Marcella - General Discussion

[zxy556575]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Quoting myself shamelessly to celebrate having figured out some major things back in ep 4!  Woohoo!  I never do that.

I noticed when you posted that and gave a mental nod to your acumen, but of course couldn't confirm because spoilers. :)

[Guest]

I liked it.  I was a little disappointed they didn't wrap up the loose ends this episode, though.  I want to know what happened the night Grace died and what happened to Juliet.  And who killed the cab driver.   Was there ever a scene that would've explained Henry finding out about the cab driver?  I guess the rest you can just assume about.  Juliet's death was probably nothing nefarious.  And Marcella hid Grace's body thinking she killed her.  Her bagging Henry's head was pretty dark, though.  I was afraid at the end it'd come out that Tim followed her there and did the bag thing, and also the cab driver.  Maybe that'll come out in season two.  Tim was about the only character who wasn't a criminal in this season. 

[LakeGal]

Just binge watched this series.  What a ride!

We laughed every time Marcella showed up in that parka.  She was usually the only person inside wearing a jacket.  That jacket must have smelled by the end of the season.

I guessed Henry about halfway through the season.  I just didn't trust him and he seemed obsessed with why Grace's body was moved.

Just like everyone else I had trouble keeping all the characters straight.  The names and faces ran together.  I still want to know what happened to the cab driver's brother.  Why didn't anyone ask Marcella why she had a knife cut on her neck?

I suppose next season will be about Tim going after Jason. 

[taragel]

Just binged and I don't know if I've ever had more questions after finishing a procedural. 

-What the heck did the robberies have to do with the murders? Was Yann the one robbing people--since he was the only one we saw with the huge wound on his upper chest?

-Related, who did Cara sleep with to get all the "trophy" jewelry to pawn? Surely not Henry.

-What happened to Mohammed after Marcella's fugue?

-Why did Henry talk about Grace like he was very close to her and loved her, yet had only been in her house "a few times"? Was he really so jealous of her having the stepmother's love that he would kill her AND six other innocents to disguise it?

-How/why did he single out all those other people to kill specifically? Because they were Yann's clients? But he was setting up Matthew and not Yann? Why wouldn't he just setup Yann!? And why would he kill them specifically in the same way that Peter Cullen did unless he was actively trying to set up Cullen?!

-How did Juliet actually die and was it Marcella's fault?

-What happened to Maddy after she was rescued? (It would have been nice to get one scene of her being okay towards the end.)

-Why did we need that whole plotline about Bendek, and was it really an auto-erotic asphyxiation gone wrong or did someone actually murder him too? For that matter why did we need Stuart to have MS?

-Why, in the opening scene, was it not just Marcella who was dirty but all four walls of the bathroom? Dis she just ping pong her dirty body into all the walls before she climbed into the tub?

-Who the hell is mean/cold after waking up next to Jamie Bamber? And why wasn't there more of him in this show?

Dear lord. I mean I was engrossed by the performances well enough but what a hot mess. And what the heck will season two be about? More fugue-ness/thinking she's a criminal from Marcella? (ETA: I googled and just read the plot of S2. Sounds unlikely that Marcella will have the same unreliable narrator role as S1.)

Edited October 9, 2017 by taragel

[mansonlamps]

Season 2 debuting this week!

[2727]

Available on U.S. Netflix June 8.

[ichbin]

Glad there was some clarification regarding the first series, but that ending though...  If there is a third series, I hope there is some information regarding the circumstances leading to that.  What a crazy quilt of characters and story lines!  Not sure I really need another series though.

[taragel]

Wow, this season seemed way darker than S1 with all the child violence. The killer seemed a little out-of-nowhere, and I kind of wanted more of those other storylines to tie together in a meaningful way. And I'm not sure what to make of the reveal about Marcella and the baby. I kind of wished (sad as that would have been too) the rotten ex had did it and was gaslighting her all along. They certainly did set it up for a huge reboot though.

[iggysaurus]

I'm so confused by some of the subplots. What did the two ladies who were trying to  have a baby have to do with anything? The blond one was shown working at the Kids Call place and she seemed suspicious but I guess she wasn't involved in anything? Was Maya, the rich charity lady, guilty of anything in relation to the missing kids? And finally, what was the deal with Becky/Rebecca, Jason's new girlfriend? She worked at the same clinic where Gail worked, and I'm sure they showed her being involved in getting Gail out of the picture when she was starting to find out about Joel. Right? And there was also the info about her possibly being involved in a child prostitution ring in Europe, or something. But the show never seemed to resolve any of those issues or say whether she was guilty of anything or not.

Were all of those things just red herrings?

The "hypnosis" was not believable at all. There was no real technique so how was that woman a "specialist" in it? She just   says "focus on a memory, I'll count to 5 and you'll be transported to that time and able to unlock lost memories." Would that actually work on anyone, especially as reliably and instantly as it did on Marcella? 

 

The ending was weird. I guess they're seeing up season 3, which I'm sure I'll watch regardless of my nitpicks of this season!

[LakeGal]

I tried but I just could not get into this season.  I bailed before the season was over.  Too bad, I liked the first season.

[BeckyThatcher]

Marcella has a new coat!

[Chaos Theory]

Marcella’s one of those characters I kinda enjoy watching.  Incredibly fascinating but hard to like but when her ex husband shows up I want to kick him in the balls.  

I thought the 2nd season was interesting as it dealt a lot with bad parent and the children that come out from it.  Marcella is a great cop but a horrible mother even without her rage blackouts.   Although the hypnosis was tvfied I thought it fit its purpose and showed what Marcella was doing during her blackouts.   I thought season 2 was great and am looking forward to another season especially now that everyone thinks she is dead.

[BeckyThatcher]

This season seemed to have better acting than season one.

Marcella didn’t appear to always have that “did I leave the toaster on?” look and her ex-husband was less wooden in his acting skills. Although, perhaps that’s why they gave him a more limited role.

For me, the plot was more consistent. I was annoyed at much of season one but enjoyed, aside from the dark material, season two.

At the last scene, the detective tells Marcella that the department “Laura and he” head up need some one. Maybe this means Nina Sosanya returns in season three?

Sadly, in the last scene, Marcella has returned to wearing the Season One hooded coat. 

Quote

On 6/11/2018 at 11:20 PM, iggysaurus said:

What did the two ladies who were trying to  have a baby have to do with anything?

The two ladies, primarily the red-headed one, were involved in implicating others by request of the  CEO of the Children’s Help Foundation, first with the “red folder” against the CEO’s husband, which the redhead later said she couldn’t do, and finally with implicating Jamie Bamber’s character leading to his suspension for possible embezzlement. At least, something along those lines.

Edited June 16, 2018 by BeckyThatcher
Coats

[Anela]

On 6/11/2018 at 11:20 PM, iggysaurus said:

I'm so confused by some of the subplots. What did the two ladies who were trying to  have a baby have to do with anything? The blond one was shown working at the Kids Call place and she seemed suspicious but I guess she wasn't involved in anything? Was Maya, the rich charity lady, guilty of anything in relation to the missing kids? And finally, what was the deal with Becky/Rebecca, Jason's new girlfriend? She worked at the same clinic where Gail worked, and I'm sure they showed her being involved in getting Gail out of the picture when she was starting to find out about Joel. Right? And there was also the info about her possibly being involved in a child prostitution ring in Europe, or something. But the show never seemed to resolve any of those issues or say whether she was guilty of anything or not.

Were all of those things just red herrings?

The "hypnosis" was not believable at all. There was no real technique so how was that woman a "specialist" in it? She just   says "focus on a memory, I'll count to 5 and you'll be transported to that time and able to unlock lost memories." Would that actually work on anyone, especially as reliably and instantly as it did on Marcella? 

 

The ending was weird. I guess they're seeing up season 3, which I'm sure I'll watch regardless of my nitpicks of this season!

I feel the same way. What was with all of the people involved, being incredibly suspicious? Not in a way that seemed harmless at the end - that girl is still missing (the one who had a baby). maybe it was supposed to be his sister who really took her, and she was another red herring - the sister must have known that she had him communicating. 

