After previous episodes of The Syndicate have chosen to show us the story of winners before their win, it’s a nice change of pace for episode four to carry on from a point in the present. That present is the exact moment we finished on last week, as Rose hides away from baiting reporters and papara i parked outside of her house.
But the focus of the episode is on Becky and Luke, who try to maintain an honest and open relationship with a big £14m elephant in the room. We finally learn about what happened before the group recovered their ‘lost’ ticket, and understand Luke’s motivations for sticking around a little more. He’s been looking shifty since we met him but, as is almost always the case with this disjointed storytelling, things aren’t exactly what they seem. I enjoyed taking a look into Luke’s life more than Becky’s, if I’m honest, and wish that the episode had been more focused on him.
As the episode’s plot is about Becky becoming a horrible, conceited and suspicious person around her friends, her family and her boyfriend, it doesn’t help her likeability factor. What’s strange is that the episode never touches on her tragic past or how she ended up as a single mother living with her parents, despite the stories she told in the first episode, but instead plants itself firmly in the present. Luke comes off looking much better, as we’re told of his guilt over his brother’s mental disability and how he would use the money to improve his life a little. Watching Becky give it away to football clubs and spend it on swanky suits is torture.
The end of the episode will feed into the remaining story, as Becky finally discovers what her mum has been up to down in the basement. I really, really hate this plotline and think it belongs in an entirely different series, but we’ve gone too far to turn back now. I hope Mandy gets locked up in a mental hospital for kidnapping her own husband, but I suspect she’ll be portrayed as a complete victim. Next week, though, we’ll be delving into Alan’s issues with family and substance abuse, so I guess we’ll have to wait a little before we deal with Mandy’s psychotic break.
What did you think of the episode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Syndicate Series 2 Episode 4 (BBC) Review
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