Season 1-5 Discussion

[kieyra]

I think I tried season 1 of this last year it couldn’t quite hold my attention. But then I heard Russell T Davies (of all people?) recommend it on a podcast, and it’s been a godsend this weekend while I’m recovering from a neck/shoulder thing. I did admittedly skip to S2, which I thought was fantastic. Stellar casting for all the suspects.

I’m midway through S3 now and not quite as engaged with this cast of suspects, who are all kind of samey except the guy in the van, but the writing is very good.

S1-3 is up on Amazon Prime, I believe S4 is airing now (which may be why RTD mentioned it in that podcast). 

[Kiddvideo]

On 3/7/2021 at 12:59 PM, kieyra said:

S1-3 is up on Amazon Prime, I believe S4 is airing now (which may be why RTD mentioned it in that podcast). 

S4 ended a couple days ago. Be careful if you’re looking for info on when it might stream internationally, spoilers are in the headlines. 🤬

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

PBS just finished up  the rerun of Episode 3 of Season 1  Thurs. night. PBS were playing the series at  1 episode a week. Wow, ,this one was riveting and if you're not a lover of British crime drama, this one may not be your cup of tea. Sometimes recording the episode helps you to go back and try and catch what was said,etc,,,  Really  looking forward to more of this great series. 

[AZChristian]

8 hours ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

PBS just finished up  the rerun of Episode 3 of Season 1  Thurs. night. PBS were playing the series at  1 episode a week. Wow, ,this one was riveting and if you're not a lover of British crime drama, this one may not be your cup of tea. Sometimes recording the episode helps you to go back and try and catch what was said,etc,,,  Really  looking forward to more of this great series. 

I am addicted to British shows . . . I couldn't imagine trying to watch any of them without closed captioning.

[kieyra]

Update: Discussion of season four is not considered spoilers, since the season has already aired in the UK. Sorry for any confusion. Please see the note above the reply box for further info, and read this thread at your own risk. Thanks!

[zibnchy]

I just finished Season 4 and I'm going to put this next bit in spoiler tags because I don't want to spoil it for future viewers who may wander in here.

Spoiler

OMFG Cassie! Never have the last 10 minutes of an entire series left me so broken up. I totally understand that Nicola Walker may have wanted to move on but couldn't they have let Cassie retire and just be happy? I know that's sappy and not dramatic but I feel like the character deserved to be happy. Not only did they kill her off but they did it at a time when Cassie was at odds with everyone in her family. Lots of broken hearts there. (I know it's fiction.)

RIP Cassie. I enjoyed every minute of Unforgotten. Think I'll go back and watch season 1.

 

[kieyra]

Just a reminder that spoiler tags should not be used in discussing season 4 events in this thread. It's considered a spoil-risk zone since the episodes have already aired in the UK. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

PBS started season 2 Thurs. night, wow, excellent episode, love this series.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I think I liked season 2 better than the first one.

[lightninggirl]

On 4/25/2021 at 12:15 AM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

I think I liked season 2 better than the first one.

Definitely more gritty than S1, but soooo good. I'm trying to get S4 in the U.S. before it airs on PBS in July. 

[AZChristian]

We're re-watching the whole prior 3 seasons in preparation for season 4.

As a child who was sexually abused, season 2 was SO difficult for me, but I loved the way Cassie decided that they didn't need to bring in CPS (Crown Prosecution Service to file charges.  The three victims had been "punished" enough, so prison would have served no purpose.

Every time one of the victims talked about the rage or anger they STILL dealt with as a result of the abuse, I understood what they were talking about.

Well done season.

[Milburn Stone]

Any word on when and where S4 arrives in U.S.?

 

[AZChristian]

10 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

Any word on when and where S4 arrives in U.S.?

 

My PBS station shows it as coming on July 11th.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I think you're right about the July 11th date,Sunday night we are getting a new season of Unforgotten.

[Daff]

Just checked my local PBS site schedule to see what Sunday was offering now that holidays are done. Happy to see Unforgotten back with S4, E1!  My DVR waited a long time for this, and didn’t disappoint. 

