Shocking revelations mean we'll be back next week for the third instalment of ITV's The Widow - but what did we learn in episode two and what are the questions we've been left pondering? CONTAINS SPOILERS.
In the first episode of The Widow - ITV's new thriller - viewers watched as Georgia Wells, Kate Beckinsale back on the small screen, was faced with the shocking possibility that the husband she thought was dead was not so dead after all.
Having seen Will – or at least, thought she saw him – on a news report into civil unrest in the Democratic Republic (DR) of the Congo, where his plane crashed three years ago, Georgia jumped on a plane and began hunting the truth. She called on old allies, such as Alex Kingston's Judith, a business partner of Will's at a clean water charity, and Jacky Ido's Emmanuel, a journalist who lost his wife on that same plane.
It was a slow-burn. There was plenty to take in. Questions were raised. Many, many questions. A host of characters were introduced. Viewers were plunged into a tangled web of mystery.
But, for some reason, ITV has decided to air two episodes a week rather than the standard one, meaning that we only had to wait 24 hours for answers, rather than the usual seven days.
Last night's instalment was more the same for the most part, a slow-burn that jumped back and forth from the present day to three years prior. However, one shocking moment before the final ad break, followed by a revelation and an even more shocking moment showed, at last, that The Widow is a series to be reckoned with and should ensure plenty come crawling back on Monday night for more answers.
Answers, you say?! That must mean we have more questions after this second episode. Spoilers to follow.
Who was the man that hired the car?
In the final scene of the first episode, Georgia discovers that she has been sent a hire car. The catch was, she had not hired an actual car herself. So, who sent it? It contained a note that demanded she 'GO HOME' but she was far from spooked off. Instead, Georgia went to the car hire office at the airport in a quest for answers only to discover that a 'white man' had paid for the hire to be kept off the system. Has husband Will been trying to scare Georgia off? Or was it, Joshua, a colleague at Will's clean water charity, meaning Broadchurch's Matthew Gravelle is up to no good once more?
What is Pieter Bello up to?
On Monday, Georgia and Emmanuel encountered a man supposedly named Hennie Botha after the crash who had lost his brother. They would, three years later, find him in the footage with the man that is allegedly Will, holding a gun, and learn his name is actually Pieter Bello (Bart Fouche). So, you know, he's been looking a little sketchy. Last night, Georgia learned that he has a wife and daughter he's allegedly estranged from, he's diagnosed with an illness, was a member of the South African infantry and had a security company that went under. Viewers saw the man himself continuing to make plans with a militia group consisting of child soldiers so, just what is he up to? There was some talk of making history so, what is being planned?
Will Georgia find him?
Georgia learned from Pieter's wife that the last she knew, he was in Kisima. The end of the episode saw Georgia accompanied by Judith as she seeks to travel there so the obvious question is, will they actually find him? If so, what are they going to learn?
Who was the man that gave Emmanuel's wife the package?
The flashbacks, this episode, were devoted to Emmanuel and his wife, Gaëlle. It was revealed that Emmanuel had gotten himself into money troubles due to gambling and in a bid to make amends, his wife – his pregnant wife – had accepted an offer from a man wearing a military uniform, wanting her to take a backpack on board.
The question here, obviously, is who is that man? The bigger question however, is…
Why was the plane bombed? Yes. Emmanuel's wife, unbeknownst to her, had carried a bomb on board. This revelation was revealed by Ariel Helgason in Rotterdam, the blind man looking to be part of a scientific experimental trial to restore his sight, who had claimed to be the only survivor. Having met Beatrix (Louise Brealey of Clique and Sherlock) – also awaiting the trial – he had told her he was the last survivor only for her to do some digging and discover that was not, in fact, the case. He would later reveal that nothing concerning the doomed flight was the way it was reported. It was not a mechanical failure but a bomb, brought on board by Emmanuel's wife. The first episode revealed there was a politician on board. A rival to the government. Was he the target? Or is there even more sinister goings-on at play, here?
Who killed Emmanuel?
In an even more shocking turn of events, Emmanuel was killed off in explosive fashion. He had confessed to Georgia that the man attacking his car in the first episode was his new wife's, Ivette, ex-husband who was violent and unable to let her go. One urgent call from her sent him running from his quest for truth with Georgia early in the episode. A second would once more send him running back to his car only for it to be blown to smithereens. So, whodunnit? The ex? The people he'd owed money getting belated revenge? Something he 'wronged' as a journalist?
What happened to Will?
In the biggest turn of events of all, the final scene of the episode revealed that Will (Matthew Le Nevez) IS alive. But he's not doing so good. The episode opened with a delivery driver being accompanied by a woman named Gloria on his latest voyage. In the back of his van he had a lone crate. Having asked her what was inside it, she queried whether it mattered and paid him a handsome amount to keep schtum. They would end the episode arriving in Rwanda with Gloria refusing to allow the driver to unload the crate. The viewers, however, would get to learn what was inside. It was Will! So he did survive but just why is he being shipped about in a crate? What has he got himself wrapped up in?
* The Widow will be back on Monday at 9pm on ITV1 to serve up more answers (and a lot more questions).
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