"A Sleeping Tiger" Rests the Case in Part 2 of 'Ridley's Season 2 Premiere

Ridley returns for the second half of its premiere mystery for Season 2, “A Sleeping Tiger,” with the discovery of a somewhat awkward problem. DI Darren Lakhan arrested Tasha Walker after raiding her house and finding a bag of clothes belonging to her boyfriend, Liam Manley, the team’s main suspect in the recent robbery of a jewelry shop. The clothes carry chemical evidence from the crime scene, which will incriminate Liam. He arrives, assuming he’ll get a “Good job, Darren!” However, what he hasn’t been told is Tasha is a fellow officer working undercover with Ridley and Carol, who are getting very close to solving the case. 

"You’ll never get over the loss of your daughter, nor should you want to. When you’re dealing with a traumatic memory you need to approach it carefully, quietly, like tiptoeing up to a sleeping tiger."

The team is closing in on three suspects, all of whom may have financial problems and/or problems with the law: Harry Bentham, the owner of the jewelry store; Terry Sansom, the owner of a crooked haulage company; and Catherine and Simon Penrose, who run a stud farm. But if Tasha’s cover is blown, it will wreck the case, not to mention put her in danger. Furious, Carol accuses Ridley of being too close to Tasha, calling her a surrogate for his deceased daughter, which he doesn’t deny. As if to confirm it, he says it’s all fine; it’s not like Tasha’s in a sexual relationship with Liam. (It’s evident to everyone else that she is.) 

Carol gives in and allows Tasha to continue working on the case. The more serious issue is not who she’s sleeping with but the mistakes she has made along the way, like giving Liam a false alibi. Tasha takes her lumps and agrees to place a tracking device on Liam’s car to help find the location of the drop from the robbery.

Ridley heads to visit the Penroses to talk to Simon, who was out of town until now. He has little to add, and Katherine isn’t too pleased Ridley is back after she claimed she knew nothing about the stolen goods. When Ridley goes to his happy place, the jazz bar, he’s surprised that Annie is wearing Harry’s gift; he claims to be not judging, just “looking out” for her. Annie assures him she’s thrilled with the situation, so Ridley adopts his social jazz club persona, smiling and chatting with other patrons, and then takes to the stage. (Unlike some of us, for whom the musical numbers just don’t work, the patrons, including Annie, are entranced.)

Ridley would be distraught to find Tasha and Liam in bed together the following day, but that’s where she is when Terry Sansom texts the drop is on, which she forwards to Ridley. Liam returns from Frank’s allotment hut, where he retrieved the stolen jewelry, to pick up Tasha. Ridley, expecting to hear more from her, visits her house, where her mother tells her she’s out with Liam after spending the night with him. At this point, Ridley can’t keep pretending things are innocent, though his bringing the news back to the office is more out of fear for her safety. Carol takes it up the chain to Goodwin. Ridley is benched from dealing with Tasha (about time!), which is how Darren winds up dispatched to check in on her. 

As Darren drives out to find her, Liam has second thoughts about the whole enterprise and is debating just taking the money and running. He does not realize Sansom has arrived and is parked nearby but out of sight. However, he does not take off before revealing to Tasha that he went through her belongings and knows she’s actually a cop. He goes absolutely over the rails, screaming that he’s hurt! She used him! Tasha manages to get to the tracking device she was given and turns it on, sending data to the police station as Liam drives off with her. Liam eventually forces her out of the car at gunpoint. She leaves the tracking device in the car and waits for Liam to kill her. But he can’t go through with it and drives away.

Sansom and Liam meet and exchange jewelry for a fat envelope of cash; however, Liam is determined to carry out his High Noon reenactment because of "disrespect" (or something) and pulls his gun, causing the police team to burst out of the bushes ahead of their planned ambush. Carol arrests them both. When questioned, Sansom, accompanied by lawyer Rebecca Bayling, denies the charges of robbery, receiving stolen goods, or being involved in Ryan’s murder. He dismisses the accusation of working with Simon Penrose with a sneering, “He couldn’t run a bath.” 

Ridley tries to get Liam to talk, but Liam just self-aggrandizes, claiming to be behind the whole operation (he wasn’t), denying Tasha is in love with him and insisting he hasn't a clue who killed Ryan. Ridley keeps hammering, but finally, Liam admits Sansom offered to pay him and his buddy Callum if they recruited a third person to perform a robbery. They asked Ryan, knowing he needed money. Ryan came from a troubled background, born into a family of addicts; his mother, Cat Stanford, a 17-year-old heroin addict at the time, is Frank’s daughter. 

Ridley visits Frank, who insists Cat could not raise a child; he fought the system to raise Ryan. Cat has since turned her life around; she now runs an equestrian center... and stud farm. Ridley summons Carol to meet him at the Penroses, where Katherine (Cat) has been hiding in plain sight. She admits she gave up Ryan, and she’s been laundering Sansom’s money for years to finance the stud farm. When she saw Ryan, and he recognized her, she feared he would reveal her past and her criminal enterprise, so she killed him. "He deserved it." Ridley sighs, pointing out she will lose everything now. Her baby son and husband watch as she’s arrested.

Ridley chats with Harry Bentham in the bar and mentions that although they recovered his stolen goods, some of the larger jewelry pieces have disappeared. He advises him not to go ahead with the giant insurance claim. Annie is glad to see the two men have declared a truce. Life’s too short to hold grudges, Harry says, and raises his glass. Is Annie wearing stolen goods? Probably best not to ask.

Tasha meets with Ridley, who tells her about Katherine Penrose’s real identity and her arrest for Ryan’s murder. Liam doesn’t know what will happen to him. Tasha, having broken the rules, is to return to her original unit, although he assures her she’s a good cop. Tasha’s mother, Joy, finds her daughter gone, leaving her a letter on the bed. Tasha has gone to the local train station, saddened by losing Liam and her job. 

Ridley checks in with his therapist, who is pleased that he recognized his affection for Tasha as a projection of his feelings for his daughter, Ella. He’s making progress.

Ridley Season 2 continues with new episodes on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. PBS Passport members will have access to all episodes of Ridley Season 2 to watch as a binge (or as initially intended, i.e., as four two-hour-long episodes). As always, check your local listings and streamers.