Second series of this six-part "Silent Witness" wannabe series set in that hotbed of crime and terrorism, Dundee, although if they can convince the public of threats to humanity in Shetland of all places, I guess they'll buy anything.
It begins by returning the viewer to the end of the first series as Martin Compston's character's dad goes on trial for the years-ago murder of his young girl-friend, Molly Windsor's mother. This puts pressure on the pair's relationship, especially as they're now living with the accused's estranged wife, i.e. Compston's mum, who it's fair to say, isn't a fan of their coupling. Things ratchet up further when Windsor thinks she's pregnant and by episode three, the trial verdict on the bad dad is in...and that, oddly enough, is the end of that story line with still half the series to go.
That's fair enough, there are plenty others in the ether to choose from, the main one being an escalating bombing campaign in Dundee wrought by an archetypal lone-bomber who identifies with the Incel Movement (no, I hadn't heard of it either) as attention switches to lead professor Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) who assists D. I. MacInven, Michael Nardone, in the race against time to stop the perp before he climaxes his campaign with literally a big bang.
You want more, well, things get a bit soapy as Gordon and Nardone get the hots for each other, which turns out to be especially awkward when the detective's profiler wife joins the team. Gordon's second-in-command Jennifer Spence meanwhile rubs up against both the new University Dean and a young student helper at the same time while investigating the separate deaths of two bodies which turn up in the Tay.
In summary, I enjoyed the series a bit more as it went on, although the Compston-Windsor axis still felt unresolved, so much so that I kept waiting for that story to return before the end for a better sense of closure. The trail of the young bomber was reasonably tense and exciting if a little second-hand as I feel I've seen many a double-episode of the afore-mentioned "Silent Witness" deal with similar subjects in half the time.
I wasn't always convinced by the acting of the cast which I felt often failed to rise above "River City"-levels (not a compliment, believe me!). A lot of the situations too, especially the relationship stuff, just didn't ring true and had more than the whiff of padding about it.
In the end then, I found this second series to not really be any better or worse than its predecessor. With a couple of plot-ends left dangling at the end, I wouldn't be surprised therefore if this team returned to deal with another Dundee disaster in a third series which I'll probably just about get up enough enthusiasm to watch, if they do.