'The Responder': An Unexpected Team-Up Could Be Chris' Worst Nightmare

In The Responder Season 2 premiere, Chris Carson lamented that he was aware he kept making the same bad decisions but didn't know how to stop. If Chris was feeling frustrated with his inability to get out of crap situations in the first two episodes, he's absolutely losing his mind after the series' midpoint episodes. Both Chris and Rachel made some really stupid choices in Episodes 3 and 4, leading to a worst-case scenario team-up that will make the final episodes an absolute hell for our reluctant cops. 

Chris took the drugs from the dock to Jodie, who repaid him with a brick of cocaine instead of cash. Chris dropped off the drugs with Franny, clearing his debt from taking the gun, but got roped into one last mission before Franny would commit to making sure Chris got the day job he needed to stop Kate and Tilly from moving to London.

The new job was tracking down a man named Vernon (Shaun Fagan), who stole Franny's phone that held the key to his entire drug business. Before Chris could find Vernon, Debs (Amaka Okafor) reneged on the day job because Ray started asking about it. Ray needs a refresher course in minding his damn business, but Debs' flakiness pushed Chris to try and quit the whole gig. He only threw himself back into the mix when Franny said that he'd take care of Vernon, and Chris didn't want to have Vernon's death, or severe bodily harm, on his conscience. Chris apprehended Vernon, took Franny's phone from him, and attempted to put Vernon on the bus, but Vernon sold Chris out to Franny instead. 

If that wasn't enough on Chris' plate, he also got a call from Rachel during his shift informing him that she'd messed up. She went over to Steve's (Philip Baratoni) new girlfriend's house to try and warn her that Steve was abusive. However, Steve had already told his girlfriend that Rachel would try to convince her that he was a bad guy. When Rachel heard Steve had said she was "mad," she snapped and beat Steve with a flashlight. Chris showed up afterward and helped Rachel take Steve in. He was booked for allegedly starting the altercation, but Rachel's superiors know what really happened, and she is in hot water after losing her temper. 

Once Steve was taken away, Chris tried to focus on ridding himself of Franny's phone. It was a little hard to do when he realized that Franny's goons were tracking him, though. So he went to Jodie's house to take a nap and figure out his next steps. While Chris was sleeping, Jodie took the hot phone and pitched a partnership to Franny. Jodie had her drugs taken by the bouncers at the club she had arranged to sell at, leaving her without a supply and no cash flow. Franny is interested in teaming up to get his phone back and thinks the partnership could make him and Jodie much more money. 

Both Chris and Rachel had obvious other choices they could have made before putting themselves in these impossible predicaments. Rachel should have never visited Steve's girlfriend without backup. She also could have left after the girlfriend rebuked her, but instead, she pushed herself inside and put herself face-to-face with Steve. All of the pent-up tension about their breakup and the emotional damage Steve caused exploded in the form of a flashlight to the face. She has not been dealing with her nature, and now it has come very close to costing her a good-paying job. 

Chris similarly struggled with attitude in the episode. He screamed at Tilly because she didn't stay in the car when he visited his father. He yelled at her again when he saw Franny's muscle men outside of the dress shop they would visit. If Chris isn't careful, he's going to go down the same dark path as his father, which is his worst nightmare. His second-place nightmare started forming during his nap on Jodie's couch.

When Chris wakes up, he will have even more significant problems than when he went to sleep. Jodie is unpredictable at best, and her getting in bed with a powerful new drug lord is the absolute last thing Chris needs. Combined, they know enough about Chris' antics to send him to prison for decades. What started as a routine traffic stop has now turned into perhaps the most dangerous case Chris has ever worked on. 

There are only two episodes left in the season, but both Chris and Rachel have very deep holes they need to dig themselves out of. Rachel could lose her career, and Chris is on the verge of losing his daughter, if not his entire life, if he doesn't figure out how to take down Franny once and for all. 

The Responder Season 2 debuted on BritBox with two episodes on Thursday, July 11, 2024, and will continue with two episodes a week on Thursdays through the end of the month.