Welcome back to Unforgotten! I was missing it, so I thought I’d get caught up on what Cassie In Charge has been up to. Rolling S1:E3 after the break.
Oh. I’d forgotten we’d closed last episode with Cassie reading through some important-looking letters that her father had found after her mum died. Er-ooh. So while I’m excited to be back, Cassie looks…less so. We also learned almost everyone’s backstories: Lizzie was a white supremacist; Sir Phillip was street hustler mob-connected Frankie C; Eric’s wife thinks he did something bad and maybe Jimmy wasn’t a thief after all, he may have bought that Spyder.
Lizzie’s up bright and early; it’s time to tell Ray about her past. This will be a tough pill to swallow; how does one tell one’s black husband about one’s youthful shenanigans as a skin head? And how does one go from a screaming racist to colourblind, too?
Jake’s tracked down the guy Lizzie assaulted with her old boyfriend Vincent Erskine. Sunny and Cassie are on their way. Cassie doesn’t know how anyone could murder someone and then just carry on living their life without it affecting anyone? (Yes, Gillian, how could anyone do that? Hmm?)
Lizzie starts at the beginning; she didn’t tell him any of this because she wanted Ray to have a relationship with her dad. Ohhh, because after her mum died when she was twelve, her dad started having relations with her, is the inference. She tried telling someone, but her aunt threatened her and instead Lizzie ran away. People did that then, you know, blamed the victim and didn’t want to confront inconvenient truths. They do it now, too but on we go. Lizzie ran to London, where she lived on the streets and drank. She met up with a bigger, stronger fella named Vincent who turned out to not be a good person. He made her think and do thinks that were not who she really was, Ray.
I’d say she was lucky, every single person I knew who lived on the streets as a young girl had to hook, and got messed up with drugs. Granted, that’s not a large sample, under 20 women, but it was clear across the board.
He wants to know what things, of course, as Cassie and Sunny arrive at Father Bob’s church to watch a baptism. A wee bebeh!!! Who everyone is renouncing evil for, in his / her name (hard to tell with the dress ) and Lizzie explains completely. She was a member of the National Front, but not just in name, she marched and made leaflets and was a card-carrying white-bread member of an English version of the KKK.
Curtis is waiting for his ride while Lizzie is unburdening her soul; erp. Those gang members can smell uncertainty. He runs to school instead, arriving late.
Father Bob is ‘splaining how he met Jimmy, who he calls “full of life”, “a real character.” He figures Jimmy was only coming to church to be able to tell his mother he was, but he didn’t know anything about Jimmy’s day to day life. Cassie and Sunny run through a list of names with the good Father, who is the worst liar EVER, falling all over himself about the name JoJo and pretending to be unsure of gender. Could that be who he was secretly calling at the end of the last episode? I thought it was Georgia but I wasn’t sure at all. Could he be bribing someone named JoJo re: the murder and that’s what’s been eating up all the money?
Sunny mocks gently as they walk away, in the tone of his daughter Ayesha “oh my gawwwwd, he SO knows JoJo.”
Ray needs some space, and doesn’t look reassured by Lizzie bringing up Jimmy’s death just then. She swears she didn’t have anything to do with it, but 10 bucks says she would have scoffed if asked about a dark past last week, too. Ray and I know this is how secrets are revealed in a relationship, like an old onion, one rotting layer after the next until you finally know everything, if you’re still around to look. He needs some air before the next round, fanks.
Sir Phillip’s called his daughter, Bella, for advice. He totally knew Jimmy (we knew that) but he has nothing to hide. Jimmy ran some errands for the not-pure-as-the-driven-snow Fenwicks, for whom he did whatever he had to do to get out of a house with no running water. Got it? Good! I like Sir Phillip much more than I thought I would! Her phone starts to buzz and she leaves, telling him to deny, deny, deny: make the police prove he lied. And the papers will have it in an instant, so heads up.
Father Bob’s having a big family barbecue but he can’t pull his face out of his shoes to enjoy it. He keeps reliving Jimmy kicking some idols in the church and he passes out onto the table, alarming everyone.
Murray takes the team through what’s he’s found about the Fenwicks, which is that they are all abroad. They found Thomas Pinion (Duncan Pow – and I was so confused for a minute, I thought I was on the wrong show! Duncan Pow plays a drug dealer on The Night Manager, careful Duncan, wouldn’t want to get typecast!) though; he’s a henchman that did time for the family and he’s still around.
They’re looking at everyone from the Hostel Of Doom, securing an address for Eric Slater (he totally did it), the bookkeeper at the time, but JoJo is proving elusive. Just like anyone looking for me from when I was in my twenties; nicknames can make you completely impossible to find.
