A teenage musician disappears in New Orleans and Colter teams up with local Detective Jeanie Veach (Marci T. House) to find out the truth.

The return to form last week continues and the show shifts position again, not just in genre but in approach. One of the problems the weaker episodes have had this season is that Colter himself has felt secondary at times. Here that’s kind of the point and it makes for some interesting choices in a very strong episode.

The core of this episode is not so much Anton, the missing teenager, but the space he leaves in the world and the light his absence throws on the local neighbour. Dohn Norwood is excellent as Anton’s dad and his rapport with Marci T. House as Detective Veach is excellent. This feels like a small neighbourhood where everyone knows everyone and that sense of continuance to the story gives these events more weight and meaning. House is superb here, joining this season’s long list of guest stars I’d like to see again. Jeanie Veach is pragmatic, determined, compassionate and feels like the main character in a story that Colter is a guest star in.

The brilliant thing about that is that when this show works, and it really does this week, that’s the point. What Colter’s tracking down this week is both Anton and the hope Jeanie and Anton’s dad have lost because of what happens to kids like him. The case is just the carrier wave for the larger story and this week that comes in loud and clear. It gives the episode a chance to give almost everyone some complexity too, especially Nolen Dubuc as Cal, who may have been one of the kids who attacked Anton.

There are some other fun beats too. Pej Vahdat debuts as Reenie’s new client who has lots of money and possibly absolutely no morals whatsoever. Vahdat brims with threat and gives Fiona Rene a very different kind of sparring partner. Lawyers will scream at a choice Reenie makes this week but it’s clearly a set up for a larger plot. One I’m honestly looking forward to.

Verdict: Exodus could have been a bog standard ‘something spooky in New Orleans’ story. Instead it’s a clever, compassionate episode with a great cast, a strong premise and a clear view of what Colter is and what he does. The show really does feel back on track. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart