Shetland - General Discussion

[dleighg]

is it only on Britbox? And this is the new series after Jimmy was arrested?

[Rickster]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

is it only on Britbox? And this is the new series after Jimmy was arrested?

It’s not on Britbox yet, and I don’t think it’s even in their “coming soon” list (I have Britbox). I think it’s just airing in the UK now.

[Door County Cherry]

17 hours ago, dleighg said:

is it only on Britbox? And this is the new series after Jimmy was arrested?

From what I remember in the past, I think it hits Britbox shortly after it wraps in the UK.  I don't expect it until September/October sadly.  And it's why I am keeping Britbox for now. 

[buttersister]

Britbox just emailed that Shetland begins airing in September. 
Must choose between watching weekly or waiting to binge😂

[dleighg]

Since I don't currently pay for Britbox (though I've done it before so I can't get a free trial), I'll wait and binge for "one low price."

[mledawn]

It really is less fun watching this show "alone"! 

[mledawn]

Sept 13!

[dleighg]

I will have to join Britbox, at least for awhile, I guess.

[isalicat]

On 8/29/2022 at 2:41 PM, dleighg said:

I will have to join Britbox, at least for awhile, I guess.

There are so many other great shows (besides Shetland and Vera) on Britbox! Just go browsing....lots of brilliant mysteries.

[Milburn Stone]

Skipping over most of the pages of this thread because we're just now starting Season 5 and I don't want to be spoiled. (It's guaranteed I will go back and read them when we're caught up through Season 6.)

I love the one-story-over-a-season format. It changed the show from "would be nice to watch tonight" to "it's the only thing we want to see tonight."

Besides the compelling characterizations and stories, we love learning about what it's like to live on Shetland, and all the scenery, and even some of Bergen, which I knew less than nothing about before. I was astonished to discover-- when I looked at an actual map early on in our viewing of the show-- that the Shetlands are practically as close to Norway as they are to the nearest part of the Scottish mainland! It goes to show how even people who consider themselves geographically literate (e.g., me) can be illiterate. Maps have all sorts of surprises in store!

Edited September 4, 2022 by Milburn Stone

[novhappy]

Season 7 episode 1 was solid in my book!  One plot hole that was silly but pretty riveting!

[novhappy]

I don’t want to say what the plot “hole@ was cuz spoilers but the decision Jimmy made regarding the release of the 2 suspects was ridiculous. I don’t think any cop would have done that if they could have held them another 24 hours. And they could have been charged w B&E for the knives stunt at least. 

[isalicat]

12 hours ago, novhappy said:

And they could have been charged w B&E for the knives stunt at least. 

And should have been. Terrorizing anyone to the extent of breaking into their home should not be dismissed lightly, ever. I guess its a plot point that Connor's (Conner's ?) parents were not insisting on pressing charges, or is that a U.S. thing?

[buttersister]

12 hours ago, novhappy said:

And they could have been charged w B&E for the knives stunt at least. 

Not like him to not charge on that, so I'm going to keep an eye out for a reason coming to light.

[mledawn]

The last ep of Jimmy Perez aired last night and I did cry a bit. I'll wait til folks Stateside have caught up tho and rewatch with everyone else. 

Spoiler

This was not my favourite season - the storyline seemed a bit weak but perhaps that's because I was waiting for Jimmy's endgame. The accent on the actor that played Lloyd was terrible, he sounded so wooden - every scene he was in just lacked something. The only part that made me a bit teary was when Tosh came into the station at the end and they had a chat and a hug. I will miss the relationship between Tosh and Jimmy the most. I love that Billy got a hug - Sandy, a firm handshake. I don't like how Duncan just disappeared off the planet but I guess he's just in jail. Brief appearance of Cassie - you think Jimmy'd have had a convo with her about leaving the job, too. I guess it just seemed rushed. Not sure how things will go moving forward. Perhaps the bomb detective will come back, seemed like a nice drop-in.

[novhappy]

18 hours ago, buttersister said:

Not like him to not charge on that, so I'm going to keep an eye out for a reason coming to light.

I guess we are to think that Jimmy had such disregard for the corrupt cop that he decided to get the revengers off the island w no charges just to end the situation and focus on finding the missing boy. But that’s, as you said, uncharacteristic for him or most tv detectives. Vera would have charged them!  I do think this decision is going to come back to bite Jimmy in the ass

[Milburn Stone]

11 hours ago, novhappy said:

I guess we are to think that Jimmy had such disregard for the corrupt cop that he decided to get the revengers off the island w no charges just to end the situation and focus on finding the missing boy. But that’s, as you said, uncharacteristic for him or most tv detectives. Vera would have charged them!  I do think this decision is going to come back to bite Jimmy in the ass.

