Kat, in my defense, the streaming was very choppy.  In most scenes I only saw a few seconds here and there as the video cut out and caught up.  Following the story was near impossible.  I even missed most of the sass!  

However, I have since had a successful rewatch, - with subtitles no less! - and now have a fuller understanding.  I will say this, just as with Ep. 1, there is no clear-cut perpetrator, no easy way to figure out who did it.  They've successfully written the plot so that multiple levels of culpability are slowly revealed through each new discovery, each new piece of evidence throwing another twist.  So, I came for the DaMo pretty, but I am invested in the process as well.  Loving the spontaneous, reactions from all three detectives!  And the rivalry between Jack and Charlie in this one.  Boom!

My review of Suspects Ep 3. As always, this is not trying to represent all views, just promote discussion. please do comment!

CHANNEL 5′S ‘SUSPECTS’ IS TOP OF THE COP SHOWS: EPISODE 3 REVIEW

Suspects Series 1 Episode 3

Written by Paul Marquess, directed by Craig Pickles
Channel 5, 10 pm 26 February 2014.

When the team go on the hunt for a serial rapist, George Callahan (Peter O’Connor), recently released from prison and who followed the same MO for his former crimes, becomes their first suspect. But with his house under constant CCTV surveillance since his release and a watertight alibi confirmed by his partner Annette Walker (Annabelle Apsion), he seems to be innocent. The investigation becomes challenging and complicated when the identity of the victim is discovered to be Diane Ackerman (Susan Vidler ), the wife of the Chief Superintendent, Howard Ackerman (Greg Truter). There is a history of domestic violence in their relationship, making him suspect number 2. The third suspect is the Diane’s boss, Andrew Bourne (Mason Phillips) who it is revealed made a pass at her and was rejected on the day of the rape and was spotted on cctv footage near her house the night of the attack. The investigation goes in even more sinister direction when team discover the identity of someone Diane met in an online domestic abuse forum the evening of the rape.

Episode 1 was compelling and showed us that Suspects was going to be gripping and utterly absorbing in its storylines and investigations; episode 2 brought us a sense of the characters and the detective team dynamic with oodles of sass and humour; but episode 3 is greater than the sum of those parts, a coming together of all elements that make this top of the cop shows.

The third installment of Suspects confirms that its unique format works. Each self-contained crime story beginning with a brief news report, we do not see the crime, and we do not see any back story or world context for the characters. Instead we are plunged into the investigation alongside the detectives, in a dramentary that completely involves us in the action from the very get go. As evidence unfolds before us and the detectives interview the suspects and try to put together the pieces of the puzzle of the case, so do we.

The lack of personal detail about the team means we also end up watching the detectives not just in a passive sense, but watching with an added layer of investigative enquiry; how will DS Jack Weston, DI Marth Bellamy and DC Charlie react to the situation, evidence, suspect? Who will find the ultimate piece of evidence? who will get the collar? And not only that, but we search for clues to their character and their relationship to each other.

The detectives face a challenging case this week and watching them unravel the evidence brings us ever more close to their working style and methods.

Jack has a gut feeling early on in the episode, which proves to be correct in the end as the case comes full circle, but with a harrowing twist no one could have imagined (except, of course, for the brilliant writers). His interviewing style is the most compelling to watch as Damien brings a level of performance that seems to make the air crackle, even in the dialogue free moments.

In each episode there has been a direct look to camera, adding to the documentary feel of the drama. For this reviewer, one such shot was a favourite moment in this episode, when Jack, having a strong gut feeling about suspect number 1 (George Callaham), shows his frustration with Martha’s comment about him.

The improv was impressive this week, with Fay Ripley really coming into her own as firm but fair, witty and wise DI Martha, Clare Ashitey bringing a strong, sassy and incisive DC Charlie Steele, and Damien confirming Jack as a passionate, intuitive and feisty Jack Weston.