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

I think you're right about the July 11th date,Sunday night we are getting a new season of Unforgotten.

Yay!

[EtheltoTillie]

I binged season three yesterday and today.  I completely missed that it was on last year.  It was fantastic.  So excited for season four tonight. 

 

[hula-la]

Just watched the first episode of Season 4. I don’t remember who it was, and I hope that they’re on here, but I want to thank them for recommending Unforgotten on another page on this site. I’ve been able to watch all 3 seasons and now recommend it to others. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I just watched episode 1 of season 4 and loved it!  Can’t wait til next week!

[zoey1996]

Really felt bad for Cassie. She is dealing with a lot, and the situation with her dad is so difficult.

We have the beginnings of who may be involved, interesting to watch how it will all play out.

 

[JudyObscure]

I'm glad for another season but I found the opening episode a little tedious, probably because i watched "Halifax" the hour before and it was about a woman who had retired from police work due to the breakdown she had from her last awful case and all her agonizing before deciding to return to work.

[leighdear]

SO glad it's back, even for just 6 episodes.  I also binged season 3 over the weekend to refresh my memory of where everybody left off. 

They only went a few months into the future, but it seemed like a LOT got packed in.  Cassie & John are back on and her dad is living with Jenny.   Did the math come out to be 3 months since Cassie walked or 6 months?  

And we know she needs 3 more months for her 30 years. I love her, but I just wanted to scream at her "It's only 90 days!  Sit at a damn desk, play on your cell phone and get your full retirement, you git!"  *LOL*

Seemed like everybody but Sunny was in a very bad mood!

Edited July 12, 2021 by leighdear

[AZChristian]

Loved the first episode of Season 4.  We've decided to re-watch that episode next week before the second episode, because - as has often been the case with "Unforgotten" - there are a lot of potential characters to keep track of.

One thing that popped up in my mind.  The four suspects were all "passing out" (completing their police training) in 1990.  Cassie's problem is that when this season takes place (2020), she is struggling to complete three more months to reach her full 30-year retirement date.  Hmmm.  Anyone else doing math and wondering if she knew these folks?

Edited July 12, 2021 by AZChristian

[leighdear]

I'd imagine if Cassie did her training there and all of those involved stayed in the area, she would probably know at least some of them. 

I don't remember enough about Cassie's backstory to be sure she grew up there & went through training locally.  Law enforcement folks move around a lot, by choice and by chance.  I'll venture we'll get the bits & pieces as the episodes move on.  

Edited July 12, 2021 by leighdear

[Driad]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgotten has summaries of the episodes through season 4.  I used it to review season 3.

[leighdear]

Thanks Driad, I use Wiki a lot to show-review too!

This is an entry I hadn't seen before.....

"Series four follows the discovery of Matthew Walsh's headless corpse, apparently frozen since his disappearance in 1990, when he encountered five police trainees out celebrating passing their training programme. Two of the five are still serving police officers.[11]"

Answers that question for us!  *LOL*

Oh, and I REALLY hated not having an actual "heads-up" on the first view of the corpse.  Seriously. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by leighdear

[Daff]

I usually leave episodes on my DVR for the entire season (they’re removed by my cable provider if the network doesn’t allow this). It’s especially helpful with this show as the connection among all the characters introduced in the first few episodes aren’t revealed until later. 

[AZChristian]

Okay, I confess.  Delayed gratification is not my strongest skill.

We're going to pay the money to be able to watch the whole thing on Prime Video right away.  I can't wait WEEKS.

We're going to start by re-watching last night's episode in the hope that I might be able to figure out some of these relationships.

[chitowngirl]

If you donate to PBS (I forget the minimum amount), you get access to PBS Passport and can watch the whole season of any Masterpiece show. They have the whole season up when the first episode airs. A lot of oldies but goodies are also there. And, of course, non-Masterpiece shows.

