'The Gulf' Episode 2: Detective Jess Savage rescues captive Lucy from clutches of Nathan's abductor but mystery of her own car crash remains
Most of the loose ends of Episode 1 have been tied up in this episode, which sees Detective Jess Savage and her underling Justin Harding (Ido Drent) nab Gil Larsen (Mark Clare), who had abducted Nathan (Niko Clare) and Lucy (Anais Shand).
The main breakthrough of the case comes when the investigating team realizes that most of the "witnesses" who had seen Nathan return from the bus with his backpack were lying for a variety of reasons.
The only testimony that stands is that of Simon, Nathan's dad. He was acting squirrelly in Episode 1 and hyperventilating each time Jess wanted to talk to Nathan. At the beginning of Episode 2, he also tells Jess he had thrown Nathan's backpack away after it was given to him by the police, effectively erasing any forensic evidence that could be gleaned from it. And in Episode 2, we find out why.
Hiding a relationship with Nathan's teacher Roshini (Shweta Tomar), who became his wife six months after Nathan was declared dead, Simon has a guilty conscience. He was the one to tell Nathan to go fetch his backpack from the bus but was too engrossed in Roshini to notice he had never returned. He had, in the last five years, believed in all the other witnesses who had "seen" Nathan come back.
When he confesses this to Jess, Nathan standing in the background bursts into sobs. Simon falls to his knees, begging his forgiveness. Nathan, who has refused to let anyone touch him, crumbles into his dad's arms sobbing, finally taking the first step to recovery.
Simon's confession allows the police to then concentrate on the bus driver that day. Thanks to a photograph taken by one of the parents, Jess realizes that the man driving the bus that day was not the regular driver who usually drove the children around.
The driver crumbles under questioning and tells him he had asked "Gil Larsen" to fill in for him because he was too drunk to drive that morning. When Jess and Justin drive up to Gil's cabin in the woods near Billy's place (that the police had already searched), Gil escapes to the kennels where he has locked Lucy, who was being held captive with Nathan. She is the same girl that Jess had handed her card to that Nathan was holding when he was found.
After a tense stand-off, Gil shoots himself and Lucy is rescued and identified as a homeless girl who had never been registered missing because her mother had abandoned her and left the country. It is a not-so satisfying ending to the suspense that had been built up in the first episode. This is especially so because Gil is introduced only in this episode as the mystery antagonist with no background built up for the viewer before the driver's confession.
But what is more intriguing in this episode is Jess following up on the mysterious car crash that kicked off Episode 1. As part of the abduction case, Jess tells her daughter Ruby (Timmie Cameron) to get the information from the data cloud for her old phone destroyed in the crash. When Ruby does this, she scrolls to the messages Jess received from her now-dead husband, Alex. She then strategically deletes the last three messages in which Alex had told Jess to meet him at Kaka Point. It is obvious that Ruby is covering up something significant.
Jess, still missing bits of her memory, can't help thinking that the car crash that killed her husband and left her injured was not accidental. She sees the car wreck in the garage and sees that a locket that usually used to hang from the car mirror is missing.
She opens up the car crash report only to see that no suspicious tampering of evidence had been found. She is at the site of the crash when she finds the locket that had gone missing from the car on the rocky beach. Why is it significant and why Jess was hunting for it is something we'll get to know in Episode 3.
Episode 2 is a less thrilling ride than Episode 1. While Episode 1 promised that 'The Gulf' would be a deep dive into characters and relationships with a crime story in the background — an approach that made 'Broadchurch' popular — Episode 2 belies that promise.
It becomes more of a police procedural, that though intriguing, is not as riveting. Plus Jess Savage's labored breathing becomes a little annoying, even distracting. Hopefully, the mysterious car crash will bring back the X factor that makes crime dramas like this succeed.
'The Gulf' airs on Wednesdays at 3 am EST on Sundance Now.