The dialogue felt more polished and easily spontaneous, but the most galvanising moments in Suspects are perhaps those with an ‘over-spontaneity’ of a line (that such a thing can exist, or at least make a person search for a way to describe it, is a direct example of just how groundbreaking and original Suspects is). A perfect example in this epiosde is a scene on the roof with all three actors, when we witness the most natural grin from Jack Weston in reaction to something “boss” Martha says and Charlie’s response to that. We are left wondering if it is actually a smile from Damien in reaction to Fay Ripley, adding another enthralling level to the drama. It is these moments that make Suspects not only compelling but brave.

Despite the fact that it is gritty and realistic, and a fascinating insight into modern-day policing, Suspects is unique drama that somehow defies categorization. The camera techniques and improv, the completely self-contained within the investigation story make it ultra ‘real’, but at the end of the hour we are left with a sense of having witnessed a masterpiece of storytelling and performance. Although Suspects is at the opposite end of the spectrum from slick crime shows, there is an unequivocal sense that it is an incredibly complete, intelligent, exciting and original (in the true sense of the word) drama.

Watch Suspects episode 3 on Channel 5 Demand.

Don’t miss the next episode of Suspects, Wednesday 5 March 10 pm on channel 5.

To comment on this review and discuss with other fans, click here

To vote in our Suspects Episode 3 poll, click here

To keep up with the Damien Molony Suspects news at it happens, join us at the Damien Molony Forum, on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr

Follow Channel 5 on Twitter and Facebook and visit the Channel 5 Suspects website.

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Nice **** review from the Telegraph!.

But were we watching the same show? "pretty" yes... but never "too pretty" and Jack could never be described as "too clean cut"!

Suspects, Channel 5, review: 'unnervingly true to life'! The Telegraph - 21 August 2014  

Suspects, Channel 5, review: 'unnervingly true to life'

The series premiere of Suspects is sassy and cynical, says Jake Wallis Simons

The second series of Suspects retains the layers of realism that made the first series so innovative. Photo: Channel 5

 

By Jake Wallis Simons

11:00PM BST 20 Aug 2014

Comment

 

Where shall we go from here? That must be the question that confronts any person intent on creating a new British crime drama. Shall we go gritty? Shall we go dark? Humorous? Urban? Darkly humorous with a hint of urban grit? It’s all been done to death. Which is where the second series of Suspects (Channel 5, Wednesday) comes in.

The widely acclaimed first series was refreshing and innovative, stealing fly-on-the-wall-style filming back from spoof reality television to thrilling dramatic effect. Series two retains the cast and tenor of the original, but abandons the “one episode, one crime” approach in favour of a single crime, to be investigated throughout the four-part series. Other than that, it’s more of the same.

In a good way: the more layers of realism inserted between the viewing public and Eighties police telly, the better. The BBC’s gruesome and hard-hitting Happy Valley managed it by providing a middle-aged female protagonist, but there remained a slight sense of hamminess about it. Not so Suspects, which sucks all the glamour out of its portrayal of policing in London, giving the programme an arresting authenticity.

Well, not quite all the glamour. Maybe Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Damien Molony) was a little too clean-cut and pretty to be convincing. But his acting was superb. The same could be said of his sidekick, DC Charlotte Steele (Clare-Hope Ashitey) and the boss of their station, DI Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley).

In fact, all the acting was sterling. Former Emmerdale star Dominic Power was utterly convincing as Saul Hammond, a suspect suffering from mental illness; EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks was chilling as the victim’s wife; and Luke Newberry (In the Flesh) shone as a 19-year-old male prostitute.

Perhaps the performances were so successful because – as in the first series – the actors had been given just a detailed synopsis of the plot rather than a hard-and-fast script. This produced an ad-lib realism, at times almost unnervingly true to life.

But the plot was absurdly fast-moving, and at times could be rather far-fetched. We had an attempted murder; multiple interrogations of a paranoid schizophrenic; the arrest and questioning of a rent-boy; and the capture of an extremely dodgy blackmailer. All in a single day, with two officers on the case! If only the real-life Met could provide such value for money.

Overall, however, Suspects was sassy, gritty and cynical – a brick in the wall for 21st century, reality-TV-inspired verisimilitude.

