Gifted high school pitcher Eric Dobbs (Tyler Lawrence Gray) vanishes and a returning Billie (Sofia Pernas) teams up with Colter to find him. Except Billie, it turns out, has something of a hometown disadvantage.

Billie’s debut in the first season was one of the few episodes that didn’t work for me but this one really does. Pernas is a massive part of that. Billie is confident, focused and walking through an old life this episode as we find out this is her old hometown. The much-needed context for the character helps immensely and she and Hartley have great on-screen chemistry that in turn harmonises nicely with the Shaw Brothers Roadshow from last week. Colter, a character we were introduced to us as a loner who never settles down, is increasingly working with returning partners and having more fun than he thought doing it. We are too. Interestingly as well, Billie is subtly but definitely repositioned as a partner not a love interest for this story. She trusts Colter with a version of her past, is every inch his equal in the work but has radically different principles and, crucially, agency. We understand why Billie is like she is now. We also see her, like Colter, changing.

This kind of big focus shift is helped immensely by the show remembering the core of what it does. This is a far more traditional episode than last week but it’s one which works all the better for that. Eric’s life is full of characters who are well-acted and written, who feel real and nuanced. Colter, and we, blow into town on the worst day of their lives but it’s just that, a day, and the guest cast show us that. Khalilah Joi as hard charging local detective Penny Bullard, Dreyden Free in a tiny role as Eric’s school friend and Aaron Pearl as Eric’s troubled but decent father all give the story the exact weight it needs. When we find out what’s really going on, and the show shifts into a discussion of blood trafficking and longevity studies, we also get some excellent work from serial character actor Patrick Fabian as local businessman Shane Niall. All of them feel like people, not characters and it’s continually impressive the effort the show puts into its supporting cast.

Verdict: A deceptively complex story which gives Colter and Billie some interesting hoops to jump through, this is a new baseline for the show and what it can do. I love that they’re taking big swings like last week and I love that they’re so good at done-in-one procedurals like this too. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart