Catherine reasserts control after public humiliation
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Catherine recounts a story involving her taser training and a baseball bat, using HP sauce on her food while speaking. This serves as a means to further cement the reality of her complex and assertive character.
P.C. Gorkem Tekeli makes a suggestive joke about Catherine's taser incident, causing discomfort and embarrassment among the other officers. This also alerts Catherine that her colleagues know she is a person of interest in an investigation.
Catherine reprimands Gorkem for his inappropriate joke and orders him to inspect the patrol vehicles. She then asks Ann to come to her office, displaying her authority and addressing the situation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Initially amused and mocking, then embarrassed and resentful at being publicly reprimanded.
Gorkem makes a crude joke about Catherine’s 'bottle' (HP sauce) and Ann’s legs, assuming it will be taken as harmless banter. When Catherine’s reprimand reveals she is serious, he is visibly embarrassed, mumbling an apology as he leaves to perform menial tasks. His body language (slumped shoulders, averted gaze) and dialogue ('It were only a joke') betray his realization that he has overstepped, and his resentment at being publicly humiliated.
- • Deflect attention from Catherine’s vulnerability with humor
- • Avoid further humiliation by complying with her orders
- • His joke was harmless and within the bounds of workplace banter
- • Catherine’s reaction is disproportionate, revealing her insecurity
Uneasy and tense, aware of Catherine’s vulnerability but committed to supporting her leadership.
Ann silently reacts to Gorkem’s joke, her stoic expression betraying her unease. When Catherine summons her to the office, she complies without resistance, her body language (tense posture, averted gaze) suggesting she is aware of the precariousness of Catherine’s position. Her silence and compliance indicate her loyalty, but also her awareness of the team’s scrutiny and the need to navigate the power dynamics carefully.
- • Support Catherine without openly challenging the team’s perceptions
- • Avoid becoming a target of Catherine’s frustration or the team’s scrutiny
- • Catherine’s authority is being tested, and her support is critical
- • The team’s unease reflects broader institutional distrust of Catherine
Feigned confidence masking deep anxiety; righteously indignant at the challenge to her authority, but acutely aware of her precarious position as a suspect.
Catherine is mid-anecdote about tasering a suspect, using dark humor to project unshakable authority. When Gorkem’s joke exposes her as a target of workplace scrutiny, she swiftly pivots from amused to controlled anger. She publicly humiliates Gorkem with a sarcastic dressing-down, sending him on menial tasks, then isolates Ann for a private reckoning. Her body language (leaning forward, voice sharp) and dialogue (mocking, authoritative) reassert dominance, but her clenched jaw and tense posture betray her underlying vulnerability.
- • Reassert dominance over the team to counter the perception of weakness
- • Isolate Ann to privately assess her loyalty and extract information about the team’s sentiments
- • Her authority is fragile and must be defended at all costs
- • Ann’s compliance is critical to maintaining control over the team’s perceptions
Disapproving and tense, aware of the underlying scrutiny of Catherine’s authority.
Joyce murmurs a dark comment about Gorkem’s joke being inappropriate, her disapproval directed at both Gorkem and the team’s reaction. Her role as the station’s front desk officer positions her as an observer of the team’s dynamics, and her murmured critique underscores the tension in the room. She does not intervene further, but her disapproval signals her awareness of the power play unfolding.
- • Signal her disapproval of inappropriate behavior without directly challenging Catherine
- • Maintain her role as an observer of the team’s dynamics
- • Gorkem’s joke was out of line and reflective of the team’s unease
- • Catherine’s authority is fragile and must be defended
Awkward and tense, with a mix of amusement at Gorkem’s expense and relief that Catherine has reasserted control.
The Norland Road Constables react with mixed responses to Gorkem’s joke—some snigger briefly, but most fall silent and look embarrassed. When Catherine reprimands Gorkem, they jeer at him, their laughter tinged with relief that the tension has been broken by her authority. Their collective unease underscores the room’s awareness of Catherine’s status as a murder suspect, and their compliance with her reprimand signals their deference to her leadership, despite the underlying scrutiny.
- • Avoid openly challenging Catherine’s authority
- • Maintain team cohesion amid internal tensions
- • Catherine’s leadership is essential to the team’s stability, despite her personal troubles
- • Gorkem’s joke was inappropriate but reflects the team’s underlying unease
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The baseball bat is referenced in Catherine’s anecdote about tasering the suspect, serving as a symbolic reminder of the violence and danger she faces in her work. While not physically present in the report room, its mention reinforces the stakes of her taser incident and the brutality of the situation she defused. The bat’s absence highlights the contrast between the report room’s tense verbal power play and the physical confrontations Catherine encounters in the field.
The HP sauce bottle is a symbolic prop that catalyzes the power struggle in the report room. Catherine is using it to add sauce to her bacon butty when Gorkem’s joke—'Ey careful Ann! Sarg’s got a bottle in her hand, keep yer legs together!'—twists its mundane function into a sexualized double entendre. The bottle becomes a metaphor for Catherine’s perceived vulnerability (as a 'bottle' of emotions) and the team’s scrutiny of her authority. Its presence underscores the tension between casual workplace banter and the seriousness of Catherine’s situation as a murder suspect.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Catherine’s office is the secondary setting where the private reckoning with Ann takes place, offering a confined space for Catherine to isolate Ann and privately assess her loyalty. The office’s functional role as a workspace for Catherine is subverted here, becoming a chamber for strategic intimidation. The atmosphere is quieter and more intimate than the report room, allowing Catherine to drop the pretense of dark humor and focus on extracting information from Ann. The office’s symbolic significance lies in its representation of Catherine’s authority—her ability to retreat from the team’s scrutiny and exert control in a more controlled environment.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Catherine reprimands Gorkem for the inappropriate joke about the taser incident, which inturn leads to Catherine informing Ann that Tommy Lee Royce will be temporarily released."
Key Dialogue
"CATHERINE: Obviously I was trying to shoot him in the leg, not in the family jewels. But. You know. If you’re gonna wave a baseball bat around in front of a woman who’s just completed her taser training, you’re asking for a bit of excitement."
"GORKEM: Ey careful Ann! Sarg’s got a bottle in her hand, keep yer legs together!"
"CATHERINE: Mr. Tekeli! Perhaps you’d like to take yourself outside and check the oil and water in all the patrol vehicles. Oh sorry, were you in the middle of your dinner? Bad luck. Perhaps you’d like to clean your mouth out while you’re down there."