I hate that they went there with the baby. And her ex - beating himself up, gaslighting her, in an effort to make her feel even worse about herself. He can disappear at any bloody time. I don't remember anything about the first season, except that she had blackouts. 

[jaigurudeva]

On 6/11/2018 at 8:20 PM, iggysaurus said:

I'm so confused by some of the subplots. What did the two ladies who were trying to  have a baby have to do with anything? The blond one was shown working at the Kids Call place and she seemed suspicious but I guess she wasn't involved in anything? Was Maya, the rich charity lady, guilty of anything in relation to the missing kids? And finally, what was the deal with Becky/Rebecca, Jason's new girlfriend? She worked at the same clinic where Gail worked, and I'm sure they showed her being involved in getting Gail out of the picture when she was starting to find out about Joel. Right? And there was also the info about her possibly being involved in a child prostitution ring in Europe, or something. But the show never seemed to resolve any of those issues or say whether she was guilty of anything or not.

Maya knew that the couple had had previously failed IVF and wanted to try again; this provided the opening for her to pay the red-head to set up Vince in her embezzlement scheme. Maya was only guilty of trying to set up her husband with embezzlement, and then framing Tim instead; the toy thing was a red herring. Becky worked on a yacht ten years previously for a presumably famous person, and rumors circled around the nature of her work on the boat and whether or not (adult) prostitution was involved; allegations that Becky denied when pressed by Marcella. Gail was murdered by Samantha's mother, Jane, the serial killer responsible for the murdered children. When in questioning, Marcella asked where Gail was, and Jane replied, "The Thames." I feel like the only loose thread that wasn't resolved was Reg's murder, and by association Deb Canavan's murder. Did they ever make the determination that his "suicide" was foul play and arrest his bandmate for his murder and the murder of Deb Canavan?

It was an interesting enough season overall, but there were a lot of odd threads that only barely tied back to the main plot, and a lot of bizarre moments that tested the limits of suspension of disbelief. For example, how was a working single mother like Jane driving out into the English countryside to medically torture children; keeping Nigel's girlfriend, Rosio, hostage; monitoring Nigel and the police's movements; keeping in electronic correspondence with Nigel; and finding out about, and killing, the nurse who got too close to her brother's truth all at the same time? And all without raising suspicion in her suburban neighbors or her daughter? As if being a single mother wasn't exhausting enough! The ending seemed completely out of left-field, too. I suppose it's meant to convey that Marcella took a swan dive completely off the deep-end, but it seemed to escalate too quickly, and in a way not consistent with her mental illness as previously shown. The cloak-and-dagger recruitment by that person in the alley was odd. Did you see what Marcella did to her last boss, bro? She whacked him with a toilet and then gave herself half a Glasgow smile. And he wants her to join his covert, vigilante team?

A lot of my hypotheses didn't pan out this season. I did like the twist in the serial killer's motivation. I initially thought (and surely we were meant to think) the serial killer was targeting victims of child abuse to "save" them from their abuse; twisting that around to saving society from the potential abuse of the abused was intriguing. There were also a lot of red herrings thrown around, so my primary suspect shifted often between Mark, Maya, and the blond veterinarian. Did anyone else also think that Edward was going to have something to do with Juliet's death? I thought one of the final scenes was going to be Marcella remembering that Edward shook or smothered the baby to death, and her realizing, "Oh, damn, maybe he is going to be an evil little shit!" With the potential for her son to be a suspect in a crime in Season 3?

Edited June 20, 2018 by jaigurudeva

[CelticBlackCat]

On 6/14/2018 at 10:48 AM, BeckyThatcher said:

Marcella has a new coat!

Actually, she's wound up in her old coat at the end of this series.

[CelticBlackCat]

Marcella isn't in any shape mentally to join another cop's team under an alias.  If they do have a Season 3, is Marcella going to ditch her kids, go undercover or underground and continue to be a police officer or detective?  Is her half-Glasgow smile going to miraculously disappear or would we have to look at that ungodly gash for a whole another season?

I was fully expecting Marcella to jump off the roof into the traffic below.  Now that we know she killed Juliet, albeit accidentally, there isn't really any redeeming value to the character, is there?  How are we supposed to admire and want to follow a woman who we know is directly responsible for her baby's death because she couldn't cope with a crying baby?

