Despite the absence of Nicola Walker, the makers of Unforgotten once again manage to deliver a strong season. **WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE FOURTH SEASON**
It was a huge shock when Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker, Spooks) was killed in a car accident at the end of season four. Despite this tragic loss, which could have meant a nice and rounded end to the series, channel ITV and writer Chris Lang decided to give the series a fifth season. This meant fundamental changes in the series.
From now on, Cassie's colleague Sunil Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar, The Indian Doctor) will have to carry the series. Although Sanjeev Bhaskar is a great actor, he lacks the charm and appeal of Nicola Walker. Still, the fifth season wasn't too bad in that respect. Because despite Walker's absence, this is another very strong season.
The season starts as usual. Somewhere a body is found of someone who has been dead for a long time (this time in a mantelpiece of a house that is being renovated). The person in question turns out not to have died of natural causes and the cold case team of Khan and his colleagues is put on the case. At the same time, we follow the lives of people who at first glance have nothing to do with each other, but who all knew the victim in some way and may have been involved in the murder.
In dit vijfde seizoen zijn dat onder meer Karol Wojski (Max Rinehart, Hollyoaks), een Engelsman die in een magazijn in Frankrijk werkt, een straatschoffie genaamd Joseph (Rhys Yates, The Outlaws) en de gerespecteerde politicus Tony Hume (Ian McElhinney, Game of Thrones).
Nicola Walker leaves a void that can't be filled, but writer Chris Lang uses that void in a good way
What's different is Cassie Stuart's absence. She has been replaced by a replacement, Jessie James (Sinéad Keenan, Being Human). However, James is very different. She is a lot tighter in terms of protocols and regularly clashes with Khan and his colleagues. They, in turn, have still not fully processed the loss of Stuart, often to the frustration of James. It is nice that writer Chris Lang also acknowledges and shows that Stuart really cannot be replaced, but that life should continue even after a loss.
And yes, that loss can take some getting used to. It also takes some getting used to Sinéad Kheenan as the new protagonist. Yet this season brings a new dynamic, because the writer shows that the void that remains cannot always be filled. Where Stuart played the leading role in the first four seasons and Khan supported her very much, the collaboration between Khan and James is a lot more equal. And as a duo they also manage to carry the series well. The way in which James and the police team slowly grow closer together is also credible.
Unforgotten excels at ethical issues involved in a murder investigation
What distinguishes Unforgotten from many detective series is the ethical aspect. Yes, murder and crimes are against the law and punishable by law. But to what extent can you blame someone if it is self-defense? And what would you think if someone goes to jail innocently, but has destroyed countless lives within the legal framework? Unforgotten excels in this as we are used to from them. Especially the twist at the end will leave your jaw hanging open. As a result, the season has a fairly open ending, but as far as I'm concerned, that ending fits very well with the themes that the series has been dealing with at a consistently high level for a few seasons.
Season four would have been a great conclusion to Unforgotten, but I'm glad the makers decided to continue the story in a fifth season. While the series may not quite succeed in filling the void left by Nicola Walker, writer Chris Lang manages to present a stellar season of a stellar detective series. ITV has now announced a sixth season and I'm really looking forward to it.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
There is a huge 'error' in the last episode. Jay makes a statement that is believed. Later he tells his grandmother that he lied, because he thinks that Lord Hume is to blame for all the misery. Anyway, the police can easily prove that Jay lied. I wonder who else sees it...
I see what you mean. But somehow I also think the team made a conscious decision to ignore the evidence against Jay's lie because he has his whole life ahead of him and Lord Hume did terrible things during his life that may not have been against the law per se, but were objectionable. And there is the question of whether right and wrong also translates into law. In an earlier season, the police also decided to let a perpetrator go because she had already experienced enough misery in her life. As far as I'm concerned, they're doing pretty much the same thing now, but deliberately more subtle.
This was certainly done very consciously, I have seen it too, but I think it was quite appropriate to consciously ignore it. Unforgotten has already shown that it is not afraid to make decisions that go against the flow. I therefore compared this decision with previous decisions that the team has made. And I think it's certainly not a mistake. Unforgotten doesn't make these kinds of mistakes.
