Rabbit is on his way to see the recently incarcerated Flora. Under the guise of questioning the alleged murderer, he really informs his true love that he will come save her before she is hung the next day. It soon turns into a primal love fest and not even another prisoner noisily using the toilet can stop them from their potentially last shag.
[SPOILERS FOR 1.5 AHEAD!]
Mabel is at another briefing with Lydia, who has taken a strong interest in Rabbit. It gets to the point where the first female police officer begins to question the relevancy of all this information. Her friend allays those concerns and Mabel continues relaying all she knows about her partner.
Meanwhile, Rabbit and Strauss deal with a hostage situation at the local match factory. An irate gentleman is holding several women workers with him against their will. They realize he is armed with a bomb filled with poisonous gas that could kill everyone in the building if released. Taking the suspect down is even trickier since he has a kill switch if anything were to happen to him.
Tensions rise when the man shoots a hostage. Right after, the survivors send a note out to the police with a clue about their captor’s identity. Rabbit and Strauss enlist the Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, for help and he recognizes the suspect as Patrick Levant, based off of his distinct hand tattoo. The two have a history since Levant wanted to be part of his acting troupe but ended up stealing some of Merrick’s money.
One of the hostages, who is pregnant, begins to go into labor. Rabbit swaps places with the expecting mother so she can be safe. Now face to face with the suspect, the detective inspector tries to get in Patrick’s head. While Rabbit keeps Levant occupied, Strauss and Mabel sneak in and rescue all the hostages through an air vent. During his questioning, Rabbit learns that the whole hostage situation was a diversion by the secret society in order to stall him from saving Flora.
When he realizes his hostages are missing, Levant releases the toxic gas but Rabbit escapes in time. As he races out to stop Flora’s hanging, he warns his colleagues about a mole in their midst. Mabel realizes she was inadvertantly responsible and that Lydia is behind the secret society.
Unfortunately, Lydia’s plan works and Rabbit is too late to save his girlfriend. Devastated, he hits up the Bar of Gold and drinks himself into a drunken stupor. The bad news keeps coming as Detective Inspector Tanner and Mr. Larkham, the man he assaulted in episode 2, join him at the bar. The police brutality investigation has been completed and the assistant commissioner (after a big bribe) decides to fire Rabbit.
Our hero retreats to his apartment to sleep off the alcohol. When he awakes in the morning, he finds a bloody scene with a murdered Mr. Larkham in his home and the police knocking on his door.
The writing for ‘Hostage’ is on point and it was both sharp and funny. Everything from the one liners to the historical jokes hit and served as a nice contrast to the building pressure from the hostage situation. Though providing different tones, the humor and tension worked together and we sense Rabbit’s urgency as he manages these two difficult situations in his own way.
It was surprising and heartbreaking when Rabbit arrives a tad late to save his beloved Flora. For a show that is a comedy, I didn’t expect such a sad ending to the episode. I believed Rabbit would save the day in the end. Not only does he lose his love but now he’s presumably on the run for Mr. Larkham’s murder. It should be interesting how it all plays out in the season finale, especially now that Mabel knows about Lydia’s involvement.
Insult of the Night
Mabel: Lydia, why do you give a dog’s dangler about Rabbit? He’s a high functioning fried breakfast who’s afraid of the countryside and can’t spell the world “Wednesday”.
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