The Capture – BBC One Mini-Series – Episode 4 Recap & Review

Captivating Drama

The Capture is a drama I wish had the same prolific appeal as The Bodyguard. While the latter captured imaginations with its pulsating opening few episodes, the drama itself quickly fizzled out during its second half, ending with a disappointing climax that undermined the good work done early on. The Capture on the other hand has been anything but a disappointment. As more layers are added to its intricate conspiratorial web, BBC’s new espionage thriller has been one of the bigger surprises this year, delivering a consistent string of thrills and shocking reveals.

Staring up at the cameras, we begin episode 4 of The Capture with Shaun hearing the police approach, prompting him to bolt away from the officers and try to escape. Despite being maced, he manages to overpower the officer and head into a blind-spot away from the eager eyes of the authorities.

As more officers arrive, they get visual confirmation that the dead body in the back of Shaun’s car is Hannah Roberts. With Shaun on the run, police launch a manhunt to try and find him. Blinded and struggling to see, Rachel catches up to Shaun and tells him they only have the video against him and that may not be enough to use as evidence. She goes on to tell him about Levy’s theory before attempting to convince him to come with her. Sensing a trap, Shaun slips away, leaving Rachel high and dry as she heads back to the crime scene. There, she becomes suspicious of the men taking Hannah’s body away and tasks Nadia with following them, moving the body to a different location if she gets a chance.

While Shaun is picked up by a couple who show him he’s been compromised, given the tracker wedged in his shoe, Rachel learns that the camera network has been well and truly compromised and the higher authorities may well have been aware of this already. She tries to phone Levy but as we cut across to his apartment, we see him knocked out on the ground.

Desperate to get to the bottom of what’s going on, Rachel checks up on Nadia and asks her where she is with gaining authorization to move Hannah’s body. It’s here we learn that the American has tabs on the government and as he phones through to Gemma, she updates him on where they are with the case at hand. Sensing something is amiss, Rachel figures out that the camera feeds for two streets may have been switched, thanks in part to Shaun’s tip-off before speeding away from her earlier in the episode. As she checks the pictures, she realizes the numbers have been switched on the houses. Heading inside the property Shaun was actually held captive in, she sits face to face with the American, who tells her the work they’re conducting is very sensitive and the real reason he let them in is to gain intelligence.

After phoning home and telling his ex that what they’re saying on the news isn’t true, Shaun explains he wants them to believe he’s innocent. As he learns from the two people who picked him up, what the Government are doing is called Correction and according to the young woman, the ones in control change things they don’t like.

Rachel’s story begins to come together too, as she speaks to Becky who originally called in the assault and learns from her that Shaun’s behaviour changed almost instantly after the bus passed the screen. As she heads outside and phones Levy again, she instead gets through to DC Taylor who picks the phone up, informing her that Levy’s in a coma and his front door was left wide open.

Meanwhile, Patrick has a sudden revelation while waiting for a bus home and decides to get a taxi instead while Rachel is confronted by Gemma who tells her she’s trying to pervert the investigation. Unfortunately she’s suspended from duty, mainly due to getting too close to the truth, as Nadia tamely apologises for being unable to follow through with the request of moving the body.

Checking through the CCTV, Patrick scrambles to phone Rachel while she questions her entire career, given it may have been built on lies. It turns out Hannah got on the bus before the one in the video meaning our soldier was telling the truth the whole time. Still, it doesn’t explain the flashes or strange moments of Hannah staring up and pleading with him but this could be a red herring, indicating Shaun may have tried to save her after something bad happened.

Shaun is brought to a secure location, despite being outdoors and surrounded by people, where he learns more about Correction. In an underground club, he spies the man in Hannah’s flat and immediately pushes his way through the crowds to get to him. Slipping out the back door, he chases after him and follows him into a secure room. Heading down the corridor, he comes across a group toasting to the “Pilgrim Of Justice” as Shaun’s former lawyer steps forward and asks him if he’d like to know what’s going on.

As more levels of the game appear, The Capture manages to flirt that line between realism and fantasy pretty well, with some nice tense moments peppered throughout the episode. This is one drama that’s gripping throughout and the early moments involving the police manhunt are up there with some of the more action-packed segments of the series so far, as the force hurries to find Shaun. Quite what happened to Hannah on that fateful night still remains a mystery but I’d imagine after next week’s penultimate episode, we’ll find out the truth in the season finale.

I’ve said it before but the musical score on this series is fantastic. From the ominous piano chimes to the pulsating electronica playing during the underground club, every part of the series has a distinct tone, matched in part with the narrative which slowly appears to be uncovering more of this massive conspiracy every week. Quite what will happen next remains to be seen, but The Capture is one drama that’s sure to capture your imagination right the way through to the final episode. I just hope the show doesn’t fall too deep into the fantastical realm and lose what made it so unique to begin with.