Season 2 of Bloodlands layers even more intrigue onto what’s generally a straightforward, unfussy detective drama, with James Nesbitt’s raw anger leading the way.

The plot is sufficiently good to bring me back for episode two, but dramas can feel like a bit of a slog when the central character is unlikeable and potentially everyone is lying. We can’t trust anything that Brannick says. We can’t trust anything that the widow (Victoria Smurfit) says. And I’m not sure if we’re meant to trust Det Chief Supt Jackie Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch) or not.

While there is enough intrigue and weirdness to keep watching, there is still a lot of James Nesbitt glowering and frowning, then frowning and glowering, and looking angry even when he's just, say, driving a car. ... Yet my issue with it hasn't changed it is unrelentingly dour with few likeable characters.

There’s nothing subtle about some of the acting in Bloodlands, especially Nesbitt’s lingering, over-emphatic glances, more starey than glowering. But then the script asks him to do a lot of clunky signalling.

The show’s real identity as a genre piece about an in-too-deep maverick cop is revealed: the conveniently placed clues and particularly the cast’s reliance on pained looks and sly side-eyes becomes hilariously noticeable.