So, now we get the episode about how sad it makes Daniel Mays to bring harm to people but he does it anyway. It’s the joke about Americans making movies about how sad we are we had to kill a bunch of BIPOC civilians. Only here it’s Mays forcing attempted murder victim Laurie Kynaston to testify against David Tennant and defense attorney Pip Torrens tearing him apart. It stands up for a couple reasons, one it’s entirely predictable Torrens is going to tear him apart because it turns out Tennant has seemingly engineered his entire prosecution and is prepared for all the witnesses against him. Second, Mays ought to know something’s up.

This episode comes the closest to thinking Mays is giving a transfixing performance, with director Lewis Arnold frequently cutting to Mays for reaction shots only he never has any reaction shots because Mays has one, sad expression. Oh, and also all the manipulations of the episode don’t actually matter once it gets to the conclusion because of how the verdict goes. There’s the story and there’s where writer Kelly Jones (Jones’s sole entry is this episode) takes it instead.

Though having a trial episode where Tennant is mostly silent is another thing; why watch “Des” if not for Tennant. He’s got a couple good scenes, but he’s a diabolical mastermind here. “Des” has melodramatic theatrics but it doesn’t have a lot of tangible reality anymore. Even if it does awkwardly open with footage of the actual Dennis Nilsen at his trial. Because… they want show how close they got Tennant’s hair, I guess. It does nothing else for the episode.

There’s also a lot more of Mays and Jason Watkins together, which is just a chemistry vacuum.

I’m not sure what “Des” needs, other than some recasting, rewriting, and maybe a better director. A point would probably help. The big question is whether Tennant’s got some undiagnosed mental health condition explaining him living around dead bodies for years at a time or if he’s just a master planner who wanted an insanity plea. The show doesn’t make any decision—it ignores the question as best it can—and Tennant’s intentionally cryptic too.

Also the text epilogues reveal some information they should’ve baked into the narrative. And, based on the text, they completely got Watkins’s person wrong. But whatever, it’s over, who cares?

“Des” is okay for a Tennant stunt cast and it has moments of genuine interest but… nah. Mays and Watkins are just too flat. Especially Mays, who’s somehow more tedious in his performance than the same Droopy Dog cartoon on repeat.

While David Tennant is baring his broken soul to biographer Jason Watkins, DCI Daniel Mays is trying to identify Tennant’s numerous victims so they can properly charge him. There are also more attempted murders, with people coming forward.

And even though Tennant says he’s got fifteen victims—and the morgue says possibly twenty—and there are the seven confirmed attempts, Scotland Yard is threatening to shut Mays down. They don’t want to keep paying for the missing person identifications. Gives Mays a lot to mope about. He’s in an especially bad mood when Tennant asks him to find about his dog, then tells Mays he killed a famous missing person.

Said famous missing person is a Canadian tourist and Mays reopening the investigation pisses off Ron Cook because Mays didn’t ask him. Why didn’t Mays ask him? Unclear. Cook starts his yelling saying he would’ve okayed it or something so… it’s just Mays not doing things right. While Luke Neal’s script is ostensibly trying to show Mays’s diligence, all we find out about him this episode is he ignores things and is a disinterested partner, husband, and father. I’ve been waiting to find out the reason for his divorce is he’s closeted, hence his reactions to Tennant—we find out right at the end of the episode Watkins wants to write about him because he’s gay and Watkins is gay and Watkins doesn’t want the book being done by some homophobic piece of eighties shit—but no. Mays isn’t divorced because he’s gay. He’s on his fourth marriage because British women love apparently Droopy Dog cops who whine about wanting to see their kids but don’t do anything about it.

He also misses clues. Chanel Cresswell, who’s rather good for “Des,” like… there isn’t much in the way of standout supporting performances but Cresswell comes close—she thinks her ex might be one of the victims and drops a major clue in her statement and if it ever registers with Mays, we don’t find out. Though he is the only cop smart enough to think if you kept a murdered person’s possessions you might clean off the fingerprints.

Then there’s a brief thread about Scotland Yard being pissed off about Watkins writing a book and Mays never acknowledges he heard about it and didn’t follow up. Not even to himself.

The stuff with Watkins and Tennant’s good—Tennant’s got a lot of musing on his motives and the source of his murderous impulses–and Watkins is definitely a bit better than last episode. Not enough. And Mays is still a wet towel.

The ending’s a surprise (though also not really because Neal ties it to another twist). So… effective cliffhanger, let’s call it.

But with only one more… “Des” has pretty clearly hit its quality ceiling. The missing persons stuff is fascinating? A documentary would probably be better.

“Des” opens with contemporary news footage from 1983 with Margaret Thatcher talking about how she’s Thatchering people and then something about an influx of young men to London who find it’s not what they thought.

This opening is going to have nothing to do with the story. It’s not even a good stylistic match for the narrative style of the show.

“Des” is about serial killer Dennis Nilsen, based on a book by Brian Masters; the opening titles gives the title of the book and the whole “at the request of the survivors… out of respect for the dead…” bit. Obviously not the Fargo bit but you know. The true story crap.

It’s important to pay attention because otherwise when Jason Watkins shows up towards the end of the episode and is fascinated with the case, it initially played to me like he knew the serial killer, played by David Tennant. Mostly because I didn’t pay attention to the name of the book author in the opening titles.

The show centers around Droopy Dog sad copper Daniel Mays, who’s having a hard time with his fake subplot about his divorce and sons. He gets a nuisance call about bones in a sewer drain; the caller thinks they’re human, Mays thinks they’re chicken bones.

Nope.

They’re human and the suspect is Tennant. He’s only technically a suspect because he immediately confesses upon encountering the police, though it’d be hard not to confess since his apartment’s filled with cut up dead bodies. Except there are only three in the apartment, he’s killed at least fifteen.

Only Tennant doesn’t remember any details for identifying his victims, he didn’t get their names, so the cops aren’t sure he’s really a serial killer or something. Well, Mays is sure, but he’s not very authoritative as he mopes. His boss, an effective with nothing to do Ron Cook, tells him to tread carefully.

As a procedural, a lot of it is good. Tennant’s pretty good in a “cast against type” part. He’s closer to fascinating than not, which is good. Unfortunately, Mays and Watkins are both blah.

Luke Neal’s script manages to be simultaneously well-paced and draggy. Lewis Arnold’s direction is fine. It’s okay, good for the Tennant. Mays and Watkins need to get better fast for it to be anything more.