Collateral, episode 2 recap: after a clunky start, David Hare's drama hit its stride

David Hare’s four-part conspiracy thriller reached its halfway point with sex, spies, special pizza toppings and quite possibly another killing. Here’s everything that happened in episode two.

Did we witness the second murder of the series?

Any sides? Just desserts? Full of guilt for sending delivery driver Abdullah to his death with that fateful Quattro Formaggi, harassed pizzeria manageress Laurie Stone (an affecting turn from Hayley Squires of I, Daniel Blake and The Miniaturist) got tea and sympathy from local vicar Jane Oliver (Nicola Walker). 

“I sent a man to his death,” she admitted.

“Not knowingly,” Jane reassured her. “Did you know?”

“There’s knowing and there’s… feeling,” Laurie said. Before she could fully confess her sins, though, Laurie reluctantly legged it, leaving a “Dear Jane” letter, and went AWOL. Soon her terminally ill mother, the police and those shady henchman lurking in a car were all looking for her.

Meanwhile, searching Laurie’s bedroom, sarcastic DS Nathan Bilk (Nathaniel Martello-White) discovered a stash of £1,000 cash in her sock drawer. As he said, it wasn’t enough to fund a hit but it might be payment for sending the victim into a trap. 

Laurie fled to Waterloo station and was about to board a train to Portsmouth harbour when guilt got the better of her again – this time, about leaving her dying mother alone. When she returned to their estate, though, she was unceremoniously bundled into a white van and badly beaten, before being tossed out on some wasteland with a nasty head wound. It didn’t look good for Laurie but is she definitely dead?

Army assassin became a #metoo victim

As Captain Sandrine Shaw (Jeany Spark, aka Wallander’s daughter) – last seen peeling off her rubber balaclava and disposing of her ninja outfit – returned from leave to her army desk job, we learned more about her when Shaw worked through her considerable issues with her therapist (Adrian Lukis). 

She was suffering PTSD due to her best friend Elizabeth being blown to pieces next to her in Helmand Province and had troubling flashbacks in the shower. Shaw returned from her tour of duty with anger issues, which were in evidence when she went full Roy Keane on the five-a-side football pitch.

Meanwhile, Shaw’s every move was watched by her lecherous superior Major Tim Dyson (Robert Portal). “I don’t see why we should have to put up with it,” remarked Shaw’s colleague. “You know the answer: because this is the Army,” she sighed in reply.

Dyson was an unsavoury character: not just a smirking, possessive stalker, prone to barging into the female showers (“F--- off and leave me alone, sir”), but a drunken boor who taunted “special reconnaissance” colleague CO Chips Benson (Oliver Alvin-Wilson) that “spying isn’t soldiering, it’s girl’s stuff”. Yuck.

When Shaw spotted the story of Abdullah’s murder on TV news, she phoned her contact to ask: “I need to know, did I get the right one?” Dyson saw her making furtive calls, stole her incriminating burner phone (with just one number in the contacts), then raped her.

Whatever happens to Shaw – the net seems to be closing in, with military issue shells found at the crime scene and police now knowing it was a female shooter – we hope seedy Dyson gets his comeuppance. It was notable how Orla Brady (Banished, Mistresses) was playing his wife Phoebe. She’s surely too accomplished an actress to be wasted in such a minor role.

Regal Pizza is dealing drugs

We had our suspicions last week when posh single mother Karen Mars (Bille Piper) cruelly threw her pizza away (sparking peckish outrage on social media) when it came without its “special topping”. 

Now it was confirmed that rogue-ish Mikey Gowans (Brian Vernel) was distributing “£20 bags” from the South London pizza parlour – staffed by “illegals”, “not a paperwork kind of place” and registered to an address in Boca Raton (it’s in Florida, to answer DI Kip Glaspie's sweary question).

This wasn’t a sophisticated operation. Customers would phone in their orders, mention the special topping to Laurie, she’d take her cut, Mikey whizzed round to his dodgy pals at the Turbine nightclub, collected the drugs and delivered them inside pizza boxes. What a business model: when the dope caused the munchies, there would be something to eat. Handy.

Syrian refugees weren’t all they seemed

Bereaved sisters Fatima (Saudi Arabian actress Ahd Kamel) and Mona (July Namir) – the mute one who appears to be pregnant – were shipped off to Harsfleet immigrant removal centre in Essex, taken there by an inappropriately cheerful driver, jauntily singing along to Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. A neatly ironic song choice.

At first they remained tight-lipped, despite Glaspie (Carey Mulligan) believing they held the key to brother Abdullah’s death. After all, she mused: “They didn’t seem surprised when their brother was killed. Maybe they were expecting it.”

When snarlingly sinister MI5 operative Sam Spence (John Heffernan, aka The Crown’s Lord Altrincham) joined the interrogation, he soon poked holes in the sisters’ story. Fatima could speak English after all and when she couldn’t name the address of the Aleppo hotel where she claimed to work, master manipulator Spence surmised: “You’re no more Syrian than I am.” 

He accused them of being “f---ing Iraqi”, posing as Syrian war refugees to be granted asylum. Under pressure, Fatima promptly said Abdullah was killed because he had an explosive piece of information about their traffickers – who she claimed were English, hence him being shot on UK soil. 

Spence was a self-styled “mid-level racist” who sneered at Glaspie for being “more like a social worker” and wanting to “hand out visas like confetti”. The eye-rollling DS Bilk seemed to agree with his “new mate”. This clash of cynical border-closers vs bleeding heart liberals was the immigration debate in microcosm. It’s a wonder Brexit didn’t merit a mention.

David Hare’s script was much improved

Last week’s debut episode attracted some criticism for clunky expositional dialogue, as playwright Hare took some shortcuts while introducing us to his disparate ensemble of characters. 

As the conspiracy plot picked up pace, though, Hare’s script hit its stride. There was still the odd clumsy line – see brattish Karen’s mentions of her past – but they whizzed by at such pace and the performances were so convincing, there were few complaints here. 

Did you spot Sister Michael from Derry Girls?

Sarcastic nun Sister Michael – the indifferent headmistress of Our Lady Immaculate College – has been the surprise cult comedy star of the year in Channel 4 hit Derry Girls. 

Now actress Siobhan McSweeney popped up as custody officer Petra at Harsfleet detention centre. She displayed a nice line in deadpan dryness here too, telling Glaspie: “It’s a lot like the slaughterhouse – you need to calm the animals.” No sign of her reading Sister Michael’s favourite magazine “The Habit”, though. 

Simm and Mulligan’s scene was electric

“Information is power.” Two of the series’ headline stars finally met this week, when local Labour MP David Mars (John Simm) paid a visit to Glaspie to quietly inform her that clubber Linh (Kae Alexander) was another “illegal” and that through her ketamine haze, she thought the assassin was female. 

“I’m not leaning on you, I’m briefing you,” he insisted with a wry smile. The dialogue was enjoyably sparky between the superb Mulligan and Simm – who both happen to be Doctor Who alumni. As, of course, is Billie Piper. Perhaps Jodie Whittaker will show up with a sonic screwdriver next week.

Who are Pimlico Travel?

There didn’t seem to be much holiday-booking occurring at the well-appointed central London offices of 153638030Pimlico Travel. Instead, braying businessman Peter Westbourne (fine stage actor Richard McCabe) wined and dined at his desk, took phone calls from Sandrine (“I don't like what’s happening. I smell panic”) and generally looked like a Mr Big who doesn’t get his hands dirty.

Was he the mysterious “Englishman” running the people-trafficking operation, mentioned by Fatima but laughed off by Spence? It looked suspiciously so.