Friday night to go look for this young homeless girl? Also, don’t trust people just because they have nothing. They also have nothing to lose. Maybe he’s going the Les Miserables route.

Chrissy shows up at work, she’ll be really pissed off if he turns out to be a murderer.

Back at work, poor Holly has been replaced by Sarah-Jane Rose (Elinor Crawley) at Jenna’s (Angela Griffin) door, she seems fun! Or whatever the opposite of fun is. Jenna doesn’t have a problem with Toke hiring Chrissy, hope his girlfriend is okay with it!

Chrissy meet Sal! It goes about as well as you’d expect, Sal clinging and Chrissy gushing. The difference is that Chrissy knows about Toke’s superhero schtick and Sal does not. Countdown to Sal “not understanding Toke” *because he hasn’t shared that part of his life with her.

It’s not much better at work, everyone watching Toke train Chrissy and then have lunch together. It seems nobody knows about his superhero bit at work either.

Patrol time!

Then pizza and hanging out with pals, Toke creeps home, staring into the van where Chrissy is sleeping. Oh. Not sleeping. Rather, she’s being energetically shagged and Toke gets busted spying on her.

Toke is in a foul mood at work the next day, yelling at everyone and then shouting outright at Chrissy when she rolls in. He didn’t wait very long for her at home to drive her in, she wags the knowledge about his superhero hobby at him and he needs to get a grip. Seriously.

Ally has a blind date with Gareth (Luke Elliot Bridgeman), well, actually no she doesn’t. He walks in and walks out just as quickly, sorry, she doesn’t have enough *grabby hands motion*. Breasts?

Toke can’t sleep, looking out the window where Chrissy is staring at him, she’s sorry!

She wants to follow the rules, honestly, but Bad Her’s voice is louder. She tells the fable of the Frog and the Scorpion, so many people think they’re poisonous and all they are is selfish and LAZY. Luckily it’s just as dangerous.

Jaysus, she kisses Toke and he runs, he doesn’t want that.

Doesn’t he?

He just wants to help! Then help her get her baby Sid back.

A drunk Ally has ordered pizza and puts us all through a cringe-worthy pass on the pizza delivery man (perhaps we could come to some arrangement?) before drinking more and flipping through her wedding album. She was married for 9 months to a guy who cheated the entire duration.

Now I want pizza.

Ally calls Ash: she’s an ally! He doesn’t need drugs, he just needs her! He’s been hesitant all along, he struggles with suicidal ideation and drug addiction and he just doesn’t want to complicate her life.

Chrissy is getting her palm read at work now, the answers are all inside her!

Damnit, Chrissy is in Toke’s house. And Sal sees her coming out. Bloody hell, Toke. Why do people even ever date ever? Chrissy was only there for him to check her clothes, they’re off to see her baby.

Her stepdad Phil (Rhys ap Tefor) is NOT happy to see her and Chrissy goes crazy, pounding and kicking the door.

Toke takes her to the sea to hear the story; Chrissy lost her mum at 13 and looked for attention from an old married friend of her mum’s and got it in the form of a baby at 15. Her stepdad and his new wife raised Chrissy’s son and they don’t seem too inclined to share. She begs Toke to vouch for her, so he goes back.

Toke talks his way in and just as the couple is agreeing to think about having Chrissy back in the house, she breaks into their yard and listens outside before sneaking inside and making a run at Sid. His crying brings the parents and her dirty footprints give her away.

She’s devastated. The next morning the van is gone and he’s brought in for a discipline with Joe and Jenna straight off. He had yelled at then hung up on an important client that bad day after Chrissy christened the van. He doesn’t want to talk about it, not with Joe, who’s heard rumours or Jenna, who asks where Chrissy is. He’s done.

He’s also dumped, Sal’s had enough of waiting for him: four years! Four years and you don’t want to move in with someone, it’s time to move on. Or just never be in a relationship again, come join Kate and I in the pub! We’re having non-alcoholic beers.

The Raintown Superheros are on the prowl, they break up a big barfight, Toke actually deploying the pepper spray he keeps on his belt. The rest of the gang wants to know: what happened to calm intervention?? Toke is in the bad place, he doesn’t think they can change anything, why try?

A morose Toke gets home to the police rushing at him, where is Chrissy? She’s stolen a child and he’s being taken in as an accomplice.

He’s still in costume, which gives the police a laugh, but not so much as we find out why he’s really dressing up as a superhero. His sister Jessica was in the video he watched before, she was knifed in the street and nobody did anything. She died. That’s why he helped Chrissy.

Ahhhh okay that all makes sense now.

Chrissy calls as he’s walking out, she took Sid to the beach. There’s not much time to talk before the police show up and take her away. Toke goes to see Sal in his superhero costume: he’ll move in with her, but there are some things she needs to know about him.

At Ally’s house, Ash is struggling with…addiction? Maybe? Or rather the voices in his head telling him to hurt Ally. ALLY. Mreep mreep get out your house, girl! GO! His addiction is self-medicating for a serious mental illness! WAKE UP.

Toke’s having a great day back at work, except for the part where police are looking for a tall, slim guy in a costume who pepper-sprayed a woman, he’s ready to work and we’re oot!

Huh. Well. I guess Toke worked out his superhero demons and no harm, no foul. Chrissy is in jail, he’s moved on with his girlfriend and stopped taking on Other People’s Problems.