Granite Harbour season 2 gets off to a dramatic start when the body of notorious drug dealer Lucas Galloway is found in his car. It's personal for the DCI, considering he works for Grace McFadden, a "reformed" drug kingpin whom Cora is still suspicious of.
Meanwhile, a second case consumes Lindo, when a pregnant shoplifting stowaway named Mariam comes clean to the police about her husband's disappearance, claiming she thinks he was murdered.
With two very different cases running in tandem, the MIT has its work cut out and episode one introduces us to both of these situations, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Here's a recap of what happened...
Two very different cases
The episode opens on a ship, with a woman saying "Don't leave me, please it's too dangerous. They might see you" before a man kisses her forehead and shuts the door. Unfortunately her fears were genuine, as he accidentally makes a noise while he's sneaking about the deck and workers aboard the ship are alerted. He runs and loses his footing, before passing out.
The scene cuts where we see the woman being found by a man wearing high-viz and holding a flashlight. She is escorted out by him and is told to cover her eyes and follow him, which she obeys. An ultrasound scan had fallen out of her pocket, suggesting she is pregnant. Later, we see the same woman leaning against a car searching for the ultrasound, with a flashback to it lying in the boat. She is distressed that she doesn't have it with her.
Later, we cut to an exclusive party where Grace berates DCI Cora MacMillan, telling her "she didn't think she could afford a ticket". There's clearly tension between Grace's family, the McFaddens, and other investors at the event as well as between Grace and Cora.
MIT duo Lindo and Bart are back on the case when the former calls to inform him that a body has been found. Lindo's back in Aberdeen for good, but his estranged father Grantley has come to visit, as we see him greeting him at the airport, only to immediately tell him that he has to leave. Grantley is not happy about this turn of events, but Lindo tells him it's urgent and he has to go.
At the crime scene, they see a deceased body in a car alongside drugs, with Lindo quick to assume it was simply an overdose. But Bart isn't quite sure, saying that the deceased doesn't look like any addict she's ever met.
Cora joins the crime scene and recognises the body as being Lucas Galloway, one of Grace's fixers. Grace is a so-called reformed drug kingpin which explains the frosty reception earlier. Meanwhile, the woman we saw at the beginning of the episode is caught shoplifting.
Lindo meets with his father who expresses disappointment that he now considers Aberdeen to be his "hometown", and he has to leave again due to work commitments. At the station, they start to discuss Lucas' death by discussing the autopsy which reveals he died of a huge ketamine overdose. Cora explains it was far greater than you would take for recreational purposes, so it's safe to rule an accident out. They are also able to rule out suicide due to some of the injuries he sustained including minor bruising.
They conclude the most credible scenario is that someone tried to stage an overdose. With a new cocaine and ketamine compound flooding the streets they begin to suspect that there might be an impending turf war, which could explain targeting one of Grace's loyalist dealers. His GPS was also turned off, leading them to believe he didn't want to be traced.
Meanwhile, DI Jay Mallick is being catty towards Bart, accusing her of gunning for a promotion which she laughs at. Cora tells them off and says to "play nicely", so there's some tensions within the MIT.
Katie Forsyth shows up and asks to see Bart and Lindo with something urgent. It is revealed she has been working with refugees and asylum seekers. Bart doubts how helpful they'd be with this case as they "don't really deal with it", where we see the woman who was caught shoplifting in the background.
Katie introduces the woman as Mariam Faraki, revealing she is 26 years old and six months pregnant and that she is here to report a murder. Lindo and Bart agree to interview her, accompanied by Katie, where Mariam reveals she and her partner Hassan were hiding on a ship, and he was dehydrated so went in search of water.
Mariam heard shouting and running, but she didn't see anything nor does she know the name of the ship they were hiding on. She believes her husband was killed because when she went to the memorial, the agreed meeting point if they were separated, he was nowhere to be found. Bart delivers the bad news that her testimony is not enough and there's no evidence a murder took place.
Cora gives Lindo and Bart permission to talk to the harbour master about Mariam's story. Bart explains to Lindo that she knows Katie because she saved her life, and she's turned her life around since then, going on to help people like Mariam.
Meanwhile, Cora sits down with Grace to tell her the news about Lucas' death. Grace is evasive when questioned, claiming she doesn't know why he'd be on John Street, and Cora tells her to stop messing around because she knows that Lucas has been on the family payroll for years. She insists Lucas was a long time family friend and that she wants legal representation before it goes any further.
Grace is insistent that she and Duncan being at the party Cora attended is enough of an alibi, but Cora reveals Lucas' murder happened a few hours earlier and so neither of them can be ruled out based on that fact alone. Cora criticises the revamped McFadden brand image and accuses them of having something to hide. She asks if Grace is starting a turf war and she continues to be evasive.
At the harbour, a man named Axel tells Lindo and Bart that it's a bad time but she insists they're police officers and needs to see the captain of the ship, so he gives in and asks them to follow. The captain is unhelpful and insists nothing illegal happened on his ship. As they leave, Lindo remarks that he could smell whiskey on the captain's breath, which was concerning at that time of day. Bart speculates something "heavy" is on his mind.
At the station, Cora tells Lindo and Bart to have Mariam processed for shoplifting and to close the case because it's going nowhere, insisting that they focus on Lucas' suspected murder instead. They are instructed to retrieve his keys and investigate his flat to see what they can find there.
Lindo and Bart check in with Mariam where they tell her they've arranged a hospital visit to check on the baby's welfare, but since they can't verify Hassan's identity, they'll struggle to help her beyond that. However, Lindo is more sympathetic and attempts to find harbour CCTV footage, which Bart tries to push back on believing it to be a non-case.
When they arrive at Lucas' flat, they are swiftly ambushed by men wearing black. Lindo attempts to chase them out of the building, but they get away in a car before he can follow. They realise a laptop was taken from the house before they could get to it, causing them to become suspicious of whatever's on there.
Cora is furious and confronts Grace at her bar, telling her that if she finds out that she sent those men to Lucas' flat, she'll see to it that she's sent to prison for it. Grace denies knowledge of it and Cora tells her the men had keys, which is quite the coincidence, and they must have known Lucas or the building owners quite well to obtain them.
Lindo continues delving into harbour CCTV despite being told not to, and is shocked to find his dad speaking to Cora, where he tells him off for coming into his workplace. They have an argument about his job and where he "belongs", with Lindo suspecting his dad wants him to come home.
Later, they discover that Mariam's passport is forged and that she's being transferred. Lindo tracks her down to a hostel where he learns she's due to be deported, and Mariam expresses frustration, telling him she was advised to act scared and stupid so she did and it got her nowhere.
Mariam tells Lindo she is considered an enemy of the state in Iran due to a public act of defiance, so she and Hassan fled the country for the sake of their child. Lindo advises that he might not be able to help her, but that he believes her and wants to try.
Out of desperation, Lindo sneaks onto the ship to try and get answers later that night, but he's caught by Axel. Lindo accuses the ship crew of hiding something, because a lifeboat is missing. He calls Cora with the news but she's angry and tells him to forget about Mariam.
Meanwhile, Jay heads to a local business chasing leads, and we find out his brother works there. Later on, we see his brother making a call to people working in a drug lab to warn them that his brother is onto them, which is where the scene ends.
