Bodies episode 4 takes us back to the moment that DS Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) finds Alfred Hillinghead’s (Kyle Soller) message on the brick wall at Longharvest Lane. She follows the trail all the way to old case files from 1890 where she is shocked to find the photos of the body in that case are basically identical to the ones from 2023. Same with a similar case led by Detective Charles Whiteman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) in 1941. Hasan remembers Elias (Gabriel Howell) telling her that the bodies had come before.

Speaking of Whiteman, he’s got big problems at work. Another person has come forward, a tenant from Lee Cozens’ (the rapist he framed for the murder of the “body”) residential complex, claiming she heard two voices coming from his apartment before his supposed suicide. Now Whiteman’s boss is assigning more men to the case and considering trying to find Esther again. Whiteman plans to get Esther (Chloe Raphael) on a train to Inverness that very night, under the cover of the bombs.

In 2053, Detective Iris Maplewood (Shira Haas) attends one of Professor Gabriel Defoe’s (Tom Mothersdale) lectures where he’s discussing the Deutsch particle and the possible of time travel forward and backward. Afterward, he asks Maplewood to stay with him at a safe house, as the paradox of his doppelgänger’s death has him spooked and he fears he has little time left.

Hasan asks her colleague Maggie (Alexandra Roach) to run the fingerprints Hillinghead collected from the gaslight in 1890. In the meantime, she lays out her discovery to her superior, DCI Barber (Michael Jibson), who is suitably baffled. “What the f*ck is this, an X-file?”

Hillinghead returns home with a lie about a prison brawl having kept him late. His wife seems to buy it, but his daughter, Polly (Synnove Karlsen), is much more observant. She asks her father to help fix the chain on her locket.

Later, he goes back to see Henry Ashe (George Parker) again, despite already lying once about where he was. They share another night in bed together and during their pillow talk, Ashe reveals he and his editor are planning to run a front-page story naming Julian Harker as a suspect. They also happen to notice a smudge on Hillinghead’s glasses, and he recalls Harker putting his glasses in his suit pocket while he was drugged, so maybe they can match his fingerprints after all.

Maplewood’s choice of a safehouse is her own home, so she brings Defoe back with her and their evening turns a little flirtatious over wine. He also sees Maplewood take off and recharge her SPYNE device, which could become a problem later.

The Germans begin attacking London again and things get dangerous fast. Thankfully, Whiteman is able to escape onto the train with Esther while giving their tail the slip, albeit barely.

Back to 2023. Barber and Hasan are neck-deep in their off-the-book investigation. They’re trying to connect the dots across 50 years and three cases. Barber remembers that Elias’ attorney worked for a company called Harker Legal which was founded by Sir Julian Harker in 1894. Furthermore, Andrew Morley’s employment records show he previously worked for Harker House. Hasan wants to check it out. Barber warns her he can’t be of much help. Since he’s chief inspector, nothing is ever “off the books” for him.

Things take a dark turn in 1941. Even though it seems like Whiteman and Esther might be in the clear, they find themselves in the company of a pleasant older woman (Greta Scacchi) who takes a liking to Esther, offering her a shawl and chocolate (noo do not take candy from strangers!).

Whiteman notices the man who has been following them is in the tunnels, guess they didn’t fully lose him after all. Whiteman asks the woman to keep an eye on Esther while he takes care of something.

Well, Esther takes an interest in the woman’s necklace and she pulls it out, revealing a very familiar locket! Yep, this woman is (heavily implied, anyway) Hillingdean’s daughter Polly, 51 years after we last saw her. Is this who has been on the other end of Whiteman’s phone calls this whole time?

Whiteman manages to kill his pursuer, who turns out to be a cop. Likely hired by his boss. He also gets stabbed during their skirmish.

Hasan goes to Julian and Agatha Harker’s house in 2023 to look around. She sees an old oil painting of Julian and plays a record that says “remember the name Iris Maplewood, she’ll take you as far as you need to go,” but Elias’ adoptive father Andrew Morley (Mark Lewis Jones) arrives home before she can finish. Still, it’s obviously the same voice from the record that played in the caravan before the bomb went off.

Hiding proves fruitless anyway because Andrew already knows Hasan is there. Andrew says this house will eventually become important to Elias, but when they brought him here he was just scared. Always scared. Who could blame him given all the crazy stuff his adoptive parents were always saying? Hasan asks why Syed killed himself. Andrew explains they had to get her to the body. To Elias. But in reality, she won’t believe anything he says until she sees for herself.

Things move quickly from flirty banter to serious conversations about free will and the new world order in 2053. Defoe thinks free will is an illusion and everything is predetermined. Then he asks about Maplewood’s augmentation and whether she believes everyone should get the option to be treated, even if they don’t want to be part of this new world.

Maplewood believes they choose to be left behind, that what they have now is far better than the world before the bomb. Suddenly, Defoe says he needs to go to the bathroom, but pauses to tell Maplewood he’s had a nice time and is really glad he met her. Uh-oh, nothing good can follow that.

And poor Whiteman. I had a feeling there was something wrong with that chocolate. It looks like Polly poisoned it. She tells Whiteman “know you are loved,” as she walks away and he’s left to find the horrible sight of a dead Esther lying on the ground.

As I expected, all hell breaks loose at Maplewood’s apartment within moments. Lorna (Philippa Dunne), her chatty neighbor, comes over looking for her cat. Within the moment’s distraction, Defoe escapes. Maplewood chases him down, but it doesn’t matter because Lorna is apparently a secret member of alleged terrorist organization Chapel Perilous working with Defoe, who has been part of the organization all along, though he claims they aren’t what Maplewood thinks. Lorna electrocutes Maplewood through her SPYNE augmentation with plans to take her back to their headquarters.

Elsewhere, Andrew Morley guides Detective Hasan into the bunker of the Harker house where they keep multiple copies of Defoe’s body floating in people-sized specimen jars. Creepy. He starts saying a bunch of cryptic stuff about how he feels bad making Elias do terrible things, but it’s all part of a role they each play to shape a better future. Then he kidnaps Hasan and throws her in a locked cellar and Bodies episode 4 ends with her crying out for help.

Annnd next episode button here we come.