Showtrial Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Will Justin Be Charged with Murder?

Show trial Season 2 tells the story of a well-known climate activist named Marcus Calderwood, who, shortly before his death, claims an active police officer as his murderer. Soon the search for the truth begins as the trial of the decade begins, but not everyone is completely honest about what really happened the night of Marcus' hit-and-run.

The second episode begins with Sam having trouble falling asleep while Justin paces around his cell waiting for morning. The next day at the police station, Southgate is angry when he sees his car vandalized, and although it looks like SGC is responsible for the graffiti, he knows it was the police officers who were part of the crime in retaliation D4 group chats were in favor of him suspending Nick Taylor. PC Becky Hollis offers to drive Southgate around after his car breaks down and he thanks her.

Inside, Sam continues to puzzle over Justin because he wants to learn more about D4. He claims the group chat was named after a pressure washer because everyone is talking about home improvement. He also says that Nick Taylor didn't text him that Marcus named him before his death, but he called someone else who then told Justin, which is annoying because it makes him look guilty.

Southgate tells Leila that he has bad news: the paint spots on the pedal don't match the paint on Justin's car, but that's mainly because the manufacturer gave the wrong paint name. He reveals that they are testing again, but they have been told that the pedal is in such poor condition that it will be difficult to get any meaningful results.

Southgate leads a press conference where he tells reporters about the fact that they have been granted an extension and names Officer X Justin Mitchell. The press is not happy with how much information is being withheld and soon it becomes difficult for the police to answer the questions.

Meanwhile, Packham finds CCTV footage of Justin's girlfriend Sandra patrolling her car in the gym parking lot, just as Justin said in his bizarre interview with the police the night before.

Southgate asks Becky for a ride so he can visit Marcus' neighbor. He asks her the name of the officer who was near his wrecked car and she identifies him as Kyle Jones and asks her about D4…she tries to avoid the question by talking about football.

Southgate approaches D4. (Image credit: BBC)

Sam asks Justin about Patrick Norris, Marcus' neighbor, with whom he had an argument that Justin should deal with. He tells Sam that they had a heated argument over a tree protection order. Justin calls Patrick “Patch” and reveals that they are friends.

Southgate and Becky visit Patrick at home and his wife says he is working in the vineyard and calls him to come back to the house. There are fancy cars and a huge house outside, and as they wait, Becky tells Southgate that Nick shouldn't take all the responsibility for the D4 trouble. But before she can reveal who should be held responsible, Patrick shows up. Patrick confirms he has a solid alibi for the time Marcus was killed, claiming he was at a clay pigeon shooting club which he drove to in his Jaguar – it's clear Southgate doesn't trust him.

After being bullied in the locker room by some men on D4, Becky meets Leila in the ladies' room and it turns out they are friends, having worked together on a previous case. Becky asks Leila what she thinks about Southgate and she tells her that she thinks he is good at his job. Becky admits that she knows about D4, but when Leila asks who Nick Taylor called to get advice about what Marcus said about Justin, she stops short. She'll just say he's close to Justin and turns off his bodycam when he visits…

Sam is worried when his son Emanuel tells him that people are calling him names on social media for taking Justin's case. Elsewhere, Leila comes home to find her sister leaving a bag of her things behind and announcing that she has cut off contact with her.

Nick Taylor is brought back to discuss his call to Kyle Jones after Marcus mentions Justin's name at the crime scene, but he refuses to divulge any further information. Meanwhile, Becky picks up Southgate from the train station and he thanks her by bringing her a Bonsi olive tree, which they had described as his hobby the day before. She is amused and says her mother will love it. In the car, she tells Southgate that she has the transcript of the deleted D4 group chat and he is surprised that she is part of it. She claims she wasn't actually involved and promises there's nothing in it that could get her fired, but she doesn't want Southgate to think less of her. She gives him a USB stick with the files on it and he promises her a cherry blossom tree next time.

Showtrial Season 2 Becky

Becky helps Southgate by handing over D4 information. (Image credit: BBC)

At the office, Sam is unhappy with Claudia after admitting to stalking her on social media while he couldn't sleep the night before. He apologizes and she accepts and he admits that he is having a hard time dealing with his insomnia.

Sam visits Justin, who is still in custody but has managed to get his hands on a fast food joint thanks to one of his police friends, Dawn. Justin promises there was nothing incriminating in the D4 chat, but it's clear Sam doesn't believe him.

As Southgate is going through the group chat transcript Becky gave him, Packham arrives and says he has CCTV footage of Kyle Jones six doors from Justin's house, 20 minutes after Nick Taylor called him. They bring Kyle in for questioning and question him, and he finally agrees that he warned Justin about what Marcus said before he died, but he replied, “Thanks for the warning.” I got it didn't do it, but I'm glad someone did.

As Justin is interrogated again, the episode then flashes forward 6 hours. The SCG are again protesting outside the police station where we hear a reporter saying that the police are running out of time as their term is coming to an end.

With an hour to go, Sam and Leila get stressed. Leila tells her boss about the delay in the forensic examination of the car's paint. However, they discovered that not only was Marcus' bike and helmet removed from the site, but also that his body was moved from the side of the road into the ditch.

We then see a flashback to Justin in his interview with the police and he claims he went to his sister's in the hours before he handed himself in, but then Southgate drops a bombshell when he tells Justin that they found the bike pedal. Justin doesn't seem to mind too much at first, but they soon catch him when they show him a printout of the D4 chat, which clearly shows that he missed a day with his friends because he had a job to do , which he described to his friends in the chat by posting an emoji of a giraffe and a target. Southgate tells Justin that he knows he has often mocked Marcus because of his size and that they have a witness who is willing to stand under oath and tell the court that they heard Justin give Marcus a ” “Giraffe” called.

As the clock approaches, police struggle to get enough hard evidence against Justin to formally charge him. But then we see Sandra at the ferry port and she actually came home with a dog – meaning Justin's crazy story about her trip to Serbia could be true. When she gets to passport control, the police corner her and confiscate her car. Back at the police station, Justin is officially charged with murder and taken away.

All five episodes of Show trial Season 2 is now available on BBC iPlayer. The series also airs on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.

Showtrial Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Will Justin Be Charged with Murder?

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