Vigil Season 1

Okay, let’s talk about Vigil.

If you skipped Season 1, you missed an intense, pulse-pounding show that keeps you on edge, not relaxing TV. It’s the kind where you realize your shoulders are tense and you haven’t exhaled in minutes. That’s the point. Here's my recap and review.

The series opens with the suspicious death of a crewman aboard HMS Vigil, a nuclear submarine operating as part of Britain’s Continuous At-Sea Deterrent. The Navy says overdose.

The Scottish police say… not so fast.

So DCI Amy Silva gets airlifted onto the submarine and from that moment on, the show metaphorically (and emotionally) locks the hatch behind her. She’s hundreds of feet underwater with a crew that does not want her there. Every hallway feels narrower. Every glance feels loaded.

It’s a murder investigation where no one can leave.

Suranne Jones plays Amy Silva with this constant undercurrent of tension. She’s smart and relentless, but she’s also carrying unresolved trauma from a past car accident that nearly shattered her life. Being sealed inside a submarine isn’t exactly helping.

What makes Amy work is that she doesn’t feel superhuman. She panics. She questions herself. She struggles. But she keeps pushing forward.

That vulnerability makes the stakes feel personal, not just political.

Back on land, DI Kirsten Longacre — played by Rose Leslie — works the case from the surface. And here’s where Vigil quietly becomes something more than a conspiracy thriller.

Amy and Kirsten aren’t just colleagues. They’re exes.

Their history unfolds through flashbacks and emotionally loaded conversations, and the ocean separating them mirrors the emotional distance they’ve been trying to navigate. The chemistry between them gives the show warmth in the middle of all that steel and silence.

Without that relationship, this could’ve been cold and procedural. Instead, it feels human.

As the investigation deepens, it becomes clear the dead crewman was about to expose a serious safety breach — one that carries global consequences. Soon the story widens into foreign interference and sabotage, and yes… a traitor hiding in plain sight.

The shift from murder mystery to geopolitical thriller in the final act is a little abrupt. The reveal comes quickly after such a careful buildup. But the tension? Still sky-high.

And that torpedo tube sequence? I was fully stressed.

The submarine setting isn’t just a backdrop — it’s a character. The tight corridors, recycled air, constant hum of machinery… You can almost feel the pressure of the ocean bearing down.

But beneath the suspense, the show asks bigger questions about nuclear deterrence and the true cost of “peace.” It doesn’t preach — it simply forces you to sit with the discomfort.

And I respect that.

Vigil is a gripping, smart, and surprisingly emotional story. While it explores themes of conspiracy and national security, it also touches on trauma, trust, and the journey of facing what haunts us. This tense, claustrophobic thriller offers genuine emotional depth, showing that some of the most powerful stories unfold in the smallest of spaces.

By the end of Season 1, the traitor is exposed and the mystery resolved. But the real victory feels quieter: Amy choosing to heal, and Amy and Kirsten choosing each other.

Overall, I give the first season an 8.8/10.

And now I want to hear from you: Did the final reveal work for you? Were you as anxious as I was? And are you ready to dive back in for Season 2?

You can catch Vigil Season 1 on Peacock.