Edited July 12, 2021 by chitowngirl

[Kiddvideo]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

If you donate to PBS (I forget the minimum amount), you get access to PBS Passport and can watch the whole season of any Masterpiece show. They have the whole season up when the first episode airs. A lot of oldies but goodies are also there. And, of course, non-Masterpiece shows.

Minimum monthly contribution is $5. Prime has a 7-day free trial for Masterpiece if you want to watch 4, and S1-3 are included with just Prime.

Just finished the first episode. PBS has it available until 7/25. Glad it's back! I should probably rewatch S3 bc I don't really remember anything that happened that Cassie's dealing with now. I'm with @leighdear. It's 3 months for GBP125,000! They even offered to give her a cushy assignment.

I wouldn't have put the timeline together, @AZChristian!

[leighdear]

Unusual for me, but I'm going to do the once-a-week watch instead of Passporting or paying on Prime the way I usually do.  It is only 5 more episodes.  

A friend says that season 5 has been given the green light, so that's great!

[AZChristian]

Looking around at PBS and Amazon Prime, I'm not sure they're letting the whole season drop - unless you pay a chunk of change for it.

I guess I'll have to wait.  Grrrr.

[SunnyBeBe]

I watched on the PBS app, but it only had Sunday’s episode available.  I think I’ll stick with watching it that way.  

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Unfortunately,there's only a  few shows I can tolerate on PBS, so much of the rest of their programming is the usual shit agenda. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I agree with some others about why Cassie couldn’t just do office work for 90 days.  She acted as if she had lost her entire retirement. It’s just a temporary thing. Had she taken all her sick time?     Her dad seemed to be in good hands.  I may need to rewatch it to see what I may have missed.   

[seasons]

I love The vibe of this show. Easy to get so lost in it. Always disappointed when each one ends. Such a great escape. Love the scenery too. In my next life I want to live in Europe.

Wish they could get narrator Alan Cummings on for a season.

Edited July 13, 2021 by seasons

[Daff]

9 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

Just finished the first episode. PBS has it available until 7/25. Glad it's back! I should probably rewatch S3 bc I don't really remember anything that happened that Cassie's dealing with now. I'm with @leighdear. It's 3 months for GBP125,000! They even offered to give her a cushy assignment.

You could probably get by with just watching 3-#6. Once you see the freaky, cold attitude Alex Jennings conveyed, the whole sordid story will come flooding back! His performance in this rivals (or even surpasses) that of Anthony Hopkins. 

[Daff]

5 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Had she taken all her sick time?

I believe she had not only used all of her accrued leave, but applied for extra (3 or maybe 6 weeks) due to medical concerns, all in an attempt to postpone her return to work. Of course that kind of indicates that she was under psychiatric treatment, and we’re left to only imagine what those sessions were like. 

[mjc570]

Much as I love Nicola Walker and her character Cassie, I kind of feel that her Dad had a point.  She really didn't quite  qualify for her pension, the force recognized the difficulty and tried to accommodate her.  I think the fact she couldn't act rationally by taking a temporary job that did not involve fieldwork, plus how she lost it in the last case (and had to be bailed out by Sonny several times) shows that she is a bit fragile mentally and I question her fitness to serve.  Maybe it shows  a lack on my part, but she was so emotional dealing with the last serial killer I was surprised she had (almost) 30 years of experience.  

Of course, I'm over thinking this, I guess they needed some reason to bring her back (and as a viewer I am so grateful, I love this series) but I think it could have been done a bit more carefully.  

[sempervivum]

Glad to see there's a season 5 in the works. I kind of hate watching a show knowing it's the last season. 

Cassie's overly emotional and (imo) unreasonable attitude about putting in 3 more months makes me wonder how she'll deal with the current case involving other police officers.

[peacheslatour]

10 hours ago, seasons said:

I love The vibe of this show. Easy to get so lost in it. Always disappointed when each one ends. Such a great escape. Love the scenery too. In my next life I want to live in Europe.

Wish they could get narrator Alan Cummings on for a season.

So do I. In my next life I want to live in Cornwall.