Brilliant review from the Telegraph there, full interview posted above, but one paragraph brings about a bit of head scratching - a perplexing forehanded compliment if ever there was one! (compliment disguised as an insult!)

"Maybe Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Damien Molony) was a little too clean-cut and pretty to be convincing. But his acting was superb. The same could be said of his sidekick, DC Charlotte Steele (Clare-Hope Ashitey) and the boss of their station, DI Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley).
In fact, all the acting was sterling."

"his acting was superb"  - tick

"In fact all the acting was sterling"    - tick

"Maybe Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Damien Molony) was a little too clean-cut"   - errr... potty mouth shaggy hair, stubble-faced Weston? 

"and pretty"  - nah, no such thing as 'too' pretty!

"his sidekick, DC Charlotte Steele"   -  pffffft...more like kick-ass! 

"Maybe Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Damien Molony) was a little too clean-cut"   - errr... potty mouth shaggy hair, stubble-faced Weston?

hahaha....exactly!

And I agree entirely with everything TheReviewPerson said.  "Although the format is foreign and takes a moment to get used to..."  I think this is very true - as the first series progressed....and into this one....I've felt very much as is if I've got more familiar with the format, as well as the cast and crew becoming ever more confident with it.  I'd love to know how much difference it would make watching it without being aware that the dialogue is improvised because I certainly thought about it a lot at the start....but in this series it has barely crossed my mind.  Is that because they have got better....or just because I've become more used to the style?

My attempt at a Jack-centric review of Suspects 2 - also posted in the JACK WESTON has been sent to the naughty corner topic!

SUSPECTS SERIES 2 REVIEW: JACK WESTON REPORTS FROM THE NAUGHTY CORNER

© Channel 5

Suspects concluded its second series last week, after two gripping double-bill specials and two new investigations for DS Jack Weston (Damien), DI Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley) and DC Charlie Steele (Clare-Hope Ashitey).

The new series was a high impact affair and an extraordinarily arresting bit of crime drama, so rich in twisty-turny plots and character intrigue, so fast paced with multi-layered, complex and galvanising storylines, so well executed by the three leads and so ultra realistic, that watching it was a heightened, all consuming and immersive televisual experience, leaving you buzzing, breathless and in awe.

As series 1 confirmed, the thing that sets Suspects apart from other cop dramas is its unique formula: documentary style filming techniques + dialogue entirely improvised by the actors based on a plot description + no contextual / personal character details = innovative, real, engaging drama. Story arcs are completely case driven and the ‘no going home with the detectives’ principle was not compromised in series 2 – a good thing too because not only is it integral to the show’s USP, but it adds a goodly amount of intrigue and makes the tiny insights we are given into the characters all the more compelling and tantalising. But the new storylines had an added dimension (excitingly for us Damien fans) revolving around Detective Sergeant Jack Weston and living up to its rep for gritty, dark subject matter, the episodes brought two tough cases for the team but particularly for Jack, who became over-involved in both.

The first 2 part special, (Episodes 1 and 2) opens with an investigation into a brutal attack on Jonathan Moxton, found at the scene by paranoid schizophrenic Saul Hammond (Dominic Power), who becomes the team’s first suspect. Particularly Jack’s, who has his sights set so firmly on Saul as the attacker it clouds his judgement, causing his usual uncanny intuition to misfire, even when more evidence appears and more names are added to the suspects board.

© Channel 5

His tunnel vision and consequent hot-headedness causes problems with the case and tensions within the team, resulting in some firey exchanges with colleague Charlie..

..and some concerned words and warnings from “Boss” Martha, even asking if she needs to take him off the case.

It transpires that Jack has mental health issues in his family, his brother was a paranoid schizophrenic and in the past had attacked his Mother, later going on to commit suicide. Jack does not want his personal history to affect his detective work, but it is only further down the road in the investigation when more attacks occur and it becomes undeniable that Saul could not have been the perpetrator, that he manages to let his fixation go.

In the end, it is Saul’s ‘responsible adult’ Sadie Burns (Katie Jarvis) who has committed the attacks, and Saul himself becomes one of her victims. The story’s conclusion sees Charlie finding a concerned off duty Jack sitting at the hospital checking Saul’s outlook for recovery.

