The Fall: Lock your doors, he's not done yet

Paul Spector’s back - on his back, in a hospital bed yet, in an episode almost entirely set in Belfast General, you sense he’s just waiting for an opportunity.

For some, the lengthy medical scenes - not to mention lengthy medical jargon - may have seemed a little bit tedious; I wasn’t the only one thinking we’d dropped into a rogue episode of Casualty, but this contained approach stripped away everything other than the central tension between Stella Gibson - played imperiously by Gillian Anderson - and her nemesis.

Spector’s latest victim, Rose Stagg, is recovering just a few beds away from his room so it’s only a matter of time before husband Tom finds out her attacker is so close; what he’ll do is possibly different now, following a carefully measured, riveting speech delivered softly to him by Gibson on how his reaction to his wife’s attack will help or hinder her recovery.

Aisling Bea’s intensive care nurse (Keira) can’t be a casual bystander - she’s far too good to be playing a character without purpose (other than her designated job). She’s already turfed Gibson from the room - how far will her duty of care to Spector extend?

Dark haired, independant, smart: it doesn’t bode well, does it? Especially in a creepy moment worthy of any horror film, Spector’s eyes snap open, briefly, but long enough for Keira to sense movement and half turn to the seemingly still unconscious murderer.

The monster in disguise as a loving family man will increase the trauma for the Spector family this series, as daughter Olivia is far too resourceful in searching for the truth, unconvinced by her mum’s explanation. Tricking mum Sally Ann into leaving the room so she can access the laptop and read all about her darling daddy can’t leave her anything but scarred. Will Gibson have the daughter of Spector to contend with, too?

Scarred but in an altogether different way is DS Tom Anderson (Colin Morgan). Caught in the crossfire at Spector’s shooting, his injuries more career threatening than life threatening, he wants to know why Stella ran to Spector instead of him: “You sounded anguished”, he accuses her. I’m not sure I was convinced by her answer, plausible though it was.

That Spector is going to recover is a given - it’s the nature of that recovery and how he’ll escape to turn the world of Stella Gibson upside down again that grips us. Questions being raised over Gibson’s handling of the case could be one way of seeing him released if it collapses - or obsessed teen Katie, currently under house arrest and desperate to see him, may well find a way.

A quiet, anticipatory episode to open the new series but with the suspense level still at critical, The Fall’s mesmerised audience, old and new, will be returning.

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