The Tunnel: S02E04

Whoa, that was the best episode this show has done since Angel Coulby was tricked into standing on a bomb detonator last season.

So our terrorist squad is finally given a name (apparently they're calling themselves Defence) and are planning another shooting. With Rosa in a cell, a pretty impressive Bait and Switch is pulled off when her cohorts decide to attempt a rescue, replacing their original plan to shoot up a university.

But before that, we get some clarity on last week's scenes which depicted a man kidnapping and beating a refugee shoplifter. Turns out Garrido is not only a cop, but Fournier's inside man, and once Julie (Julie!) is called away from her post, he goes into Rosa's cell and manages to pass on a message. But what message?  

During questioning, Karl tries to guilt-trip Rosa by showing her photographs of children who were on the plane (she doesn't care) but it's Elise who manages to get under skin by mentioning the probability that Fournier slept with her mother. As is obvious to everyone except Rosa, what Fournier is doing seems to be one huge revenge plot against her father, and being told this pushes her far enough to angrily spill her guts: the next target is the university where her father teaches.

But it wasn't until her compatriots were in the car and driving to their location that I realized what was happening: Rosa had been instructed to give away the original plan so that Fournier could target the police station to rescue her – a building which is conveniently emptied of its staff.

There's an interesting scene between Garrido and Julie, in which he suddenly turns extremely sleazy, leading her to quickly depart for a coffee. Did he do this deliberately to try and spare her life when the gunmen turns up? He certainly knew they were on their way considering one of them says: "play for the camera" when he's taken hostage.

Things go from bad to worse: not only does another cop get to Rosa's cell first, thereby creating a stalemate with Garrido and the gunman trying to get in, but Julie also tries to come to Garrido's rescue (thinking his life is really in danger) and is promptly shot. My above theory holds water when Garrido is sent after her to finish the job, and it initially seems like he shoots her dead.

Luckily for her she has a face like a frightened deer, and Garrido spares her – either shooting the wall behind her, or going for a non-fatal injury, it isn't entirely clear.

There is another a small ray of light: Louise is in the bathroom when she hears the terrorists enter the building and manages to do a little Air Vent Escaping to get back to her gun and call for backup. She manages to shoot dead one of the terrorists as he's on the verge of shooting the hostages, getting genuine acclamation from Elise. It's quite lovely really; after everyone else goes to great lengths to coach Elise in the art of encouragement, it turns out all she needed to do was tell Louise the truth: "you saved their lives." That's more than enough.

It ends up in a siege situation, with Rosa demanding to speak to Elise, with seemingly little hope that she'll get out of the situation alive. In a nice piece of continuity, Rosa goes into Elise's office and spots the photograph of her twin sister, but once again demonstrates her innate childishness first by mocking her for keeping a picture of herself on her desk, then by tossing it in the trashcan.

She's still bristling with resentment over what Elise said about her mother, but if she was hoping to rile up Elise in return, then boy did she pick the wrong woman. It's almost funny how diametrically opposed the two women are in temperament, and I flat-out laughed when Elise told Rosa to "keep your hair on".

I certainly wasn't expecting that phrase to be a Chekhov's Lecture after she heard it earlier in the episode and asked Karl for clarification, yet here we are. Rosa's face was priceless!

I hate it when criminals die instead of serving justice, so hopefully she's still alive after the shootout. I saw the paramedics working on her, so perhaps she'll be around next week, if not just to further explore her disillusion with Fournier.

Last but not least, we get a scene in which Garrido visits Julie in her hospital room. Though it teases the possibility he's come to finish the job, his remorseful suicide doesn't come as a huge surprise.

***

And in this episode's B-plot, Karl learns of Olena's death and that it's being passed off as suicide. As his superior says: "it saved us the cost of deporting her." Nice. He sends BB to investigate this so-called suicide, and he ends up interviewing Vanessa, who Karl identifies by connecting the dots: her husky voices means she smokes the cigars Olena described. 

Miscellaneous Observations:

It would seem that Karl and Laura are warming up to each other again, especially after he adds extra security to the house. He even gets a goodbye kiss! Unfortunately, this may be all undone with the ongoing mail that's being sent to Laura, including a newspaper clipping that alludes to another police officer's secret second family.

But the show is good at pulling off the two sides to Karl – this is the guy that cheated on his wife, but who is also considerate enough to buy a baby toy for a new mother/fellow colleague.

Meanwhile, Elise still can't "read" her boyfriend's sarcasm (not a good sign) but is confident enough in Karl's presence to question the meaning of "keep your hair on." And what are we to make of Eryka texting her to check on her wellbeing?

How exactly did Rosa get out of her cell? After Garrido is sent off the gunman outside the door tells her to overpower the cop holding a gun to her head, but we don't actually get to see this happen. Next thing we know, she's trying to make her escape alongside the other three.

I call foul on neither Karl nor Olivier helping Elise stand up after they find her with a bloodied head. However, I did love the dignified way Elise retrieves her sister's picture from the bin.

Seeing Julie try to warn the others of Garrido's complicity was very reminiscent of Libby's death in LOST.

We're at the halfway mark now! Man, this season has flown by.