This was The Tunnel's third episode, and its third consecutive great one. Episode three might not have been packed with as much adrenaline fuelled action as episode one, and it didn't have any sequence quite as horrific as the shootout at the faith camp from episode two, but it did take a healthy amount of time to focus on the terrorists and allow us an insight into their motives and their backgrounds. This might not have been the most thrilling episode, but it was the most interesting one.
As well as focusing on the bad guys, there was a solid amount of progression with the main narrative. In fact, there was a lot of progression here. A man comes forward as Rosa's father and also reveals that he used to teach Robert. By tracking Rosa's movements, Karl discovers Madeleine's body, which also provides them with new information. Rosa is found, handcuffed and arrested following a brief shootout in the streets (and a grip-the-arm-of-the-sofa-in-fear moment as she hurriedly points her gun at her own throat, only to pull the trigger and find the gun out of ammo). It's a mammoth amount of plot to get through in one episode, and the fact that the writers still find time to focus on each character individually is extraordinary.
As well as advancing the plot and focusing on the development of the terrorists, episode three also leaves a few things hanging in the balance for episode four. My favourite unclosed thread is the state of Elise's relationship with her boyfriend after she blows him off to talk with Eryka; it's been interesting to watch Elise in a relationship due to her emotional difficulties, and this seems as if it could be damaging to her. Whether it is or it isn't, there's more than enough here to bring me back next week. The final question, of course, Olena (a potential key component to the case) falls to her death and comes crashing down onto a car in the episode's final scene - did she jump, or was she pushed?
Grade: B+
As well as focusing on the bad guys, there was a solid amount of progression with the main narrative. In fact, there was a lot of progression here. A man comes forward as Rosa's father and also reveals that he used to teach Robert. By tracking Rosa's movements, Karl discovers Madeleine's body, which also provides them with new information. Rosa is found, handcuffed and arrested following a brief shootout in the streets (and a grip-the-arm-of-the-sofa-in-fear moment as she hurriedly points her gun at her own throat, only to pull the trigger and find the gun out of ammo). It's a mammoth amount of plot to get through in one episode, and the fact that the writers still find time to focus on each character individually is extraordinary.
As well as advancing the plot and focusing on the development of the terrorists, episode three also leaves a few things hanging in the balance for episode four. My favourite unclosed thread is the state of Elise's relationship with her boyfriend after she blows him off to talk with Eryka; it's been interesting to watch Elise in a relationship due to her emotional difficulties, and this seems as if it could be damaging to her. Whether it is or it isn't, there's more than enough here to bring me back next week. The final question, of course, Olena (a potential key component to the case) falls to her death and comes crashing down onto a car in the episode's final scene - did she jump, or was she pushed?
Grade: B+
