Down Cemetery Road season 1, episode 4 eased up the mystery around who Michael Downey is. But appearances aren't always to be trusted, as the new episode proves. There is much more to Downey than a military past, his friendship with Tommy Singleton and the so-called "rare condition" he's treating with Histropine.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Down Cemetery Road season 1 episode 5
The TV crime drama advances the plot one step — or rather, one episode — at a time. The secret about the government's experiment is out, at least for the audience and Sarah and Zoe. And surprisingly, Downey himself chooses to reveal it.
Sarah earned Downey's trust in Down Cemetery Road season 1 episode 5
The first few minutes of the episode give the viewers a taste of what happened to Downey and his team in Afghanistan. He's having a nightmare of a helicopter overhead releasing a white chemical gas — something corrosive that burned through their skin and left them fighting for their lives.
He and Sarah decide to call Amos using Axel's phone. And when he finally calls back, he tells Downey that Dinah is being held in the same compound where he and his unit were forced to “convalesce” after the attack, somewhere in Scotland.
En route, Sarah and Downey stop to visit Downey's sister, who's shocked to find him alive. She had been told he died in a helicopter crash three years earlier, presumably along with the rest of his squad. Sarah eavesdrops on their conversation and learns that Dinah was taken because of something that happened in Afghanistan, something about false intel. Not only that, but Dinah might be Downey's daughter.
The true twist comes when Downey confides in Sarah, finally recounting exactly what happened that day. His squad was on patrol and came under sudden fire. They were relieved when a helicopter of their own arrived; they thought they were saved — until everything turned white. Downey and the others later woke up in a makeshift hospital, where they were held for two years while being experimented on. He and Tommy Singleton were the only ones who managed to escape.
Zoe uncovers the truth on her own investigative front in Down Cemetery Road
Zoe continues her investigation, traveling between Oxford and London. Her priority is breaking into Dr Isaac Wright's laptop, so she asks Wayne for help. Together, they access files on Downey, Tommy Singleton, and the rest of their squad. Zoe reads through pages of disturbing symptoms — from burning to seizures — that all men developed after being exposed to the chemical agent.
They also find photos documenting the injuries. Zoe and Wayne stop to look at a tattoo on Downey's arm, something that could be linked to the military, but the subject is dropped for now. They also discover an encrypted video that Zoe tasks Wayne with deciphering while she pays Dr Wright another visit.
She tries getting answers out of the doctor by force, threatening to compromise his career, exposing his involvement in the cover-up. He reluctantly admits he monitored the soldiers — the “guinea pigs,” as Zoe calls them — after the chemical weapon was deployed. He also tested the antidote, Histropine, which failed to cure them. Wright insists he only did what he was told and doesn't know what the weapon was.
He might have revealed more to Zoe, but he never had the chance. Amos gets to him before Zoe can have another chat, quietly erasing anyone who knows too much, the question becomes: who might be next? Down Cemetery Road season 1, episode 6 arrives on Apple TV on Wednesday, November 26, promising more answers.