Watched series 1, about to watch series 3 - what am I missing?

[GarethNelson]

Subject says it all.....

If anyone cares to post a brief synopsis I will be most happy

[OverAnalyser]

Have you seen series 2?  If not, you probably should, at least eps. 2.1, 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8.

[OverAnalyser]

By "missing", do you mean what are you not understanding from series 1?  If so, please identify your confusions, and we can help sort them out for you.

[GarethNelson]

No, I meant I literally haven't watched series 2 and wanted to know briefly what I missed - bad choice of words really

[Sladest]

There's very little that happened in series two that you need to know to watch three.

[Laura23]

Nothing. Literally.

[OverAnalyser]

I would encourage you to see the above-listed episodes.

Going backwards, to show relevance:

Ep. 2.8 sets up everyone's situation for ep. 3.1, and builds the redemption arc for series 3
Ep. 2.7 explains what is going on otherwise in ep. 2.8, and shows a team member failing in his or her path toward redemption.
Ep. 2.6 not as important, but helps build Alex's 2008 situation
Ep. 2.5 sets up Alex's world at the start of ep. 3.1 and the end of ep 3.8
Ep. 2.4 not vital, but fun.  Also provides insight into Sam and Annie
Eps. 2.2 and 2.3 meh.
Ep. 2.1 sets up series 2, and takes care of the transition of Alex's 2008 world from series 1 to what is shown in series 2 and ep 3.1, establishes a series 2 character who is important for the redemption arc and vital to eps. 2.7-2.8.

[OverAnalyser]

Are you planning not to watch them and would prefer a spoilery synopsis then?

[OverAnalyser]

Here is a spoilerific synopsis:
Spoiler

2008 Alex:
2008 Alex is found at night, about eleven hours after she was shot.  The news has been reporting her disappearance.  Layton took her car and abandoned it across town.  He remains at large.  Molly goes to her hospital frequently.   Alex has intermittent visual and auditory input from 2008, just as Sam did; these include Molly's and the medical staff's voices, occasional news report snippets, the opeining theme to Jackanory a hand-drawn get-well card from Molly with rainbows.  The surgeons remove the bullet, but an infection sets in.  They give start upping an antibiotic that will either treat the illness or kill her.  In the final scene, she wakes up, weak, is told by a male nurse or doctor that the antibotics worked, is hugged by Molly, tries to mumble a little greeting to Molly, and Molly departs with the male nurse or doctor.  Gene suddenly appears on the television and all of the diagnostic equipment's monitors.  He tells her that he wanted for attempted murder of her and is on the lam.  She runs out of the room, trying to get away from his image.

Martin Summers:
Down the hall from 2008 Alex's hospital room (and before she gets there) is an angry man in a coma.  It is never completely confirmed to be Summers, but it probably it can safely be assumed.

A retired copper about Gene's age, Martin Summers too is back in 1982.  He left the Met in disgrace sometime in the late 90s or later.  He knows of Alex because, like Alex and Sam, he gets some sensory input during his 2008 coma.  In 1982, his younger self is a PC at Fenchurch East who, unbeknownst to anyone but his two selves, has just gotten involved in his first criminal enterprise and will be taking part in a big armoured car heist.

Old Martin tries to corrupt Alex with the promise of knowing how to get her back home.  She believes him because he clearly knows the future and her situation, but she puts her integrity ahead of getting back to Molly - marking a change in her acceptance of the reality of the Geneverse from series 1.

Old Martin kills young Martin in front of Alex's eyes.  Young Martin's death, however, has no effect on Old Martin's existence, and he trots off.

Old Martin is involved in the heist as well.  As it turns out, however, he was setting it up to be foiled, and killed his younger self to keep him from going down the path on which he had set out.  Martin then commits "suicide by cop", aiming his pistol at Alex and waits for Gene to shoot him.  Gene cradles old Martin as he bleeds out.  Alex informs Gene that he was a cop.  Gene tells him to think of his duty and his pride in being a policeman as he dies.

As Molly leaves Alex's 2008 hospital room (i.e., before Alex has visions of Gene), a corpse is wheeled away.  The nurses' dialogue imples that it was old Martin.

Pete, Molly and Alex:
A robbery at the Drakes' house leads Alex to interact with 14-year-old Pete and his parents. He has not met young Alex yet.  He has a young kitten named Molly.

In the years to come, Alex will become familiar with the squeeks of Pete's bed in his parents' house, and where he keeps his stash.  He will blame Alex's map-reading when they run out of gas in France, he will dismiss her emotions as pre-menstrual tension, and while she works to support the family, he will lay about in bed working on the novel that only exists in his mind.  He will run away when human Molly is six months old.  Alex will remain close with his parents, though, particularly her father-in-law.  Deafened during the robbery, he takes up painting, and Alex will treasure the portrait he paints of human Molly.

