How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Recap ‘The Girl from Sagres’: Portugal
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
Warning: This recap contains SPOILERS for the fourth episode of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.
When stripped of its many moments of humour, ‘The Girl from Sagres’ is a fairly clue-heavy episode. If ramping up the comedy along with the clues was intentional, then that was a clever way to present a mystery. Not everyone is going to enjoy the inflatable banana, and that’s all right. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast’s confidence in telling the story it wants to tell in the way it wants to tell it is part of its charm. So, we have a lot to get through, let’s get on with this.
Outside of being the object of Saoirse’s desires, Liam was also now full throated in his desire to help with the investigation. Do I believe he enjoyed Saoirse’s obvious attraction? Yes. Do I think he was attracted to her as well? Sure. Do I think that was in large part why he was helping with the investigation? Not really. Solving, or at least attempting to solve, the Greta/ Jodie mystery was probably the most excitement he has had since he arrived in Knockdara. He was a young man who wanted to do actual police work, and this was his one opportunity to be able to do that.
Liam visited a very stressed Saoirse on the set of her show and after a few mortifying moments when Liam realised that Saoirse incorporated their hotel ballroom talk into her writing and added a sex scene, he told her what he found out about Jodie. Apparently, Jodie had been asking for directions to Greta’s house. Since Owen denied she even existed, Liam suspected they were having an affair, which Liam meant to check with Greta’s mother. He also said that Jodie booked a flight to Portugal, and that she checked in online the night before.
Saoirse of course knew the person heading to Portugal could not be Jodie because Jodie was already dead. Instead, she suspected that it was Greta posing as Jodie. Robyn called the Calmas Aguas Azuis hotel to inquire about Jodie and found out that not only was her mother searching for her, she also intended to go to the hotel. Meanwhile, Dara hired the funeral guy who did the wake for ‘Greta’ so she could question him, on what was supposed to be a simple consultation that turned into a full blown rehearsal. The man said there were burn marks all over the body’s back. He was careful with his words, given Owen's position with the police, but he suspected the husband deliberately hurt 'Greta'.
With all that, the girls decided to head to Portugal. The key they got from Seamus did not fit the door of Jodie’s quarters, but it was open and they got in. Inside was that symbol again – the same one on the cabin from their childhood and tattooed on their bodies – but this time, there were the words ‘Heaven’s Veil’ and a date written on red paint. The place was a mess. Saoirse picked up a book called the Doll Complex by Greta Ganchaille; it was a well-read copy with many highlights.
It was there that they met Booker again. She introduced herself as Jodie’s mother and reminded them that they had previously met, when their vehicles side swiped each other’s. She claimed that she and Jodie flew to Portugal together, but that they got into a fight on the way. This was not explicitly stated, but going by context clues, my assumption was, Greta as Jodie did fly to Portugal with Booker, then remained at a safe house whilst Booker finished up on what she needed to finish up. Since Greta and her family were hiding Jodie’s death, it made sense to create a paper trail of Jodie leaving Knockdara and heading back to what she considered her home at that time, before disappearing. That way, should there ever be a formal investigation into her disappearance, the focus would be in Portugal, not Knockdara.
Booker claiming Jodie was with her knocked out Saoirse’s theory over Jodie’s death. An exasperated Robyn went off to get a massage, and I must say, her commitment to self care is admirable. It was there that she realised that the key Seamus gave them was a locker key, not a room key. She found Jodie’s locker, which contained a box with a combination lock and a letter from Greta to Jodie asking her not to contact her again.
Booker, in a yellow outfit that was somehow very Booker, saw Saoirse holding the box whilst hanging out with Robyn and Dara, the very thing that she apparently came to the hotel to look for. She approached them, claimed that Jodie was back, and invited them into a boat that she said she hired to make things right with her daughter.
Why did the girls not immediately think it was strange that the mother of a hotel cleaner had the money to rent a luxury yacht? I don’t find this unbelievable at all, because we are always told not to judge people; you just never know what their lives are truly like. Jodie could very well have been rebelling from her wealthy parents. That being said, it did take them a bit too long to realise something was wrong, even after Booker took their bags and did not return. By the time they realised that Jodie was not actually in the yacht, Booker had already boarded a tender boat with Saoirse’s bag with the box inside it, and left them in the middle of the ocean.
