Barry Sloane Breaks Down 'Passenger’s' Most Inscrutable Character

BritBox’s Passenger is a difficult series to quantify. A cross-genre mash-up that blends a slow-burn mystery with small-town politics and the sort of high-tension horror that makes you nervous to turn your lights off at night, it’s an ambitious project that aims to do more than simply tell the story of a village with something nasty lurking in the woods. Created and written by former Broadchurch actor Andrew Buchan, Passenger follows the story of Riya Anjuwa (Wunmi Musaku), a former Metropolitan police officer who relocates to the small Northern village of Chaddar Vale.

As is traditional in stories like this, weird things are happening around town: Unexplained disappearances, inexplicable weather patterns, and random animal dismemberment in the local woods. But as Riya attempts to figure out if anything supernatural is going on, she’ll also have to deal with an all-too-human problem: The early release of a local murderer, whose unexpected return further roils the town.

But Eddie Wells (Barry Sloane) is another sort of mystery altogether. Sentenced to a decade in prison for a brutal murder he doesn’t remember committing, he’s out five years early for good behavior, and the locals are reeling, from the family members and friends of his alleged victims to his own daughters, who aren’t sure how to feel about him or his return. The circumstances of the crimes Eddie supposedly committed are a question only the season finale can answer, but it’s clear he has an important role to play in whatever dark doings are happening in Chaddar Vale.