Previously on Scott & Bailey: Series 4, Episode 3.

And hello, unnecessarily complicated romance subplot of Series 4. Again, the writers manage to make Rachel the greatest danger to herself by having her get involved with a Detective Super from another squad.

I can’t deny it, I don’t mind Janet’s forays into speed-dating (I had a good laugh at the way she basically took the blokes apart like she would with suspects — whether that’s healthy or not is a conversation for another time), but I groaned at the introduction of Rachel’s new love interest. Like, why? Why does it have to be someone, again, who poses a risk to Rachel not fucking up? They’re trying really hard to prove that Rachel is a self-destructive force a lot of the time, no matter how amazing she is at her job. Janet seems supportive, at least.

“I’m thinkin’, is she pouring rocket fuel in her weetabix?”

One thing: as genuinely nice has Will Pemberton is, he seems a little fuzzy on the double standard that’s awaiting them if they make their relationship public. For him, it may be better if it’s out in the open, because then no-one can say he’s being dishonest. For her, in an already male-dominated field, it’s not going to be like that, not many are going to be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He’d be the honest man making an honest mistake, possibly being snared by an ambitious bitch, but she’d be the career-obsessed slut who’d shag anyone to get to the top. I know situations like this, and I’m certain she’d get the lion share of the blame while people would try and protect him, even act as though they were protecting him from her. Rachel’s career is at much greater risk with this — and this, to be fair, is something she knew before she entered into this relationship. So far, she’s been able to keep it a secret, and that’s her prerogative. If he now wants to take it public, not realising the very different repercussions this could have, it’s also her right to call it quits. Let’s see what happens.

Oh, but the short conversation Rachel and Janet share is great: the thing that Rachel doesn’t regret casual sex, but that she understands why women would, and that in retrospect, she sees how dangerous that could have been, that she wasn’t smarter, just luckier. Also brilliant: Janet meeting her ex-husband’s new partner and being appreciative of her in a way that makes clear that it’s awkward and it hurts a bit, but not in a jealous or derisive way. She just realises she wants to have a new romance, too.

And theeen, Gill lets slip that she asked Janet to be Sergeant first. Oh, boy. And just as she predicted, it hits Rachel right in the accumulated insecurities, and leaves Janet to mop up the mess. For Rachel to punish Janet by a) not telling her the real reason why she’s mad and b) going after her in her capacity as a Sergeant instead, is really wrong and kinda low, though. On another front, Rachel has now kickstarted the subplot about Gill’s PTSD, which is really important to explore before Gill retires.

The ending was a bit abrupt, I thought, with the bloke just confessing the way he did..?

Next on Scott & Bailey: Series 4, Episode 5.