'Hard Sun' Episode 3 Review: 10 Burning Questions We Were Left Asking

Well, that was... intense.
BBC

While some people will have already binged the whole series of ‘Hard Sun’ on iPlayer, those watching it on TV were left on the edge of their seats as the latest instalment aired on Saturday (20 January) night.

And if you thought last week was grisly, episode three took things up a gear with not one, but three more ‘truther’ murders.

As Renko and Hicks got to work on the new case, they were still being bothered by MI5 over Hard Sun, while Renko also received a new lead in her on-going investigation against her partner.

There was certainly a lot to unpack from the episode, and these were the 10 questions we were left asking this week...

Was Jamie’s body moved after Tom killed her?

After Jamie Unwin was murdered, her body was found on Shepherds Bush Green, but it was implied her helpline’s office was near the City. Police said she lived in Putney, and had been walked half a mile from where her scooter was parked outside the office at knife-point.

Seeing as the City (in east London) is far more than half a mile from Shepherds Bush (in west London), does that mean her body was moved after Tom killed her? Or did he murder her there, and producers just didn’t anticipate viewers having a good knowledge of London geography?

BBC

Will the priest reveal Tom’s crimes?

During confession, Tom told his local priest that he’d murdered Jamie as a test to see if God would punish him, but Father Dennis’s vow of confessional meant he was bound by his faith not to report him.

Even a near-death encounter at the hands of Tom and increasing pressure from Hicks could not break him, but if more people are killed, will he finally spill Tom’s secret?

Who is Daniel’s father?

Having gone to see her son in the wake of MI5′s visit to his institutional facility, Renko was forced to admit to Daniel he was conceived after she was raped.

How did Daniel manage to keep the blade in his mouth without Renko knowing?

Shortly after Renko admitted the truth about Daniel’s conception, he poked his tongue out to reveal he’d been hiding a shiv in his mouth the whole time, going on to attack her before self harming.

Not only are we wondering who gave him the blade in the first place, (was it the mysterious MI5 agent?), but how the hell did he manage to have a whole conversation without cutting his mouth to ribbons?!

BBC

Why does Father Dennis have two phones?

We saw the priest contact Tom on a burner phone, prompting Hicks to question why he had two moblies. He tried to explain it away as one being “ready for the scrap heap” and joking he was speaking to a “transsexual dominatrix”, but does the fact he has a burner at all mean there could be a dodgy side to this man of the cloth?

How do Tom and Father Dennis really know each other?

While we’re assuming it could just be that Tom is a member of the parish, there are hints there could be more history to their relationship.

BBC

Were Butler and Hicks bent coppers?

Still on her undercover mission to find enough evidence to prove Hicks killed former partner Butler, Renko quizzed two gangsters to try and prove the pair were on the books of the Nicholson family mob, and had helped move the body of a murdered call girl to fit up a rival gang member.

Coleman - said rival gang member - later claimed Butler had come to him and said he wanted nothing to do with framing him and was threatening to grass Hicks up, but died before that could happen.

This would certainly give Hicks motive to kill Butler, but were they really both caught up in the criminal underworld?

Why has Renko abandoned her case against Hicks?

Despite getting the biggest breakthrough in her case against Hicks, Renko told her boss she was certain he didn’t kill Butler and there was no evidence to suggest he did.

The pair aren’t exactly close, so surely it was not his weepy plea in the café that changed her mind?

Will Hicks team up with MI5 to get rid of Renko?

With Renko in possession of the Hard Sun flash drive MI5 are so desperate to conceal, and her investigation into Hicks threatening his downfall, it seemed they had a problem in common.

Hicks seemingly agreed to help MI5 get rid of her in order to protect himself and be there for his family when ‘the end’ comes, but will be really go through with it?

BBC

Will Tom kill again?

Convinced Hard Sun is coming, Tom has not only killed the helpline worker and the good Samaritan on the bus, but the end of the episode saw him kill a TV reporter live on air.

How many more people will he murder before he is caught?

‘Hard Sun’ continues next Saturday on BBC One, with the whole series also available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

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