Vigil season 1 episode 5 saw DS Longacre discover why Jade Antoniak was killed and the Russian submarine close in on the British vessel, but ended with DCI Amy Silva up to her neck in trouble! Here's how the tense and taut episode went down...
*WARNING — spoilers for all five episodes of Vigil below*
The episode picks up right where the previous left off, with Glover dragging DCI Amy Silva away from the ship's galley, where Jackie Hamilton lies dead. After bringing the submarine to emergency stations due to an "airborne hazard" on the missile decks, Glover makes all the airlocks are shut, ensuring this lethal gas doesn't spread throughout the whole ship.
Glover, who witnessed the event after going to search for Jackie at the end of episode four, reports that something was sprayed on the chef and she started foaming around the mouth. But who sprayed it on her? Could it have been Glover? ...And what is this deadly nerve agent?
DCI Silva certainly thinks the coxswain could be responsible and she starts questioning him as they both head off to get decontaminated, while Doward bags up their clothes... more on him later.
As Glover showers, he asks Docherty what happens if he's been exposed to what they presume to be a nerve agent and she tells him she doesn't have any of the substances she needs to save him aboard. They share a kiss, because... well why not... before she tells him "this is the last time". But has Glover received a fatal dose? Only time will tell.
Could there be a future for Amy and Kirsten?
Back on land, DS Longacre wakes DS Porter - give the poor guy a break! - and suggests that given the Navy's inability to discover the identity of the traitor aboard HMS Vigil, it's up to them to do it. But really she means him, because she's got an important errand to run. Poor old Porter didn't even get any breakfast...
The "thing" DS Longacre had to do was go and drop off a birthday present for Poppy, DCI Silva's daughter. Poppy's grandparents insist on the detective staying for a cup of tea and it soon becomes clear they didn't realise DS Longacre and DCI Silva had split up, because Amy didn't tell them. We don't profess to be experts when it comes to affairs of the heart, but we think that means Amy still has strong feelings for DS Longacre. Before she leaves, DS Longacre shares a hug with Poppy. What a sweetheart.
How did the stain get on Jackie's bedclothes?
Back on HMS Vigil, Glover tells Captain Newsome about the moments Jackie died, including how she told him to get away and that he should tell her son "she couldn't", although DCI Silva is clearly sceptical of his whole story. Newsome is then immensely upset to discover the leak has taken out the whole missile compartment, meaning HMS Vigil is unable to defend Britain from nuclear attack. Presumably this was the Russian spy's plan all along, but we have some important questions...
Glover claims Jackie put a box over the tin of food that apparently contained the gas, but if that was her first contact with this lethal nerve agent then how did those stains - which DCI Silva discovered at the end of last week's episode - get on the chef's bedclothes?
Did Jackie have the nerve agent in her quarters all along and then maybe it leaked and she carried it to another part of the ship? Did the Russians pull a few strings to get her son out of jail and then make her do all this? Why did she want Glover to tell her son "she couldn't"? Was she supposed to release the gas in a different location that would cause even more carnage? We demand answers.
How can the Navy fight back against the Russians?
Due to the location of the gas leak, Captain Newsome surmises they can no longer feed the crew or fire any missiles. It's a nuclear submarine captain's worst nightmare and we can hardly blame him for re-instating Prentice, because punching a fellow crew member isn't that bad in the grand scale of stuff that's gone down on the boat in the last couple of days. DCI Silva also tells Newsome that he needs her to sort out this mess, which is the understatement of the century.
Meanwhile back at Nay HQ, Shaw tells his minions he has evidence of a Russian plot against HMS Vigil and wonders if they're trying to force her to the surface where "she'll be a sitting duck". He also reveals that he can't communicate with the stricken vessel and orders another nuclear submarine out on patrol even though "half the scrubbers are in refit". We don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound good.
On HMS Vigil, Captain Newsome tells his senior officers that he suspects Jackie Hamilton killed Craig Burke and got exposed when she tried to set this device off. He then explains that their job is to "fight back" against the enemy that has disable Britain's nuclear deterrent and he wants their ideas to get it back online. Someone get the whiteboard out...
Can DCI Silva trust Glover?
Hadlow suggests using bleach in the sprinklers to decontaminate the missile decks, but someone will still need to get in there and get the "device". With hazmat suits out of reach, they decide to use the deep-diving suits, yet Docherty points out the deep-diving suits will cause heatstroke after around fifteen minutes if used on board and not in the ocean. Then they'll send the device out of the boat through the torpedo tubes. Happy days.
As they prep for this hazardous mission, Glover tells Amy of how he suspects someone tried to sabotage the reactor and that this latest incident is another attempt to force HMS Vigil to the surface. "There's a pattern emerging here," he tells Amy.
DCI Silva and Glover go to the ship's kitchens to ask the staff about Jackie's movements during the reactor scram and it seems unlikely she would have been able to carry this out in the short time she was away. So who did?
