Annika Season 1 Episode 6 Review
We won’t go into the hiatus after Annika Season 1 Episode 6 with any major cliffhangers, at least not exactly. All the life-or-death stakes are wrapped up within the hour. Even so, we end on a moment that could change everything about the show. But we’ll get to that.
The actual case in this episode isn’t anything especially dramatic. It acts as a vehicle to get us to the climax, which tries its very best to momentarily make us believe in the possibility of a title character being killed off a show already set for a second season.
Twelfth Night is my favorite work yet referenced in Annika’s little asides, but the crime bears no resemblance to the play except in the name of the victim, Viola. Instead, it sends us down a path of phishing schemes and betrayed wannabe lovers.
There is first a tangent with Michael’s brother, the scorned ex of the victim, but it never truly carries the weight it would if there were any chance of the man’s guilt. We’ll soon learn that the distraction is geared mostly to let us see more of Michael at season’s end.
The first real suspect is a woman stealing identifies and manipulating others in faux relationships both romantic and platonic. Annika willingly walks into the home of Lee, one of the men she tricked, wanting him to help goad her into a confession.
We learn much too late that Lee is the killer himself, manipulated into an act of rage against Viola by the phisher. Panicked, he shoves our heroine into the trunk of her own car, drives to a secluded field and, once cornered by the other detectives, pulls out a grenade.
Enter Michael—or re-enter Michael from where he’s been waylaid after the dramatics with his brother. He attempts to talk Lee down, confessing affection for Annika in doing so. It’s the first we’ve really seen in a dynamic ranging from scorn to secretly tense banter.
It also means, despite the stakes of this moment, that we must address the elephant in the room of Jake’s absence. Despite where we’ll soon wind up, this just isn’t handled well. The brief mentions of him aren’t enough. It feels like we’re missing an episode of romantic exposition.
One way or another, though, we wind up where we do. Michael’s words are effective for the few seconds we hear them, but they aren’t enough. Lee pulls the pin and blows himself and Annika’s car, seemingly with her still trapped inside, sky high.
But of course Blair and Tyrone have already pulled her to safety. The worst bit is watching Morgan hear the explosion over the phone. I should mention that it’s also her birthday. Oh, and her birthday cake gets blown up. Can you have a worse sweet sixteen than that?
Well, arguably. That depends on how feel about being on the precipice of life-changing information. Everyone gathers to recover and Michael, knowing Morgan almost lost her mother, asks if she speaks to her father. He goes over to the girl and Annika tells us that yes- she’s doing so now.
Michael is Morgan’s biological dad. Annika is the only one who knows. Maybe I’m very bad at reading signs, but this is a genuine jaw-dropper of a reveal. It makes for a heck of way to go to black and promises an epic follow-up in season 2.
There is one more question to ask, though: just how believable is this twist? Annika and Michael’s tense past has always felt more recent than one whose pivotal moment was sixteen years ago. Can we really make this all make sense? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
What did you think of this episode of Annika? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Annika airs Sundays at 10/9c on PBS.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.