This City is Ours episode 4 recap: the hunt for the missing drugs takes a turn (Spoilers)

This City is Ours is an explosive crime drama from the BBC following the organised crime gang led by Ronnie Phelan (Sean Bean).

As Ronnie speaks of retirement, he contemplates who he'll hand his empire over to — his son, Jamie, or his right-hand man, Michael. But there's problems that run far deeper throughout the gang as they navigate selling drugs, rats, and rival gangs. All with Liverpool as the backdrop. The eight-part series unfolds the intricate web of lies and deceit, while Michael vies for a better life and dreams of raising a child with his girlfriend, Diana. Spoilers to follow for This City is Ours.

Here's a recap of everything that happened in This City is Ours episode 4.

The fourth episode opens on the ferry. After spiking Michael, Jamie is walking around, looking at the cameras. He finds Banksey and asks him who he thinks killed Ronnie, but Banksey hasn’t got an answer. Elaine comes to meet them. She asks after Michael, but Jamie says he’s probably sleeping off a hangover. To this, Banksey says he’ll go and knock for him. Inside, Michael is laying on the floor in his own sick, but he comes round to Banksey's knocking, just as he's starting to panic.

He tells Banksey he’s okay and needs some time to get ready. As he sits on the bed to look at photos of Diana, he sees the photos of the passport he took from one of Jamie’s friends and remembers. He makes his way down to the car as the ferry nears land. Everyone’s down there waiting for him and Jamie greets him as if nothing had happened, saying that last time he saw him he was drunk. While Michael tells Elaine to go in the car, she insists on travelling in the van with Ronnie.

As they drive off the ferry, they hand their passports over and while they think they’re clear, they get flagged and pulled aside. Jamie and Banksey drive past. As they search the back of the van, the police send the dog in. But it doesn’t find anything and they get cleared and sent on their way. Meanwhile, Diana is at home remembering when her mother was shouting on the outside of the bathroom door, begging to come in and saying he’s gone now as a younger Diana looked scared.

They arrive back at Elaine and Ronnie’s house and Michael asks if she wants a moment alone with him before he takes him. She’s worried she’s letting Ronnie down by not going with him, but Michael consoles her. She asks him to speak at the funeral, to give the eulogy, and he agrees. She says it’s what Ronnie would’ve wanted.

Michael drives Ronnie’s body to the funeral parlour at night. The undertaker takes him away to clean him up for the funeral. Michael arrives home and calls Banksey. He wants to set up a meeting at the safe place; Jamie, Bobby, Banksey and him. He tells Banksey about Jamie’s friend being on the ferry and that he wants to talk to Jamie about it. Hearing him on the phone, Diana comes down. She tells him while she gets why he did it, she wants it to be over because she doesn’t want to lose him. He promises it’ll be over soon.

At home, Rachel shows Elaine what she’s written about Ronnie for his notice in the paper. She asks again who she thinks did it and why. Elaine hopes this isn't the beginning of something really bad. Elsewhere, Michael, Banksey and Duffy meet in a sauna. Michael wants to know where Jamie is. Duffy says he’s on the way, he’s just getting Ronnie’s death certificate, and so Michael takes the opportunity to tell them that Jamie spiked his drink on the ferry. Jamie walks in and Michael accuses him, thought Jamie continues to deny it. He says that the coroners have put down that Ronnie had a heart attack. They move on and Michael says they need to protect their lines, but it’s business as usual. Jamie says they don’t have anything to sell.

Michael reveals that he told the Amigos the truth about what happened to the supply. That they’d been played and lost it, and that they've agreed to send him another load. Michael says they need to wait two or three weeks and Jamie says that they need Lemo now. That they should go to Amsterdam and use the Albanians. Michael tells him no. He says using the Albanians will make them move in and they’re not London, they’re Liverpool. Michael refuses Jamie's idea and Jamie asks if Michael is in charge now. Asking Duffy, he replies “I assume so.” And Banksey agrees. Even Jamie agrees, but he walks out.

Michael asks Duffy to get Rachel to sort out a figure on what they can offer to give the Amigos back. They need a million and another million as a deposit for the new deal. As Duffy leaves, Banksey asks what the Amigos want and Michael reveals he’s been told to finish Jamie. He also wants to find the missing Lemo. Jamie meets back up with his friend from the ferry, Bonehead. They discuss getting Billy, the kid that Micheal beat up and found some missing drugs, off the streets before he talks to Michael because he knows too much.