Glover and DCI Silva then go to Newsome and persuade him to let them use the diving suits to go and retrieve the hazmat suits before disposing of the device, as Amy says she needs to assess the scene before it gets covered in bleach. Glover then discloses his affair to Newsome and Prentice offers his congratulations on "joining the f**k-ups club". It's our favourite line of the series so far. Glover is obviously trying to win back DCI Silva's trust and it looks like he's succeeded, but can she really trust him?
What's on Jade Antoniak's hard drive?
On the way back from Poppy's, DS Longacre stops off at Glasgow Arena, home of the Glasgow Hurricanes Ice Hockey team, to see if she can find some more details about Peter Ingles, who was seen wearing the team's jacket. Wouldn't you know it, he's on their files and Kirsten discovers that he's been bringing guests to games. Nine to be precise. Of course she sends all this info to poor old DS Porter to sift through. Looks like the poor bloke will be missing out on lunch too! But more importantly, who has Ingles been schmoozing at the ice hockey?
An hour or so of research soon provides an answer on that front - it's Ben Oakley from the peace camp! "He was a friend of Jade's" says DS Longacre. We thought he looked shifty. The police raid the camp. although Mr Oakley is nowhere to be seen. But is that a 'Free Sean Weston' poster we can see on the wall of caravan? Is that Jackie's son? Did Jackie have connections to the peace camp? The plot thickens.
Meanwhile one of the anti-Trident campaigners tips Oakley off about the police's raid, while Porter (who else?) discovers Jade's lap top hidden under the oven in Oakley's caravan. But what's on the hard-drive?
Also, how is DS Porter is remarkably sharp for a man who hasn't had his breakfast... and quite possibly missed lunch as well. How is he always one step ahead of the game? Either's he's the next Sherlock Holmes or he's somehow 'in' on this whole conspiracy? It would be one hell of a twist!
Will the police be able to catch Ben Oakley?
Meanwhile DS Longacre realises Oakley has photo of Ingles with a key asset and that Jade was killed after she discovered it. But Ingles has diplomatic immunity so he wouldn't have killed Jade to protect himself, but the person he was meeting - the Russian spy aboard HMS Vigil.
Realising the police are after him, Ben Oakley goes to see Patrick Cruden MSP and reveals the photo he claims to have taken, but actually stole from Jade. We get out first look at the Russian spy aboard HMS Vigil and spins a story about being contacted by the Russians. Well it's not a lie, but it he's leaving out a few key details we'd say. Telling Cruden and his assistant the police will bury the photo if they take it to them, the politician agrees to publish it first. Oakley demands to be taken to a foreign consulate as protection against the Russians, but we think he's more scared of DS Longacre...
Oakley records his message on the way to the consulate, but the police are after him and when they arrive at the politician's office DS Longacre breaks the news that Oakley stole the photo, that Oakley knew Ingles and that he's just helped a man who colluded in his daughter's death escape justice. But will the police be able to stop Oakley getting to the Chinese consulate? We're also starting to wonder if Ben Oakley was the second man who broke into DS Longacre's flat in the second episode?
How will DCI Amy Silva escape the torpedo tube?
At Navy HQ the radar picks up two Russian frigates moving into the patrol area and the Americans have picked up two Russian subs moving in from the south. Shaw and Branning look pretty worried. The Russians are hunting HMS Vigil and there doesn't seem to be much the Navy can do about it. Given this development, was the American submarine that dragged the fishing trawler down actually protecting HMS Vigil rather than tracking it?
Aboard HMS Vigil, DCI Silva and Glover are about to brave the missile deck and she writes a note to Poppy just in case she doesn't make it back. Hadlow gives his instructions, but doesn't look too confident about the mission, nevertheless, in they go. It's very dark on the missile deck, but they soon find Jackie's body although when Glover is retrieving the hazmat suits he tears his diving suit without realising it. Suffice to say this isn't good news and it's not long before he's feeling pretty ropey.
Meanwhile DCI Silva finds a photo of Jackie's son Sean in her wallet - it's the guy from the poster in the peace camp! - and a note saying "Little cat. Bali not a done deal. one last chance. Leave it where instructed or you'll join Burke." We're pretty sure this means there's someone else involved, but as DCI Silva ponders, if there's someone else on the boat then why did they need Jackie? She then answers her own question... Did Jackie kill Burke so the Russian spy would be flown out as his replacement. Is Doward the Russian spy? It certainly looks like it.
With Glover struggling, DCI Silva battles to get him out of the missile compartment before going to the torpedo tubes to flush out the device. But who's this helping her? Oh my word it's only Doward - the treacherous little weasel - and he's shut DCI Silva in a torpedo tube. With Glover (the only other person who knows Doward is the spy about to fall unconscious) who will rescue her? Come on Glover!