It did seem like a very weird choice on his part. The only way I made sense of it to myself (if barely) was, 1) he has always shown a tendency toward empathy, letting people go when he thinks they're basically good and "gets" why they did something; and 2) he seems to be in an especially fragile  place right now, having been through the wringer of the hearing, making him even more sensitive than usual to the traumas that can make good people do bad things, and his empathy meter is temporarily off the charts; after all, he is a good person who did a bad thing in covering up Duncan's crime, and who is he to judge others? (He's saying to himself, in this period of heightened self-doubt and self-recrimination; for another example of his tortured self-doubt and self-recrimination, see his relations with Meg.)

Edited September 16, 2022 by Milburn Stone

[isalicat]

Okay, just finished ep. 2 (S7) and there is so much going on! It seems clear Connor must still be alive and complicit somehow but we are getting so many versions of who Connor is/was...its very hard to tell. I'm still betting on the young man who leapt out to rescue the drowning lady swimmer...unless she was a plant...in British mysteries, you never know!

[novhappy]

I always like this phase of a show- when we unravel the first red herring and get going on another line if inquiry. It’s like a second course in a meal. 

[isalicat]

That was intense! (S7, Episode 3)

Spoiler

I sure hope Tosh slammed both her feet against that back trailer window and vaulted out of there just in time. Otherwise its going to be just too sad....really, too sad. 😿

[WatchrTina]

On 9/28/2022 at 12:09 AM, isalicat said:

That was intense! (S7, Episode 3)

Yes it was and now I'm pissed (in the American sense, not the British sense) because I absolutely HATE cliffhangers.   Also I feel like we've seen ENOUGH Tosh-in-jeopardy moments in this series.  If they actually did just kill her off -- after all she's been through -- I'm really going to have to think twice about whether I want to continue watching this show.

[buttersister]

I couldn't stand it so much I asked my friend Duck Duck Go to find out what was going on. Well, that rabbit hole led me to the finale synopsis. I hesitated for a nanosecond and then satisfied my curiosity, aka, spoiled the shit out of myself.

For those who are like me, I'll hide the name of the site, but not the link. Better to really want to find it, not give into a moment's ACK! temptation.

Spoiler

den of geeks dot com

[Milburn Stone]

This is the first season I've watched in "real time" (i.e., with a week between new episodes) and I'm finding it hard to follow. Much easier when my memory only had to go back 24 hours. I wish there were "previouslies" at least.

[Lady of nod]

I am going to lose my actual mind if Tosh is dead. British tv has a habit of killing off the heroes, much more than US tv imo. And now i have to wait.. anybody know what night of the week new episodes air?

[isalicat]

4 hours ago, Lady of nod said:

I am going to lose my actual mind if Tosh is dead. British tv has a habit of killing off the heroes, much more than US tv imo. And now i have to wait.. anybody know what night of the week new episodes air?

Tuesdays on BritBox.

[WatchrTina]

3 hours ago, isalicat said:

Tuesdays on BritBox.

Oh, thank you!  You have given me hope that there IS another episode that we will see this coming week which will resolved the cliffhanger.   I had previously assumed that the show-runners were going to leave us hanging for a YEAR about Tosh's fate.  Based on your comment, I will gird my loins until next Tuesday and then tune in to find out what happened.

[MMEButterfly]

Oh Tosh and Jimmy! My heart cries for you. Great episode clearly warming up to more. 

[Milburn Stone]

I liked this episode, because I no longer had to worry about not remembering everything in the previous episodes. "Those relationships and leads you couldn't keep track of? Fresh start!"

[isalicat]

I am unclear (and unspoiled!) as to how many episodes this Season 7 has...but the twists and turns are epic. One red herring after another. And yet another Jimmy heartbreak when he reacts honestly to a romantic partner's honest question!

[Milburn Stone]

On 10/12/2022 at 12:50 AM, isalicat said:

And yet another Jimmy heartbreak when he reacts honestly to a romantic partner's honest question!

They're obviously setting up his departure from the show. (And of course they have to; it needs to be motivated by something.) But even though it seems inevitable that he will come around to Meg's truth, I was disappointed by his reaction to her in the moment. I get that he feels himself to be between a rock and a hard place, but there was something almost childish in his paralysis. "If you're only going to love me if I change, then, then...well I'm just going to hide in my room!" 