[dalek]

Binge watched season 4 on PBS Passport.  I thought the pacing was a bit different from previous seasons.  It seemed like they threw a lot more stuff about the backgrounds of the characters into the last 2 episodes, so it went from a steady drip to a torrent.  Not at all happy with the ending.  Not sure if I'm going to watch season 5 as a result.

[leighdear]

I felt that way about the 5th season of "Luther".  Waited for it for YEARS!  So excited when it dropped.  Hated every second of it, watched it once and vowed to never watch it again.  As far as I'm concerned, the series stops at 4. 

Sometimes bad things happen to good shows.  Very disappointing, but then you just have to keep the good parts and forget the bad stuff exists.  

 

[Kiddvideo]

I want to make certain I’m not spoiled. See you on the other side!

[JudyObscure]

13 hours ago, leighdear said:

Sometimes bad things happen to good shows.  Very disappointing, but then you just have to keep the good parts and forget the bad stuff exists.  

Well said.  I feel that way about "Call the Midwife."  The first few seasons were just wonderful but when they ran out of true stories from the memoir and stared making up "relevant" shows to push our contemporary political buttons, it went way down hill for me.  I still watch it but without the original thrill.

 

On 7/13/2021 at 8:34 AM, mjc570 said:

Much as I love Nicola Walker and her character Cassie, I kind of feel that her Dad had a point.

Yes.  I have a mini-pension ($140 a month, whee!) from a job I had for 5 years minus 5 days.  They acted like they were giving me the moon by letting those five days slide and the reason I was leaving was my husband (and I) were being sent overseas by the Air Force during a war.  This was the Pentagon Credit Union, yet.

[SunnyBeBe]

The  actress Nicola Walker has a distinctive trait of looking away with a distinctive far away look for effect.   There is an American actress who used to do something similar, but, with less skill than Walker. She has appeared in a couple of US series over the years. Does anyone recall her name or the series?  She was blonde and the shows aired in the 2000’s.  Thanks.

[krankydoodle]

13 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

She was blonde and the shows aired in the 2000’s.

Do you remember anything about the kinds of shows she was in?

It was refreshing to see that unlike the case in a lot of crime dramas, Cassie's boss was supportive of her and seemed sincere about wishing he could do more to help.

I'm also happy that all (or at least most) of the supporting cast members seem to have returned this season.

The scene between Elizabeth (Susan Lynch) and her mom (Sheila Hancock) was hard to watch but their dynamic is interesting.

[SunnyBeBe]

24 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

Do you remember anything about the kinds of shows she was in?

It was refreshing to see that unlike the case in a lot of crime dramas, Cassie's boss was supportive of her and seemed sincere about wishing he could do more to help.

I'm also happy that all (or at least most) of the supporting cast members seem to have returned this season.

The scene between Elizabeth (Susan Lynch) and her mom (Sheila Hancock) was hard to watch but their dynamic is interesting.

It seems as if she has been in two series and they were crime or mystery series. She was the lead character in both.   It seems like it was a main network show, not Netflix or Prime.  She is American....30 something, back then.  I recall reading about her acting technique that involves turning your head and eyes away from the person you are talking to.  It’s a distinctive style.  
 

One show might have been science fiction.....chasing after a cursed artifact.

Edited July 17, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Driad]

Video: the music of Unforgotten season 4. "Join series star Sanjeev Bhaskar on a grand tour of the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where the show music is recorded."  (less than 4 minutes)

[Milburn Stone]

A. Confirming that donating at the $5/mo level permitted us to stream all of Series 4 at will. (Could have binge-watched at the beginning if we'd wanted to, which we didn't.)

B. Appreciate learning that I'm not the only "bad person" who at the beginning was all but shouting at the tv, "get it together, lady, it's just another three *#*$&*^ months!"

C. Re figuring out the relationships between everybody, there's no way at the beginning, but successive episodes make it clearer and clearer. I think this is totally the show's plan.

D. As regards B., the further into the season I got, the more I forgot about it.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Milburn Stone