Corruption Goes All the Way to the Top in "A Test of Wills" in 'D.I. Ray'

Will Rachita Ray ever have an easy week on D.I. Ray? If she does, it wasn't this week. Rav Mochani (Taha Rahim) didn't die after being shot by police at the end of last week's episode, but he is in a coma; Rachita is taking the blame for it since she volunteered to talk to him alone. To make matters worse, there has been an uptick in vandalism of South Asian businesses as the public expresses their frustration that Mochani has not been arrested. However, Rachita is now convinced that Rav is innocent, at least when it comes to Frank Chapman's murder. 

Rachita might be alone in that belief. A ballistics report came back revealing that the gun Rav was holding when he was apprehended was the gun that killed not just Frank, but also Megan the Nurse, and Dave Chapman. The test was enough to convince Kerry to put out an arrest warrant for Rav as soon as he wakes up, but Rachita still isn't convinced. She is still focused on the first gun that shot Frank Chapman before he drove himself to the hospital. If they can find who used that weapon, they can figure out how the rest of the night unfolded. It's entirely possible that Rav picked up the gun when he escaped from Dave Chapman's custody, which means that one of the Chapmans was potentially behind Frank's assassination. 

The main suspect for the audience now is Susize Chapman (Lauren Drummond), who we saw searching for the missing gun at Frank's house. She was also digging into Frank's dealings with Rav and, in the end, showed up to threaten or blackmail Birmingham mayoral candidate Amara Choudry (Dinita Gohil). 

Rachita met Amara for the first time early in the episode when the politician made a campaign stop at the police station and swore to fight for the team to get more resources if she was elected. Rachita didn't have time to focus on the conversation because she was soon informed that an unidentified burner that was used to contact Rav Mochani after his kidnapping was pinged near the station. Not knowing who to trust, Rachita put a request to internal affairs to track the number of someone on her team and discovered that the burner phone belonged to Amara Choudry.

So, work is a mess, but Rachita isn't doing well in her personal life either. Her mother stopped by for an impromptu visit and was less than enthusiastic about Rachita building a discrimination case against the police department. Her mom's hesitance came from a place of protection and love, but it was evident that what Rachita was looking for was validation.

Rachita also had second thoughts about keeping things casual with Ethan (Cian Barry) in light of Rav's shooting. Her survivor's guilt from last season reared its head, but as Rachita tried to get closer to Ethan, she felt him pulling away. She did a little stakeout outside his house and discovered that Ethan and Kerry were much closer than they let on. When Ethan didn't deny they used to be in a relationship, Rachita completely cut things off.

Things are really not going well for our lead detective. She's surrounded by people at work that she can't trust, and her personal inner circle is full of cynics and people who aren't in her corner. She is now confronted with the fact that this potentially career-breaking case goes all the way up to a mayoral candidate, so if Rachita doesn't play her cards exactly right, she's going to be facing much worse than a suspension and the unwanted attention of Ross Beardsmore (Ian Puleston-Davies).

Rachita needs a definitive break in this case as soon as possible. When she finally finds Frank Chapman's murderer, she needs a vacation to somewhere tropical that serves cocktails with fancy umbrellas. In the meantime, she's got to soldier on.

D.I. Ray Season 2 will continue to air new episodes on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET 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.