[buttersister]

I love this show and the DI Perez character. The Jimmy—Meg talk made me wonder about he and his late wife. Was he always intensely career focused and she accepted that or, after her death, did his grief drive him deeper into his work? Will the wind down toward his departure and relationship with Meg help him move on or bury him deeper? 

One more question: Previously, I recall something Sandy did wrong and was supposed to tell Perez about (he promised Tosh). Did I miss it or did they drop it? 

[kimaken]

21 hours ago, buttersister said:

I love this show and the DI Perez character. The Jimmy—Meg talk made me wonder about he and his late wife. Was he always intensely career focused and she accepted that or, after her death, did his grief drive him deeper into his work? Will the wind down toward his departure and relationship with Meg help him move on or bury him deeper? 

One more question: Previously, I recall something Sandy did wrong and was supposed to tell Perez about (he promised Tosh). Did I miss it or did they drop it? 

I don't recall anything about Jimmy's wife other than she was once married to Duncan (bio dad to Cassie), so I don't know how career-focused he was prior to her death. I think his grief probably helped propel him further into his job, especially since Duncan was there to help raise Cassie. 

I don't recall anything about the Sandy incident--what it was, how/if it was resolved, so I think there was no further follow-up (or fall-out) shown with Jimmy afterwards. I think the show either glossed over it or dropped that thread entirely.

[buttersister]

Thanks, Kimaken, I'll just have to go back to S1 and see if there are any references to their marriage (other than how much he obviously loved her and swallowed his grief).

Sandy was on a case that involved someone he knew and there was some questionable behavior that Tosh caught on to and insisted that Sandy tell Jimmy before he found out himself. It hung in the air like a very heavy anvil (speculating talk of Sandy leaving at the time), so yeah, I guess it got dropped during hiatus. Or after Doug announced he was leaving. LOL.

[lovesnark]

8 hours ago, buttersister said:

Thanks, Kimaken, I'll just have to go back to S1 and see if there are any references to their marriage (other than how much he obviously loved her and swallowed his grief).

Sandy was on a case that involved someone he knew and there was some questionable behavior that Tosh caught on to and insisted that Sandy tell Jimmy before he found out himself. It hung in the air like a very heavy anvil (speculating talk of Sandy leaving at the time), so yeah, I guess it got dropped during hiatus. Or after Doug announced he was leaving. LOL.

Sandy did get suspended after a prisoner committed suicide in their cell when he was in charge. I don't remember exactly what happened, but he was negligent. He also leaked crime scenes photos in the Lizzie Kilmuir murder to help Kate try to get Donna moved off of Shetland when she was released to die on the island. He was going to tell Jimmy, but that's when everything happened with Duncan after Donna died and Tosh told him to keep quiet for now.

[buttersister]

16 hours ago, lovesnark said:

He also leaked crime scenes photos in the Lizzie Kilmuir murder to help Kate try to get Donna moved off of Shetland when she was released to die on the island. He was going to tell Jimmy, but that's when everything happened with Duncan after Donna died and Tosh told him to keep quiet for now.

That's the one, thanks!

[buttersister]

Aw, Jimmy, I want a hug, too.

If I look at the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), I see mine after learning Doug is leaving. No! Shit! One more season? I'm cancelling Britbox. Jimmy's happy! Look how pretty Shetland is, maybe I'll be okay with Season 8. Bill needs me to help keep an eye on them. (Curious as to whether Tosh finds some work/life balance, too. See Tosh, people who choose love--on TV--move on from grief.)

Episode? Since I was somewhat spoiled, I can't say how tense it might have been watching Jimmy almost get blown up a couple of times. While I miss the early seasons' multiple crime solving, they managed to sustain this arc.

And I like to think that Jimmy and Meg move on to start a non-profit helping the sick and the innocent. I'd watch that.

[SnapHappy]

Gutted.  I can't imagine the show without Jimmy. 

I think he & Meg will head off to some place like Majorca (People always go to sunny Spain) and decide to stay & do something else.  She's a nurse, plenty of jobs around.

We'll have Tosh & Sandy running the shop until a new chief comes in.  Cue the fish-out-of-water drama.  Cassie will stay at the bar & eventually they'll get Duncan out of jail. 

I'm up for another season, but J. Pear-ezzzz will be leaving big shoes to fill.  

Edited October 19, 2022 by SnapHappy

[Milburn Stone]

This was the perfect finale. So well done in every respect. The show made me feel proud to have spent time with it.

