Vigil episode 2: Theories and questions about Jade, the USB and larger conspiracies

What happened to Jade and is it linked to Burke? Revelations continue in nail-biting submarine drama

Vigil has aired its second episode – and viewers already have plenty of theories as to what is going on.

The new BBC One detective drama stars Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Martin Compston and Paterson Joseph and is set on the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vigil.

The six-part series is made by World Productions, the same company responsible for Line of Duty and Bodyguard and so far it has lived up to their reputation for giving viewers surprising twists and turns.

***Spoilers for episodes one and two of Vigil below***

After sailor Craig Burke (Compston) is found dead on board the submarine, DCI Amy Silva (Jones) is flown in and air-lifted down to investigate.

By episode two – which aired last night (30 August) – Silva’s suspicions are confirmed: Burke did not die from a heroin overdose as was initially thought to be the case.

Commander Mark Prentice (Adam James) confesses to placing heroin on Burke’s body after discovering him dead in his bunk. Prentice had believed that he was responsible due to an earlier physical altercation he had with Burke during which he hit him, supposedly causing Burke to later die from his injuries.

Suspecting that he had accidentally killed Burke, Prentice tells Silva that he placed the heroin in Burke’s nose to make it look like an overdose.

(BBC/World Productions)

Despite some revelations coming to light during yesterday’s episode (30 August), viewers have far more questions that need answering.

Who killed Burke?

While all signs – including a confession – point to Prentice as the prime suspect, Silva is not so sure.

Towards the end of the episode, Silva questions whether Burke may have, in fact, been poisoned instead.

Astute viewers noticed that her revelation came shortly after discovering a strange stain on Burke’s fleece. Reports of people stating that Burke appeared disoriented in his final hours also point to a possible poisoning.

With Engineer Adams (Tom Gill) – who had given Burke CPR – suffering from blurred vision and flu-like symptoms, Silva may be able to get some answers by running medical tests on him.

With a poisoning on the cards, it now appears that the plot to kill Burke was a lot more sophisticated than a punch-up gone awry. It is likely linked to the videos that Burke was planning on releasing, potentially containing secrets about the Navy and HMS Vigil.

(BBC/World Productions)

What is on the USB?

After DI Longacre (Leslie) discovers a USB hidden in Burke’s room, it is revealed that its contents were intended for Jade whom the audiences know to be an active protester against the Navy’s operations.

This suggests that Burke was acting as something of a whistleblower, which coincides with the tone of the videos that Longacre was able to watch, in which Burke is talking to camera and warning viewers of the Navy’s secrecy.

Now that Jade has given Longacre the password for the USB’s private folders, it won’t be long until we find out the extent of what Burke was prepared to share with the world – and also likely what got him killed.

What happened to Jade?

After revealing to Longacre that she had been dating Burke, Jade continues to be a useful person in the investigation into his death.

At the end of yesterday’s episode, Jade arranges to meet a mystery person who says they have information about Burke’s murder.

We then see her waiting nervously beneath a street lamp before she calls Longacre apparently worried that she may be in danger.

(BBC/World Productions)

With Longacre en route to meet her, she receives a text message from Jade reading “purity”, which turns out to be the password to unlock the private folders on the USB stick found in Burke’s room.

With a growing sense of dread, however, Longacre arrives to discover Jade is nowhere to be found on the road. Soon, she finds her body face-down in the water.

Many signs point to a conspiracy theory, with both Jade and Burke perhaps being killed after getting too close to discovering and revealing the truth – whatever that may be.

The Navy’s policy of secrecy, trust and insularity has already become a known fact in the series, which aligns with the theory that both Jade’s and Burke’s murders are part of a larger cover-up. How high up the conspiracy goes, though, is yet to be revealed.

Who is following HMS Vigil?

With all the action unravelling aboard the boat and on land, it is easy to forget that there is a larger mystery playing out too.

The opening scene of the series showed that a trawler was sunk as a result of a collision with a second submarine that was trailing close behind HMS Vigil.

(BBC/World Productions)

As explained by Captain Newsome (Joseph), if the second submarine was an enemy boat then it would have grave consequences for the security of both those aboard HMS Vigil and the UK as a whole.

The question is raised as to whether this threat of an enemy ship is the reason why, as has been suggested, the Navy is so reluctant to help the police in their murder inquiry or whether something else is going on.

Also, although the crew managed to safely restart the reactors following an emergency shutdown in yesterday’s episode, they are still in the dark as to what caused it in the first place. Could it be related to the enemy ship? Could it be linked to the potential poisoning? Or is it another red herring in a show likely to be full of them?

Vigil continues on Monday on BBC One at 9pm.