Adult Alex counsels him, admonishing him how not to behave toward girls, telling him to spoil her rotten, especially if her name is Alex.  Most importantly, she makes him promise to take care of Molly.  He promises, but naturally assumes she is talking about the kitten.

Interestingly, Alex perceives anachronistic records on his floor: "Stay" by Shakespeare's Sister (very, very appropos lyrics) and "Get It On" by Power Station (maybe a reference to the then-recently closed Bankside Power Station in front of which - as the Tate Modern she meets Layton in ep. 1.1?)

Chris and Shaz:
Chris refuses to take part of Ray's bribe money, intending to be clean.

Chris proposes to Shaz and she accepts.  Needing money for her ring, he becomes involved in the heist, providing intelligence to the gang.  Gene discovers Chris' betrayal but lets him stay on and works him as a double-agent.  Shaz and Ray are disgusted by his betrayal but eventually come around.  Shaz remains engaged to him.

When the heist goes down, he sets up the gang for a fall.  He pursues one who takes aim at him.  Shaz, dressed in the wedding dress she was trying on, shows up and shoots the criminal, saving Chris' life.

Ray:
Ray is taking bribes for minor offenses.  After their new, supposedly clean Detective Superintendent Mackintosh is revealed to be hugely dirty and kills himself, Gene draws a line in the sand; not so much as a bent penny shall be taken.  Ray is devistated by Mack's betrayal.  He sees no point in continuing as a copper and fills out an Army enlistment application.  Alex and a criminal convince him that the good people of London need him on the force.

Meanwhile, Ray's appreciation for Alex's skills as a police officer grow considerably.

Mack, Alex, and the aforedescribed criminal (a partially gender-reasigned "woman") all suspect Ray's don-juanism is a cover for repressed homosexuality.  Even Gene makes a comment about Ray's firearms interest that could be arguably interpreted similarly.  While the team are in Soho, he is the only one who recognises Princess Margaret's limousine and knows that her favourite dressmaker's shop is right there.

1982 Alex and Gene:
Gene gets jealous when he thinks Alex is warming up to old Martin (using the alias "Borris Johnson" like Sam's "Tony Blair").  Ironically, despite having been jealous of City Boy, Evan White, Danny Moore in series 1, and "Borris Johnson" in series 2 - even though no relationship is going anywhere - he defends her 14-year-old future husband when Alex rants about his myriad faults.

Gene gets partially seduced (not all the way into bed, though) by a woman who is involved with the heist, and throws him off of the trail of her brother.

In Soho, Gene conforts a murdered stripper from Manchester, holding her as she dies.  He likewise cradles Superintendent Mackintosh's dying body after he shoots himself at the station; Gene tells him to think of his early days on the force, full of pride and honesty.

Alex knows about the forthcoming heist, because old Martin has told her - and given one of her dictation tapes to Gene.  Gene demands proof that he can trust Alex, accuses her of lying to him, and of making up the daughter whom she never sees.  Alex finally blurts out the truth about coming from the future.  Gene, of course, is devistated that she could not only lie to him so blatently, but that she could insult his intelligence.  He confiscates her warrant card and threatens to shoot her if she shows up at the heist the next morning.

She indeed shows up, armed, having to stop old Martin and foil the robbery.  After old Martin dies in Gene's arms, the afore described woman holds Alex hostage at gunpoint.  She shifts as Gene fires at her, accidently hitting Alex.  Alex collapses as the team gather around.  Her eyes fade to dark.

She awakens in her 2008 hospital room (see that section above).

[OverAnalyser]

Oh, and about Sam, Annie, Jackie Queen, and Gene's camel-hair coat:
Spoiler

Manchester newspaper reporter Jackie Queen comes to town looking for her runaway neice.  She is very pregnant and tells Gene its his from the night he was up there for some police charity thing.  In actuallity, he just passed out drunk at her place, the kid is someone else's and she was just using it to get Gene and the team to help her with the search for her neice.  He left her his LOM camelhair overcoat at Jackie's home; she wears it down to London, and he tells her to keep it.

While she is there, she provides exposition about Sam and Annie.  They married (although this may have just been common-law or a unofficial shacking up as Annie is referred to in series 3 as his "girlfriend" not "wife" or "widow".  Or just sloppy journalism on Jackie's part.

Anyway, they never had kids, but were the happiest couple whom Jackie had ever known.

Jackie wrote Sam's obituary.