Having recently finished the first season of "Traces" which I thought was watchable enough, if a little wooden - we crashed on into the second season. If anything, the dichotomy of the show was even more pronounced with this second run.
With the trial of her mother's murderer approaching, Molly (Emma Hedges) is increasingly apprehensive and Daniel (Martin Compston) is conflicted about the potential outcomes. As the trial date approaches, Dundee is rocked by a series of explosions and DCI McKinven (Michael Nardone) brings Professor Gordon (Laura Fraser) in to work on the aftermath. As his feelings for her grow, his life is made more complicated by his wife Azra (Laila Rouass) joining the case as the technology expert.
Even more so than in the first season, it struck me this time what the show is. It's "Doctors", the BBC's daytime soapy drama, just with a darker case at its heart. You have all the business about the love between Sarah Gordon and McKinven - and the effect that will have on their marriages. Professor Torrance has a B-Story that runs the length of the season, regarding an argument with the dean of the university that becomes a vendetta. Once the court case is completed, Emma and Daniel are immediately written out of the story, presumably never to return - again, like it's a soap opera and the characters contracts are up.
But also this soapy nonsense is up against a bombing spree that is rocking the city, that (without giving too much away) is linked to an incel terrorism group with a storyline ripped from the headlines, but then has to work quite hard to explain some of the terms of this community to an audience that would be unfamiliar. The performances, generally a bit shaky in the first season, were, for me, even less convincing here. With the love triangle being a particularly badly done aspect of the show, almost like none of the three actors involved were convinced by it either.
All that said, I would still probably come back and watch a third season, if one was made, as I'm reasonably invested in who these people are now, even if they aren't wholly convincing.