Last week on Van Der Valk, we started investigating the death of a young freerunning champion who got himself involved in some shady, as yet unidentified business to save his girlfriend, who herself got kidnapped from the hospital at the end of the hour. We also met our two new team members, Citra and Eddie, and watched our hero completely lose it when confronted with his doctor ex Lena. What’s on tap this week?
Well, first we have to regroup and deal with the fact that Hassell’s got a bunch of window glass in her arm. Luckily, they’re at a hospital, so we can combine stitching up the wound with Hassell giving Lena a well-earned talking to. We also find out that Lena didn’t end up getting married after all, so… that’s something? IDK, reader, I never really got the appeal but maybe Euro Cash will be pleased. While that’s happening, the kids confirm that Marian is MIA and begin analyzing the bullets found outside the hospital.
Next up? Drinks. Only kidding: the squad is just finally going to that bar where they work so they can reunite with the unsung detective heroes of this show, bar owner Cliff, aka Cliff Bar and Scruffy Regular Frank. Eddie makes introductions for Citra, who tries to order a truly unhinged coffee drink but gracefully settles for a regular drink instead. Meanwhile, Euro Cash heads over to Lenny’s digs to question Lenny’s brother, Gert, the only crew member who doesn’t do freerunning. Gert says he’s sure Lenny wouldn’t kill anyone, but Euro Cash obviously has doubts: about Lenny, and about the rest of the crew.
Hassell and Euro Cash track the bullets to a gun that was purchased at a nearby shooting range. A shooting range, it turns out, where Hassell is a regular. While she gets a free drink and pals around with the owner, Euro Cash looks deeply uncomfortable, which TBH is my favorite type of scene on this show. Annoyed, our hero asks for the ledgers so he can look over the list of buyers, which, surprise surprise, includes Lenny and Finn.
At the same time, Citra uncovers the video of Caspar and Milton from the start of last week’s episode: the one where Caspar climbs up a shipping container and then jumps to another one. Nobody can figure out the significance of this, except that Caspar looks unhappy. While Citra and Eddie try to figure out the exact location of the footage (the port is low key huge), Euro Cash and Hassell question Milton. Euro Cash’s theory is that Caspar was essentially planning a route for someone else, who would then climb the shipping container and retrieve drugs or some other dodgy thing. Milton, however, refuses to confirm this theory: to protect Marian, and because he’s afraid he’ll be killed.
With a little help from Scruffy Regular Frank, Citra identifies the location of the shipping container, and Eddie spots a man with a limp in the CCTV footage from the shooting: a limp a lot like Lenny’s. Later that night, as Euro Cash and Hassell stake out the shipping container, Euro Cash wonders something important: if Lenny’s as bad as they think he is, why didn’t he just quietly kill Caspar and make it look like an accident? Our two pairs also use the stakeout as a chance for heart to hearts: in the second car, Citra asks why Eddie’s with this crew. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but claims no one else will take him, which is notable. Eddie also tries to ask Citra about herself, and when she asks if he’s flirting, he denies it just WAY too much. Back in the other spot, Hassell tells Euro Cash she’s done meddling in his love life and she believes he can take care of himself now, post Lena (I doubt it, on both counts, but I like the confidence). He correctly deduced that Lena didn’t actually get married, but doesn’t seem keen to act on that information, but time will tell. In the kid car, there’s a refreshing conversation about pronouns and identity (which frustratingly does not end with either person confirming their pronouns, so I’m continuing to use what I have been but will correct if we get clarification). This is interrupted by a bunch of freerunners traversing the shipping containers our pals are surveilling. The gang successfully jumps up to the container, opens it, and starts to unload the goods before our squad calls in the cavalry and the gang is surrounded.
We did it, right? Well, not totally: Lenny wasn’t there to be arrested, because he was at home injecting drugs. And then, apparently, being killed: when Euro Cash and Hassell roll up to arrest him, they find him on the floor, dead, with Gert sobbing over his body. Drunkie Howser confirms that Lenny was shot multiple times within the last few hours. Gert tells Euro Cash that Lenny’s death is the cops’ fault: whoever Lenny was selling the drugs to would have gotten angry over the bust and come for revenge. Does Gert know anything about said dealers? No. Or so he claims. Hassell and Euro Cash talk it all over, and despite this all making some sense, Euro Cash still isn’t convinced. He heads off to talk to Sanne, while Hassell talks to Finn, who insists he had no idea Lenny was dead, which Hassell obviously doesn't believe.
Euro Cash tells Sanne he needs to know what Milton’s hiding, and she again says she has no idea. She also tells him that Marian would refuse to talk about her time with Lenny, but Sanne did gather that Marian had a soft spot for Gert. Neither Caspar or Milton were into drugs, but Marian used to be. With that info in hand, plus Lenny’s death, Citra and Eddie question Milton again, and he finally talks. Marian had fallen for Lenny’s good guy act, which was indeed an act. Marian had been a mule for Lenny, and the deal was that he’d let her go if Caspar got footage showing how to get into the shipment. Lenny, obviously, reneged. Milton tried to warn them, but he was too late.
Back at Lenny’s place, something at the scene isn’t right by Drunkie Howser, so he doubles back for a second look. Next stop? The shooting club, where he talks to Hassell’s friend, the owner, about inconsistencies with Lenny’s shooting: a handgun bullet can’t have gone through Lenny’s head and into a wall, so the shooting must have been staged. But why? Well, to cover up the real crime scene out behind Lenny’s place, which is where Marian was being held… in Gert’s gaming room. Lenny discovered Marian being held captive, and was killed by his own brother, who also tried to frame him for Caspar’s murder by faking a limp for the cameras earlier. They conclude that Gert will have taken Marian to the vigil for Caspar, and speed off there to try and help her.
On the outskirts of the vigil, Marian asks Gert why he’s doing this. As Euro Cash and the crew guessed, Gert was under the mistaken impression that he and Marian had been an item, and her leaving for Paris with Caspar had been his tipping point. Shaking, he readies his gun, pulls her out of the car, and drags her towards the vigil. Meanwhile, our squad approaches from the other side, finally catching sight of Marian on the bridge above the vigil, where Gert has forced her over the guardrail so that they can “be together” in death. Before Gert can jump, the goth besties approach and try to talk him down. First attempt? Getting Marian to lie about her feelings, which she picks up on and attempts, but unfortunately it isn’t quite enough. Second option? Euro Cash says, while holding down his radio button, that he’ll deploy his team of sharpshooters. Eddie correctly deduces that this message is for him, and prepares to fire on Gert if necessary. Unfortunately, it does turn out to be necessary. Eddie takes the shot, and they haul Marian and Gert over the railing.
Case solved, everyone returns to the station so Eddie can crush Euro Cash at chess, and so Citra can leave early. Euro Cash very awkwardly tells her they’re always there for her if she wants to join the team, which is actually kind of sweet, but also technically unnecessary: Citra was leaving early to have a drink with Big Cheese and Scruffy Regular Frank! With our new team cemented, that’s a wrap on our first case of the season. What will next week bring? We’ll just have to wait and see!
