'Annika's Second Season Ends on a Helluva Cliffhanger

There are many kinds of cases in police procedurals. There are serial murderers; there are one-off killings; there are cold cases; crooked cops commit crimes, you name 'em, there's a show about them. But of all the different kinds of detective stories, none are quite so emotionally defining as the ones where the victim is one of their own. I'm not talking about the "thin blue line" stuff, I'm talking about the down-and-dirty revenge stuff, where the novels (or the TV series/movies) get a good shot of adrenaline out of it because "this time, it's personal." Naturally, though, Annika shies away from grabbing onto a revenge story for this week's killing, instead going with Prometheus betraying his god buddies by giving man the gift of fire when a former D.I. turns up burned to death in his own boat.

Morgan: Always thought I'd been the result of a one-night stand with a reindeer herder or something.

Annika might be a bit distracted anyway, since everything in her life is topsy-turvy. She and her dad are getting along, even though he's still drinking like a fish — the same fish he pickles for breakfast, much to Morgan's horror. (If the fish weren't bad enough, he's also poking her about why she hasn't asked who her dad is, which she also really wishes he'd stop doing.) One would think pickled herring for breakfast would drive people anyway, but somehow it's made Jake decide he wants to move in permanently, which has Annika slightly panicked. At least she has a car now.

We also have a victim ID: DI Jacqueline Drummond, a former co-worker of Oban's, who retired from homicide three years ago. (See "This time, it's personal.") There's an estranged 23-year-old daughter who goes to university nearby Imogen (Caitlin Drabble), a missing houseguest named Leon Archer (Thierry Mabonga), who the neighbor Alex Carrigan (Rebecca Root) ssays had been around the last couple of weeks, and one of Drummond's last convictions Gary Nair (Jonathan Watson), an arsonist, only got out of jail a couple of weeks prior. It's a decent place to start, anyway.

Imogen says she and her mother were finding their way back to a relationship after decades of estrangement, recording a podcast together about having a cop as a parent. She says her mom has her old cases recorded on a dictaphone and says if the arson is connected to one, that would be where to start. Alex isn't much help other than to point the finger at Leon for no real reason other than what reads as subliminal jealousy. However, the CCTV puts Leon's exit before the fire started by a good ten minutes, and the fire starter can as the kind Alex keeps, not Jackie, so Annika doubles back to ask more questions and finds a picture of Jackie with a tattoo on her wrist, while Michael gets to have his turn to ride on the back of Harper's bike to find Leon.

Morgan, prepping for her driving test, stops by the station to get some mothering, only to lose her nerve since her mom is probably busy, so Michael, bless him, steps up to do the subtle dad act again. It's not nearly as subtle this time, as Morgan sees another father doing the exact same act on her way in with another daughter taking the exam; and Annika isn't nearly as subtle in being really cheerful about it either. But then again, she's not very subtle to discover Jake is over without asking for dinner or how not thrilled she is to discover supper is that dear old dad made a pot of Norwegian fårikål. (Actually, no one is thrilled about that.) 

Annika is a bit thrilled that Magnus announces he's going home, not leaving her mum after all, though it all seems a bit sudden and awkward. But not nearly as awkward as Morgan asking, out of the blue, if Michael is her dad. Annika doesn't lie. And now Morgan can't unknow, even if it was her choice to ask. She admits she's annoyed she didn't work it out before, being the daughter of detectives. But their conversation is interrupted by Blair calling with news of a suspect being kicked out of a pub, so Annika heads to go track down the lead, as Blair signs off, announcing she's heading to the birthing pool. Good luck giving birth, Blair!

Annika and Michael head over to the pub where Gary was last seen, not thrown out as the suspect, but throwing out the suspect. But he knows cops and puts his wrists up to be handcuffed anyway, interrupting their conversation where Michael warns Annika that Astrid knows about him being Morgan's dad, only for her to one-up him with the warning Morgan knows because Annika, always the one-up mushroom personified. Gary spends the morning messing with Michael and Annika, sneering at them until Oban finds he actually has an alibi for the day of the murder and tells her to get rid of him before he starts working his way into their heads. 

Unfortunately, Gary overheard the whole conversation before Annika and Michael picked him up, and someone had picked up Morgan, literally. Like, kidnapped her, using a driving test car. Luckily, she had Michael's oldest (who she now knows is her half-sister) take a pic of her in front of the car before she got in, so Annika and Michael knew she was picked up when the driving teacher called to say they were so sorry to miss picking her up after school. It's Gary who picked her up, he doesn't have any associates anymore, and Morgan has already figured out something is up even before Annika and Michael get there. 

She gets away, much to their relief, and is only too happy to agree to let Jake move in, as long as he can cook something better than Norwegian fårikål. Annika's kind of shocked it was that easy, but everything's been much much easier than she expected since this began. 

Harper tracks down Leon, especially once the coroner determined Jackie was also poisoned before her ship burned. She and Oban go full good cop bad cop on him, but they're obviously barking up the wrong tree. Jackie took him in because his mother died, and she never got over her brother's death. (That's the tattoo on her wrist.) Imogen confirms her mother never believed his drowning while diving was an accident, and Leon confirms she was hunting for someone on a cold case. he also says he saw someone leaving the boat as it caught fire and starts describing a man who sounds awfully familiar.

It gets worse when Annika gets into the office after leaving Morgan with Jake, it gets worse. Leon describes an emblem on the man's jacket, the same logo we've seen two episodes running now, on a jacket Morgan wanted to steal. The composite photo looks just like a man who suddenly decided out of the blue he was going back to his wife after all. But it's the article about the brother's death on the oil rig 30 years previously that hits Annika in the gut and makes her sit down. It's evident Oban hasn't put the pieces together yet, but she will, as Annika stops her from playing the phone call Jackie received two weeks prior, just before a certain old man in a yellow car shows up on the doorstep for no good reason.

Annika says she'll listen in the morning, but there's no need to hear more than a few seconds, as Magnus' voice pipes out when Jackie answers the phone, and she agrees to meet him for ten minutes to hear his side of it on her boat. Turns out Annika put the right suspect on the board all along. Now it's just a question of how long fans must wait for Season 3 to get some answers.