‘Bloodlands’ Recap: ‘Season 2, Episode 2’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 202 of ‘Bloodlands’. To revisit the Season Two Premiere, click here.

​One aspect of the human condition that is genuinely unsettling, is how far we are willing to go to get our hands on financial freedom. And what makes this so unsettling is that… it is indeed only money. Money we can’t take with us when we die, and the root of an evil that no one is willing to challenge just yet. But while we know it is worthless in the grand scheme of things… people will in fact, go so far as to kill for it and that just doesn’t make any sense when all is said and done, and it is difficult to reconcile in our minds and in our hearts. Which is why the next episode of Bloodlands on Acorn TV was so shocking and so uncomfortable to sit through… because it focused on just how far a man is willing to go, to get his hands on the fortune he seeks.
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For this is a story that saw Tom Brannick… just go wild. Because he wanted that gold and was willing to pervert the course of justice to have it and his financial freedom. Which pushed him… to use the system to his advantage as needed during this tale. In the cleverest ways imaginable of course. To stay under the radar and keep his job and that was why he pushed the envelope following Robert Dardis’ arrest. So that Robert would easily be released from jail, and that way, Tom could track him and the gold, and all it took to make that happen… was to look like a jerk in the interview room. As though he just lost his cool in the name of justice and in the name of solving this case promptly. And once Robert was released and once, he was back home and under surveillance, Tom was able to escalate and isolate.

Which allowed for him to quietly take Robert to a location of his choosing in the middle of the night. To press him without worry of his superiors and really see if at long last he could figure out where the gold was and what it would take to have it in his hands. A plan that sadly… went south. Simply because he didn’t account for the fact that Robert wanted the gold as well, as did Olivia, and that gave Robert all the leverage he needed, and it also helped him to realize… that Tom Brannick was the mysterious Goliath that was in the news. All of which left Tom in a desperate place, one so dark that he took the time to cross the line and murder Robert. All because he couldn’t risk any truth about his past and the gold heist getting out. 

A move that made the whole situation more precarious. For now, the press would have a field day with the reality that a prime suspect was in essence, missing, since Tom did a fine job of hiding the body and course… the police were now without leads and unable to solve a dire murder. But none of that mattered to Tom. It was about all the gold and in a harrowing finale to this journey… he made sure to have a face-to-face sit down with Olivia. At the station no less, without cameras and without any witnesses to a grand discussion… about the gold and how he might get hold of it. Which of course, didn’t quite go his way but that is irrelevant going forward. Because the man that has been skirting the line between good cop and corrupt cop is clearly ready to slip into the darkness.

All of which just served as a fine reminder of how far people are willing to go to have some extra money in their pockets and to be free of the rat race and well, if they happen to have the power of the law behind them… we now know they’ll twist that to their benefit as well. Either way, all of this made for a harrowing episode, one that appeared to set the stage for a grand tragedy. Because no good can come of Tom’s decision to just… unleash his fury and his greed upon the world. But then again, Tom is about as savvy as they come and has made it under the radar thus far. Which means, we also might be treated to one epic abuse of power and skirting of the law, all in the hopes of getting a pension paid in blood, and it will be interesting to see where this powerhouse story takes us as season two continues along. Until next time.  

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