I, too, had a hard time imagining a season without Jimmy when they first announced this was his last. But now that the season is done, and I imagine a world with Tosh in charge? I'll be there for that.

[LisaM]

Just finished Season 7. I thought it was very well done - especially after the Donna Killick storyline in Season 6 which I did not like. I knew that Jimmy was leaving so each time that he neared the various bombs, I waited for him to blow up. So glad that TPTB gave him a nice sendoff. I wonder if Cassie and/or Duncan will appear in the future or if any mention of them is gone with Jimmy?

Nice to see Julie Graham back as Rona. She lends a certain gravitas. I also like Billy for the same reason. 

My guess is that they will bring in a big-name actor to lead the cast. I'm here for Tosh and Sandy so hopefully there is a great mesh with them. 

[SnapHappy]

Too bad they can't bring in Nicola Walker as the new chief.  She could be either an awesome mentor for Tosh, or a corrupt leader that gets shuffled off to Shetland until TPTB can find a way to get her out.   But Nicola is doing "Annika", so she's out. 

They need some more women in the shop, so I'm hoping for a dynamic lady lead. 

Dream casting?  Idris in a Luther 2.0 persona.  But he's moved far beyond a TV role like that. 

Edited October 20, 2022 by SnapHappy

[Enigma X]

I am so sad to see Jimmy/Douglas Henshall go. He was perfect.

With that said, the twists, turns, and pivots this season left me with whiplash. By the time the whole Nary reveal came around, I had no idea who he was.

[enoughcats]

New story line: Shetland cut off from the world.

Really.  It happened yesterday when the supercable going south to Scotland got cut.

Completely cut!

Interesting the police are so active in reassuring the citizens. The north bound cable to the Faroe Islands is still being repaired from its break earlier this year.

(The one unexpected consequence "the shop down the road is only taking cash.")

[isalicat]

3 hours ago, enoughcats said:

New story line: Shetland cut off from the world.

Yeah, I was just reading about this. Re-realized how remote and unpopulated the Shetland islands are: only 23,000 total inhabitants and they are on four islands out of the entire archipelago. Wish I were there!

[SnapHappy]

Is it horrible of me to say that's kinda cool for just a little while? 

Think of all the actual conversations people will have in person.  The hard-copy books and print magazines that will be read.  Music that will be played & sung LIVE, by people in the same room together.  Kids will be riding bikes & playing board games, not plugged into RPG's. 

Kinda like the 80's!  People are going to dig out VCR's and CD players!  Nothing streaming and no social media. 

It may be a good thing for some people. 

[Door County Cherry]

It sounds like the perfect backdrop for a murder mystery. Hmmmmm....

[mledawn]

When Tosh came into the station at the end and she and Jimmy had a chat and a hug... that absolutely got me. I'll miss Tosh and Jimmy's relationship so much. When she said she wasn't sure if she could do this job without him, it felt like all of us saying it. Tosh does need to get her work-life balance sorted also. Donnie seems a bit clueless but clearly loves her and their daughter. Hopefully she gets some help for her compounded trauma!

I had seen some folks talk about the bomb detective coming back. I don't know anything about the actor but that might be a nice call-back.

[Milburn Stone]

Re bringing in a big name to replace Henshall...Didn't they pretty well set up that Tosh is going to be in charge? That pep talk Jimmy gave her ("you can run this department in your sleep and blindfolded," basically) suggested as much.

[mledawn]

True - they've been making Alexander the Constable have more of a role, so they could bump him to DC, Sandy to DS, and Tosh to DI. 

[SnapHappy]

I adore Tosh, but I don't think she's experienced enough or has enough advanced training & education to run the station.  She'd have to test and pass the Inspector's exam. 

A pep talk from Jimmy isn't an evaluation or a professional's CV, it's a verbal hug from a friend that loves you & wants you to do well. 

They did a bit of a time jump from season 6 to 7, maybe 8 months?  Tosh was barely pregnant, then Louise is several months old. 

They could do that again to advance Tosh, but it just doesn't seem interesting enough to me.  We know all these folks well enough, I think there needs to be somebody new in the mix if we don't have Jimmy.   YMMV. 

[Suzn]

I am going to miss Jimmy Perez.  I honestly don't know if the show can work for me without him.  I was happy that things got tied up with a bow for him.  We can imagine that he has found something else to focus on and has time and energy to be really present in a relationship with Meg.

I hope they can find a way to have Tosh be in charge.  We don't really know what she would need to qualify for an exam that would make her able to be in charge.

It would take an exceptional person to be added to the show to take on JP's place.