Bodyguard recap: series one, episode five the calm before the storm

The penultimate outing for Jed Mecurio’s thriller leaves as many questions as answers as we enter the final chapter. Anyone could be a suspect

• Read the Guardian’s episode four recap

Tonight’s episode was really the calm before the inevitable storm of next week’s supersized 75-minute finale. Of course, calm is always a relative term in a Jed Mercurio drama, and thus, the episode was still pretty tense. A large amount of the episode was dedicated to David gruffly insisting to everyone that he was absolutely fine to continue obsessively looking into Julia’s assassination despite the head injury, PTSD, survivor’s guilt and his previous affair with the deceased

There’s also the much larger problem: that he might actually be involved in her death in some way. Come on DCI Sharma, there’s giving a suspect enough rope to hang himself and then there’s letting that rope slackly coil all over the floor. Although, of course, it’s entirely possible that David is being allowed to continue with his investigation because he makes for a wonderful fall guy when the time comes.

The bodyguard

One of the things I find most interesting about this series is that with one episode to go, I’m still not entirely sure about the extent of David’s culpability. It’s very tempting to take him at face value as a man who is grief-stricken and obsessed with finding out who killed the woman he was guarding and with whom he had a complex, complicated relationship.

But there are the conversations with Andy, the fact that he’s consistently refused to admit to knowing him. Most damningly, the fact that he met a shady former military contact to buy a Romanian military assault rifle of the kind that Andy used in his assassination attempt. It’s arguable that he did so to trace Andy’s own contacts and find out who was pulling his strings. But, it’s also possible that he wants it for his own purposes. It is to the show’s credit that I’m genuinely not sure which it is.

Similarly, in the scene with Nadiya and the identification of Richard Longcross, it wasn’t clear whether David was pushing her because he was desperate to find out the truth or whether there was something rather more nefarious going on, in which he was pressurising her to lie in order to suggest an MI5-orchestrated conspiracy. Could David actually be the man behind all of this? Or is that really a stretch too far?

The politicians

Talking of stretches too far, Julia’s closed-casket funeral will continue to fuel speculation among Bodyguard truthers that she’s not dead and that we’re going to get a sudden resurrection next week.

I agree that it’s definitely possible – and some of you have made great cases as to why – but it would infuriate me, good as Keeley Hawes was in the role. Yes, Bodyguard is an escapist thriller and yes, there are cases of people faking their death in extreme circumstances, most notably Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, but it’s still a bit of a cheap trick. Ultimately, I’d far rather a bleak Defence of the Realm tale than one in which the ends are neatly tied up and the protagonists live happily ever after, comforting as that might be.

As for the actual assassination attempt the murky clouds appeared to part this week with the confirmation that Rob was simply a self-satisfied little twerp who wanted to embarrass his boss. “We’re politicians, not murderers,” he wheedled to the hollow laughter of cynics everywhere. It’s still possible that Mike Travis and Roger Penhaligon were more involved, under the orders of the PM, and simply didn’t tell Rob, but I tend to think that this was a conspiracy of weasels rather than the real thing.

So is this all about Stephen Hunter-Dunn, the mysterious Richard Longcross and the intelligence services? We’re certainly being asked to think so but that seems a little too tidy for a Mercurio production. Plus, as pointed out, Julia Montague was helping Hunter-Dunn and co get what they want. Yes, she moved too fast but what did they really gain from assassinating a supporter? And, while it makes for good drama, it does also seem slightly excessive to set up a suicide bombing just to ensure that your super-tight new security bill gets passed. Although, I’m sure there are deep-state conspiracy sites out there that would entirely disagree.

Then there’s Craddock and Sampson. This week I swung back round to thinking that they were actually doing their jobs to the best of their ability and keen to catch whoever killed Julia despite personally disliking her. But it has consistently been suggested that the leaks are coming from the police department. If the bomb did come from the lectern then someone involved in the policing or security must have made sure it wasn’t properly checked.

Additional notes

• Hurrah, finally we learn the truth about Chanel … and it’s actually a bit batty. I can certainly buy that she is the expensively educated daughter of a crime syndicate inserted close to political high office for nefarious means. But I’m really not quite so convinced that the Home Office vetting wouldn’t have winkled this connection out.

• I did, however, love the fact that the iPad was in the ‘Death Star’ photo of Julia and David Cameron. Nice touch.

• Thank you to the people who kindly pointed out that you can have an appropriate adult in a legal interview as a vulnerable adult as well, hence Nadiya may not be that young.

• Is detective Rayburn just a sucker for an attractive accent and a bit of bruised masculinity? Certain she’s cutting David a great deal of slack in the name of friendship and I’m not sure that’s going to end well for her.

• It tickled me that someone finally said what they should always say on a Jed Mercurio show “cui bono?” or “Who benefits?”

Nerve-shredding moment of the week

Things were more tense than nerve-shredding this week although I did very much enjoy David’s confrontation with Roger, in which he deployed a Scottish accent with extreme menace.

Villain of the week

This can only go to the mysterious Richard Longcross, a man who appears to have been working overtime to bring the British government to its knees.

Unsung hero of the week

“We’ve lost Kim and nobody’s heard a word off you about it,” Poor Tom Fenton (Richard Riddell) does his best to remind David that it’s not all about him, Julia and their dangerous affair.

So what did you think? Are all the ends going to be neatly tied up? Is Julia dead or will she stage a miraculous recovery? And what did you think about the revelations regarding Chanel? As always all speculation welcome below…

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKymYq6vsIyrmJ2hn2R%2FcX2XaKqeqF9mg3Cuzp2woK2Rp7FuvsScmKllo5q%2FqrHSZqannV2avaq%2Fzp2cZp6Zq7JuwMeeZJyZnKJ6o7HFqKmeZaSdsm6%2F06ippg%3D%3D