Meanwhile, Cheryl goes to visit Diana at work. She asks how the holiday was and asks if Davy was there, since he wasn’t in the photos. Diana tells her that Davy went to see a friend and to ask Michael, but Cheryl says that Michael lies. She wants to know why Davy isn’t answering his phone. Diana says she’s asking the wrong person and Cheryl laughs and says she’s learning and leaves. Elsewhere, Jamie and Bonehead are looking for Billy. They go to his girlfriend’s mum's house and while she’s there, they say he isn’t, but it shows him upstairs. She comes upstairs to talk to him after they’ve left and he says they need to keep their mouths shut, then leaves.

Michael and Banksey go to a shop. They greet the man sitting there, Reggie, and head to the back where more men have got one of Jamie’s friends, Steven, held. The one he beat up on the ferry. Michael asks him what he was doing there. He says, delivering GHB. Michael asks why Jamie wanted GHB. He answers that he'd been told to knock Michael out and then they were going to take him out. He reveals that Jamie decided against it because of all the cameras. Then, Banksey asks about the missing Lemo. Steven swears he doesn’t know anything about that and Banksey starts powering up a screwdriver, putting it near his leg as he begs. He stops and asks Steven to be on his side and to watch Jamie for him. He agrees. Then, Michael asks after Billy.

Michael goes to meet Diana at work. They’re waiting to go to the IVF clinic. Diana has flashbacks again, of her in her school uniform holding a knife and heading upstairs to her parent’s arguing. Again, she tells Michael she saw him kill Ronnie and she does get it. That she understands more than he thinks. It cuts to the scan at the clinic and they implant the embryos. Michael calls Banksey and he says he’s with Freddie, his son. They’re still looking for Billy. He tells him to message him if they find him and he’ll come.

After the scan, they celebrate with ice-cream. Diana tells Michael that Cheryl came asking about Davy. Elsewhere, Bobby turns up to Elaine’s house. They talk about how Jamie has gone along with Michael being top man. She says that Ronnie wanted more than that, but Bobby says he never said it out loud. She replies, because he didn’t have the chance. Bobby goes to see his wife, Rachel, who’s counting money in the kitchen. He’s surprised that Elaine is backing Jamie. Rachel agrees that Jamie would be better and Bobby would be higher up. Bobby says Jamie would only get there if he took Michael out, so they need to be careful.

Freddie and Banksey wait outside a house. Banksey is telling Freddie that he needs to get Billy and he tells his dad he can do it. Billy comes to the door and Freddie tells him that he's there for Michael. To this, he agrees to come. Billy asks Banksey about Ronnie’s death, before telling him that Jamie came looking for him. Michael is waiting to get takeaway with Diana and he gets the text from Banksey and excuses himself to say he’ll go and pick the food up instead.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Bonehead go to a launderette and head upstairs. They open a locked door and then Bonehead suggests checking on the cupboard. Inside, there's all the stolen Lemo. Jamie wants to keep it between them two. He says that they can’t sell it while they’re still burying his dad. Bonehead says they just need to take out Michael now and they’re top. To this, Jamie says they’ll do it after the funeral.

Michael gets in the car with Billy, Banksey and Freddie. He tells Freddie to step outside. He asks about the gear Billy was cutting last time they saw him. That it was Davy’s, they know that, but asks him whether it came from Jamie. He admits it, but he thought it was legit. He asks him where he stashes it and Billy says he doesn’t know. Michael asks again. He says that if Jamie calls him, he'll tell them. Michael tells him to find the stash house and lets him go. Diana watches as Michael walks away from the car.

The next morning, Billy is waiting outside the launderette as it opens. At the same time, Jamie and his wife and kid arrive at the funeral directors. Billy goes into the launderette and tells the woman running the place that Jamie has asked him to get something from upstairs. At the same time, Jamie goes to see Ronnie’s body ahead of the funeral. While Jamie is busy, Billy gets the key and goes into the room where the Lemo is. As he searches for a key to the cupboard, he breaks in with a hammer. Inside, he finds it all.

Over Ronnie's dead body, Jamie is angry. He says he’ll tell his son everyday that he loves him and he’s not at all sorry to Ronnie. Back at the launderette, Billy calls his girlfriend to come and meet him with her car as he packs up all the drugs into bin bags. He takes it all outside and loads it into his girlfriend’s boot.

All episodes of This City is Ours are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now, or released weekly on BBC One.