The Past & the Present Collide in the First Half of 'The Jetty'

What if you’re a police detective, and your latest case makes you rethink all of your life choices? That’s the conundrum facing Detective Ember Manning (Jenna Coleman) in the new series The Jetty (the series aired on the BBC in July). The case starts with a literal crash, as Miranda Ashby (Shannon Watson), a pregnant teenage girl, lands on Ember’s police car. Did she jump, or was she pushed? Still alive, Miranda is rushed to the hospital in hopes of saving her and the baby. At the same time, Ember becomes convinced the 16-year-old victim was likely 15 when she became pregnant and is, therefore, a victim of statutory rape. She’s also probably pregnant due to a relationship with a much older man.

You might think this is pretty bog standard for a crime drama; however, things begin to veer sideways when Ember starts telling her adolescent daughter Hannah (Ruby Stokes) about her day, only for the kid to point out to her mother that she was 17 when Hannah was born. Moreover, her late father, Malachy (Tom Glynn-Carney), was much older. “That is not the same thing, Hannah,” Ember automatically responds. “Why not?” Hannah rightly wonders. Ember starts arguing that the legal age is 16 and that she was a whole year older than when she became pregnant. (As the saying goes, Ember doth protest too much.)

However, Hannah’s comparison gets under Ember’s skin. It’s only been a year since Mack died of cancer, so she returns to her grief therapist, Casey (David Ajala), and tells him she hasn’t been sleeping since Miranda landed on her car. “My daughter thinks I am a hypocrite,” she complains, continuing to insist the two things are entirely different. Casey pushes her — is it just the legal difference that Miranda is 16 and Ember was 17 when she got pregnant? Ember says no, this man/perpetrator is attracted to young girls. “And your husband wasn’t?” Casey wonders.