Booker had locked them inside the yacht and left a bomb in the engine room. The yacht exploded, and the girls survived by boarding the inflatable banana Dara had earlier purchased just because it was on sale. Once they were back at the hotel, Saoirse admitted that she sensed that how Booker behaved was a performance, so she did not bring Jodie’s box with them. Instead, she swapped the box with one that belonged to a magician who was performing at the hotel.
And so the girls left Portugal in a hurry, in a flight to Dublin which was the first one available that they could get. But Booker was on the same flight, now posing as a flight attendant.
At this time, we don’t know much about Booker yet. The bomb that she left in the yacht was a pretty clear indication that she intended to kill the girls. Earlier in the episode, we saw her kill a man who was part of her scheme to get Greta as Jodie out of Ireland, by detonating yet another bomb. Yet even with all this, Booker does not give off an overly sinister edge. I suppose that is in large part due to the overall tone of the show. I wonder, though, if that is also a hint to her larger character.
And this is where I pause to wonder if a show like How to Get to Heaven from Belfast would do well with a weekly drop (a la HBO) or if this Netflix model of just dropping all episodes at once is better for it. On one hand, a weekly drop means time for people to discuss the episode, to fully digest it, to come up with theories, and see which ones would prove true in future episodes. A weekly drop creates more chances for a community experience, and to grow a show’s audience organically. On the other hand, the binge model means that even if there is a mid episode in the middle of a series, a viewer is less likely to stop watching it since it’ll be over soon anyway, and the next episode, hopefully a better one, will roll in. Let’s stick a pin on this for now and get back to this once we have finished watching and recapping all episodes.
Though much of the episode happened in Portugal, there were also significant moves happening in Knockdara. Liam did go see Mrs. Heaney, to ask her about Jodie. It was during their conversation that he found out Mrs. Heaney used to be a psychiatrist. Mrs. Heaney had been searching for a book when he arrived; it was Doll Complex by Greta Ganchaille, the same book Saoirse found in Jodie’s room. Mrs. Heaney claimed she named her daughter after the author of the book because she was reading it whilst she was pregnant.
Liam was just beginning his very gentle interrogation when Owen arrived. Liam had his story ready; he claimed Seamus was tracking down Jodie because there was a problem with her credit card. Owen, who did not hide his unhappiness over finding his subordinate in his home questioning his mother in law, reminded Liam of the reason why he was in Knockdara in the first place, and it was not to look after his uncle.
Though their conversation was cut short, Liam now knew that Mrs. Heaney was lying. The Doll Complex was published in 2004; there was no way she was reading that whilst pregnant with Greta. Back at the house, it was Owen who was moderately freaking out, and Mrs. Heaney who was stonily calm. Andrew just happened to pick that time to ring the doorbell; he clearly did not leave Knockdara as he planned. When there was no answer, and after he caught a glimpse of young Maria practicing ballet in one of the rooms, he left.
See? Clue-heavy. We’re halfway through the series, and we don’t yet know what all these clues mean. What we have, however, is writing that is consistently light enough so that the mystery building does not feel overwhelming. Whether or not the more comical aspects of the episode will work is a matter of preference. Personally, they’re not my jam, but I didn’t mind them, in large part because the performances are just so good, and the writers did and still do the character work (admittedly, a bit less so in this episode than the earlier ones written by Lisa McGee). We should see the show start to bring these various clues home in the next few episodes before we get to the finale. See you on the next one!
Rating: B
Strays
🚐Saoirse was still ignoring Seb’s attempts to talk about their wedding.
🚐Liam saw the tattoo at the back of Saoirse’s neck.
🚐Robyn thought her husband Jim was having an affair with his boss Jesse.
🚐Before they left for Portugal, Greta secretly tried to call someone. The number had changed, and she wrote down the new number on a pad, then hid the piece of paper before Booker got back.
🚐In her new safe house, someone had grabbed Greta from behind.
Episode Title: The Girl from Sagres
Episode Writer: Tobias Beer
Episode Director: George Kane
Original Air Date: February 12, 2026