I hate Jason and wonder if the reason he started acting like a bastard is because deep down he knows Marcella was responsible for Juliet's death and couldn't love her anymore.

[spaceghostess]

On 6/11/2018 at 11:20 PM, iggysaurus said:

I'm so confused by some of the subplots. What did the two ladies who were trying to  have a baby have to do with anything? The blond one was shown working at the Kids Call place and she seemed suspicious but I guess she wasn't involved in anything? Was Maya, the rich charity lady, guilty of anything in relation to the missing kids? And finally, what was the deal with Becky/Rebecca, Jason's new girlfriend? She worked at the same clinic where Gail worked, and I'm sure they showed her being involved in getting Gail out of the picture when she was starting to find out about Joel. Right? And there was also the info about her possibly being involved in a child prostitution ring in Europe, or something. But the show never seemed to resolve any of those issues or say whether she was guilty of anything or not.

Were all of those things just red herrings?

The "hypnosis" was not believable at all. There was no real technique so how was that woman a "specialist" in it? She just   says "focus on a memory, I'll count to 5 and you'll be transported to that time and able to unlock lost memories." Would that actually work on anyone, especially as reliably and instantly as it did on Marcella? 

 

The ending was weird. I guess they're seeing up season 3, which I'm sure I'll watch regardless of my nitpicks of this season!

The couple who worked at the kids' charity served a dual purpose as red herrings (the baby-obsessed one)/threads in that convoluted plot with the rich lady and her sleazy husband. Under extreme pressure to cover another fertility treatment, the redhead half of the couple took money in exchange for helping frame sleazy husband. She ultimately gave it back, resulting in that grim nightclub scene with her partner picking up the rando guy for bathroom-stall sex. I would have appreciated some actual payoff for how much time was spent on the two of them; likewise, Mrs. and Mrs. Unhappy Rich Couple. The wife looked like she straight-up wanted to drop a toaster into the pool while her creep husband was swimming in that last scene. I thought it might actually happen, but even this show has a cap on their spaghetti/wall budget, apparently.

I think it was just a janky coincidence that Becky worked at the same place as Gail. Becky wasn't involved in child prostitution but was apparently implicated (justifiably or not) in some kind of adult prostitution ring on the high seas? Oy. And while we're talking about everybody and all their ultimately meaningless drama, what about DI/Voyeur Mark? On one hand, I've grown to appreciate Marcella's ability to find the shortest distance between two points only to hack it in half with a pair of nail clippers.  On the other hand, to open the can of worms that Mark was watching her solely for the apparent purpose of adding another "suspect" to the list, only to then have him not be a suspect, but be discovered, blackmailed, and finally murdered was pretty cheap. Unless that was supposed to be a way to underline how EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE  in this show and/or NOBODY IS A GOOD GUY. Oh, wait--Ravi is a good guy. And good guys are doomed to be clocked in the face by toilet tank lids (as if modern public bathrooms actually have toilet tanks anymore, but anyway...). Let that be a lesson to you.

You're spot-on re the hypnosis. My ex is a hypnosis practitioner, and I can tell you that sitting a person in a comfy chair and saying "relax; breathe" does not put him or her in a hypnotic state. You can bring someone into a hypnotic state pretty quickly after having established a baseline via initial induction(s). I can understand the show not wanting to spend time on that, but still, what they showed was beyond half-assed. Also? You have to bring the person out of the state. You can't just take someone back to a trauma and leave them there, which is what the "hypnotherapist" did with both Marcella and Edward. Yelling "Stop!" does not help people safely emerge from hypnosis--and it is important that they emerge before you let them wander out of your office and back into their bleak and harrowing, albeit parka-forward, lives.

In other news, and at the risk of sounding uncompassionate, Edward is creepy AF. I have a son around that age, and if his processing trauma involved animal murder, that shit would be dealt with yesterday. (Marcella's hypnosis lady would not be on the lengthy roster of therapists.) And speaking of parenting troubled children, Marcella's kids will be better off with okay Becky and far-from-okay malignant narcissist Jason? In a perfect world, Jason never makes it back from Singapore and Becky adopts those kids.

