Director: Nick Hurran
Writers: Tom Butterworth, Chris Hurford
Starring: Richard Dormer, Stanley Tucci, Sofie Grabol, Michael Gambon, Christopher Eccleston, Jessica Raine, Nicholas Pinnock
**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Review: What’s so gripping about Fortitude is how easily it can change pace and yet we’re still completely captivated. It’s hard for anything to do that, let along a television series, but the fact that Fortitude is still asking questions, bringing us compelling drama and doing it with a dark, enjoyable humour is terrific.
With Henry sat out in the cold, seemingly waiting to die or end his days in peaceful reflection, DCI Morton is out looking for him but hasn’t told anyone where he’s gone. You see, usually, someone of his stature wouldn’t need to but this is Fortitude and you already feel that he may have accidentally cut himself off without thinking it through. As he drives out into the deep, deep snow, his 4X4 gets stuck and he starts to walk…
Meanwhile, Jules is doing everything she can to help Frank by going to see Markus but he’s obviously not playing the same game and in truth, quite right to. The Governor then picks up Frank and Jules and we’re assuming it’s because Markus has reported him but – INCORRECT – it’s due to Liam’s sickness and the fact they all believe he might also have the toxin that the Polar Bear and Shirley had. She wants their consent to inject fluid of his spine to check, which is nice. They don’t really agree but if it helps explain what’s wrong with their kid, they say ‘yes’.
Markus finally gets the chance to say goodbye to Shirley, by finding her himself, and Elena finally reveals to Carrie they’ve found her Dad’s hat, so he might be dead. Carrie doesn’t want to believe this, so runs off, hurts Elena and we get a nice shot of Ronnie in his cupboard, breathing or something of that ilk. Ronnie seemingly has a part to play and despite my continual reservations with his part to everything, the writers are keeping him alive…in some form.
After they drill into Danny’s spine and find nothing, Jules cons Frank into getting them a nice meal and then decides to make a run for it to the Airport but there’s been a Police shut down (The classic pretend Rabies) and she can’t escape, not sure how he’s going to explain this one to Frank without him going a bit crazy again though. Will she hide out at Henry’s?
There’s also Jason and his bloody fists, he’s obviously the culprit for Ronnie but what’s happened to either of those at this stage, we just don’t know.
The biggest moment, believe it or not, is our dark humoured lead DCI Morton, who Stanley Tucci has played brilliantly. He tracks down Henry and reveals he knows what’s going on and so, oh yes, Henry shoots him. Undecided on whether to call for help, or more the fact they’re so far out and surely no-one can help, Henry lets Morton slide around whilst asking why the hell he shot him and to be honest…we can see both sides. It’s bizarrely sad and oddly quaint but then Henry decides to use his radio to call for help but he only speaks to Dan, and our resident lawman is conflicted.
Will Sheriff Dan make the right, moral choice? I think he will but on the flip-side it might mean he could get away with everything. The key line for me was when he said to Eric ‘You’ll make a great Sheriff’ which could suggest he’s off to get Morton before he dies. But will someone or something else get there before he does? Oh, and Henry also reveals that he’s Dan’s father, before he – strangely poignantly – shoots himself in the head.
Creator Simon Donald has given us something very special indeed so far; let’s just hope the finale drills down into all the right bones.
[usr=4] Fortitude is showing on Sky Atlantic. Check their website for screening times, catch-up by heading here and follow our dedicated blog.
