Shetland: Season Four - Episode Four

Perez: 'Nobody's better off dead.'

If last week's sinister music, sombre faces, and speeding vans were anything to go by, Tosh and Jimmy should've been in the shit tonight. Spoiler alert: nothing dramatic happened. I may have been wrong about the vans' occupants being disreputable halibut salesmen, but the truth was only marginally less fishy: it was simply the local constabulary wanting a chat. Stay tuned to see this week's cliffhanger explained away as Jo slipping on a banana skin and knocking herself out on an inconveniently placed easel.

Joking aside, at least we know that Jo's frequent nocturnal visitor isn't just a figment of her imagination. Whether it's her ex-husband indulging in a spot of late night highland rock tossing, or whether the commotion going on outside and the clemmy through the window are coincidental to her personal woes, at least we know she isn't being neurotic. We also know that she has a thing for Alan, and I'm starting to wonder whether her feelings are being reciprocated. Alan has been visiting her a lot lately: although, it's hard to work out whether he's genuinely concerned for Jo, or is just popping round for a spot of recreational clothes sniffing.

At the moment both Malone and Jo are too obvious to be serious suspects. Clearly both have unhealthy obsessions—the depths of Jo's I suspect we've yet to discover—but that doesn't necessarily make them murderers. Of the rest: I think that Drew is innocent of murder—he couldn't have killed his own daughter and seems certain that Malone killed Lizzie—but probably guilty of more than fabricating evidence. And after the weirdness of Malone's bosom gallery and finding Lizzie's photo in his wallet, Kate seemed quick to reconsider Malone's guilt—which seems to rule her out as Lizzie's murderer. As to whether she killed Sally: we're unaware of them having much of a history, but that could change in the coming weeks.

Assessing Alan's involvement is a tough one. Obviously he was too young to have killed Lizzie, but if he'd known that Sally was planning to leave both Shetland and him, then that may be motive for murder. Then there's his mum, Donna; she didn't feature much in tonight's episode, but there's still the question of who Alan's father is to sort out. Neither of the guys she was talking to in the videotape are known to us, but they did use a combination of regular actors and younger stand-ins to replicate the past, so although we may not recognise them, that doesn't mean we don't know their older selves. They also did a hilarious job of de-ageing the older members of the cast. Drew still had his grey beard, and Duncan's wig o' youth was hilarious. Has Mark Bonnar ever had hair that thick?.

There's also the largely unexplored Nordic side of the equation to consider. Obviously Mati is now out of the picture, what with him being dead; Hagen's still a possible suspect, despite being an unknown quantity; and Lars is ringing all manner of alarm bells. He's either a genuinely nice guy, there to advance Tosh's story and teach her how to trust again; or he's lying through his teeth, is involved with the NDA, and is back on Shetland to nose around. If this was his first visit to the island, then how did he know a shortcut back to his digs? He also seems to be pushing Tosh hard romantically, despite Tosh's interest at times appearing decidedly lukewarm. Is he coming on strong because he senses a deeper interest inside her, or is he simply trying to ingratiate himself with the enemy?

You have to feel sorry for Malone. Sure, he does the stupidest things imaginable, and shows up in places least likely to welcome him—Sally's funeral being a prime example—but there's a simpleness to him that makes you feel for him. Him trying to talk to Molly illustrated perfectly this habit he has of trying to do the right thing the wrong way. And it seems that even Kate—last week his staunchest supporter—is turning against him. Admittedly his nude drawings of Lizzie were a bit off putting, but he didn't do himself any favours by standing in front of her car and grinning maniacally. Sadly, that's Malone all over. He can't stop shitting and falling back in it.

Other Thoughts: 

—Sandy is a terrible detective. All he seems to do is say the wrong thing, jump to unwarranted conclusions, and favour the locals.

—Tosh must be a fussy tea drinker. It'd take more than too much milk for me to throw a cuppa away.

—Were Malone's sketches good enough to be recognisable as Lizzie?

—I forgot to mention Molly as a possible suspect in Sally's murder. Her hatred of Malone is so extreme, is it possible she killed Sally just to re-implicate Malone?

Quotes:

Perez: 'Piss off. Now!'

Perez: 'Well Sandy thinks the worst of her and you think the best of her, and as usual, the truth's probably somewhere in between.'