As far as the ending--and this whole show, really--Medea much? I'm grateful they left out the deliberate murder of her own children, but still; embarrassed it took me this long to make the connection, especially when her cheating ex, JASON, was right there for two seasons. I had to ff when Marcella brandished the blade and opened her mouth in the bathroom. Are we to understand that she mutilated her tongue, or just disfigured her face? (Greek) tragic either way, but I need to know whether I'll be watching a speechless heroine if I decide to punish myself by tuning in another series.

Seriously, how is it that Marcella and Luther haven't gotten together? I mean, you can't say they don't have a lot in common, what with the self-loathing/-destructive tendencies, loss of close family members, inability to function outside work . . . 

Edited June 28, 2018 by spaceghostess
First question better answered by jaigurudeva--that's what I get for not reading the whole thread first!

[luvmylabs]

This show is like a train wreck.  I hate it but I'm fascinated.  Marcella has to be the most obnoxious, unprincipled character in a long time.  I agree with Tim..."It's no wonder why everyone leaves you."  And, if she wanted her kids so badly, she should have had Tim follow up on Jason's activities regarding and involvement in the death of that guy in season 1.  No court would allow him to have the kids...no court would allow her either, if they  knew the truth!!!

[Enigma X]

I was not a fan of this season. Well, maybe I was but not a fan of Marcella. I don't know. The end made no sense to me and just seemed like an out for a rebirth of Marcella. Sort of easy.

[luvmylabs]

20 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I was not a fan of this season. Well, maybe I was but not a fan of Marcella. I don't know. The end made no sense to me and just seemed like an out for a rebirth of Marcella. Sort of easy.

I agree, but my hubby asked if I would watch another season and I said no.  The character Marcella was too bizarre, too weird for me to watch again.  I felt badly for Tim, though.  Did they have to drag him away for embezzlement?  I've always had a soft spot for Jamie Bamber though.

[atlantaloves]

I just discovered this series as I am a British detective junkie, and my God....she is insane. I think I just have one or two episodes left of season one, WOW. I love it. Is the lead actress actually pregnant during the filming of this, they are putting her in really strange clothing. Just asking. She is a wonderful actress, I have no idea why I have not heard of her, I must be slipping in my old age. And I agree with others above, Happy Valley is THE BEST, but this is pretty bloody good, but in a different way. Marcella is mentally ill!

[atlantaloves]

Okay, does anybody now if there is going to be a season three of this hot mess? I love to torture myself. Somebody tell me what she did to her mouth, I had to fast forward through that as well. Help! Thanks guys. I liked her new coat so much, poor Marcella! Ha. 

[Enigma X]

1 hour ago, atlantaloves said:

 Somebody tell me what she did to her mouth, 

And then can you tell me why she did that to her mouth?

Thank you.

[kieyra]

I can watch any number of these “Nordic noir shows with troubled female detectives”, got hooked after the original Forbrydelsen, but goddamn you have to suspend your disbelief pretty much indefinitely. I’m a terrible person but I was laughing out loud when Mark was about to get shot, because it was so obvious that Marcella was a) hardly the person to be leading some sort of hostage negotiation situation, b) dumb enough to believe the killer was just going to let the hostage go AND leave her IT dude alone with sketch ass Nigel. It was so obvious he was dead from the get-go.

The rest of the season went so far into looneyville I literally have nothing to say. Way too much plot, too many threads, too many characters.

To say nothing of the magic time travel powers of hypnosis.

Edited July 3, 2018 by kieyra

[7-Zark-7]

This is such a weird ass show that doesn’t even try to answer all the questions it raises, although they did a better job of it this season than last (who shot the cabbie and what happened to his brother?)

On 6/22/2018 at 3:56 AM, CelticBlackCat said:

If they do have a Season 3, is Marcella going to ditch her kids, go undercover or underground and continue to be a police officer or detective?

She’s already ditched her family and went underground. Now that the woman whose dna she swapped with hers has died (conveniently, in a fire) she can be get paid for it. I’m glad someone else brought up Luther. That show does come to mind, especially since both shows have turned their leads into comic book style anti heroes.

