Under Salt Marsh Review: A Clever and Gripping Welsh Crime Drama
Under Salt Marsh, the new six-part crime drama on Sky Atlantic, delivers a thrilling and psychologically astute viewing experience that constantly pulls the rug out from under its audience. Set in the fictional Welsh town of Morfa Halen, this carefully plotted tale explores the investigation into a young boy's death while weaving a thoughtful meditation on isolation and community.
Atmospheric Setting and Compelling Characters
The drama creates an overwhelming sense of grimness with its setting alongside treacherously boggy lands under lowering skies. The fictional town sits just above rising sea levels, with a huge storm approaching and emergency evacuation warnings being readied. This atmospheric backdrop serves as a conservation area for the pathetic fallacy, with actual and metaphorical gloom permeating every scene.
Kelly Reilly delivers a powerful performance as local primary school teacher Jackie Ellis, already burdened by the disappearance of her nine-year-old niece Nessa three years earlier. Her world is further shattered when she discovers the body of one of her pupils, Cefin, in a drainage ditch while walking home across the marshes one night.
Complex Relationships and Subverted Expectations
When detective Eric Bull, portrayed with compelling intensity by Rafe Spall, arrives to investigate the boy's death, immediate hostility reveals a fraught history between the two characters. However, the series excels at subverting expectations, with the precise nature of their relationship differing from what audiences might anticipate.
The drama poses profound questions about community and independence, exploring whether the hardy, self-reliant qualities born of environment and isolation serve people equally well under extreme circumstances – whether meteorological or emotional.
Carefully Plotted Investigation
Creator Claire Oakley parcels out her plot with meticulous care, though some viewers might find the pace slightly slow unless they have an inexhaustible appetite for brooding shots of liminal flatlands and distant mountains. Clues, questions, and suspects accumulate steadily throughout the narrative.
A missing pair of blue wellies, a partial handprint in the mud, and a saltwater/freshwater differential suggest the boy did not die in the ditch but was moved there from elsewhere. This revelation points toward another party's involvement and the possibility that it could shed light on Nessa's fate as well.
Community Secrets and Personal Lives
The investigation leads to various intriguing characters, including the local landlady's unstable son Osian, played by Julian Lewis Jones, who believes the town is being poisoned. A significant breakthrough comes when Jackie discovers that both Nessa and Cefin drew pictures of what appears to be an astronaut before their disappearances.
This clue directs attention toward the people living "in unison with the Earth" on nearby Spider Island, particularly their resident apiarist Kieran, who was previously interviewed as a possible suspect in Nessa's disappearance. Jackie's knowledge of her hometown reveals painful truths that prove more devastating to Cefin's father than the arrest of his son's killer would have been.
Psychological Depth and Narrative Complexity
One of the series' great strengths lies in its teasing out of the inevitable connections, crosscurrents, and secrets that bind a community but can also fracture it under pressure. The personal lives of the main characters add further layers of complexity, with Bull keeping important secrets and Jackie's casual assignations with James's uncle Dylan potentially becoming more serious than either anticipates.
Jonathan Pryce makes a notable appearance as the dead boy's grandfather, Solomon, whose role promises to expand beyond his initial scenes of unleashing sheep at town hall meetings and leading shoreline hymns to commemorate his grandson.
Compelling Television with Room for Development
With only two episodes available for review, viewers can look forward to a compelling, psychologically astute thriller that manages to weave thoughtful meditations on the ramifications of isolation and suffering throughout its narrative. While the pace may test some viewers' patience, the atmospheric setting, complex characters, and clever plotting make Under Salt Marsh a worthy addition to the crime drama genre.
The series demonstrates how landscape can profoundly affect people, creating a rich tapestry of grief, suspicion, and community dynamics that will keep audiences engaged throughout its six-episode run on Sky Atlantic and Now.
