The Breakthrough episode 2 on Netflix sees John's life collapse around him as he becomes obsessed with catching the double murderer.
The episode picks up where the first ended with witness Karin (Annika Halin) under hypnosis and recalling the double murder. "I can see… his face now. It's not blurry. It's clear now. I can see what he looks like. Well, he's White. And his eyes are… brown, I think. Straight nose and, uh, no glasses."
The police at last have a description but it’s "awfully vague" says an officer looking at a photofit of the suspect. John's colleagues don't want to go public but he says they need to, to show they're doing something.
We see John, for once in police uniform, giving a press conference. A journalist asks if the photofit is the last chance to catch the killer. Another panel member says they're pursuing several lines of inquiry and says they don't think the attack was religiously motivated. Another reporter points out that at the start of the case John was very confident of catching the killer. He replies he believes they are very close. A final question posed is are the police worried the photo release will trigger the killer and John looks concerned. The press conference ends. John is looking through his notes while his pregnant wife looks on. She doesn’t look happy as he heads off, it appears the case has taken over his life.
Back with the football lads we saw in the previous episode, the coach sees the photofit in the paper. The coach asks a team member if he's seen Ante recently and he says no, he's completely lost it, and screamed a load of racist abuse at a pizza guy. The coach calls at Ante's apartment. He asks Ante how he is and then asks him why he was the only one on the team who didn't get swabbed for the double murder. Ante tells him to go!
Adnan's parents get vile racist abuse through their letterbox. The parents are packing up their stuff. Adnan's sister watches a TV report about the case.
John goes to talk to Adnan's parents, who say they can’t take it anymore and have decided to move from the city. They explain their daughter can’t walk past the place where her brother died. The emotional dad challenges John over why the killer hasn't been caught. "I won’t stop. You have my word. I will keep working until I catch him. I swear," says John.
John is called by his wife and he rushes to the hospital. He now is the proud dad of baby Henry. He touches his son’s hand but imagines the dead hand of the murdered boy. John appears haunted by the case.
It’s Christmas. John gets a call saying they have a possible new eyewitness. His wife turns in disgust as he heads back to the office. The witness may have seen the killer running away. His colleague pleads with him to go home to his family. John is clearly now obsessed with the case, he returns home and carries on reading his notes on the case.
We see the female victim's husband lying alone in his bed. The next day, we see John with the husband. He has saved all the articles about the case. The husband is also frustrated about the lack of progress.
John’s wife says she's heading to her parents, she can't look after the baby by herself. His relationship is falling apart. He says she's being unfair and he can't just drop the case. She tells him to go. She gets upset.
John's at a bar having a beer alone. A woman joins him. She's a journalist from the press conference, Stina Eriksson. She says he just wants an informal chat. He admits it's not easy switching off from the case. He tells her to ask the press office if she wants a formal interview.
Next thing he knows John's picking up the newspaper and the line he said to Stina about sometimes wanting to give up on the case is reported.
You've got two weeks
One year has now passed since the double murder. In the next scene, the radio announces it's now five years since the murders. Then it’s ten years and then 16 with a news report saying now at least 10,000 interviews and thousands of DNA swabs have taken place, but the killer remains at large.
So, 16 years after the murders we catch up again with John. A man comes to talk to him. He says he's had a budget meeting and says they can't keep putting resources into the double murder. He says John should prepare a transfer to the cold case unit. He says John is needed elsewhere. John’s frustrated and starts pulling files from the wall saying what's in them. John says he owes it to the relatives to find the killer, the other man points out there are other relatives that need John's help. "I'm going to crack this, Miran," says John. Miran gives him two weeks.
John meets his son at an ice rink but he's late and Henry looks annoyed. Another man, Anders is there. Anders explains Henry rang him for a lift. John says he’s grateful but he's there now. Henry says he's going to stay at his mum's. John says it's his weekend. Henry walks off with Anders. John seems to have lost his son.
John meets Per
John listens to the radio which has a report about police in California arresting a man after decades who they believe is the notorious Golden State Killer. The breakthrough in the case was made using new DNA technology. Using a genealogy website to map the DNA, officers were able to identify the suspect.
Later John reads a report about how California's worst serial killer was caught with the help of a genealogy website. He goes to another website declaring: "I'll solve your family mystery."
He heads to a place called Sundsvall, another Swedish city. We meet Per Skogkvist (Mattias Nordkvist), the man from the genealogy website, who's talking to a young woman. He says he's mapped her family from the early 18th century until now, but she's eager for him to just tell her who her dad is. He tells her. She doesn't seem happy about this. Per, who's not very good at reading his client’s emotions, starts going on about the 18th century despite the fact she obviously doesn’t care about that and is distraught by the news of who her dad really is. She leaves in a hurry. He complains to another woman that no one understands the power of his method.
John talks to his boss and mentions DNA genealogy. His boss isn't convinced but John points out how it's already been used with success in America. John says he doesn’t know if the method is legal but says his boss needs to trust him.
John goes to one of Per's lectures where he explains his method. Afterwards, John introduces himself. John asks him if he can assist with the case. John says the killer is like a ghost. Per replies: "But you do have the killer’s DNA?" John says yes and Per says: “Great. I can solve it then.” He says he needs a favor in return. He's building a DNA-bank and needs as many swabs as he can. John asks him why he's so confident about the case. Per replies: "Because DNA is like our shadow. It's unique for everyone. You can’t get rid of it." John smiles.
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