The Catch viewers really don't trust 'creepy' Ryan — and here's why

The Catch has arrived on Channel 5 and TV fans already have strong thoughts about what's going on, especially when it comes to mysterious newcomer Ryan (Aneurin Barnard).

In the first episode of the tense new thriller The Catch, we saw Abbie Collier (Poppy Gilbert) introducing her boyfriend Ryan to her family, and while he seemed to charm her mum Claire (Cathy Belton) and grandmother Phyllis (Brenda Flicker), not everyone was pleased about their relationship.

Abbie's dad Ed (Jason Watkins) is a local fisherman, who is secretly struggling due to lack of business and is still haunted by flashbacks of his late son Josh, who died in an accident at sea. He seems immediately distrustful of Ryan, which is quickly brushed off as him just being "protective".

But something seems off about Ryan, and weird things have been happening since he arrived. Ed discovers someone has been sabotaging his boat by cutting the nets and adding water to the diesel, but could Ryan really be responsible for this?

In addition to this, Ryan seems overly keen about moving in with Abbie, despite the fact they've only been together for a few months. The two do seem to be very much in love with each other, but Ed has suspicions about his daughter's new boyfriend.

After some digging, Ed discovers Ryan changed his surname and also follows him to a remote location where he sees him entering a car with a sex worker, and decides to confront him about both of those things. 

But Ryan claims that he changed his name following his parents' death, including his mother's suicide, so he could have a "fresh start". He also told Ed that the sex worker he was seen with was one of his fellow soldiers back when he served in the army, and he was trying to help her out because she was struggling.

In fact, Ryan seemed to have an answer for everything Ed threw at him, causing Claire to become angry with her husband and accusing him of "humiliating" his daughter who overheard all these confrontations.

It's not just Ed who's suspicious of Ryan, as many have taken to Twitter to claim the character gives them the "creeps" and that he has a "hidden agenda". 

The first episode of The Catch ended on an intriguing twist, which saw the word "Killer" in capital letters written on Ed's boat, and inside there were candles burning and photos scattered about... but what does this mean?

Perhaps Ryan is on to Ed and knows he did something, or he could simply be a red herring and someone else is out to get the fisherman. We'll have to tune in to the next episode to find out more.

The Catch continues on Channel 5 at 9 pm on Wednesday, February 1. Episodes are available on demand via My5.