Summary
Another local goes missing while Nina drops a bombshell on Trela, and flashbacks continue to dole out context.
This recap of Signs season 2, episode 2 contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
The second episode of Signs‘ second season opens with footage of an experiment that is, basically, torture. Fake torture, anyway, conducted at the behest of a smug lecturer to make a point about not having to actually be evil in order to do evil. This is apparently the reason for what happened in Nazi Germany. One of his students, Eliza, leaves the lecture midway through, claiming that he’s skewing the results to make a point. He thinks the vast majority of people are submissive, and that indeed Eliza herself would submit to him under the right circumstances. She thinks not. We know otherwise.
Full disclosure: Eliza and the Professor are the couple from the first episode whose kid goes missing — throughout the entire second season I didn’t once catch this dude’s name, so I’m just going to refer to him as the Professor. Correct me if you know it and I’ll probably amend it, although I think calling him the Professor makes him sound a lot more enigmatic than the show actually makes him.
Anyway, Nina, how having been rescued, is at the precinct being tended to by Ada. Sobczyk arrives and doesn’t look as shocked as you’d expect, but Nina also isn’t saying anything to incriminate him, for some reason. As it happens she isn’t saying anything at all, but she’s very nervous when he approaches her and says it’s nice to see her. I’ll bet! Ada sends Sobczyk to pick up Trela; he’s concerned about Nina not speaking, which isn’t surprising given what she might say.
Zofia, meanwhile, is having a great time with the little girl she has kidnapped.
The next we see of 2014, Eliza is riding the Professor and admiring his models of experimental Nazi aircraft — not a euphemism, unfortunately — so I guess that whole refusal to be submissive to him thing didn’t hold much water. At this point, it’s hard to tell if Eliza’s interest is really in the Professor or his collection of news clippings about secret Nazi projects.
After an examination, the doctor cautions Trela not to interrogate Nina — not that she can say anything anyway, even if she’s otherwise fine, physically, and thankfully hasn’t been raped. She’s also still cognizant of her relationship with Trela; when he begins to lose it she comforts him, suggesting she hasn’t had a full psychological break or anything of that sort.
While Agata sells drugs at school, her father is dismayed that Zofia is chilling with a kidnapped child. Ada looks into it, and while there have been no reports of missing children, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that this isn’t the reincarnation of Zofia’s dead daughter, so Ada takes them back to the precinct. Zofia makes her promise they’ll be back home in the evening, but that seems unlikely, doesn’t it?
Trela, obviously believing he needs to fix up and stop passing out in doorways now Nina is back, gets an implant that’ll make any consumption of alcohol “uncomfortable” for him. And this is genuinely the end of his alcoholism for the rest of the season, apart from a really brief scene right after when he tries to read Nina a book and his hands are trembling.
With that plotline having been dealt with, Ada goes looking for Pawel, who has been flogging stuff he found in Eliza and the Professor’s car. She finds his house empty, seemingly abandoned, which means that his daughter, Kasia, is also missing. This will form a pretty substantial plot throughout the season.
Back at the precinct, once Zofia falls asleep Sobczyk takes the kid — her name is Wiktoria — to social services. After, Zofia thanks him, saying that at least for a while it was as it used to be, and she’s scared. You don’t say.
Along with Trela, who tells her that Nina’s aphonia is probably from damaging her vocal cords by screaming for help constantly, Ada is able to find Pawel. He’s strung out and has no idea where Kasia is. Agata, meanwhile, goes to see Nina, mostly to moan about her current status as a caregiver for Antoni, and the two never interact again for the remainder of the season.
Anyway, Pawel takes Trela and Ada into the woods where he found the abandoned car. He’s not much help — he even tries to run off but is so drunk he collapses. They speculate that whoever took Nina might have also taken Kasia. It’s shortly after this when Trela learns who that is. Sobczyk has the house bugged, but Nina takes him outside to tell him — her throat’s okay, I guess — that the officer is responsible.
In a final shot, we learn that Zofia, having bought the dashcam from Pawel, has whatever important footage it contains.
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