The last we saw of Ellis (Sharon D Clarke) and Harper (Andrew Gower) on our screens, they were enjoying a bottle of Jamaican white rum in a small town pub. After an awkward first encounter in Ellis's first episode, the pair went on to reach a genuine working rhythm and by the end of the three-parter, the walls had clearly come down a little bit for them both.
Now, we're thankfully back for season 2 and as well as the cases in Ellis remaining gritty and complex, the dynamic between Ellis and Harper continues to be a major draw of this loveable show.
It's not exactly reinventing the detective drama wheel to have two leads who seem like complete opposites on paper, have to navigate a stage of awkwardness and eventually, start swapping smiles instead of quips. While not always to that degree, we've certainly seen that dynamic play out in shows like True Detective, Unforgotten, McDonald & Dodds and even, more recently, Lynley.
That push-pull in any relationship dynamic is always interesting to see magnified on screen and with Ellis and Harper's union, it started off in a place that many fans didn't really think would grow to be genuine friendship. Waiting in the lobby for Harper to only then see him think that the other white woman in the waiting area was Ellis was the kind of painful moment that deserved to be shown, visualising the kinds of micro-aggressions that Black women often face in the workplace.
But with plenty of apology, well-meaning attitude and a similar dedication to the jobs at hand, any initial discomfort was eased over the course of the first series.
I, for one, couldn't have quite imagined that now we'd be at the point where they'd be gently ribbing one another about The Godfather while driving to crime scenes, Harper would take such a vested interest in Ellis's daughter Grace or even that he'd be stepping up in order to allow Ellis to take a moment of respite. But hey, here we are – and it's a lovely thing to see.
This season of Ellis sees the pair continue to navigate their way through various UK towns, with the first couple of episodes centring on the murder of a local businessmen and philanthropist, who was quite the local figure and whose death garners leaps of attention. The second batch of episodes takes us to the village of Elmsly where a university student is found dead, crushed by scaffolding at a local construction firm.
Once again, the series deals with some intricate themes such as migration, criminal reform and corruption being just a few of the wider conversations that Ellis gets into.
However, you do need that light with any darkness and at the end of the tunnel of these knotty episodes (which can often be full of less-than-pleasant criminal subject matter), the shining beacon remains to be our series leads.
While the show continues to lean into the serious-comedic dynamic we have flourishing between Ellis and Harper, this is still very much a series that's focussed on Ellis. To have a detective drama led by a Black woman shouldn't be such a rare sight on TV these days but unfortunately, it is. And for that reason, there's no understating just how important it is that Ellis had a stellar first run of episodes, got picked up for another season and is back on our screens for more.
In a testy TV landscape where some value tried-and-tested formats, it's a breath of fresh air to see Ellis continue and for the main character to forge ahead as her unashamed self. In a similar way in season 2, we also see Harper come more into his own.
It's clear that the DS really looks up to Ellis and admires her work – he wouldn't have upended his career to go and follow her around the country otherwise. There's something really rather sweet seeing their intergenerational dynamic, with Harper also seemingly understanding the patois that Ellis regularly uses.
In the space between when we've seen them last to now, it's clear that they've continued to forge ahead in their professional partnership and friendship. Perhaps some would've liked to see that smooth itself out within the episodes, but I appreciate the offscreen shorthand that the pair have formed.
At the end of the day, this season underlines that they're both there to do their jobs, with policing at the centre of their worlds. It's always nice to have a laugh and a joke with a colleague too though and here, we have the kind of pairing that makes Ellis not just a gripping cop show, but also a drama that clearly has a lot of heart in it too.
Ellis season 2 begins on Tuesday 10 March and Wednesday 11 March at 9pm on 5.
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