Stream It Or Skip It?

We really enjoyed Karen Pirie when it debuted on BritBox three years ago, mainly because the detective at the center of the series is young, good at what she does, and loves her job. Most of the time, the police detectives at the center of these series are haunted by past cases and usually have some sort of personality quirk or vice they have to overcome. Here, Karen Pirie’s major personality quirk is that she can sometimes be too enthusiastic about getting answers.

KAREN PIRIE SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A fish and chips shop. “EAST ROTHESWELL. 1984.”

The Gist: It’s a rare night out for Catriona Grant (Julia Brown) since she gave birth to her now 1-year-old son. He’s with her at the chip shop as she hangs out with her best friend Bonnie (Kat Kinney). As they part for the night outside the shop, someone holds a gun to Cat’s head and forces her and the baby into the car, and they drive off. Bonnie chases but to no avail. Cat is the daughter of prominent business mogul Brodie Grant (Jamie Michie), who receives a ransom note.

In the present, Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle) has been promoted to Detective Inspector, and she now leads a larger team that looks at “historic cases”, which is the less-pejorative term for cold cases. Her boss, DCS Simon Lees (Steve John Shepherd), calls her in to say a body has been found at a quarry, holding a key that was traced to the burned-out car Cat owned. This reopens her case, one of Scotland’s most prominent over the last 40 years, since neither Cat nor her son were ever found. Lees tells Karen that she and her subordinate, DC Jason Murray (Chris Jenks), will get all the resources they need, including DC Isla Stark (Saskia Ashdown), a transfer from E-Crime.

Karen also wants DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt) on the team; given that they’re dating and haven’t told the department about it yet, Phil isn’t so sure it’s the best idea. But she prevails on him to be on the team. She also promises to tell Leeds about their relationship after this one is solved.

Eventually, the body is identified as Kevin Campbell (Stuart Campbell), who worked with a ruthless organized crime family. The way he was killed — a gunshot wound to the head — definitely looked like a hit.

Back in 1984, DI Anderson (Thoren Ferguson) and WDC Laurel Blair (Helen Katamba) investigate the case. Brodie Grant feels he should pay whatever the kidnappers want, but Anderson insists that it’s UK protocol not to negotiate with kidnappers. Their investigation leads them to an collective of anarchists in Edinburgh, but it goes nowhere when the main suspect wouldn’t cooperate.

In the present, Karen and her team not only find the cottage where Cat was held, but found links between Kevin Campbell and a mysterious man Cat was dating right before her disappearance.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Karen Pirie, adapted by Emer Kenny (who also plays Karen’s roommate and medical examiner River Wilde) and based on Val McDermid’s novel series, has the feel of many similar BritBox and Acorn TV series. But Patience, which aired here on PBS, has much of the same vibe as Karen Pirie.

Our Take: Like its first season, the three 90-minute episodes of Karen Pirie‘s second season revolve around a single case, giving time for Kenny to examine Karen’s quirks and forthright personality as well as flashing back to see how the case was originally investigated. It’s a refreshing formula, because we’re not just given Karen looking at things and finding insights no one else did, but we get to see how the case was investigated back when evidence and people’s memories were fresh.

But also just like its first season, the show comes alive with Lyle’s portrayal of Karen Pirie, who is wicked smart, and has no problems using “unconventional” methods, as DCS Lees tells DC Stark. For instance, she draws out a relative of Campbell’s who is in witness protection by leaking Campbell’s details to the press, something Phil was adamantly against. Lyle puts a glint in Karen’s eyes when she knows that rolling the dice like that ends up working, and as we said three years ago, it’s fun to watch a detective that enjoys being good at her job instead of being tortured by it.

It feels like we get more glimpses at what went on in the past than we did in the first season, like scenes between Cat and a new guy that’s so mysterious that even her best friend didn’t know about him. The past scenes, though, flow well into how Karen and her team start uncovering details that didn’t get uncovered during the initial investigation.

Sex and Skin: Any sex in the first episode is implied.

Parting Shot: After speaking to Campbell’s brother, Karen and Phil return to her flat to find that it’s been ransacked; her laptop and a hard drive with case info on it have gone missing.

Sleeper Star: Chris Jenks’ character, DC Jason Murray, is even younger than Karen, and often comes off as a bit dim. But we like that he unearths major pieces of the case, and there’s a reason why Karen keeps him around.

Most Pilot-y Line: It took us a couple of viewings to figure out how Cat found out that her new partner was married. We thought it was the tattoo, but she then grabs his hand and sees the ring.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Karen Pirie continues to be a refreshing detective series because of its enthusiastic main character and format that really lets the show’s writers dig into the characters both past and present.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.