SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Blue Lights Season 3, Episode 4. It also contains discussion of suicide.

Blue Lights Season 3, Episode 4 might be the most miserable episode of the entire show. The BritBox show doesn’t just put every character on the hot seat in “The Parting Glass.” It makes them feel terrible, and thus the audience does, too. There are very few happy moments to be had.

The main storyline picks up from the events of Episode 3, with everyone now incredibly concerned about Aisling Byrne’s behavior. Aisling is sent home for the day, yet in her continued search for closure after the car wreck from Episode 2, goes back to the victim’s home—the same place she and her colleagues were almost gunned down. When Tommy Foster learns about this (after spending half the episode worried that Aisling is suicidal), he does the impossible thing and reports her. So not only does Aisling get sent off to a residential treatment facility, she breaks up with Tommy on the way out. Both developments are expected but that doesn’t make either one any less painful to watch.

The other relationship that hits the skids—in a way that’s a little bit harder to swallow—is Grace and Stevie. “The Parting Glass” has big emotional moments for everyone, but most of all it belongs to Siân Brooke, as she pours so much into Grace opening up about her disastrous family history. The emotion in Grace’s monologues to a crumbling Lindsey is palpable. This might be Brooke’s best episode to date.

The problem comes when Stevie finds out what Grace revealed, and has a very polarizing reaction to it. He’s angry with her for not telling him about her past, and asks what else she’s been lying about. But as hurt as Stevie must feel, Grace’s childhood is (as she points out) hers alone. It’s not a shared experience. It’s a very personal and private thing and she’s not obligated to tell him every part of her history just because they’re a couple. Martin McCann sells it as best is possible, but it’s very hard to understand why Stevie pushes the issue so fiercely. The duo don’t officially split, but it feels like they have.

That’s two relationships blown up, and then there’s Annie Conlon, who doesn’t even get to completely mourn her dead mother. Annie is pulled out of the wake when a death threat is made against her, and thus isn’t able to attend the funeral mass. The closest thing that “The Parting Glass” has to a heartwarming moment is that Lawrence comes up with the idea for Annie—and in turn the whole crew—to attend the mass via video conference. That Annie doesn’t entirely miss out, and that she has the support of her police family, is a silver lining. But it doesn’t do much to buffer against how everything else is so bleak.

Blue Lights makes clear it’s in deep when even Shane Bradley is short of a quip. The subplot for Tommy and Shane is that they’re called to do a wellness check on Brendan, whom Shane has dealt with before and who has threatened to take his own life. Shane seems flippant about it at first, and on another show this might be a comic relief subplot with an over-the-top character that the cops are eventually able to calm down. But that’s not what happens here. It becomes Shane and Tommy literally cleaning up the mess of Brendan’s apartment, and Shane finally convincing Brendan to get mental health assistance.

There are some significant procedural plot movements. Aisling’s trip leads her to obtaining four new names for the team to chase, while Lindsey spills all to Grace on more than one occasion (and both times it’s heartbreaking). Plus, Collins is still having conversations with Tina McIntyre. But honestly, Blue Lights makes all of that feel irrelevant. This episode is 90 percent about all of these characters struggling and grasping at straws. And with the show only doing six-episode seasons, it’s a gutsy move to spend Episode 4 so overly committed to character over crime story.

One moment encapsulates why this show works: when Aisling is leaving the home, she shares a tearful embrace with Roisin, the mother of the young man who died. Yes, her being there serves a plot purpose in that it enables the reveal of that list of names. But it’s a moment where Blue Lights reminds the viewers that every character in the show matters and has a life. The show doesn’t just focus on the police and the bad guys they’re chasing and treat the guest characters as plot material. Whether it’s Roisin or Brendan, Blue Lights wants viewers to see those people, too. It’s sad that Season 3, Episode 4 is such a heavy watch, but that’s for a very good reason.

Blue Lights streams Thursdays on BritBox. Photo Credit: Peter Marley/Courtesy of BritBox.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.