This post contains spoilers for Payback episode 5.
Cal Morris is furious when he discovers Jared Noble spent all his money on posh art and antiques and comes close to killing his widow, Lexie (Morven Christie), before deciding she's more useful alive than dead. Will he live to regret that decision?
Here's our recap of what happened in Payback episode 5...
We pick up immediately where we left off, with Aaron Morris demanding to know who Lexie was talking to after storming into her hotel room. She tells him she was just talking to herself, but it’s clear he’s not convinced. Luckily he’s not smart enough to find the bugs that are planted in both of their rooms.
Meanwhile DI Royce is furious to hear that DCI Guthrie has been secretly meeting with Lexie while she was carrying out a murder investigation in which Lexie was the prime suspect.
Guthrie says he ended their meeting as soon as Lexie’s criminal record became apparent, which is true, although he did it unwillingly. Royce also suspects he told her not to disclose information about Cal Morris, which is definitely true. As far as Lexie’s safety is concerned, Royce agrees with DC Khan and thinks they should get her the hell out of there, but Guthrie says she stays put.
'Billy has a nail gun..'
At the bank in Vilnius the next morning, Lexie manages to answer the security questions, which is fortunate because we doubt there’s a password reset button for this account...
However the smile on Aaron Morris’ face is soon wiped away by news that Jared recently spent nearly £28m at a set of upmarket auction houses that sells fine arts, antiques and other such stuff. Why would Aaron have done this? Is it part of some complex financial scheme or does he just have an art addiction? Either way, Cal Morris isn’t pleased to hear the news and tells his son and Lexie to come home immediately.
At Police Scotland HQ, DC Khan reminds DCI Guthrie that Lexie’s children have now been missing for nearly two days and he agrees to bring her in when she eventually makes it home. What a hero.
DC Khan is utterly unimpressed, but he’s even more disconcerted when he finds Aaron isn't taking her home, but to a run down old farmhouse in the back of beyond. When they get there Lexie's convinced she’s about to be killed and Cal Morris is clearly counting on her being terrified when he begins questioning her about the expensive things Jared spent his money on, believing they were gifts for Lexie.
Terrified for her life, Lexie finally reveals the truth about Jared’s other woman, for whom he bought expensive gifts. She then tells him her husband planned to flee to Miami with her, which she knows isn’t true, but to be fair his henchman has a nail gun. Aaron sticks up for her, but why? Possibly because he wants her to help him with that shipping container, or maybe he knows more about the missing money than he's letting on..
'You don't say no to Cal Morris..'
Morris gets his informants within the police force to confirm Lexie’s story holds up and thankfully for her it does, yet the crime lord also threatens to kill his own son if he lies to him. Aaron — aware that he’s already told a series of porkies over the missing shipping container — looks a bit worried. It’s certainly clear that Morris’ trust in his son is wavering somewhat.
After convincing Morris that her husband had a mistress, it’s now up to Lexie to try and get in touch with the auction houses and recover the items Jared spaffed so much cash on. But more importantly, a monumentally relieved Lexie is reunited with her children.
She doesn’t get to spend much time with them though, as she’s soon taken back to the police station (again) where DI Royce begins questioning her off the record. Lexie then reveals how DCI Guthrie dropped her right in it. Ha!
Royce doesn’t seem surprised by this, but then she says they have someone in custody whom they think may have murdered her husband and that a third party probably paid them to carry out the hit. As such, it’s strongly implied Royce no longer suspects Lexie. We knew she was a good egg.
Guthrie then tries to take over the interrogation, before DI Royce says they both believe Lexie should be in witness protection. We certainly have more faith in Royce getting this done than Guthrie, although he's correct when he points out that buying the island through another company was her idea — even if he was the one who forced her hand by abandoning her.
He then offers her immunity from prosecution again and she unloads on him, pointing out that immunity is of little use to her if her kids have been killed! Kind of makes sense.
However DCI Guthrie has let Lexie believe that her place in witness protection depends on her cooperating with his investigation. DC Khan points out this isn’t strictly true and emails Lexie anonymously, warning her to get a guarantee in writing before she gives Guthrie anything. She immediately texts Guthrie, issuing her ultimatum.
'Is it missing or is it lost?'
Cal Morris’ wife Connie tells him she’s perfectly happy where she is and doesn’t want to move to the Isle of Eris. He placates her, but we can’t help wondering why the gangster does want to live in such a remote location? Surely it will be difficult to run a crime empire from the Outer Hebrides?
Meanwhile Aaron is doing his nut over this missing container, which now seems to be ‘presumed lost’. What is in that shipping container that’s so important? Drugs? Guns? Edible shin pads? We need answers. We don’t rate Aaron’s chances of finding out where it is, but we do have faith in Lexie’s ability to track down Jared’s purchases from the auction house and she sets off down there to find out more.
Aaron joins her and after realising that she’s much better at getting things done than him, he asks her to help with his precious shipping container, which is apparently missing, in case you hadn't heard. Lexie then takes the details and alters a few of the numbers knowing it will make the information useless.
Later on when she meets DCI Guthrie, Lexie says she wants her guarantee of her children’s safety before giving him anything else, before sharing the altered shipping container information. Serves Guthrie right tbqh.
'A meaningful conversation..'
Malkie has had a tip off from Billy the Henchman that Jared’s killer, Michael Moray, might be hiding out in a house in Bingham. Morris says he needs to have a “meaningful conversation” with him. Gulp.
However when Billy gets there he finds Moray dead on the floor of the flat after being stabbed in the stomach. Morris tells Billy to alert the police as he wants to know what their forensics dept have to say about the murder, which is a bit of a risky move.
Meanwhile, Connor Ridley, the other suspect in Jared’s murder has gone missing. Morris thinks it could be someone tying up loose ends. But who? The police are wondering the same thing when they hear about Moray’s death.
'Ten to one it's still just sitting there..'
Through his people skills within the police force (take note Guthrie) DI Khan has managed to find out that Jared siphoned all of Previte Holdings’ money off to the auction houses and also knows the name of the private dealer Lexie suspected he used. To paraphrase Coleen Rooney... it’s Gregor Beaumont.
Khan tries to tell DCI Guthrie this crucial information, but he’s far too busy chasing a fictional shipping container around the world. He also admits that he’ll happily create a fake assurance of Lexie’s place in witness protection if he has to, in a bid to keep the information coming. Morris might be a crime lord, but let’s face it Guthrie’s the real villain of the piece.
Later on, at Mr Beaumont’s office, Lexie tries to find out what Jared bought at auction, but Beaumont refuses to disclose any information at all. We’re pretty sure he’s hiding something, although we think Billy might have a bit more luck getting information out of him.
However, it’s not all bad news for Lexie, because she hears back from the shipping company who readily admit their tracking system crashed and there’s a strong possibility the container in question is still sitting on the dock. Imagine! Although anyone who’s dealt with Hermes won’t be surprised by such a development.
Down at the dock, Lexie manages to persuade the security guard to let her go and find the container herself (unlikely) and how she’s rewarded when she gets there. It’s a tonne of jackets! But not just any jackets, as they’re all stuffed full of cash. Is this the missing £28m? Was Aaron Morris working with Jared? Is Malkie in on the deal? So many questions!
Armed with this information, Lexie returns home and finds Cal Morris playing with his children and demanding to know where she's been, pulsing with menace as he does so...
