'Roadkill' Episode 3 Review: Is Peter Laurence in deep trouble? Lily seeks answers from her philandering father
Spoilers for 'Roadkill' Season 1 Episode 3
Peter Laurence, your ambition is either going to see you soar or six feet under the ground. Either way, you are going places.
In Episode 3 of the limited series, Peter Laurence (Hugh Laurie) is forced to sit down for a confrontation with his family. He might have gotten his latest promotion in the government but not without conditions. His past is inching close to him and the skeletons are now falling out. Two daughters and a wife of three decades sit across from him waiting for the Justice Minister to answer their questions. But here he is not Britain's most popular politician. No sir. Here, Peter Laurence is a failed father, an irresponsible, philandering husband and not half the decent man he pretends in front of the world to be.
His youngest daughter, Lily (Millie Brady), is the most disappointed in him. There is no fooling her. She called for this meeting fully prepared to ask Peter about his affair with Madeleine Halle (Sidse Babett Knudsen). She calls him out for every grievance, every grudge she had held for years. Her mother and Peter's wife Helen (Saskia Reeves) finds herself disrespected from her husband's adventures but not more than feeling mildly inconvenienced. Peter's older daughter Susan (Ophelia Lovibond) is meeting the family after years and has only shown up on Lily's invitation.
The drama that ensues at this dinner table is brilliantly played out. The atmosphere is tense in the air and Peter's initial attempts at deflection do not work on anyone; particularly on Lily. She wants to hold him accountable for everything wrong he did to her and the family. Most importantly, she wants to know if Peter started the affair with Madeleine when Helen was diagnosed with breast cancer. A powerful man is rendered not so powerful after the discovery of his deepest secrets.
Once out of home, Peter goes to Madeleine's only to find himself in yet another whirlpool. Backstories and plot points fall into place and the argument is, yet again, played out brilliantly by Laurie and Sidse. Elsewhere, journalists and lawyers are inching closer to disclosing other secrets. Charmian Pepper's (Sarah Greene) last efforts to implicate Peter in the case she lost. The evidence reaches Rochelle Madeley (Pippa Bennett-Warner) via Luke Strand (Danny Ashok).
As a penultimate episode, 'Roadkill's latest instalment sets a strong example for political thrillers. Peter Laurence is up to his neck in trouble - anywhere he sees, he has a threat waiting to pull him and his entire career down. It is not a time to act recklessly, he must be careful with every step of the way. In Episode 3, his past is pit against his present - threatening his future.
'Roadkill' airs on Sundays on Masterpiece on PBS at 9/8c.