Cassie’s calling Maureen, Jimmy’s mum, does she want to see where Jimmy’s lain all this time? Er-ooh, in the foundation of a basement all covered with crime scene tape? She says yes and I guess that makes sense, but I spent my entire childhood thinking there were dead people in the basement: hard pass.
Curtis is at the Wiltons,’ what’s going on?? Why didn’t she pick him up for school? Nobody’s answering.
Grace tells everyone that Father Bob is okay, he’s just had a panic attack. That didn’t look ANYTHING like a panic attack, that looked like a heart attack but maybe there’s more than one way to panic.
Lizzie’s tracked Ray down at the stadium; she fought he might be there. He doesn’t know how to process this news; asking if he was just her penance, then? A bit of proof to herself that she wasn’t that person after all? That’s a fair question. She defends herself as Curtis walks up, she did what she did because He “made her.” He and I (and I bet Curtis) don’t believe her. He cries and aw man. Why didn’t she just say no? Curtis runs as she apologizes and I am very worried for this man’s future. He’s already got the nogoodniks from his neighbourhood sniffing around and if he doesn’t think he has them…or her…
Oh. Huh. Thomas Pinion is actually played by Alan Ford, TOTALLY different and explains the age difference I wasn’t understanding. Ignore that bit above^^^. ERMAGHD!!!!!!! I’m sorry, once I saw his face, I got so EXCITED!!! It’s BRICK TOP from Snatch!!!! You know, the one with the pigs?? I’ve never been more impressed with a secondary murder character as the ones that pop up in Guy Ritchie’s early movies. They were fantastic and so was he! Okay, okay, sorry, sorry, right:
Murray and Karen are interviewing Tommy (SQUEE! Brick Top!!!) about Frankie C; he only worked for the brothers Fenwick for about a year and a half, on the payroll proper for only 6 months. Frankie did a bit of this, a bit of that and the This included being muscle and bashing some heads. Frankie C especially liked the bolt cutters, using them joint by joint until people paid up. Huh. That seems fairly sadistic for a man only working for the mob for 18 months? Something a career mobster would have come up with, amirite?
They bring out the picture of Jimmy. Tommy recognizes him right away. He did bits and bobs for the gang and borrowed 50 quid. Did he pay it back, or did Frankie Boltcutters come and get it back? Tommy doesn’t remember.
They leave and Tommy makes the most of his retirement, calling the papers. He has a story about someone famous. Oooooh I don’t think Liam is gonna like this, Sir Phillip!
Cassie and Sunny are at Eric’s now; he tells Claire to call Les. They settle in for some questioning about the “half-caste lad” and I can only assume he means mulatto? I don’t know what word people use these days, but I have always loved the word “octoroon” since North and South. He remembers Jimmy, nice lad (flash of a shirtless Jimmy playing basketball – hmmmm, was he attracted to the young man?) who tried to sell him a car he thought might be stolen. That might be how Jimmy had his phone number. He didn’t think Jimmy was the sort to get into trouble, more of a gentle soul and er-ooh. He wouldn’t have noticed if Jimmy just stopped showing up.
Name running time! JoJo makes him just about come out if his chair, she was a 17 year old girl, he only saw her the one time and she wasn’t staying at the hostel either. He saw her “at it” with Father Bob in a storage room. I suppose I’d remember that too!
Claire waits until the detectives are leaving to poke her head ‘round; have they asked him about the nights he never came home? These aren’t THOSE cops, mum, but she adds “I never got it out”, hmmm. Blood? Yes, she mutters something about a boil and you absolutely DO need a cold soak with blood first. She looks very pleased with herself afterwards.
Father Bob has been released but he still isn’t talking to Grace. I guess trying to explain a long-term mistress you met while underage would be tricky.
The shopkeeper Lizzie and Vincent attacked seems still very young, with a lovely Jamaican accent. It’s like music. He was shocked at the level of vitriol Lizzie displayed during the attack on his person, it was she who was egging Vincent on, not the other way around and she who spit on him after.
Lizzie’s at Curtis’s flat, trying to find him for his Maths exam, oh I think it’s much worse than that.
Frankie, I mean Sir Phillip has been ducking Liam but finally takes his call but his attempt to brush off the honourable dude meets sarcastic resistance: what’s Sir Phillip gonna do? Cut off his fingers? Oh and Sir Phillip knows who it is, but it’s already too late: The Prime Minister’s office has been called for a comment. It’s all over. How on EARTH did Frankie C think he was going to keep his past hidden forever? He’s USING THE SAME NAME. His face is the same! Everything is the same and how did the committee not find any of this out?
