A Shadowy Helper
Episode 5 of The Mire Season 2 begins with Piotr capitalizing on the picture of Waldek at the hotel. He pays for one of the hookers but his interest is more in talking than screwing. Alone in a hotel room he shows her the gold button which loosens her lips. She admits that Waldek fell hard for a girl back then and if he can find her – then he’ll find what he’s looking for. Piotr continues to go hunting for Waldek, speaking to Kielak and deciding that they should both visit Daro, who’s closely linked to this whole case. Daro begrudgingly lets them into his place, where Waldek’s girlfriend happens to be. It’s clear they’re shacked up together, which only makes him look more suspicious in this whole case. Although he claims he’s not involved, Piotr remains determined to find out if this holds weight. Inevitably, he packs up his things ready to leave for Walbrzych, intent on following up this lead. He does say goodbye to Teresa though, but their fumbling about in her office feels loveless – especially after her rough and tumble with Anna earlier in the season. Meanwhile, Anna awakens to grim news. Jaszczerski has hung himself in his cell. The chief immediately berates Anna, telling her to disclose exactly what he whispered in her ear. She does no such thing though, brushing aside Mika’s weak attempt to help, and storming back to the coroner. There, she learns that the water Daniel ingested prior to his death seems to be from the South – possibly while he was on vacation. The hogweed has also been burned a few hours before his death too. This narrows down the area, as Anna remains determined to figure out what the real story is here. Wanycz arrives before Nadia and asks for money. He needs to pay off his debt, which she eventually agrees to help with. Alone, the pair share an intimate moment in their office as they kiss. In the hospital, Jarek is recovering from his ordeal at the swimming pool. Anna apologizes for getting him into trouble but does reveal how grateful she is for him saving her life. He also nonchalantly confirms that Ewa left that morning. Given how suicidal she was prior to this, Anna isn’t best pleased that the doctors didn’t bother to tell her. This inevitably brings Anna over to see Ewa, who’s currently shacked up with her husband. There, the truth about Ewa and Jacek’s affair is revealed as she sobs and struggles to compose herself. Mirek is not pleased with this questioning, although Ewa does admit that Mirek isn’t actually the boy’s real father. Daniel was actually adopted as a baby but both Ewa and Mirek are unaware who his birth father is. What they do know, however, is that Daniel’s Mother died some years back. Following the clues – thanks in part to an old library card – Anna starts to realize Daniel was retracing his family history. He specifically hired out old Courier papers from June 1985. It’s all on microfilm, undamaged from the flood, which Anna begins meticulously working her way through. As she cycles through the clips she stops on one of Daniel’s birth mother who was actually Helena, especially if the papers are anything to go by. Anna needs a warrant though to look deeper into this, one that only the chief can give her. Now, Raptor obviously testified that on the night of Daniel’s death he was trying to look for his Father. This could be significant to the case, prompting Andrzej to eventually agree to her request and green-light her warrant. This certainly causes ripples across town, as Anna soon receives a call telling her to head down to Gronty if she wants answers. Once there, she finds a hooded man who drops something on the ground. As he charges off, Anna tries to follow but stumbles straight into a bog. Thankfully Mika is there to help and he pulls her out to safety. After her near-death experience, she rings her Father just to hear his voice, promising to head up and see him soon. Inside the envelope happens to be a letter. It turns out Mika also received a phone call, hence why he was there. As they sit together, Mika reveals that when Waldek was kidnapped he was the one given the case. He couldn’t find anything for three months. This also explains why he framed Raptor, given he couldn’t bring himself to face another dead-end case. Meanwhile, Daro, Kielak and Piotr arrive at Waldek’s old apartment and begin looking around. As they do, Daro suddenly turns up behind Piotr and smashes him over the head, knocking him out.
The Episode Review
The penultimate episode to The Mire sees secrets start to spill out as it seems Daniel’s birth rite is the reason he was killed. Given his Mother was Helena, it would seem that someone doesn’t want this to be leaked and it could well be a viable reason for Daniel’s death. It’s still unclear how all of these different threads tie together but it seems like Daro is involved and potentially the one responsible for everything too. The way he knocked out Piotr at the end there does seem to lean into the notion of him being wrapped up in all this. Meanwhile, Anna continues her side of the investigation, finally being granted a warrant and starting to receive some clues over what’s going on. We still don’t know the contents of that envelope but it does seem like someone else is working on their side. Seeing Mika finally own up to what he’s done and help out Anna at the end is another nice touch, and it certainly leaves the door open for a dramatic finale to come.
