Shot Down

With the previous film ending on a cliffhanger as Cody is shot. Shot Down takes up the story some months later and we do not immediately know the fate of Cody.

Jack Taylor feels even more beaten down as to Cody's fate and has left Galway for Dublin finding work wherever he can. On a dark night he finds a young girl feeling from the woods covered in blood.

This leads to an investigation within the Irish traveller community, the girl found the body of her mother murdered but cannot recall the events. The travellers are distrustful of Jack as well as each other, the police seem to care little of the gypsies and Jack might have committed a grave mistake by trusting the wrong person.

The story felt a little uneasy to me as it did not follow on from the dramatic finale of the previous episode. I also thought the story here was a little humdrum. The gypsies were at loggerheads with a splintered branch of the family but I guess rather easily who the main suspect might be.

This episode is about a couple families, poor Irish, who live in a kind of kibbutz. A woman has been killed and a little girl witnessed the event, but she has repressed the memory. Jack ends up in their camp and finds that two factions are at odds with one another. There is also a sort of female overlord, gangland type who makes life miserable for them. Jack is ready to leave but realizes the little girl needs protection because of what she has seen. What ensues is a tale of secrecy and danger. Because the factions are feuding, they fail to see what is actually going on. They are impulsive and stupid at times because they have so much built up hatred. Like so many of these series heroes, Jack seems to put himself in a lot of danger for people who don't know or trust him. One other factor that is hanging over everything is Cody's fight for life. He lies in a coma in a hospital. Good episode.

This episode of Jack Taylor, the Irish rake ex-cop, is stolen by an eleven year old girl "traveler" named Rosie. She's tough, but tormented, but a sweetheart and Jack and Rosie make a connection that is very touching. And Rosie sings like an angel. I highly recommend this episode mainly because of Rosie. The other episodes lack someone you can warm up to so this is why this episode is special.