ITV’s new three-part drama continued for a second night with plot twists that left viewers reeling.
In the first episode of Trauma that aired on Monday night, a father was struggling to deal with the grief of losing his son who had been stabbed and later died on the operating table.
Dan Bowker (John Simm) had become fixated over surgeon Jon Allerton (Adrian Lester) who worked to save his dying son, blaming the medic for the death.
As the second episode reached its climax, Dan’s mental state deteriorated further, turning up on the doorstep of Jon’s home with a knife in his bag after sending a deluge of threatening emails and messages to the surgeon and his wife.
Grieving father Dan Bowker, played by John Sim, escalated his plan to destroy Jon Allerton’s life by arriving armed with a knife at his home where his daughter was alone
Dan had become fixated on Jon and had begun to pick apart his life trying to blame him for the death of his son Alex who had been stabbed
Jon, played by Adrian Lester, was the victim of harassment at the hands of Dan who had picked apart his life
Viewers were left divided over the thrilling drama, with some saying the plot was ‘ridiculous’ while others thought it was gripping TV
Dan began to pick apart Jon’s life, starting work at the coffee shop in his hospital and booking a therapy session with his psychiatrist wife, resulting in an unnerving scene.
Jon’s daughter was home alone when she answered the door to Dan, armed with the bag carrying his knife.
However the show’s divisive plot has concerned viewers who once again insisted it was far from realistic, nearing ‘ridiculous and totally implausible’.
One said of the second episode: ‘This drama Trauma is losing me. Why the doctor? Not sure I can stick with it. Sorry ITV.’
‘ITV Trauma not really feeling this the fathers obsession is unrealistic as are him showing up everywhere,’ added another.
One person offered their own opinion of the storyline: ‘Getting a little bit ridiculous, a little bit unbelievable…’
Other viewers were reeling in shock at the ending of the second episode, praising the show for it’s tense scenes
The father had even made an appointment with the surgeon’s wife, a psychiatrist, under the guise of losing a son to cancer. But she was left frightened when he began acting strangely
Dan had spotted Jon in what he made out to be a compromising position, sending the pictures to Jon’s wife with the message ‘your husband is cheating on you’
But others thought the gripping piece of TV was well acted, and were looking forward to the conclusion which airs on Wednesday night.
‘Love this programme Trauma on ITV. Such a difficult situation,’ said one person of the tense scenes.
‘Trauma is such a good drama. How script writers produce such amazing content is something that has always astounded me,’ said another impressed viewer.
Jon had had a particularly stressful day at work and was comforted by a nurse outside, which was captured by Dan
Dan scrawled the word ‘killer’ on Jon’s staff board photo after getting fired from the hospital cafe
Dan asked his wife to dress in the exact same outfit as Jon’s psychiatrist wife but their night of romance didn’t go as planned
Those tuned in at home said they were on the edge of their seats as the drama came to a dramatic finish in the penultimate episode
The duo continued their face-off with Dan complaining that Jon had an easier life because he was a successful doctor, meanwhile he lost his job at the cafe.
He told Jon’s wife in therapy that he found her sexually attractive in a particularly nail-bitingly awkward moment, before she was left in a panic when she thought he was about to pull a gun out of his pocket.
Angry and drunk he went and purchased an exact copy of the expensive dress she had been wearing and demanded his wife put it on so they could have sex, but unable to perform he lost his cool and was sent to sleep on the couch.
Dan then escalated his plan to destroy Jon’s family by sending a photo of the surgeon being comforted by a nurse during a particularly stressful day at work.
Jon’s daughter, who was home alone, was placed in danger when Dan who had been seen packing a knife in the previous scene, turned up on his doorstep leading viewers to assume her life was on the line.
Trauma concludes tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 9pm on ITV