The ITV drama is only in its third chapter, but the twists and turns are coming thick and fast – and one scene between Marcella (played by Anna) and her husband Jason Backland (Nicholas Pinnock) seemed to reveal that the latter has been committing criminal acts against his wife.
Turning up with papers for his estranged partner to sign, their conversation quickly unravelled when Jason gave her some difficult home truths.
“You’ll lose both your job and your kids,” he warned. “At least if you sign this you’ll keep your job. And we both know you’ve always been a better detective anyway.”
Deeply upset by his harsh words, Marcella tried to defend herself but Jason had other ideas.
He spat: “Marcella the kids stay with me and Becky because they don’t want to be with you.
“You’ve not been a proper mother to them for years, and they probably don’t want to admit it but I think they actually hate you.”
But the devastating revelation was the last straw, and Marcella proceeded to black out.
When she woke up, a battered Jason sat cradling a mashed up face and blood-spattered arm, as Marcella was terrified she’d had no control over her actions.
Yet many viewers were convinced that Jason had planned the scene to look like Marcella had hurt him.
Claiming it was a ruse, fans took to Twitter to share their theories on Jason’s secret, as one person said: “If Marcella hit Jason why did she not have any blood on her? #marcella.”
Another guessed: “Is it possible that #Marcella ex-husband is poisoning her somehow in order to get full custody of the kids. Only one place for that arsehole, behind a brick wall, preferably entombed alive.”
“So did she punch her ex husband or did he do that to himself to get sole custody and give himself a reason to prove as to why she isn’t a fit mother #marcella,” a third agreed.
While a fourth echoed: “Right I’m going early doors. I think Jason has made #Marcella think she hit him. When in actual fact he hit himself whilst she was in blackout.”
“What if he wound her up to get her to blackout then smacked himself in the face? #Marcella,” another curious viewer wondered.
Marcella continues Monday at 9pm on ITV.