[CelticBlackCat]

I meant Marcella giving up any rights to fight for joint custody or something to prevent the Ex-Mr. Marcella from taking the kids to Singapore.  Although, if those were my kids, a psychopath-in-the-making boy (that poor mouse!) and snotty, self-absorbed girl ("I was looking forward to going to Singapore!"), Singapore would be a good place for them, I would think!

 

Since Marcella carved up her face before taking residence in the tunnel, encased in her old parka, she should get plastic surgery to make her look like someone else so she can freely go about London and do her detecting or police work.  Otherwise, won't someone recognize her?

[alexvillage]

I like this show. Or liked it. I hope there is no season 3 because it delved into Marvel/DC Comic land and I don't really like that stuff.  Marcella was an interesting enough character to me. Even if the show had all these plots to confuse us, I still liked it. Maybe because it is very different from the soap operas and completely off the mark American cop shows turn into. But the show lost me at the end. 

I can't stand the husband and felt like they want to shove him down our throats.

Edward is a sociopath. Torturing and killing animals is the first red flag.

Like others said, the "suicide" was never really resolved. 

I don't know anything about hypnosis but I do know that it is not done that way. It can't be. "Relax, breath, remember, wake up". Seriously, show? 

And then there is the "Super!Villain! The woman did it all, got away with it all, for years. What an infinite pool of resources she had.

[catrice2]

 I can't believe I've watched the second British show in a week where the quote-unquote hero police officer is suicidal. And it would appear that breaking all kinds of laws and being suicidal is not going to prevent another series.

 Both Marcella and The Bodyguard have two leads that are running around trying to kill themselves, breaking every rule of evidence, and still being regarded as the good guys. The son is so Twisted that you can't believe that the daughter is normal, and I'm really kind of upset that the ex-husband just gets away with being evil.

 I can't understand what agency would want her to work for them knowing how unstable she is and I'm wondering if they are going to try to imply that the therapist planted those memories or that in her memory she took the place of her son because she doesn't want to believe that he actually could have harmed his sister. I also give it the poster who spoke about how Samantha was able to get away with all of this as a single mom and have access to all these properties and instruments excetera that she needed. There were way too many subplots going on in this for me to follow and I still don't know or care if most of them were resolved.

[marny]

Ugh. So much time wasted on characters who didn’t matter at all. 

[Irritable]

I just binged both seasons and I can sum up my feelings in one question:

What in the HELL was that?!?????

I watched Broadchurch before this and was really hoping for another show of it’s caliber, but ... no.  There was no one for me to like, everyone was either a dangerous mentally disturbed asshole, or just a regular asshole. And while I can appreciate that the lead being completely insane and running off into the night hacked up and crazed was an unusual way to end the series, it just wasn’t any good because everything leading up to it was such a hot, unrealistic mess. 

[NotChristine]

Season 3 is coming

 

[BeckyThatcher]

Season Three! Marcella has a new coat- and this time it’s cashmere!

Netflix released Season 3 yesterday. Reassuringly, it has all the plot holes and senseless activity of the first two seasons.

[minamurray78]

did anyone else watch s3 yet? cause lol what the hell?

[Emmeline]

7 hours ago, minamurray78 said:

did anyone else watch s3 yet? cause lol what the hell?

I am only on Episode 2 of season 3 and I agree, what the hell!

Didn’t we last see her homeless?  All of a sudden she turned into an unsavory version of Blythe Danner in a mini skirt.

Edited June 15, 2020 by Emmeline

[CrystalBlue]

On 6/15/2020 at 3:56 AM, BeckyThatcher said:

Season Three! Marcella has a new coat- and this time it’s cashmere!

Netflix released Season 3 yesterday. Reassuringly, it has all the plot holes and senseless activity of the first two seasons.

A new coat?  Marcella has a new name -- Kiera -- and a new hair color and style wig.  The new name is due to her new gig as an uncover something or other who has gotten involved detecting the goings-on of a shady family in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Marcella doesn't answer to her old name anymore.  Kiera has miraculously recovered from the Glasgow half-smile she sustained when we last saw her homeless on the mean streets of London.  Either the wound wasn't all that deep and didn't leave a scar, or she had plastic and/or laser surgery, or really good foundation and/or concealer.

