Want a dose of eccentricity in your midweek British drama? If you’re nodding ‘yes’, then brace yourself for the second season of Suspect (Channel 4, Wednesday, 9pm) in all its unhinged glory, where it seems ready to burst its own eyeballs staring.
The first chapter of this remake of a popular Danish drama starred James Nesbitt as a detective probing the killing of his own child. The tale winds into a twist as the pathologist suspected of the crime gets stabbed by Nesbitt’s character, Danny, who ends up being carted off to jail.
As the story picks up, Danny is still in prison. The plot this time revolves around his ex-spouse and psychotherapist, Susannah (Anne-Marie Duff). She’s trying to rebuild her life after her daughter’s murder when she gets a call from the smooth-talking, chain-smoking Jon (Dominic Cooper), who wants to drop his smoking habit.
Jon is so convincing (and offers her doughnuts) that she decides to treat him. During hypnosis, he unveils a grim secret — he’s a contract serial killer, with his next target scheduled for that night, who happens to be another young woman.
Jon exits, supposedly with no recollection of his confession, leaving Susannah flustered. Fearing the worst, she reaches out to Detective Richard Groves (Ben Miller), a stiff-upper-lip policeman she’s had a past romantic tryst with. The narrative gets a tad tangled here, as Richard seems well aware of the murders Jon mentions, yet surprisingly nonchalant about Susannah’s revelations.
Their conversation gets interrupted by Richard’s barrister wife, Natasha (Tamsin Greig). She’s aware of the affair but is unbothered by it, knowing Richard will find his way back to her. Interestingly, she’s also unshaken by the prospective antics of a serial killer with a smoking addiction.
The trend of Nordic noir was popular for a reason – it spiced up the traditional police procedural genre with a delightful layer of Scandinavian darkness. Compared to that, Suspect offers a much stranger narrative that doesn’t quite correspond to the usual murder mystery expectations.
Everyone seems to be running around in a fluster, their mouths wide open with their eyes darting around, as though the actors are unsure of their roles and are becoming unnerved. This creates a sense of tension for the viewers, starkly contrasting the current popular cosy crime trend inspired by Agatha Christie. Despite the exaggerated performances, the script skilfully throws in misleading clues. However, the real crime Suspect commits is its lack of coherency.