Lizzie goes to Curtis’s school to ask for a “fcuking reset” for Curtis’s Maths exam, she’s not taking no for an answer.
Cassie’s briefing the team; Lizzie’s lied about everything so she sends Jake to find more people who stayed at the Hostel of Iniquity during that time period to find out if there was any bad blood. They got a look at the bones again; nothing there shows any finger joints cut off, so Frankie C.’s possible motive doesn’t have any evidence to back it up. They still want to dig up Gordon Fenwick for a chat, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Father Bob is in trouubblbbleeeeee, almost as much as Sir Phillip, who cannot get the story squashed and hears that the paper has proof.
Cassie gets home to find Martin working a crossword puzzle about The Evil That Men Do, pouring a massive glass of wine. Time for a chat about the letters! Why now? Martin’s pissed off and he’s exhausted trying to pretend that he isn’t. He and Cassie’s mum were married for 47 years, and he used to think that meant something. Cassie er-ooh, tries to deflect, it was just the one bloke! Maybe it was just sex and those are never words you ever, EVER want to say about your mum. I mean. But no, you can tell she was in love with this Chris and he cries while they talk. Aww man, Martin. You knew her, Martin, you just didn’t know ALL Of her. Nobody can completely know another person and it’s a mistake to think we ever do.
Sir Phillip is staring at his monitor grimly; finally clicking the Daily Mirror and THAT’S how he knew immediately who sold the story; he’s been paying Tommy Pinion to keep quiet. Why didn’t he bring out his old bolt cutters or worse?
Sunny and Cassie are back to see Father Bob again; Grace serves everyone tea and that makes it a bit worse, doesn’t it? Father Bob starts into it immediately; it wasn’t just a physical thing, he cared for Joanna, who he says was “19, 20” and he only “28” but I’m more confused that Eric supposedly knew exactly how old JoJo was.
Father Bob says it was only a few weeks, and he had no idea if she was seeing Jimmy too. He met her because she just lived down the road from the church in a bedsit, sorry, no clue where or at what address. He won’t even give her full name, don’t remember! They met when she started volunteering; he was going through a difficult time in his life, questioning decisions and it was the biggest mistake of his life. He hasn’t spoken to her in 39 years and really, he’s the WORST liar. Cassie presses, but he thinks he covered his tracks sufficiently and repeats it.
Cassie’s chomping at the bit to nail Father Bob for the lie; Sunny tells her Gordon Fenwick has no desire to talk to them ever.
Lizzie finally tracks Curtis down; he’s cold and distant. He can’t believe her cheek; “break YOUR heart??” and he’s gone while she begs him to not throw away his exams over what he thinks of her.
Maureen is in the basement, holding the dirt that held her son as Cassie and Sunny watch respectfully from a distance.
There’s a Come to Jeebus Meeting at Chez Cross; Bella is taking this all very personally. Did Sir Phillip do all this? As a Human Rights lawyer, she needs to know! I’ve not actually seen someone make a 40 year old case about themselves before, it’s engrossing in its narcissism. I’m impressed that Josh steps up to help, but I’m sure Phillip doesn’t care; he’s too busy listening to tales of his stock dropping 8% immediately. Remember when Sir Phillip refused to help his son because his son was consorting with gangsters?
Sunny shows Maureen the old picture and plot plans they’d found, they all cuddle and it’s a nice moment. Maureen leaves and Cassie’s invigorated. She also sussed that what Claire Slater was talking about was blood and she wants to know how Eric got up to the second floor dining room to have a fight with Jimmy if there wasn’t a lift. Eric is in a wheelchair if I haven’t mentioned that previously and do we know if he was then as well?
Sir Phillip is being asked to step down from his own company, as to be expected, when he gets a call from guess who? No, GUESS?? Gordon Fenwick and he thinks they need to talk!
Sunny’s done the homework; there was never a lift in the Hostel of Good Times Gone Bad and it doesn’t matter anyway; Eric Slater wasn’t paralyzed until 1979 and was perfectly able to get around when Jimmy went missing in 1976.
Run the man, says Cassie! “You see someone in a wheelchair, you just assume certain things” and Sunny gets it. She draws a line from Eric to Jimmy, looking forlorn as Sunny stares after her.
Eric sits in the kitchen while upstairs Claire tends to her new bruises. He’s hit her, blacked her eye and we’re out to that scene: a woman riddled with dementia beaten by her for-sure murderer) husband. Ah Claire.
Until next time, ladies and gents, cheers.