The second 2-part special (Episodes 3 and 4) opens with a news report on an amateur paedophile hunter (Scott Freeman) having been attacked and now in a critical condition in hospital. When his daughter Rose (Frieda Thiel) is pulled in for questioning she tells the detectives she had been raped 8 years earlier. Both strands of the case ultimately lead the team to a dance studio run by Edward (Alexander Kirk) and Tamsin Shaffer (Gillian Kearney).

On first meeting Edward Shaffer, Jack’s killer instinct kicks in, convinced from the get-go that he is the bad guy. Shaffer becomes Jack’s one and only target, and he is so focussed on getting the collar that he over steps the mark, and resulting in Shaffer threatening to make a formal complaint against him.

But when Jack’s prime suspect is released due to insufficient evidence, he decides to take matters into his own hands by removing evidence (a grey towel from the dance studio) from a crime scene and planting it in Edward Shaffer’s bin. Interrupted in the act before he can carry it out, Jack doesn’t follow through with his intention.

As if Jack wasn’t already appearing to be taking the law into his own hands, we then see him leaning over Shaffer’s dead body, with blood on his hands, and for one moment we wonder, would his killer instinct go that far?

The fact that the question even crosses our minds is a reality check, how far would Jack go to get justice? So driven to achieve the end goal by increasingly less appropriate means, it is beginning to affect his approach to victims, attitude to suspects and his relationship with Charlie and Martha, and Jack seems to be heading closer to the point of no return.

After a change of clothes back at HQ, a solitary moment where Jack's facial expressions betray his secrecy and the potential shadiness of his actions, Jack finally hands over the evidence.

Martha questions why he left it so late, calling him into her office later on to ask why he was already at the Shaffers’ house at the time of the murder, before the call came through about the new evidence. By this time, it has become a high profile case and the Detective Chief Inspector also wants to know why the car tracker shows Jack arrived prematurely at what ended up being a murder scene.

Jack claims he went to apologise to Edward to try and smooth things over, and avoid the formal complaint.

“You are a liar Jack”
“What do you want me to say?”

Once the case is solved, we are left wondering if there will be any consequences for Jack and his career. In a private chat on the rooftop, Martha tells him in no uncertain terms that she knows he had planned to plant evidence, that he is right on the edge and she has a good mind to give him a push. She is fed up with holding his hand, but had pulled strings and used up some favours to cover his back.

Jack humours her with an insincere apology and ends up with an enforced 6 week holiday instead of any action being taken against him. He seems less than happy with the outcome, but whether he feels any regret for his actions or intentions is hard to tell, a fascinating ambiguity played superbly by Damien.

Damien himself is not giving anything away, reporting on his Twitter page as Jack Weston from ‘the naughty corner’ after the final episode of the series had aired.

We get the feeling Martha knew exactly where she would be sending Jack, when Fay Ripley posted the mirror photo on her Twitter page earlier in the year, during summer filming for the latest series:

At just four episodes it may have been short, but Suspects Series 2 was perfectly formed. We cannot wait for the show to return with series 3 in 2015, and to find out what Jack got up to in the naughty corner. Will he have thought long and hard about what he has done? Will he come back a changed detective?

We hope not, because watching his wild Weston ways and enjoying the scope it allows the actor who brings them to life is our big guilty pleasure, and being drawn a little deeper in to Jack’s world with an extra focus on (and complexity in) his character adds even greater power to an already absorbing, edgy, dynamic show.

Now the dust has settled after the series, we are left with an indelible knowing we’ve been blessed with something overwhelmingly amazing and new, by a show that knows it leaves us wanting more.

Suspects Series 2 is available on Demand 5 until August 2015.

To comment on this review and discuss ‘Jack Weston in the naughty corner’ with other fans click here

For more info on Suspects Series 2 and to discuss with other fans click here

To vote in our Suspects Series 2 polls click here.

And can I just say, I loved how Emmett Scanlan knocked into the camera then looked straight down at it.  Such clever camerawork!

Positive Suspects review from The Guardian today: