Summary
After Christmas alone, Maja realises that she could be facing a long time inside. She agrees to take part in a reconstruction of the shooting and we start to understand more about what might have happened in that classroom.
This Quicksand Episode 4 recap for the episode titled “The Reconstruction” contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
We are in the interrogation room again and learn that 7 months have now passed since Maja was arrested. She is welcome to go with the prosecution to the scene of the crime for a reconstruction of the incident. She says she does not want to.
In conversation with her lawyer, she learns that she might get 14 years in prison. If she does attend the reconstruction she may remember more of what happened. The lawyer does not think it’s a good idea; he draws the meeting to a close and wishes Maja a Merry Christmas.
We flashback to a classroom; the teacher is handing out marked papers. ‘Where is Sebastian? Off sick.’ Amanda asks Maja if she plans to take Sebastian’s test paper to him, it’s important that he gets it apparently. Her teacher expresses some concern for Maja’s wellbeing (it’s about time an adult somewhere did!). Maja pulls Samir into an empty classroom for a smooch. This is not going to end well, surely?
Maja goes to Sebastian’s. He’s making cocktails and seems on edge. He wants Maja to come to South Africa with him and then he acts like a dick.
We’re back at the jail and Maja makes eye contact with another inmate, an older woman. She wonders to the prison officer what ‘Doris’ did to get here. Maja is shown to a room where she finds Christmas presents from her mum. It is going to be a tough Christmas in prison for Maja.
Maja’s family take off to London, leaving her with the house to herself. Who’s at the door? It’s Samir of course! Maja and Samir play house and laugh about chopping vegetables. It is only a matter of time before Sebastian ruins the moment, surely? Right on cue, Maja receives a picture from Sebastian holding a gun (we get it okay? he really likes guns…). Maja invites Samir to stay the night. In the morning, Samir ends things, he has clearly worked out that Maja has not actually ended her relationship with Sebastian yet. As he is leaving he runs into Amanda. Amanda and Maja have an argument and Maja tells her friend to get lost. Maja bites the bullet and calls Sebastian in South Africa and breaks up with him. He takes it surprisingly well, but this won’t be the last we hear about it.
Back at the prison, Maja notices that ‘Doris’ is not there as usual, and visibly shaken she calls her lawyer and tells him that she will take part in the reconstruction after all. Presumably, she has worked out that unless she does something she will end up spending many Christmases alone in prison.
Maja is loaded into the back of a car and taken to the crime scene reconstruction. There are various people there, including police, the prosecutor and people filming. Maja takes them through the events of the shooting. This sequence is intercut with flashbacks from the actual shooting which effectively injects some urgency into the narrative. Maja stumbles over a few of the details once she gets into the classroom, but we finally start to understand what happened in that classroom. Whilst describing the events, Maja breaks down and says, “I shot them, I shot them”.
Maja’s lawyer comes and talks to her to explain that the investigation is now over, the next step is a trial. It is not looking good for Maja.
The final flashback is to Maja’s little sister’s 7th birthday party with her happy family. Maja’s phone rings, she takes the call. Samir wants to get together, he’s such a nice boy. I really hope nothing bad happens to him. Maja and her sister are playing outside, Maja’s mother comes to find them, something has happened to Sebastian, he’s in the hospital. Maja rushes to visit him.
For the first time in the series, the most interesting plot developments come from the present-day sequences where we finally get a better understanding of the incident itself. Pace wise, this episode picks up from Episode 3 but is still a little on the saggy side. As we move to the final two episodes you imagine that we might start to get a little more drama and a little exposition. I am also worried that Samir’s days are numbered.
