The Breakthrough episode 3 recap: Per storms out as time almost runs out

Mattias Nordkvist in Netflix's The Breakthrough
(Image credit: Netflix)

The Breakthrough episode 3 on Netflix sees John and Per very close to a breakthrough, but is what they're doing even legal?

The episode opens with Per, who's nervous as he thinks this is the only chance he'll get to prove his method works to the police. Per arrives at the police station and meets John. John tells Per he's thought of nothing else for so long and yet the killer has remained out of sight for 16 years. "We’ll get him," promises Per. They're waiting for a meeting about whether they can go ahead, eventually, John's boss, Miran, invites them into a meeting room. They say they've read their application to use genetic genealogy to solve the double murder from 2004. Per explains the process. "With my method, I research backwards and forwards. You start backwards, tracking the DNA matches, grandparents, and so on, until each lineage merges in common ancestors. Then the person you're trying to find, the killer in this case, most likely is a descendant."

He goes on to explain that he searches through publicly available records. One person objects that's a violation of privacy laws. John points out they've tried almost everything. Per says he doesn't think they realize how valuable his method is. John adds: "They got the Golden State Killer with this method after nearly 40 years. Why not give it a shot?” John's told he has got two weeks.

Per has had enough

Later, Per is given the DNA profile of the killer. Per gets to work. "There's not enough data," he complains looking at it. There are lots of gaps in the profile. He says working with this data is "useless". Per says he needs a much better profile to narrow the search. John tells him to try as it's the only DNA of the killer they have. Per says: "I did the best I could with this DNA profile. I've got a few matches on GEDMatch and Family Tree. Sites where you can upload your DNA profile. And I've found three people. All of them are, one way or another, very distant relatives to the killer. They have different… different bloodlines, but there's one thing in common. Germany. They have relatives over there."

John grabs a case folder and says a German man was among the suspects, a student who needed medical attention for a cut on his hand. Per says it's not a lot, but John tells him to do what he can. John runs into the husband of the female victim in a DIY shop. He says John should only get in touch if he has something concrete to report.

John gives Per a list of German exchange students from the time of the murders. John says they need to start working with the German authorities, Per says he's not ready, but John says there’s not enough time to wait. John tries to get an arrest warrant, but Per says there are problems with accessing German records, saying everything is classified about who's related to whom. "Birth information only becomes public after 110 years." John's not surprisingly told they need something more substantial.

John’s becoming frustrated with Per's lack of progress. Per says it's like a puzzle but they have three billion letters to choose from and "way too many holes". Per says he's going home because John's refusing to listen to him. And he walks out. John gets a message from his son asking where he is. John meets his son in a cafe and things are awkward.

John begs for Per to continue

The Breakthrough

(Image credit: Netflix)

John returns to the crime scene and he's speaking to someone about whether there was more blood from the crime scene that could be used to help fill the gaps in the DNA profile of the killer. It turns out there's blood on the hat that matches the blood from the knife. The blood from the hat has been merged with blood from the knife to create a new DNA profile of the killer. John for once smiles, some good news at last.

Per gets a call about his daughter missing school. John turns up at Per's house as he's ignoring his calls. Per hasn't got time for him as he's sorting out his daughter missing school. John waits outside, and eventually Per emerges. Per says John doesn't understand his work, but they head off on a walk and Per starts to explain that if enough people got DNA tested they could build a family tree for the entire human race. Per wants John to step away, but John says he can't. The case has become all-consuming for him and is personal. He pleads with Per to help him. Per agrees to help on the condition John listens to him this time.

At the station, Per is giving the brand new DNA profile. Per says it "looks really good". Per seems to have a good match with someone.

But then John's boss throws in the bombshell that the lawyers have said data protection stops them from going ahead. He says you can't search for criminals in public records, which seems bizarre. John says though there's no official order yet so he's carrying on!

Per has three names on his computer. He tells the team he has three geographical matches. Three people were born close to each other in Östergötland, a Swedish province. He marks them on the map. He says the killer has a connection to at least one of these places.

In the archives, Per says he needs three family generations to be certain. "So we need three individuals related to the killer, but from three bloodlines. Then there’ll be no doubt." Per carefully goes through the archives.

We see the journalist, who stitched up John, clearing out a house. She comes across her article about John headlined: "There are times I want to give up." She discovers the police have hired a genealogist to help out. She says to her editor, that won't comply with data protection and he can see the headline now. In the waiting area of the police station, the journalist is waiting for John. Hopefully, he won't fall into the same trap twice. He won't be drawn about Per and she says she will ask the press office.

John makes a deal

John tells his boss about the journalist, but says he's not quitting on the case. John's boss throws him a lifeline and says he's got a couple more days. John finds Per asleep at his desk. He says he's got a shortlist of 892 people from his research. Per looks frazzled but John says he has to keep going.

John goes to talk to the journalist. He begs her not to write about it. She agrees if he'll do an exclusive interview along with Per afterwards. John agrees. Later his colleague says she's seen Henry and that John needs to connect with him before it's too late. John calls Henry later and he leaves him a message.

Per has a dream where he touches the board with the shortlist of people and he has blood on his hands. The next morning he looks at the board and seems to be on the verge of a breakthrough. "I'm so close. It's here somewhere." Per seems on the edge and John insists they go for a walk. On the walk, John shares that he competed in the Olympics at Seoul and Atlanta. He says he's telling him about his Olympic experience because he always pushed himself too hard and it's ok to take a break. Per says he'll take a quick break, but he's determined to catch the killer...

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David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!

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