After finishing Epi 1 of this new season, I too am wondering WTH and/or WTF.

Does it get any better?  Does anyone here know?

[lu1535]

3 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

After finishing Epi 1 of this new season, I too am wondering WTH and/or WTF.

Does it get any better?  Does anyone here know?

I came here to ask the same question. I don't know if I can watch this season without some sense of hope.

[Chaos Theory]

I really hate that I am the only person I know who has even heard of this show because it is really fascinating.   Marcella is exactly the kind of unreliable lead I find so interesting especially in a female.   I am two episodes in to season 3 and I am already hooked.   The mystery is as good as ever.  Marcella loves being the new person.   She actually fits in at being a weird version of who she actually is.  An honest version.   The family she is both investigating and protecting is interesting as well.   I think I am going to like this season as it....and Marcella unravels.

[CrystalBlue]

Episiode 2 definitely got me acclimated to the story.  I noticed Kiera's scar this time.  The wig is really distracting to me.  Not Marcella is really unhinged.

[CrystalBlue]

Finished the season.  That a was wild ride!

[Chaos Theory]

Just finished myself last night.   Really wild.   I liked it a lot.   

[catrice2]

I liked it too but there were two loose ends.

[Hava]

This show is so. bad.

[QQQQ]

What did I just watch??

[Chihawk]

Had watched first two seasons and didn’t expect Season 3 till later this year
so was happily surprised Netflix showed it now.

I liked this season.  Better than Season 2 for me. She’s just so not the norm.   
I hope there is a Season 4 someday   Really like Marchella.

 

[Hava]

Can someone explain Frank's story? I didn't quite understand the "reveal."

[Madhattter]

I agree that in feeling that I missed the reveal. I'm also confused. At the end of the final episode, she was radioing in, announcing herself as DCI Marcella Backland, calling for backup and an ambulance to the Maguire estate. So is she done pretending she's dead? And if so, why was she still startled at someone tracking her down at the airport. And at the very end, the baby looked a couple of months older, so where had she and the baby been hiding out? Will her family find out that she's been alive this whole time. Frustrating, but then again, this show always has been. 

[NJRadioGuy]

I binged through seasons 2 and 3 over the course of a week, and I'm just completely done with this series. After the last 5 minutes of the S2 finale the whole thing came unravelled for me and I stopped caring about her completely in the final two episodes of S3. I'm fine with the high body counts but does everything always need to be so edgy and dark today? Can't you just give us a great but flawed detective with an interesting personal life, and some good crimes to solve?

The McGuires' story itself was excellent, and if this was a stand-alone show without being a Marcella story I'd have liked it a lot more. It made me miss the crazy world of the Sopranos, a show shot in my neighborhood (Tony's house was 1.3 miles from my front door). The intertwining of her mental collapse(s) and the family was compelling through the meat of the series, but it all went pear shaped at the end. Also not unlike The Sopranos, sadly.

Can you just imagine the 999 call she made? After she says "Hello, this is D.I. Marcella Backland," she's lucky the call taker didn't reply "What? You're crazy. Impersonating a dead copper. I ought to have them send a padded wagon for you. You're a loony. Stop wasting our time." Click.

Spoiler

Don't iris scans require you to be alive, with blood pumping through the eye in order to work?

Why...WHY does every European cop show have armed people (good guys and baddies alike) racking the slide their pistols all the time? It wastes time and leaves you without one in the pipe in an emergency. Load, rack, safety on (optional), holster. And racking the slide clears out a round if one IS in the chamber, so you're wasting a cartridge, damnit. The Scandi-Noirs are egregiously guilty of this too.

You expect the audience to believe that there's no video surveillance of an interrogation room in a modern police station? That said, Roz was a surprise twist. An unpleasant one, but a twist nevertheless. 

I loved that Kiera took the surname of a famous fictional D.I. (her same rank). A nice nod by the writers? Now if only someone would make those into a TV series. 

