'D.I. Ray' Season 2 Puts Rachita in the Middle of Gang War in "Wrong Place"

Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra) really went through it in D.I. Ray Season 1. Her fiancé turned out to be a sex trafficker, and the Birmingham police department was so toxic that Rachita turned in her badge at the end of the season. However, she's back in action as soon as Season 2 starts with a new case to sink her teeth into. 

The second series picks up three weeks after Rachita's suspension when she gets called to the scene of a double homicide. The don of the Chapman gang was gunned down alongside a young nurse outside of Birmingham hospital. The nurse was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so we think, but the murder of Frank Chapman signals a brewing Birmingham gang war. 

Before Rachita can dig into the case details, we discover that DCI Kerry Henderson (Gemma Whelan) fought to bring Rachita back onto the force. She doesn't exactly apologize for her behavior last season, but she does say the two got off on the wrong foot and that she respects Rachita's commitment to the job. We'll take it as a vast improvement over Supt Beardsmore (Ian Puleston-Davies), who is still thinly veiling his racism and contempt for Rachita being back at the office. She's cleared of all criminality surrounding Martin's (Jamie Bamber) sex trafficking exploits, and Beardsmore lets her off with "words of advice" for "bullying" and not playing well with management. So, the big boss still sucks, but the rest of the crew seems glad to have Rachita back at work. 

There's no time to enjoy coffee in the breakroom, though, because the gangs are already working on their retribution for the murder before Rachita can file an initial report. The only eyewitness to Frank's murder is beaten within an inch of his life before Rachita's team can track him down. When interviews with the Chapman family (a surprise appearance of Michael Socha!) prove unfruitful, the inspector decides to interview local shop owners. She comes across a shawarma chef who reveals tensions brewing between the Chapmans and the Mochani family, who recently moved into Birmingham from Leicester. 

Later that night, the shawarma chef is threatened by masked assailants and threatened to keep his mouth shut about the Mochanis. Rachita sends Kwesi (Peter Bankolé) to watch the Mochani jewelry shop while she and Clive (Steve Oram) stake out Frank Chapman's wake. It soon becomes clear that the Chapmans are aware they are being watched, but they don't know about Kwesi keeping an eye on the Mochani shop. He's there to witness two more masked men kidnap Rav Mochani (Taha Rahim) and throw him into the back of an unmarked van. 

Rachita has already gotten too involved in the case. She and Clive ditch the wake to chase the van, and she refuses to let up even though Clive begs her to slow the car down. They don't have backup for chasing the van, and Ray almost gets them killed on the motorway a handful of times. The van eventually manages to evade Rachita and Clive, leaving Rachita swearing on the side of the road as she watches them get away with Rav trapped in the back. 

In Season 1, Rachita had trouble convincing her peers that there was more to the case they were working on than tensions between ethnic groups. In Season 2, everyone knows how serious the crime is, but they are dealing with suspects who would prefer to handle their business internally. 

Right now, Rachita knows that Frank was killed by someone he thought he could trust and that the Mochanis were likely involved. The question remains: can she figure out who pulled the trigger before an all-out gang war erupts in Birmingham, and can she do it without completely losing herself in the case once again? 

D.I. Ray Season 2 will continue to air new episodes on Sundays, at 10 p.m. E.T. on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All six episodes will be available on premiere day on PBS Passport for members to stream. As always, check your local listings. Season 1 is streaming now on PBS Passport.