* This Trigger Point season 2 episode 3 recap contains spoilers * Good luck to any man who gets close to Lana Washington, because your days could well be numbered. Joel Nutkins and her brother met a sticky end in the first series and now Thom has also been killed. Elsewhere, Alex tells us the terrorists call themselves The Wave and we get our first glimpse at their ruthless leader, Hope...
Lana is devastated by Thom’s death, while DS Helen Morgan is also in shock at the loss of her boyfriend (after all he hadn't yet broken up with her). We all are tbh, Thom was a good guy. The CCTV showing how he was pushed to his death makes for agonising viewing. Commander Francis leads the debrief and hears about how Tratea Global Analytics — the building where Thom died — had been accused of obtaining and using data illegally. But did the terrorists have a specific reason for attacking them?
It turns out the terrorists stole the van of a lift repairman — who’s now missing — and used his pass to get access to the building. However, DI Amar Batra says they’ve received a call from an informant with information on the terrorists, who wants to meet. Could this be Alex?
As for Nick Hood, there’s not much information available. Although he did fly to Poland for a chess tournament, played one match and was then not seen again. Yet he returned to the UK a week later. What was he doing in Poland that week?
Meanwhile, Lana’s dad is still pestering her to get in touch with her mum. She’s not taking Lana’s calls and we’re starting to get quite worried about her safety. We hope she’s okay!
What's going on with Lana's mum?
How Lana's keeping it all together amid all this stress and anguish is anyone’s guess, but when another call comes in she heads straight to the scene. It's from a journalist who’s received a large digital countdown clock through the mail and there’s a note on the table next to it reading "Welcome to the labyrinth".
It seems to be just a stunt, but the police have traced the fake lift engineer’s van to a building, which is rigged with a possible IED. We bet it is! The bomb is connected to the real lift engineer who’s been tied to a radiator, yet it proves to be just another hoax. The clock is still counting down though — but to what? Something horrible, no doubt.
DS Helen Morgan continues interrogating Nick Hood, who starts shouting a French revolutionary slogan “Under the streets, the beach”. Meanwhile, Alex is back on the line and arranges a meeting with Lana and DS Morgan. He tells them the terrorist group calls themselves ‘The Wave’ and they want to sweep away the whole corrupt system of our society. “I was on comms, but they want me more involved,” says Alex, who says he’ll help them catch The Wave, but he wants immunity.
Lana’s mum finally turns up — hurrah! — but says she doesn’t want her coming round the house, because things are so awful between her and Lana’s dad. Oh dear. Although we're still convinced there's something odd about this whole situation.
Did Hope want Lana to find Alex?
At a coffee shop a young businessman named Oliver is distracted by a woman called "Hope", while another customer steals his bag. He takes it to the grey van we saw Alex get into in the last episode and returns it before Oliver leaves. Later on we get our first glimpse of The Wave, who seem to be led by "Hope" from the coffee shop.
The Wave releases a new stream, with the message "The clock is ticking", yet DS Morgan believes the slogan Hood could have inadvertently revealed a key part of their strategy when he shouted that slogan during their interview. Could their target be somewhere underneath London?
It seems The Wave are targeting a fibre optic network worth billions to the financial sector situated in the heart of the city. To get to it the expos need to access a disused tube station, where there’s another hoax device waiting for them.
Yet Lana and Hass soon come across a fiendish bomb attached to a pressure sensor, which Hass manages to disarm in the nick of time. “Catch us if you can” it says on the wall, while a camera on the other wall captures the whole episode.
But how did they know the expos would be there? Unless Nick’s outburst in the interview wasn’t a mistake, but a plan. Hang on a moment, didn’t the solicitor pass him a note just before he said that? Yes she did! But the timer hasn’t run out yet — which means there’s another bomb!
Meanwhile, Alex takes a picture of Hope's chat with Oliver while working at The Wave’s HQ and forwards it on to Lana and DS Morgan. GCHQ’s facial recognition technology tells them he’s a special advisor to cabinet minister Matthew Palfrey, who works just off the Strand.
For someone so careful, it seems strange that Hope would be so lax with her laptop and let Alex catch a glimpse of Oliver. Unless she meant for him to see him because she knew he would tip off Lana?
Lana and DS Morgan dash to the scene, yet in the meeting, Oliver receives a message from Hope and when he opens it, his laptop explodes.
