Review by epacrisimpressa

I adore Vera, it's far and away the best crime show on TV. However I haven't given this one ten out of ten because something in it doesn't quite gel - I'm not sure if the shoot was rushed, if the screenwriter got sick, or what, but there's a slight unaccustomed awkwardness to the later scenes. The opening scenes though, are magnificent, just the woman running and walking in the rain, her face riven by anguish, soaking wet, and the splendid cinematography which is a hallmark of this series. The North Sea breaking violently on the cliffs is so evocative! Marvellous editing too. And by the way, Paul Kaye as Malcolm the pathologist is priceless! The twin themes of brushing unpleasant things under the carpet, and the hidden family conflict, are important ones, yet somehow the fractured family in this episode doesn't seem convincing. Perhaps it's because we never see them all gathered in one place, or because some details are missing from the script. Normally I love the spareness of Vera scripts, but still it's possible to leave out too much. There's definitely some unevenness in the quality of the acting in this episode: at the positive end of the scale, Nabil Elouahabi was outstanding as the father of the little boy; while Craig Parkinson as the husband of the victim was very effective too. On the lower end, Grace Hogg-Robinson as the younger of the two daughters didn't convince me. Poor old Aidan (played by Kenny Doughty) had almost nothing to do except follow Vera around, and looked well pissed off.