[CrystalBlue]

16 hours ago, NJRadioGuy said:

I binged through seasons 2 and 3 over the course of a week, and I'm just completely done with this series. After the last 5 minutes of the S2 finale the whole thing came unravelled for me and I stopped caring about her completely in the final two episodes of S3. I'm fine with the high body counts but does everything always need to be so edgy and dark today? Can't you just give us a great but flawed detective with an interesting personal life, and some good crimes to solve?

The McGuires' story itself was excellent, and if this was a stand-alone show without being a Marcella story I'd have liked it a lot more. It made me miss the crazy world of the Sopranos, a show shot in my neighborhood (Tony's house was 1.3 miles from my front door). The intertwining of her mental collapse(s) and the family was compelling through the meat of the series, but it all went pear shaped at the end. Also not unlike The Sopranos, sadly.

Can you just imagine the 999 call she made? After she says "Hello, this is D.I. Marcella Backland," she's lucky the call taker didn't reply "What? You're crazy. Impersonating a dead copper. I ought to have them send a padded wagon for you. You're a loony. Stop wasting our time." Click.

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Don't iris scans require you to be alive, with blood pumping through the eye in order to work?

Why...WHY does every European cop show have armed people (good guys and baddies alike) racking the slide their pistols all the time? It wastes time and leaves you without one in the pipe in an emergency. Load, rack, safety on (optional), holster. And racking the slide clears out a round if one IS in the chamber, so you're wasting a cartridge, damnit. The Scandi-Noirs are egregiously guilty of this too.

You expect the audience to believe that there's no video surveillance of an interrogation room in a modern police station? That said, Roz was a surprise twist. An unpleasant one, but a twist nevertheless. 

I loved that Kiera took the surname of a famous fictional D.I. (her same rank). A nice nod by the writers? Now if only someone would make those into a TV series. 

Excellent post with lots of neat and interesting info.  An extra Heart Like for you!

[Lunula]

Man, I like this show and at the same time I am incredibly, super annoyed at the gaping holes left behind. 

Season 1 was pretty solid. Plot points were completely dropped and some things made no sense - but I enjoyed it. I didn't mind all the characters and red herrings, but once we learned Henry was the killer, I went back in time and didn't understand the trophies from his victims. If was doing it all a ruse to throw suspicion so he could eventually kill Grace, why take the jewelry from his victims? And how did the blonde online camera porn lady steal them? At one point someone kidnaps Marcella, seemingly to kill her (I can't remember who it was) and she goes into a fugue state and the next scene she is at home. No explanation. Nothing. WTH?

Season 2 was starting to piss me off. I thought the child killer story was sufficiently creepy, dark and sad - but I cannot stand the huge cast of characters as red herrings and then the killer turns out to be someone we saw like what - ONCE - in the first 6 episodes? That is just cheap ass writing, IMO. If you're going to make me guess and try to create twists & turns, you can't then make the killer Joe Blow down the street that we saw one damn time, with no back story and maybe one speaking line, until the final two episodes. That sucked. And how the hell did she bury a body in the police station? And MY GOD, are we really supposed to believe they found that body in the span of 2 minutes by looking at a photo that had a map on the wall with something circled? And that led them to the exact spot in the police station where it was buried? Ugh. 

The hypnosis stuff was also annoying. So Marcella finally decides to get help - something any half intelligent human being in in the same situation would've done way before that point - and it's magic hypnosis? 

I can get behind the changing her identity for S3 when she realizes she killed Juliet; however, why the hell did she cut her face like that? To leave her DNA behind? To punish herself? To try and annihilate who she used to be? A mere mention of her motives in S3 would've been great. 

And Season 3 - I thought it ambled along for too long. I had no clear understanding of what she was trying to do other than, "Bring down the McGuire family." And WTH happened in the beginning? She was with the accountant, who they killed, and then she "goes back" to Finn? So...the accountant didn't know she was with Finn to begin with and then switched to him? Or did she seduce the accountant first to get to Finn and "flip" to gain trust? I enjoyed the backstabbing, the tension and the weird characters in S3 - but until the last 2 episodes, I didn't understand her purpose. Even then, are we to believe she engineered all of that - or it was just happy circumstance (for her) how it all ended?

Don't even get me started about her treatment towards Sangha.