My Tchek mate in gripping mystery
Tytyty
TWO brave women speaking about domestic abuse in a Channel 5 documentary on Wednesday was extremely tough viewing. The Abused told us police are called to a domestic abuse incident in Britain every 30 seconds. Hazel, left, said her partner had stamped on her head and punched her. She was struggling to breathe. Paramedics saw that he’d ripped some of her hair out. Kelly told how she’d been strangled, punched and threatened with knives and bottles but had never had the courage to tell anyone before now. “He made me feel I deserve it,” she said.
A harrowing insight into violent relationships. WELL Baptiste started nicely enough, didn’t it?
We had a minute or so of calm while a friendly-looking gentleman found a pretty shell on a beach.
But then someone arrived pretending to read the gas meter – always check credentials, people! – and suffocated him to death.
Then he carved him into bits with a chainsaw while listening to Let Your Love Flow. Harsh. BBC1 viewers everywhere felt nauseous.
The thriller is the hugely anticipated spin-off of The Missing, from TV writing big hitters Harry and Jack Williams. After last seeing Julien Baptiste about to go under the knife for his brain tumour op, we didn’t even know if he’d survive.
What a blessed relief it was to see the French detective, played by Tcheky Karyo, limping down the streets of Amsterdam with bags of shopping. Although, as he mentioned once or twice: “I’m not the man I was.” We were drawn into the case of a sex worker, Natalie Rose, reported missing by her uncle Edward Stratton, a sweaty, panicking Tom Hollander.
Edward and Julien trawled Amsterdam’s red light district with a photo of Natalie, discovering links to Romanian gangs, sex trafficking and transgender prostitutes.
There was mention of mysterious crime boss Dragomir Zelincu.
Ten points to anyone who clocked that trans brothel owner Kim was Dragomir in a former life. Later Baptiste gave Kim his “I gotcha” monologue after a Rita Hayworth-inspired lightbulb moment.
The chainsaw maniac, all creepy charm, followed Baptiste’s wife Celia round the supermarket to plant a bug on her bag. It’s TV law that villains are a bit sexy.
A farmer found a necklace with an N engraved on it. Later the farmer’s dog Caspar started digging furiously.
Meanwhile, Edward called a woman, presumably y an old flame. “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked. Don’t worry love, just gotta run home, I’ve got a severed head in the basement.
Yes, while Edward ate out of a sad little takeaway container, blood on his cuff, cameras zoomed in on his grisly secret downstairs.
Elsewhere, a girl called Cristina, Natalie’s little sister, had been kidnapped by sex traffickers, and Julien found Natalie, who revealed the biggest twist: “My uncle? He’s not my f***ing uncle.”
As we await tonight’s episode I have dozens of burning questions, including:
Who really is Edward Stratton? What did Caspar find in the tulip field? Who was the man killed at the beginning? Why does Edward have his head? Will Baptiste’s family be safe? And most importantly, will there be any more chainsaw action or can I unclench my fingers from this cushion?
Spin-offs and sequels don’t always work but, so far, this feels like a thrilling drama in its own right and I can’t wait for more.
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