Warning, this article contains major spoilers about the second episode of Trigger Point.
Adrian Lester somewhat let the cat out of the bag about his character’s fate in Trigger Point earlier this week.
Despite the first episode of the explosive new ITV drama ending on a cliffhanger when Joel ‘Nut’ Nutkins’ life was left hanging in the balance after taking the brunt of a blast, Adrian tweeted a massive spoiler revealing Nut died.
Sure enough, this Sunday’s episode saw his colleagues bidding him an emotional farewell, as investigations into the terror attack that killed him continued apace.
However, it soon turned out that there appears to be much more to the case than the police are currently considering.
Here’s the questions we were left asking after the second episode...
Was the false alarm on the bus really a false alarm?
Obviously false alarms must happen in the real world quite a lot, but could the terrorists also be planting suspect packages just to throw the police off the scent?
For a scene that took up so much time, it surely has to bare some significance.
Why was DI Youngblood so insistent on telling Lana to stick to what she knows?
Police were working to the hypothesis that the housing estate attack was carried out by an Islamist cell against a known white supremacist.
However, when Lana first suggested that the bombers are setting things up to make it look like an Islamist terror group is behind it all, this hunch was instantly dismissed by DI Youngblood. This made us instantly suspicious, as surely it is the police’s job to consider all options and theories so early on into an investigation?
The tone of this exchange made us consider the possibility that Youngblood could somehow be involved, or keen to cover up the terrorists’ real identities. As a DI, he would also definitely have the opportunity to manipulate and mislead the case.
While this could be a wild theory, it is certainly one to bear in mind, at least for now.
Are the bombers actually former military?
Evidence seems to suggest that the terrorists are military trained – they knew how to bypass the jammers (something Lana described as “military tactics”) during the housing estate attack, while FG9s were found in the bomb factory, which Lana suggested they’d had military training.
It appears they are trying to lead the police to conclude they are an Islamist cell by using the same chemicals as the 7/7 attacks and planting an improvised detonator associated with suicide bombers (which Lana pointed out was ISIS’ detonator of choice) at the bomb factory.
However, this isn’t fooling Lana, who believes the booby trap found in the warehouse was meant to diffuse the scene and cover up how clean and organised it was.
Where are the bombers getting military-grade explosives from?
While the bomb factory was in the most pristine condition Lana had ever come across, the terrorists appeared to have made one big mistake by leaving a suspicious stain. It was later confirmed to be a military-grade explosive, supporting Lana’s theory that those with military training are setting it up to look like the work of an Islamist cell.
But even if the terrorists are from a military background, where on earth are they sourcing their explosives from?
Is Andy Phelan really innocent?
We asked this question last week, and in light of the new background information we were given about him, we’re asking it again.
While it might originally have seemed like he was an innocent victim of the terrorists, it has come to light he has been on the security services’ watchlist for the last three years, having been a right wing activist and former member of the far-right group English Flag. He also has previous convictions for violent assault on Black, Asian and LGBTQ targets.
With police now looking more closely at his time in prison, associates and his previous victims, could they discover he was actually in on it all? Perhaps being locked in the boot of the car during the housing estate attack was him helping to lure everyone outside into the open where the bombers would have a bigger target.
How is the bomb at the mosque related to the other attack?
Upon arriving at the scene, Lana remarked that the target did not support the police’s running hypothesis, telling her colleague: “Islamists don’t bomb mosques.”
It was also noted that there was a different type of bomb and detonator used to those that have been used previously, with a nail bomb on a timed device with a mercury tilt switch.
Could this actually be a revenge attack from the far-right group English Flag, who the TV news reported were pushing the agenda that Islamist terrorists were behind the housing estate attack?
Who is the man stuck in the room?
He has been chained and gagged and is clearly distressed. Who has taken him hostage, and why?
Will Lana get out, diffuse the device or be blown up?
As time ticks down until the device goes off, Lana had a tough call to make as the credits rolled – what will she do?
Trigger Point continues on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.