'Unforgotten' Season 6's Midpoint Starts Bringing Up the Bodies

The problem with Unforgotten is that it often tries to cram too many elements into any given case. That was the problem with that initial first season, it wasn't just the 1970s economic situation; it wasn't just a toxic marriage, or closeted gay man who made himself paraplegic in a desperate attempt to stop his urges, or postpartum psychosis, it was all of it, with some 1970s nationalism and a random priest with a hidden love child dumped on top. Most seasons find a balance within their random topical morass, or narrow it down to one overarching horror that begets smaller ones. But Season 5 collapsed under its own weight, and Season 6 is starting to teeter-totter.

Episode 4 is traditionally when a second body turns up, which leads — either directly or indirectly — to a break in the case. (Season 5 was the only one where the body didn't show up until the penultimate episode, bogged down under the weight of everything else it was carrying.) This season, it seems like there are many extraneous deaths already, but at least one, it turns out, is directly connected: Marty's father died of COVID in February 2021, because Mr. Cooper told Marty the vaccine was a hoax. Marty believed him, so he convinced his parents not to risk it.

Poor Marty, it's clear he blames himself for what happens (which only makes his resulting submergence in the manosphere even sadder). However, it does suddenly hand him a motive. Far more importantly, it gives his mother, Dot, a motive; clearly, she knows something if she's trying to keep Marty from talking about it.